Is the customer King or Pauper?

Customers are kings in RwandaAt least once a week, I will hear someone blast Rwanda over poor customer care services; complaints are flying left right and centre, so much that people have deliberately failed to open their eyes to reality.It is even becoming scary and getting out of hand, whereby, some people go to a hotel not to eat or drink, but to piss off the management by uttering vulgarities at waiters, in the hope that they can get a counter reaction. When they do get one, they use it everywhere they go to justify their claims that a customer in Rwanda is not given the care he or she deserves.Since I arrived home in Rwanda, which isn’t a few years back, there wasn’t a worse critic of poor services offered by private businesses; I was so irritated the first time I had a meal in a restaurant in Kigali that I vowed never to visit that particular restaurant again.Indeed I kept my word for 12 months, until one day when a friend persuaded me to go back. But still, I only went there because no other place in the area was showing live premier league matches.When I pulled up a seat, I was surprised! A waiter immediately sprung up and with a bright face said, “Mwiriweho!” this didn’t seem to shock my colleague but to me, the warm greeting left me stunned! I never expected it, at least not from that restaurant.When we made our orders, I began counting to see how long it would take them to get me a plate of kabenz and fries. Still they stunned me; it took them a plain twenty minutes; compared to the 60 minutes it took them the last time I was here, I was compelled to say “well done.”For a keen observer, it is not difficult to see that customer care services in Rwanda have doubly improved. Yes, lots of places need criticism, which good criticism doesn’t only happen in Rwanda but even in countries where you’d expect people to understand the importance of quality customer care services, but all in all, let’s give credit where it’s due!What I don’t like is those self appointed “angels” who criticize blindly! Those people who will never offer gratitude for a good service offered them, but pay back by badmouthing Rwanda to whomsoever cares, calling it a destination for hell-like customer services.Whether we like it or not, we must agree, customer care services have improved a great deal, and there is ample evidence for to prove that.First, it is rare to find a shop closed at lunch time, as it used to be in the past when all lazy business runners opted for a nap instead of making money.The managers, waitresses and waiters are very friendly these days, unlike in the recent past when a manager would order you to respect his staff or vamoose to another place. Food comes fast, a simple snap of the customer’s finger and a waiter appears in no time, the places tidier and more inviting, generally the service providers’ have realized the customer’s position.And it is not just because that these businessmen listened to a million critics, they on their own realized that they had to change or fail miserably; it was inevitable that at one point in time, they up their game or make losses due to lack of customers.Therefore, let us drop the patronizing behavior, give credit where it is due and criticize when it is necessary. Otherwise, the customer is back on top in our society- he is king.