The FINANCIAL — A year on from the latest research about customer service in Georgia and there have been no improvements in this field as a Consumer Protection Law simply does not exist in Georgia anymore, according to the Consumer Federation of Georgia.
The FINANCIAL — A year on from the latest research about customer service in Georgia and there have been no improvements in this field as a Consumer Protection Law simply does not exist in Georgia anymore, according to the Consumer Federation of Georgia. Consumers’ complaints are on the rise especially in the fields of technology, food, clothing, shoes, linen and tourism. The majority of companies in Georgia however do not have a special department responsible for customer service despite the fact that they are reportedly oriented on high customer service.
“The consumer market is not regulated by law, which is the reason for the pervasive low level of customer service in Georgia,” said Madona Koidze, Director of the Consumer Federation.
Another obstacle for dissatisfied consumers in the country is that they cannot appeal against a company if their loss does not exceed GEL 300, according to the current codes. “This is not fair as the consumer basket costs less than that and the minimum wage is also less than GEL 300. Besides the financial loss, consumers are affected by moral damage which should also be compensated for. Consumers’ rights are restricted even by the inscription found on many shop doors – No returns or refunds,” Koidze said.
ACT, public opinion research and strategic consulting company in the Caucasus region responsible for the latest research on customer service in Georgia, claims that nothing has changed since this research was done in February 2012, so they have nothing new to report on customer service in Georgia.
“The fact that service quality is one of the most significant aspects for any business is not up for argument,” said Natalia Kutsinashvili, Head of the Service Quality Department at ACT. “However, miscellaneous positions are often being heard regarding Georgian service. 400 adult residents of Tbilisi were inquired on the basis of representative selection in 2012. As for service quality in general, based on the given results, a rather positive tendency has formed – none of the sectors obtained a negative evaluation and this means that both public and business sectors pay enough attention to the satisfaction level of consumers,” she added.
As it appeared, Tbilisi residents are most satisfied with the service at pharmacies according to the research done by ACT. Home appliance and electronics shops are a little way behind pharmacies. As for insurance companies, they took last place though their evaluation is neutral and is more associated with the positive than the negative.
“It is also interesting that public services take third place with 4.08 points, even ahead of the bank sector (3.92),” said Kutsinashvili.
Wissol Petroleum Georgia and TBC Bank are in the minority of companies in the country which actually have a separate department under the name ‘Customer Service’ and the position ‘Head of Customer Service’. All the other companies surveyed by The FINANCIAL instead have hotlines where people can call with any kind of query, complaint or information. Companies consider this call centre to be the equivalent to customer service, but in reality the phone numbers do not provide all the information sometimes needed and do not deal with customers’ complaints.
Some companies do not have a special customer service department, but the quality management department controls the service quality as well in the case of Bank of Georgia and Bank Republic, for example. Aldagi BCI has a Customer Relations Management Department which has all its employees serving insured people.
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