19 SIGNS THAT YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE NOT INTO YOU

Have you ever wondered, where did all the customers go?

Gosh, let's hope not! But stick with me here. Do you constantly scratch your head about lost customers, wondering where they went and why? Is acquiring new customers becoming a challenge?

I thought I'd have a little fun - along with a lot of seriousness - and list some signs that you might watch for ahead of time to figure out when customers (existing or prospective) just aren't that into you (any more). And when, perhaps, it's just not a good fit.

So, here they are: 19 signs customers aren't that into you - ever or any more.

No public displays of affection (PDA). They've stopped writing reviews about how much they love doing business with you, and they don't recommend you to their friends any more.

You're not friends on social media. They no longer follow you (or never have) on Twitter, Facebook, or any other social media platform.

They talk about their exes. They start comparing you to companies they've previously done business with: Company X used to do this or that for me; Company Y doesn't.

They talk to their exes. They start considering companies with which they've previously done business. Was it too painful? Is it worth going back there?
The conversation is one-sided. You send messages, have sales, offer discounts, advertise, and share on social media. There is no reciprocation; they don't respond or interact.

You make all the plans. There's no give and take. It feels like a forced relationship, like you're willing your customers to do business with you.

They have a roving eye. Customers start looking at other options in the marketplace. Is there better service? Are there better products, offers, etc.?

They don't introduce you to friends or family. Clearly you're not worthy of being introduced into the inner circle.

Three's a crowd. They always bring a friend along. When it's time to renew their contracts, they go out to RFP instead of just giving you the business.

Fear of commitment. Either that's an inherent fear in the customer, that they just don't commit to a brand, or you've wronged them in some way to scare them away from committing.

They're always critical of you. Those reviews that were once polite and raving have turned to hating everything you make and do. Now they're just ranting to friends and on social media about how bad and how wrong things are.

They avoid you, partially or completely. They don't buy your products or services any more, or you are now part of a consideration set - maybe they will, maybe they won't.

They don't care for your feelings. They publish negative reviews, rather than giving you the benefit of the doubt or telling you directly so that you can fix the problem.

They tell you about their ideal partner, but it doesn't describe you. Oops!

They expect you to change, and vice versa. Well, as we know, this is never a good place to be in a relationship. And to expect that your customers will change their attitudes, behaviors, and feelings - or for them to think you'll change how and why you do business - is likely out of the realm of possibilities. This is not a good fit.

Your values and beliefs are different. Customers buy from brands with which they align, whether that alignment is with the brand's purpose, the corporate social responsibility policy, or something else. This customer was/is not a good fit.

There's more pain than joy in the relationship. This sign makes me think about cell phone customers. Or airline customers. It's hard to commit to a brand when the brand constantly disappoints, frustrates, or shows they don't care about customers. Time to change your tune!

You keep arguing over the same issue. And neither one budges, so the relationship can't move forward. The issue doesn't get fixed. It's just a blame game. End of relationship.

You're not a priority. When the need arises, they think about going elsewhere first.

So, when you think about your lost customers - or, perhaps, disinterested customers, those on the way out the door - what do you see? They've stopped giving you feedback? They don't spend as much any more? They no longer recommend you? They just don't do business with you?

Written by Anette Franz

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5 TELEPHONE ETIQUETTE TIPS TO ANGRY CUSTOMERS

Tele­phone eti­quette tip #1: Avoid “I don’t know”

It’s com­mon for cus­tomers to ask ques­tions that the rep doesn’t have an answer for, but instead of say­ing “I don’t know,” guide your reps to frame the response pos­i­tively. A great alter­na­tive response would be:

“That’s a great ques­tion. I’ll find out for you.”

Instead of frus­trat­ing the cus­tomer and pre­sent­ing a dead-end sit­u­a­tion, the rep instead turns the sit­u­a­tion into an opportunity.

Train your reps to avoid “I don’t know” when­ever pos­si­ble; teach them to reframe the unknowns into a way to offer addi­tional help.

Tele­phone eti­quette tip #2: Be care­ful how you trans­fer customers

One of the most dreaded phrases for many cus­tomers is “Let me trans­fer you.” How many times have you been trans­ferred, only to start over on an auto­matic sys­tem, or to have the call dropped? While you may not be able to avoid hav­ing to trans­fer cus­tomers to a dif­fer­ent depart­ment, you can ease cus­tomers’ wor­ries by how you explain the move.

Instead of say­ing: “Please hold while I trans­fer you,” instead try:

“Let’s get this prob­lem solved for you as quickly as pos­si­ble. Angela is our spe­cial­ist in the tech depart­ment, and she’s going to help you out.”

By rephras­ing how you state a trans­fer, you’ll ease a customer’s fears of get­ting dropped and focus on the pos­i­tive – that you’re putting them on the line with some­one who spe­cial­izes in the topic.

Tele­phone eti­quette tip #3: Make the best of a defec­tive product

If a cus­tomer calls to com­plain about a defec­tive prod­uct, assume that you are already deal­ing with a frus­trated cus­tomer who doesn’t think very highly about your prod­ucts. Make lemon­ade out of lemons, as they say, with the fol­low­ing tele­phone eti­quette steps:

Be empa­thetic: The first step is to show empa­thy. Com­mu­ni­cate that you under­stand the prob­lem is frus­trat­ing and that the cus­tomer is upset.

Offer some sort of expla­na­tion: Next, let the cus­tomer know that there is a rea­son behind the defect – this isn’t mak­ing excuses – it’s empha­siz­ing that not all of your prod­ucts are defec­tive, and that they should expect a high-quality replacement.

Rem­edy the prob­lem: Finally, offer a rem­edy. Tell the cus­tomer you will ship out a replace­ment right away or offer a refund.

Dam­aged or defec­tive prod­ucts are inevitable, but los­ing an angry cus­tomer because of it is not. How you han­dle the sit­u­a­tion can make all the difference.

Tele­phone eti­quette tip #4: When you can’t bend the rules, offer a win­ning alternative

There are cer­tain rules that you can’t break for a cus­tomer, but instead of leav­ing the cus­tomer frus­trated and dis­ap­pointed, offer an alter­na­tive so that the cus­tomer still feels like he is still get­ting what he wants. For exam­ple, if a cus­tomer is try­ing to get a dis­count on a sale that has already expired, instead of telling the customer:

“I’m sorry, the sale is over, and we are no longer offer­ing that discount.”

Try this:

“Gosh, really unfor­tu­nate tim­ing. The sale ends on Jan­u­ary 3rd, but if you don’t mind wait­ing until March, we’ll be offer­ing our anniver­sary sale, and you can get the item for 20% off. Would you be will­ing to wait until then?”

In this sce­nario, you’re not break­ing rules for your com­pany, and you’re not telling the cus­tomer an out­right no, either – you’re offer­ing an alter­na­tive sit­u­a­tion that still gives the cus­tomer the option he’s after.

Tele­phone eti­quette tip #5: Don’t let the cus­tomer hang up until you know he or she is satisfied

Finally, how you close the call is extremely impor­tant. Before you let the cus­tomer hang up, take the small step of ask­ing if there is any­thing else that you can assist with. Here is a fan­tas­tic way to wrap up a call:

“Thanks again for tak­ing the time to call today. Is there any­thing else I can help with? I’d be happy to assist with any­thing else you need.”

A clos­ing line such as this shows your appre­ci­a­tion for the cus­tomer, makes sure the cus­tomer is sat­is­fied, and it com­mu­ni­cates your will­ing­ness to keep help­ing, if need be. This type of closer is espe­cially effec­tive if you’ve had an angry cus­tomer – it ends the con­ver­sa­tion on a pos­i­tive note.

Written by Jodi Beuder

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CUSTOMER SUPPORT IS MORE THAN SAYING AM SORRY

Your company cannot operate successfully if the support and product teams are communicating through a string and a pair of cups.

When support is left to operate as an island, reps will only ever learn to parrot "I'm sorry." Well, “I'm sorry” to break it to you, but that’s a miserable support strategy.

Apologies are necessary when dealing with angry customers, but if there isn’t a system in place to learn from this feedback, you're just putting your support team on the receiving end of complaints with no means to fix the root of the problem.

The support team does not have the power to change the source of the complaints they receive. While user error is certainly in the mix, designers and engineers (and on occasion, marketing) are often the real source of support tickets, so they need to be kept in the loop.

How are bugs fixed, errors tackled, and products improved when nobody but support knows what customers are saying?

This is why we are so adamant about the principals and practice of a whole company spport. If Jeff Bezos can sit down on support requests every once in a while so can the rest of your team.

The dedicated support staff has to pick up the slack here, too. They need a system that empowers them to do more with incoming tickets than just say "I'm sorry."

What to Do With Customer Feedback

Your support team needs a way to catalogue and submit their own feedback to the rest of your team.

A great support staff will filter customer feedback and pass along the things you need to hear about. A customer complains that your software isn't the color they like? Yeah, they can say, "Sorry orange isn't your thing, Chris!" and save your inbox.

But when they notice dozens of customers saying that they can't find [very important feature]? That needs to be put in a team inbox for the product and marketing teams to see.. In essence, we have an inbox labeled "Ideas" that anyone can add to at their discretion. We also have cards labeled "Next Up" and "Roadmap," so people doing support know what's being worked on and what the development team has already said no to.

Credits:Helpscout

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AT & T AND TIME WARNER COMPANY RANKED IN WORST CUSTOMER SURVEY

Pay TV, Internet and wireless service providers aren’t exactly America’s most beloved business categories. In fact, customers seem to love complaining about them constantly, and T-Mobile has found tremendous success by separating its practices from those of its rivals and portraying itself as the “Uncarrier.” Part of the reason people dislike wireless carriers and ISPs so much may be the difficulties they often experience when dealing with their customer care departments, and now AT&T andTime Warner Cable have been ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in a questionnaire asking subscribers which companies have the worst customer service in the country.

The unscientific questionnaire, conducted on Ranker and unearthed byDSLReports.com, lists 50 large U.S. companies and asks visitors to vote on which among them have the worst customer service. At the top of the list with 483 votes at the time of this writing is AT&T, which is followed by Time Warner Cable with 317 votes in the No. 2 spot. Bank of America, Walmart and American Airlines round out the top-5.

Interestingly, AT&T was just ranked highest in J.D. Power’s wireless purchase satisfaction survey for the second consecutive time, and it was also awarded the top honor in the firm’s 2013 customer service study.

As for other U.S. wireless carriers and ISPs, Comcast is ranked No. 6, Verizon is ranked No. 21, Sprint is No. 23 and Frontier is No. 38.

Please take time to fill our ratings for this month,which fast food in Nigeria delivers excellent customer service?

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IMPROVING CUSTOMER SERVICE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES-MUST WATCH

Learn more on how to improve customer service most especially for people suffering with disabilities

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CUSTOMERS ARE BUSINESS

A business cannot survive without effectively managing it's customers

It is simple—customers are business. The equation is more personal if stated, Your Customers = Your Business.

Since customers sustain business, then taking action on customer input will create more activities that can enhance the customer's perceived value of your efforts. The math is simple. More Customers = More Business. Absolute sales dollar volume and profits are the result of increased activity that compels customers to engage with your team.

For today, when I refer to business, I am opening up the door to the thought that business and activity is effectively the same thing. The equation adapts to consider that visible activity will help your business grow, and the equation evolves further; More Customer Perceived Activity = More Customer Engagement. Activity seen by those outside your walls drives profit to the bottom line. Action creates customers that want to engage with your group, paving a path for customers to follow back again and again.

Business is a compilation of activities, products, services, employees and so on. The bottom line (Profit) is a measurement tool. Profit is created by the daily efforts within your internal and external visible reach. The bottom line is at the bottom for a reason. The entire list of top-down exercises is what makes up the variables that produce sustainable profit. Effort from the top fills the funnel of success as it bounces through the Pachinko Palace of challenges that faces your team.

Allowing your effort to produce bottom line profit is the natural goal. “Customers are business.” The simple thought is what provokes your group to engage with customers to create valuable customer retention.

Value is a business element that leaders control. Value is the intangible that companies must create to win long-term customers. Remember, if you agree that “Customers are Business,” then it pays to take action on the needs of your core customers.

The customer is the ultimate decision maker when it comes to the interpretation and realization of the “value” created by your group. Value is determined by the outside world, and good companies tailor products and services around feedback from core customers. Ideas supported by the expertise of what your group can create will result in sustainable activity. Value is created when external customers take notice and deem your efforts to be worthy of spending their hard-earned dollars with products and services produced by your team.

The equation expands—More Customers that “feel” value = more Business. Noticeable activity follows and good management takes care that the Pachinko Ball of value is managed to avoid unnecessary expenses that can erode potential profits. Managing expenses is a vital part of business, yet expense management is proportional to the activities that create perceived value.

Customer Service is a worthy activity that builds customer relationships. Even great companies, with fabulous products and services, eventually run into a customer with a problem. When a problem is managed well through outstanding customer service, the customer gains additional respect for your company and the initial problem provides an opportunity.

Often, a well handled customer issue creates a customer experience that is positively remembered, and the memory is better than if there were never a problem at all. Customers appreciate being taken care of, and when issues are handled in a quick and courteous fashion the customer “remembers” the experience as a positive activity.

Customer service is an art. Customers have been trained by large corporations to dread calling in for service. Long hold times, untrained or rude staff, constant transfers, dropped calls and a simple lack of care have created customer fear long before they call your company. In fact, some customers never call to report issues, as the hassle of poor customer service invades their lives all too often.

When customers avoid calling it is very detrimental to companies, as they lose the ability to collect needed feedback. Customers can be left with a bad taste even though your company was more than willing to help out. When customer fear prevents your customers from calling, the equation equals lost business. Taking care of all of your customers creates a groundswell of positive word of mouth communication.

In niche businesses stories get around, so your customers will repeat great customer service stories often.

When your company receives a customer service call it should be considered a welcomed opportunity. Good companies “want” to cure customer issues and build a long-lasting bond when given the chance. Always keep in mind that you know in advance that you can help a customer, but the customer is already callused by poor treatment from the past. Customers need to feel that you are going to take care of them in the first few seconds of the conversation.

The trick is to encourage the customer to talk out the issue in a casual and conversational way. Once you understand the problem, you can choose the resolution process that meets the situation. In their effort to help, customer service people can ask too many questions upfront, and these questions can make customers feel that the questions are designed to find a way out of taking care of the issue.

Tell valuable customers that you can help as soon as they have described the issue. Follow-up questions can be asked after customers have completely delivered their concerns. By communicating your desire to help first, follow-up questions become welcomed. Starting with questions can make your customer feel “questioned,” and recovering from this territory is nearly impossible.

Quality companies truly want to hear from their customers. Customer service is an engaging one-on-one “activity.”

Our customers can be a wealth of great ideas. Great ideas = Great Activities. Activities lead to new business and increased profits.

It is beneficial to listen to ideas that could add new products or services to your lineup. Use caution, as it is easy to fall into the trap of only hearing what you want to hear. Your preconceived thoughts can be reinforced by customer requests. Create activities that meet a wide audience. Be sure that ideas for new products or services have real merit.

Taking action on new product ideas is an activity that is “noticed” by your customers. Activity that is seen by the external world manufactures sustainable growth. Targeting activities aimed at your core audience gains traction. Taking on every idea leads to wandering and waste.

Produce activities that will be seen by your customers. After all, your customer is your business.

Credits: Jeff Butcher

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LESSONS FROM PORSCHE CUSTOMER SERVICE FAIL

Here's what happens when a luxury-goods company ignores a customer's valid and stunning complaints. One million YouTube views later, Porsche is dealing with much more than Nick Murray's lemon.If I asked, "Which luxury-car company most recently extinguished a big engine-fire problem?" you would probably say Tesla. You would be wrong.
Check out a report on Porsche's customer service lessons as written by Inc.com:

Last month, Porsche reportedly issued a recall for all 785 of its 2014 911 GT3s. An improperly installed fastener led to two fires in European vehicles. The press reported the recall, but no government investigation followed. Porsche simply told drivers to stop driving, and that it would replace the engine. Conversely, Tesla's three fires prompted an investigation by federal safety regulators. Automakers piled on to attack CEO Elon Musk, while dealers claimed "he wants all the profits for himself".

Chances are, you didn't even hear about the Porsche recall--and if you did, you no doubt didn't see reports on the fires themselves. Whereas Musk's detailed response did little to calm the public, Porsche's CEO, Matthias Mueller, was greeted comfortably when he told us that Porsche is not taking any risk.The Porsche brand is powerful and protected by multiple layers of owners, reporters, and PR movements.

"The owners all know about the problems, but we're reluctant to tell anyone," says Jack Baruth, editor in chief of TheTruthAboutCars.com and owner of two Porsches. "It lowers the value of the car. [Talking about the problems] makes us seem like status-seeking underendowed simpletons."

In other words, owners fasten their own golden handcuffs, regardless of any risk. "Most of the owners don't expect the car to work every day. We never had," Baruth says.

Porsche's protective bubble has also been built up by an internal PR team that regularly gives reporters "experiences"--invitations to drive beautiful cars in beautiful locations. "Porsche uses the carrot and stick very well," Baruth says. "The carrot is so big that they can and will fly you business class to Sicily to drive mountain roads. It's effectively a $20,000 vacation if you write what they want you to write."

Lemon Law

In today's world, however, reporters aren't the only source of criticism. And it's much harder to shut up an angry, eloquent, and entertaining customer.

Enter Nick Murray, a Connecticut-based Porsche-enthusiast who saved for five years to buy a Porsche 911, and his tale of woe (viewed on Youtube nearly one million times). Upon buying his dream car, Murray says, he immediately ran into problems ranging from self-dropping mirrors to a draining battery to dashboard technology that turned off after hitting speed bumps. According to Murray, he took the car to Porsche for a series of repairs that he was assured would fix the problems. Upon the car's return, it began leaking in the rain--and suffering other problems.

The video suggests that Porsche would not refund the cost of the car or replace it but instead offered to give Murray a percentage of what it thought he'd get through arbitration. It appears--but is not obvious--that Porsche was offering this discounted purchase price for the car; Murray would end up with less money and no car. Porsche did not respond to my request for comment.

Ten years ago, one customer's lemon wouldn't have been an issue for Porsche. Today, Murray's saga has been well documented in passionate, entertaining, and high-quality videos that have inspired a swell of social-media critiques, ranging from regular tweets demanding a refund for Murray to a response from the wildly popular car blog Jalopnik.

On Google News, the buzz around Murray's lemon has pushed down a gushing LA Timesprofile of Porsche's latest 911. Anyone checking for Porsche 911 news can't avoid Murray's story--and even those simply searching for Porsche will be hard pressed to avoid it. This story also overshadows a Reuters story discussing Porsche's success "looming over" Maserati's sales push.

In essence: One mistreated customer has gut-punched Porsche's PR efforts on the eve of the New York International Auto Show. Two press releases issued in the last day about the 911 are utterly submerged (much like Murray's passenger-side floor) under negative press.

Angry customers (and Internet users) descended upon Porsche's Facebook page, repeatedly posting the video and demanding a resolution. One eventually came. This week, Porsche agreed to refund the full cost of replacing Murray's vehicle. But still, we're left with the impression that he was only an important customer once he recruited an angry mob. And despite the make-good, that Porsche is stuck in a past in which the consumer is the enemy and the brand controls all.

Here are four lessons you can learn from Porsche's public flogging:

1. As a Company, Fix Problems Before They Reach the Press
If a customer has a reasonable complaint (the thing you sold them is, for example, turning off at random), fix it. And if you can' fix it, give the person a new one. Don't hope to weather the storm to save a little cash.

2. You Can't Blacklist Your Way to Success 
Samsung's Galaxy S5 recently launched to a particularly lukewarm reception from reporters like Geoffrey Fowler of The Wall Street Journal. This isn't the first time reporters have received review devices and said bad things--and yet the review units keep being delivered. Why? A reporter is not a blank vessel for your brand--you can only control the message insofar as you can tell the press what you know and make a good product. If there's a problem, you cannot edit or blackball your way to making sure people stay in line.

If your product has problems and the reporter reports them, you should have made a better product. Sorry.

3. You're Not the Reporter. She Is. And It's Her Article
Baruth told me a story of a car manufacturer demanding to edit a story he had posted. When he pushed back, he was told "other reporters let me."

I would love to say that this has never happened with my clients. It's very uncommon, but many clients in the past have asked, "Can we see the article before it goes live?" If you want to make a reporter hate you, this is a very good way to do it--you are a PR person. You have no rights to a reporter's work. Ultimately, the reporter is doing you a favor by writing about your client, or you have given the reporter a story--not a press release that you wrote.

4. If There's a Problem, Just Fix It
The other day, I used Shyp, a company that picks up whatever it is you want shipped, packages it for you, and sends it. I asked for two-day shipping, but I was charged more than $50 for overnight shipping. I (rather unprofessionally) lost my cool on Twitter about it. I am by no means a Twitter superstar, and yet Shyp jumped on my tweets, called me, apologized, refunded the difference, and told me about the company's next update, which would include shipping estimates.

Porsche, on the other hand, has not yet issued a full response. Yes, it's significantly more expensive to fix a Porsche. However, a company that sold 50.1 percent of itself to Volkswagen for $5.6 billion and has a history of wooing reporters with expensive trips could have--and especially at this luxury level, should have--simply taken the car away and handed over a like-for-like model. The problem could have been over before it began; now, the brand damage is only getting started.

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SYNERGY 360 LIMITED INTRODUCES NIGERIA'S 1ST LOYALTY MANAGEMENT PORTAL

The world of loyalty management in Nigeria is about to change as Synergy 360 Limited, a Nigerian loyalty solution provider launches it's first-in-kind loyalty management portal for Nigerian businesses.

The unique solution is to be customized to the specific needs of clients depending on the industry and environment they operate. It uses a combination of coupons, gift cards, vouchers, points, etc; digitized the processes and makes them mobile for the convenience of customers.

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EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE TIPS BY MOM

Now that we’re adults, most of us are ready to admit that the advice our mom gave us was actually pretty good. “Eat your vegetables. Wear a coat when it’s 30-degrees outside. Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should. Stop frowning, you’ll get wrinkles.” It all actually makes sense now.

Many successes in life have been and continue to be built from the best advice mom gave us. For example, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson says the best advice he ever received was from his mom, Eve, who told him, than any setback was just a learning curve toward the next best thing. In his blog on the Virgin website, Branson notes he still asks his mom for advice and uses all that he has received to shape his life and business decisions.

Branson certainly isn’t the first to give his mom credit for shaping business best practices.. They were listen carefully; share with friends and don’t be afraid to ask for help. Mom’s right on the money.

So when we think about all the things that go into an exceptional customer service experience such as empathy, seeing an issue through to the finish and giving it your very best effort every time, much of mom’s best advice once again applies. Here are 10 things mom can teach us about delivering exceptional customer service:

1. “Always do your best.”
2. “It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it.”
3. “Make everyone feel important.”
4. “Always finish what you start.”
5. “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”
6. “Be kinder than necessary. You never know what’s someone else is going through.”
7. “It’s the little things that make all the difference.”
8. “Never do anything you wouldn’t want to see printed on the front page of the newspaper.”
9. “Never forget to say thanks.”

Written by Business to Business Community

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HERITAGE BANK LAUNCHES UNIQUE MASTER CARD

Heritage Bank Nigeria plc has launched a uniquely designed transparent Mastercard as a way of entrenching its innovative banking service delivery across different spectrum of the Nigerian economy.

Heritage Bank’s new transparent Mastercard, described as ‘The Window’ for its numerous customers, is a product of the bank’s electronic banking research designed to be physically transparent in appearance as well as reflecting transparency in transactional charges for its holders.

Speaking on behalf the bank’s managing director, Ifie Sekibo at the unveiling ceremony of the card in Lagos, Mary Akpobome, executive director, Ivory Banking, said “the new Mastercard is a product of thorough research by the company’s E-bank team led by Tobe Nnadozie and his colleagues with unflinching support from the Heritage Bank’s partners like Mastercard and Interswitch Limited, among others.”

Akpobome noted: “At Heritage Bank, our commitment to excellence service comes with uniqueness. Here we create, preserve and transfer wealth to our teeming customers. Our transparent Mastercard that comes with unique green strip at the bank will not only be transparent in its stylish outlook, it will also bring the transparency to bear in dealings with our customers. Our Mastercard can be used anywhere without hitch or technical bottlenecks. Ours is a culture of integrity, service and uniqueness at its best is our nature.”

She explained further that as an institution, Heritage Bank had redefined innovation through its banking products, style of service delivery and quality partnership in its overall operations, saying “we cherish innovation and quality partnership. That’s why we can go to this level to pioneer a transparent card for customers’ satisfaction.”

While congratulating the bank for introducing the transparent Mastercard, Omokehinde Ojomuyide, country manager for Mastercard in Nigeria, expressed delight in the partnership between the two corporate institution. “We are delighted to partner with innovative bank like yours. We thank you for the opportunity you gave us to be your partner on this. 

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UNILAG STUDENT TACKLES NIPOST OVER MISSING DIAMOND RING

Have you ever used the Nigerian postal service NIPOST?

Please if you have,share with us your experience after reading this story culled from the Punch newspaper:

An undergraduate student of the University of Lagos, Olayemi Victoria, has accused the Nigeria Postal Service of taking her engagement diamond ring sent by her fiancé from the United States of America.

Victoria, who is a final year student of the Department of Botany, said she also discovered that a BlackBerry Z10, valued $500, which came with the package, had been stolen.

She claimed that when she opened the pack, she only found a PlayStation, chocolate bar and a magazine.

She said, “My fiancé who lives in the USA, sent me a package consisting of a diamond ring, BlackBerry Z10, PS, chocolate bar and magazine.

“He could have used DHL, but I told him not to worry that I would get it through NIPOST because it was not my first time of using the service. He sent it in March, this year.

“I went to the UNILAG post office last week Monday when I was told the package had finally arrived. But on getting there, I discovered the package had been tampered with and the diamond ring and BlackBerry Z10 were not there.”

She said the manager of the UNILAG office told her the package was received that way, and nothing could be done about it.

Our correspondent gathered that Victoria alerted the institution’s security men to the incident in the hope of getting her ring and BlackBerry back.

This, however, did not work.

It was learnt that an official of the post office threatened to beat her up after she became more insistent on recovering the missing items.

Victoria told PUNCH Metro that she grew increasingly frustrated and reported the matter at the Sabo Police Station.

Our correspondent was told that the policemen at the station took her statement and demanded N5, 000 before going with her to investigate the case.

Victoria’s fiance, Gbolahan Ijimayowa, who is based in Dallas, USA, said he had instructed his fiancée to go to the police station after speaking with the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba.

Ijimayowa expressed disappointment at the way the police handled the matter, alleging that the package was tampered with at the UNILAG post office.

Ijimayowa, a registered nurse, in a telephone interview with our correspondent said, “I sent the package on March 11, 2014 through the United States Postal Service.

“I gave my fiancée the tracking number of the package so she could monitor it. I told her to keep checking at the post office, because I knew it could take up to four weeks before it would be delivered. But when the package finally arrived, they didn’t inform her.

“It was after two weeks that she was called by the UNILAG branch. I sent her the diamond engagement ring because we are planning our wedding soon. We have already had our introduction and engagement; then the BlackBerry Z10, and the PS, which is for my cousin. But the ring and BB were missing.

“I called Frank Mba, who said she should see policemen at Sabo, but those ones demanded N5,000 from her.”

Ijimayowa said if indeed the package was tampered with as claimed, there was supposed to be a documentation to that effect which could not be tendered by NIPOST.

“This is the way we spoil this country. I am sure the ring and BB were taken in the UNILAG office of NIPOST. They should be quizzed by the authorities. They should not be allowed to go scot-free. We need to have those things back,” he added.

When our correspondent visited the UNILAG office of NIPOST, which is located on the first floor of the varsity’s bookshop, he met three of the officials.

A lady, who wore the tag ‘Mbah Udonbanga’,  after listening to the allegation said, “Victoria indeed came here and made complaint that her package was tampered with and we have set up our internal investigation team to look into the matter and find out what exactly happened to the package.

“The complaint has also been directed to our district in Somolu and they are presently looking at it.”

When asked about the threat to the undergraduate, she said, “She said somebody threatened to slap her; did you ask her if she was slapped eventually? Her attitude was very bad when she came here, but she’s a customer and we had to just accommodate her that way.”

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SAMSUNG LAUNCHES LATEST DESIGN TV,AIRCONDITIONER IN NIGERIAN MARKET

Two weeks after launching Galaxy S5, latest design in the smartphone market, Samsung, the South Korean multinational conglomerate electronics company, has introduced Triangle design air conditioner and Curved Ultra high definition TV into the Nigerian market.

Displaying strength in the electronics market, the investment in the Nigerian market by the innovative electronics company demonstrates confidence in the Nigerian economy with largest population in Africa.

“At Samsung, we believe and take pride in our innovation with design and features, with a view to delivering world-class products, which enrich the lives of our consumers and deliver the future of technology… today,” said Brovo Kim, managing director of Samsung Electronics West Africa (SEWA).

The world’s first Triangle design air conditioner is engineered around the concept of delivering, faster, farther and wider air, while saving energy costs, he said. “The triangle design is a world’s first in design innovation and is Samsung’s quest in changing consumer perception on utility and aesthetics of spilt air conditioners,” said Sunil Kumar, director CE, IT and B2B, Samsung Electronics West Africa. On the Curved UHD TV, Sunil Kumar said it gives overwhelming immersion. 

Samsung did this by developing the revolutionary curved design that once seemed impossible for UHD and LED panel TVs.

The Samsung Curve UHD TV’s distinguishing feature is the worlds’ biggest curvature of 4200R, which gives the best immersion experience. Samsung’s Curved UHD TV automatically differentiates the objects from the scenery of the video, using “Auto Depth Enhancer,” which increases depth of the video.

He believed that the Samsung’s Curved UHD TV will change the paradigm of TV industry just like the ‘Samsung Bourdeaux TV’ did in 2006 and ‘Samsung LED TV’ did in 2009, boasting that Samsung will continue its dominance of the TV industry as global leader.multinational conglomerate electronics company, has introduced Triangle design air conditioner and Curved Ultra high definition TV into the Nigerian market.

Displaying strength in the electronics market, the investment in the Nigerian market by the innovative electronics company demonstrates confidence in the Nigerian economy with largest population in Africa.

“At Samsung, we believe and take pride in our innovation with design and features, with a view to delivering world-class products, which enrich the lives of our consumers and deliver the future of technology… today,” said Brovo Kim, managing director of Samsung Electronics West Africa (SEWA).

The world’s first Triangle design air conditioner is engineered around the concept of delivering, faster, farther and wider air, while saving energy costs, he said. “The triangle design is a world’s first in design innovation and is Samsung’s quest in changing consumer perception on utility and aesthetics of spilt air conditioners,” said Sunil Kumar, director CE, IT and B2B, Samsung Electronics West Africa. On the Curved UHD TV, Sunil Kumar said it gives overwhelming immersion. 

Samsung did this by developing the revolutionary curved design that once seemed impossible for UHD and LED panel TVs.

The Samsung Curve UHD TV’s distinguishing feature is the worlds’ biggest curvature of 4200R, which gives the best immersion experience. Samsung’s Curved UHD TV automatically differentiates the objects from the scenery of the video, using “Auto Depth Enhancer,” which increases depth of the video.

He believed that the Samsung’s Curved UHD TV will change the paradigm of TV industry just like the ‘Samsung Bourdeaux TV’ did in 2006 and ‘Samsung LED TV’ did in 2009, boasting that Samsung will continue its dominance of the TV industry as global leader.

Culled from Businessday

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