CLICKS - stuck in a BAD SERVICE rut

Dear Consumers,

Clicks CEO

           Below is what I wrote in April 2012 under the heading Clicks Humpty Dumpty stock situation. But judging by this week's Sunday Times it is as Humpty Dumpty as ever. 
              It's odd the way some of these big companies can't change course once they are programmed to do something, even it is clearly bad for business. 
          Clicks, headed by CEO David Kneale started with health, home and beauty stores, but when it added pharmacies it seems to have forgotten that these require pharmacists. And as there is a great shortages of these qualified people Clicks is constantly rubbing its customers up the wrong way.
           Add to that the general poor service.

               This is what appeared in this week's Consumer Forum in the Sunday Times. The problems its readers had at the pharmacies mirrored my experiences of more that a year ago, although it's Healthbasics supply problem has improved.
           The second item headed And poor service at others refers to the Long Beach Mall branch which is in my area. I don't go there very often now but when I do I have found the service virtually non-existent.

            My wife and I now get our medication from the family owned Sun Valley Pharmacy which is in the same mall. Its motto is: A Passion for Caring and the service there is everything that Clicks is not.

            Through the Sunday Times Clicks assures readers that the issues will be addressed with the urgency they deserve.
                   I find this very hard to believe. My bet is that in another year nothing much will have changed particularly at the pharmacies.
                    Clicks had a 13.6% increase in turnover to R17.5 - billion in the year to August 2013. So no wonder it doesn't worry too much about giving bad service.
              But if it goes on like this:
              All Kneale's staff and all his men
              Won't put Clicks together again.

April 2012
Dear Consumers,

         It’s your Consumer Watchdog here and this time he was wide awake with all his senses on full alert. In the numerous gaps on the shelves he was able to get a whiff of what had been there, but even his keen nose was unable to establish how long ago this was.

         As he walked down the isles in the Clicks stores his tail was not wagging happily; it was drooping pathetically. You see us sniffer hounds have to have our daily vitamins for our coat to remain glossy and to be able to do our job properly.

         Alright he couldn’t check all the 590 stores across Southern Africa that include Musica and The Body Shop that are in the Group  and you might say that two in Cape Town are not a fair sample.

But they turned out to be just the tip of what the Group admitted had been a huge stock headache.

Things had not been clicking in the stores that include 280 retails pharmacies, which is the largest chain of this kind in South Africa.

         Funny how I got wind of this many months ago when I complained to  David Kneale that I couldn’t get any salmon oil capsules at the Long Beach Mall branch. He rectified this by having the branch manager deliver some to my house.

         But it seems the much wider problem of too many missing items went unchecked. Even Healthbasics, which is Clicks’ own vitamin brand, was often not there.

         In one isle alone in the Long Beach branch, which is not very big, I counted over 200 gaps on the shelves. And a lot of them had Out of Stock stickers on them for you shoppers, who are too stupid to realise what empty means.

When I continued to complain at my local branch the staff would shrug their shoulders as if to say We get the flack for something over which we have no control.

         This time I not only went to the Long Beach branch but I also visited the one at Constantia Village, which is in a very upmarket area and could be the busiest mall in the country. It was the same story there.

         So your Watchdog, who is always mindfully of the interests of the consumer, sent another barking email to David in his ivory tower at head office. He did what too many CEO’s do when they are contacted directly; he passed the buck to Amanda Graham, his head of merchandising.

         Don’t you think it would have been a far better public relations exercise if David had personally answered my email complaint?     

        We’ve had a torrid time with our private label (Healthbasics) and we’ve let the customer down, Amanda told me. They had moved to different suppliers twice in the last year and this had led to out of stocks for long periods of time, a situation which we are still experiencing.

         That’s pretty Humpty Dumpty don’t you think? If they had got nothing else right you would have thought that a large Group like Clicks that is quoted on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange would have made sure of getting adequate stocks of its own brand wouldn’t  you?

         Their lack of stock had been particularly bad in the vitamins and supplements section, Amanda went on. This was also due to unanticipated demand.

Humpty Dumpty is everywhere.

         The steps that are being taken to rectify the situation include, of all things, providing additional space. Would it be too much to ask for them to first make sure that the existing space is always full?

         I would like to take this opportunity to again apologise for the inconvenience you and your readers have experienced, were Amanda Graham’s commendable parting words.

         We’ll have to see if a real improvement actually materialises. But one thing is certain your Consumer Watchdog will continue doing his rounds; sniffing here and there and looking to ensure you consumers get the best service possible.

         NEWS FLASH: It’s 11.00 am, Sunday and I have just been to the Long Beach branch to collect chronic medication (that keeps you alive) for myself and my wife only to find that Humpty Dumpty had taken over the dispensary. It was securely fenced off because the duty pharmacist had not pitched. And we couldn’t get our medication anywhere else because Clicks have our scripts.
        NEWS FLASH 2: It's 11.00 am, Wednesday 2 May and the pharmacy is once again fenced off. What about people who need medication urgently but can't get it because Clicks have their scripts?

         So if the posts on my blog cease you’ll know why.
         Yours faithfully (like all dogs),

         Jon, the Consumer Watchdog with an excellent sense of smell, provided he can always get the necessary vitamins.

Good Service Gems

Dear Good Service Lovers,

Good service is an increasing rarity in business these days so it’s a pleasure to put the spotlight on some of the good service gems in Cape Town’s Deep South – around Fish Hoek and Simons Town.

The Smile that could Sell Anything

That’s the perfect description for Rene van der Walt, the 36 year old mother of three, who makes her business look as simple as pie. But it’s not all just making dough.

Running a King Pie franchise at the entrance to Pick n Pay in the Longbeach Mall can’t be that easy, especially when you have one year old Steven hanging around your neck a lot of the time.

Rene is always ready to offer a customer the choice of a better deal than the one they have chosen and when it comes to service she sets the bar sky high for her staff of two to emulate.

She and her husband Riaan have another King Pie outlet in Wynberg, which he runs while she looks after the Longbeach one that they have had for six years. Between serving pies the two of then take care of two more boys aged 11 and 9.

Good Deed Man

          In the plumbing world Wally Poole is the good deed man. And although he was tragically struck down with multiple sclerosis three years ago 64 year old Wally has perpetuated his philosophy through his son-in-law Donny Siebritz.

          He and Donny have established a reputable name for a prompt, very reasonably price service that has resulted in them working for the same builders and businesses for more than a decade.

And what must be particularly appealing to the ordinary householder is that they do not charge a call our fee where as most plumbers sting you for R400 or more just to turn up.

A call out fee is daylight robbery, said Wally. I have never charge that even in the middle of the night or at weekends.

I spoke to him when he was lying in bed at his Ocean View home, so it was a pleasant surprise a day or two later when I saw him helping to clear a blocked drain. Even though his disease is incurable he does go out on jobs now and again.

The plumbing world badly needs a lot more Wally Pooles.

Car Repairs with a Difference

Dick Albertson’s car repair business Glenhoek Motors in Fish Eagle Park on the Kommetjie road specializes in helping retired people.

 It’s a two man business; himself and his assistant Rob Sylvester and they will fetch your car from your home, leave one of their cars there and return yours, so you never have to worry about how you are going to get your vehicle to them.

And best of all their service is excellent and unlike some repair shops they don’t rip you off.

Seventy year old Dick has been in the Fish Hoek Valley for 30 years and for the last 16 years he and Rob have been working together.

So they must be doing something right.

Pleasant and Very Helpful

That’s Peter’s Electrical in Irene Way Industrial Park, Sun Valley to a tee. All that needs to be added are that his rates are very affordable.

Sixty five year old Peter Jurd, who was born in Cape Town, runs the business with his 34 year old son Andrew and a staff of six. The workshop is usually full of cars which is a testimony to a well run business.

Peter’s business has moved three times in the 22 years he has been operating in the area, but hopefully after five years in its current location he’s there to stay.

Go to Man

Ex Royal Navy radar engineer Roger James is the man you can get to repair just about anything. Years ago he came from Britain to work for the South African Navy.

Then he took his expertise into the commercial world and in 1991, shortly before our present Black Government came to power the enemy was legalized as he put it. So as his radar knowledge was no longer needed he started working for himself from his home.

Now he does general plumbing, electrical repairs of just about anything in the home, fixes TVs and cars. There are probably a few other things I haven’t mentioned but you’ll have to ask him about those.

Apart from the fact that he does a good job, the most impressive feature of his repair business is he might spring a very pleasant surprise on you. He came to our house once to fix a light and as it only took him about five minutes he walked out hurriedly saying, No charge.

He’s another person who makes those call out fee merchants look sick, sick, sick.

We’ve had lots of compliments about him

That’s what the manager of the Clicks pharmacy, health and beauty store in Longbeach Mall said when I told him what a service gem Wesley Corona was.

Don’t’ take my word for it; experience Wesley’s way of making a mundane job into something special yourself when you are next in Clicks. He’s easily recognizable as the only white teller.

Wesley is a part timer who has been working at Clicks for between four and six days a week for the last nine months. His father sadly passed away and he lives nearby with his mother.

He plays the guitar and is hoping to study music.

But if you asked me Wesley’s forte could be better utilized teaching tellers in all kinds of businesses just how the customer should really be treated. There are far too many of them who are so like robots they do nothing to encourage customers to return to the shop where they work.

Congratulations to you all on setting the kind of standard that should be emulated by everyone in business and Government.

Regards,

Jon, the Consumer Watchdog, who doesn’t only have a nose for the Bad but who can sniff out the Good just as well, especially if it happens to be a steak and kidney King Pie.

Buy my book 'Where have all the children gone' on Amazon.com  It's a thriller with an underlying live story that defied generations of prejudice.