Yesterday morning, I walked into the Nokia Care centre along the Hilton Hotel building, right across from Dedan's statue. The lighting was great, all bright white and blue, lots of space and four ladies seated in a row facing the door. One seat in front of the lady at the corner (she seemed older and bossier) was empty and I, with a smile on my face walking in happy to see no long winding queue marched right up to her and said Hi!
Shock on me. The madam did not even bother to look up as she loudly said 'Please get a ticket'. Now, this is the first time I have been to the place, I had no idea that we needed tickets to get served, and thats really alright, but having no idea where the ticketing machine is, I did a 360 degree turn looking around for it. Now, had there been a person to direct me to where the machine is, my smile would not have quickly frozen on my face.
Another unlucky customer who had been seated, ticket in hand, rose to fill the seat in front of lady number 2 which had just become vacant and Madam, again loudly and with a hint of irritation in her voice said 'Just wait for your ticket number to be called.'
So I sat for 10 long minutes, made long by the sight of the empty chair in front of the madam and the bored look of the 4th lady who was serving a client so slowly I honestly didn't see her raise a finger...
Eventually, the electronic voice called out my number. By this time, my smile was no more and I couldn't wait to get out the door, but since my phone needed servicing, I waited. I walked up to lady number 2 who kind of smiled at me, but I'm guessing she could see the disappointment on my face and wasn't too bothered to make things right... so anyway, I sat with a 'Hi, can this be fixed here and for how much?' as I showed her my cracked phone screen.
She kindly paused from the sweet nothings she was sending to somebody she was chatting to in the back and asked him how much my phone repair would cost? She said '12k' with a look that made me feel like asking for a cheaper option so as not to disappoint her already clearly conceived notion that I couldn't afford it and that it would take 2 weeks to repair. I said 'hmmm, I'll think about it...' as I got up and walked out the door and across the street, never to go back ever again.
Today, I took myself all the way to Westlands, Midcom offices to see if I could get my phone repaired. A lady at the reception, though bored, did look up at my 'Hi!' and ask me to wait for a 'Diana' who would sort out all my Nokia care problems. Some 5 minutes later, a door open and a lady walked out. I turned to face her as she walked across the reception floor and said 'Hi Diana,' guessing it was she I was waiting for. She had phones in her hand and she smiled brightly at me and said 'Hi' as she walked upto me as I explained my problem and nicely told me she would be with me in a bit and walked to her desk to serve a waiting customer. I did not mind, I walked around the store looking at phones and stuff and after serving some three customers, and after I had asked the smiling 2nd receptionist if anybody else could help me since Diana was so busy, it was finally my turn.
The girl was lovely. Smiling, fun, laughing. She was such a difference from yesterday's experience and I told her so. When she told me how much it would cost me to have the phone fixed, a whooping KSH12,000, and repaired in 30 minutes max, I did not think twice. First because it is an original Nokia Smartphone that does not come cheap and secondly because my experience at the store, her service, and that of her boss who was easy, smiled, laughed and paid attention to me was great.
And I will be back should I ever need anything Nokia...
