As told by Rosamond Harding (the victim)
ECG… Where is the Accountability and good customer service that we, the people of Ghana deserve?
Back in 2015, my mother rang me, crying uncontrollably. She was truly shaken up. She was in the kitchen cooking, when all the stabilizers in the house caught on fire. The TV, radio and other electronic equipment stopped working. She was home alone in Takoradi, and had to have the presence of mind to try and turn off the electricity from the mains, which is what, I think saved mum’s life and that of her home. When we reported this to ECG, one of the engineers stated that, there was an accidental discharge 440 volts into mums home.
Yes, you heard it right…440 volts instead of the standard 220 volts. At this time, all that can be said is, but the grace of God
The process of accountability should be easy, you would think;
- The complainant should raise any concerns to the agency (govt) responsible for electricity supply (done).
- Contact the agency also in writing ( done)
- Agency should contact the complainant acknowledging receipt of the letter and outlining resolution process and timeframes (we received a letter from ECG 7 months later, without clarity on the process or timeframes)
- Complainant should follow up with phones calls to track progress of resolution (done)
- Agency should advise the complainant of the progress and timeframes to resolve (It’s been over one years and we are still waiting)
- Complainant should write further letters to ECG seeking a response (done – 3 letters in total)
- Complaint waits for resolution….. Still waiting, and waiting, and waiting. 1 year later…. Still waiting!
This is what I call the ‘stonewall defense’, and it is practiced well and truly in our public institutions in Ghana.
Where is the customer service? After all, mum did nothing for this to occur.
Where is the due diligence by ECG, to resolve this matter?
Where is the accountability?
Where is the compassion?
Where is the transparency in the process?
Where is the principle of information sharing, a fundamental principle of a complaints handling process.
I started the process of accountability in 2015, with phone calls and letters. I am now being stone walled at the executive level. I have been told that the matter has been escalated to the legal department in Accra. Multiple letters and phone calls later, has led to no conclusion. The contemptuous nature of this process in practice is a despicable plight on the character of some of our public institutions. No more stone walling by ECG and other public institutions. We deserve better than that.
Build into your complaint handling processes; timelines, diligence, transparency, staff training, strict and robust procedures and accountability at all levels. Finally, enforce it!
Well-managed complaints can benefit your business. Good business owners learn to see complaints as an opportunity to build strong, lasting relationships with customers and improve their customer service. Customer complaints give businesses valuable information about how they need to improve. If complaints are handled poorly, customers may withdraw their business and encourage others to do the same. However I think ECG feels they can get away with this, because there is no competition in the electricity supply market.
If ECG is truly committed to continuous improvement, then they should not run from negative feedback, but instead review positive and negative feedback to improve their systems.
More than 1 year later, and no resolution. I think it’s time for ECG to respond. It’s time! No more stone walling
Written by Ida and Rosamond Harding
