Mazen Abdulrazaq Balilah
Saudis love to be hospitable. Every year, millions of Muslims from all over the world come to visit the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque. Our religion advises us to be kind to our neighbors and helpful. However, we still have not improved our customer service the way we should. We are far from reaching the levels found in countries in Europe.
I have read wonderful and amazing things about how companies in advanced countries treat their customers. They do not do that because of religion but because of competitiveness. We are living in the age of competition.
One of the stories was about a three-year-old boy who wrote a letter to Sainsbury’s, a supermarket chain in the United Kingdom, asking them to change the name of its Tiger Bread to Giraffe Bread because the bread looked more like a giraffe than a tiger. The company liked the idea and changed the name. It even posted the story on its website.
Another story was about an American auto repair shop. This is a good story which our Ministry of Commerce and Industry could learn lessons from. The repair shop sends customers postcards thanking them for bringing their cars and stressing that their after-sales service will continue and customers can contact them should they need any help.
A young woman wrote to a supermarket in a Western country and told them that her father, who was an old man and very sick, would love to have certain products. The next day, all of the products listed in the woman’s letter were delivered free-of-charge to her father.
The last story, which is very emotional, is about United Airlines which delayed a flight so that a son could see his mother and hug her before traveling abroad.
