A service revolution is needed!

The level of customer service in Jamaica does not augur well for either the ease of doing business or the heartening of the spirit. On any given day one is required to interact with utility companies, government offices, or entities within the private sector and, outside of very few organisations which can be listed on one of my hands, that interaction will often lead to feelings of anger, disappointment, or confusion. This is the case for brick and mortar places, those that operate online, and across all sizes of businesses.

There are days when us as consumers accept the behaviours meted out to us as part of our culture, but this must come to an end posthaste, as the situation is beyond any form of acceptability.

Sadly, for the last few days I have watched a friend on social media pleading with a privately owned and operated Internet provider to not only work to return her service, but to even acknowledge receipt of the complaint. It broke my heart to see her posts fluctuate between begging and anger and eventually dejection and deep anger.

In today’s world of school and work from home, access to the Internet is a need and not a luxury. The use of data from one’s phone is costly and not a

The recent impasse between Norma horne and Leader of the Opposition Mark Golding over the Senate appointment is shocking and a reflection of the hypocrisy in our political leadership.

It is the duty of the prime minister and, in this case, the leader of the Opposition to appoint to the Senate only talented and principled people in whom they repose sufficient confidence. The clear mandate Mark Golding was given in the recent party leadership election should have been sufficient reason for members of the Senate, particularly those who opposed Golding’s leadership bid, to offer their resignations. This is the principled position to take.

This principled approach appeared to have been the approach taken by Horne when he declared in October 2020, prior to the People’s National Party (PNP) presidential elections, and mere weeks after being appointed to the Senate, that he would advise the governor general that he would not take up the appointment because of the impending internal leadership change. According to Horne, the new Opposition leader should have a free hand to appoint his slate of senators.

Horne, only mere weeks feasible option for use beyond a few hours.

A few weeks ago I had reason to go to a government office and, as I sat waiting, a woman entered looking quite sad. She approached the empty reception desk. Thereafter she was greeted with what can only be described as a look of ‘why are you here to bother me?’ The woman explained her situation, which included a one-year wait for a document which was necessary for her job which she lost because of problems with different name spelling on IDS. There was neither empathy nor compassion greeting this woman who was explaining that this was her 5th visit to the office to have the matter rectified.

Sitting and watching my fellow Jamaican being treated as unimportant and bothersome does not work well with me, but I decided to watch the situation play out. Actually, that was my intention until I realised the woman was being sent back to St Ann empty-handed. At this point I could not help but intervene. I calmly went to the reception desk and asked the confused and sad woman to explain the situation to me so that I could offer help, if possible. On hearing her situation I had no choice but to fight back tears which would rival the force at which hers were flowing.

I asked the young lady at reception to call a supervisor or manager who handles cases such as this. She refused on the grounds that she had her instructions. Let us skip a bit of that entanglement and get to the fact that the manager came and the woman left with her ID. I was happy for the outcome, but I was quite saddened by the low levels of care, empathy, and customer service that now exists in our country.

More and more each day I see where no one cares to take that extra step, or even to actually do the job in order to provide quality service and put a smile on a fellow Jamaican’s face. Who are we as a people?

Why have we become so hardened and lacking in care for each other? How do we break this cycle?

I have spent many hours reflecting on the situation and, without doubt, we need a national sensitisation campaign in schools, on social media, in the newspapers and through all other traditional media. While many in my age range and older can be rude — and knowingly so — the generations younger than us are not even cognisant of how badly they treat each other and those they seek to serve. For our country to “build back stronger” after this pandemic, we must all learn to choose kindness as the default with which we treat each other. Those of us who choose to serve, whether as politicians, receptionists, teachers, nurses, entrepreneurs or in whatever field, must change the current mode of operation. We cannot continue to treat those we are to serve as a bother.

We must revolutionise the concept of service in Jamaica at the national and local levels.