One afternoon, after spending most of the day at home, I decided to take my kids to a shop to buy a few things. They were delighted to leave the house and run around the store like happy chickens when we got there. Their favourite part was going to the toy section and like we usually do I asked them to select one toy each. This is a very difficult task for little boys. I managed to pick all the things I needed from the shop and we were ready to pay.
The bill was slightly higher than I expected but I signed and we walked out. Inflation is crazy in Ghana right now so an estimation is merely a suggestion! We made our way to the car and as we were putting the shopping bags into the boot I caught a quick glimpse of the receipt. I noticed that one of the items had the wrong quantity. So for that item, I was charged thrice. I picked up the receipt and examined it closely. I also checked the bags to see if I indeed took three of that particular item. When I confirmed the error, we went back into the shop to complain.
As we made our way back inside the receipt fell. My sons had a bit of a fight for the receipt and a piece of it ripped. We entered the shop and I went to the till to make my complaint. I explained everything to the cashier and she asked for the receipt. I handed it over to her and she said, “Madam we can’t do anything about it because the receipt is torn,” I squinted and looked at the receipt one more time. The part my children had ripped was at the bottom which had no text at all. I explained to her that everything she needed was clear on the receipt and my kids ripped the bottom when it fell. The cashier with an irritated look on her face said the policy of the company was to reject all damaged receipts and what I had was damaged so she couldn’t help.
At this point, I was getting angry. My boys were also very eager to go home and play with their toys and it was beginning to show. I asked to speak to a manager and an elderly man approached me with a warm smile, I told him the issue and she looked at the cashier with a stern look. He whispered something to her and apologised to me. He said it was a big misunderstanding and I would be catered to immediately. He took the receipt and issued a new one. And finally gave me my change along with the new receipt. He also asked the cashier to apologise explaining to me that she didn’t quite understand the company policy. The policy said damaged receipts that are unreadable were not accepted. My receipt was as clear as day so she apologised.
This experience made me ask myself questions about my own business. Did my staff and partners understand my policies too? Could there be times when they misunderstand our guidelines? This was my sign to do some training and explaining. If you have a business I advise you to do the same and thank me later.
All images were generated by Ai
Issue resolved, let’s go PLAY boys! On a more serious note, over 75% of businesses (Corporate & MSMEs) need to step up their customer experience. The approach should be changing the culture and not organizing random/one-time training sessions.