Local service excellence

For the last 3 months I have been having problems with my Laptop power supply, finally yesterday it stopped working all together, and that was it, I was moving to the UK where things worked. Let me give you the sequence of events, which frustrated the heck out of me. So the power supply stops working after another Eskom power cut, it just doesn’t come back on, I still have power and log onto the Sony website find out what the warranty period is, 10 minutes later I find out its only one year, the laptop is 13 months old! (go figure) Ok so I find a Sony repair centre in Cape Town who insists I bring it in so technicians can asses it, they run a whole load of diagnostics takes 3 days, I don’t have 3 days all my data is on the laptop and I can’t operate without it. At this time I am so frustrated I drive around the block to calm down. The whole office decide to steer clear of me, my eyes are blood shot and I’m stressed.

Compare this to the experience I had at our local computer repair shop Compuworld in Vredenburg, I arrive at 8.30am, and head straight to the back office, which is full of computers being repaired, I head directly for Eugene the owner who drops what he is doing and takes my laptop puts it on charge and continues to test the power supply, he tells me they have these issues all the time, and explains how they work and what he is going to do to repair it, don’t worry, he says “don’t worry, how much” about R150, but more importantly when can I have it back, “today, come back in 2 hours” that is what I call Local fantastic service, you can NEVER get that sort of service from a chain store because nobody takes responsibility, compare that to the service I received, I dealt directly with the owner and he took total control and responsibility for the situation.

At the same time my buyer Eon has also taken matters into his own hands, sourced one in Cape Town, had our local courier Pegasus collect it on an over night service and I have it at 9am in the morning, compare this too visiting the returns department at a large chain store, which goes something like this, and how they make you suffer!

1. Dig out receipt from my filing cabinet

2. Drive to mall and find parking

3. Stand in queue at customer service desk

4. Explain what was wrong to vacant 16yr old behind counter

5. Explain what was wrong to equally vacant 50 something behind counter

6. Wait while they phone around trying to find out what to do

7. Hold for Europe call centre

8. Explain to call centre what is wrong

9. Get told I should just charge the unit

10. Explain that it's fully charged

11. Get told to take it home and charge it for 24 hours

12. Explain that it's fully charged

13. Get told again that to take it home and charge it for 24 hours

14. Give up and go home and charge it for 24 hours

15. The pain continues The next day:- Drive to mall and find parking

16. Stand in queue at customer service desk

17. Explain what was wrong to same vacant 16yr old behind counter

18. Explain what was wrong to same equally vacant 50 something behind counter

19. Wait while they phone around trying to find out what to do

20. Hold for Joburg call centre

21. Explain to Joburg call centre what is wrong

22. Get told I should just charge the unit

23. Explain that it's fully charged and that I have already charged it

24. Hand phone over to vacant 16 yr old behind counter

25. Wait while she gets instructions

26. Hand broken item in and ask when it will be ready.

27. Wait while vacant 16 yr old phones joburg call centre

28. Get told maybe 28 days

29. 3 and a half weeks later I got a phone call saying unit is repaired Drive to mall and find parking

30. Stand in queue at customer service desk

31. Explain that I want my widget to vacant 16yr old behind counter

32. Explain that I want my widget to equally vacant 50 something behind counter

33. Wait while they hunt for the widget

To Eon & Eugene thank you very much. Local is Lekker, consider the cost of ownership before you decide to spend your hard earned Rands, at the faceless chain store.

Why Shop Local?

Top Ten Reasons to Shop Local

We all know how fun it is to shop locally in West Coast, but there’s more to it:

1. Protect Local Character and Prosperity

West Coast is unlike any other region in the world. By choosing to support locally owned businesses, you help maintain West Coast diversity and distinctive flavor.

2. Community Well-Being

Locally owned business build strong neighborhoods by sustaining communities, linking neighbors, and by contributing more to local causes.

3. Local Decision Making

Local ownership means that important decisions are made locally by people who live in the community and who will feel the impacts of those decisions.

4. Keeping Rands in the Local Economy

Your Rands spent in locally-owned businesses have three times the impact on your community as Rands spent at national chains. When shopping locally, you simultaneously create jobs, fund more towns services through sales tax, invest in neighborhood improvement and promote community development.

5. Job and Wages

Locally owned businesses create more jobs locally and, in some sectors, provide better wages and benefits than chains do.

6. Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship fuels South Africa’s economic innovation and prosperity, and serves as a key means for families to move out of low-wage jobs and into the middle class.

7. Public Benefits and Costs

Local stores in town centers require comparatively little infrastructure and make more efficient use of public services relative to big box stores and strip shopping malls.

8. Environmental Sustainability

Local stores help to sustain vibrant, compact, walkable town centers-which in turn are essential to reducing sprawl, automobile use, habitat loss, and air and water pollution.

9. Competition

A marketplace of tens of thousands of small businesses is the best way to ensure innovation and low prices over the long-term.

10. Product Diversity

A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products based, not on a national sales plan, but on their own interests and the needs of their local customers, guarantees a much broader range of product choices.

We will soon be updating www.shopwestcoast.co.za you will be able to add your business for free.

Attorney supports Local is Lekker.

I was speaking to my attorney (Jan Swemmer & Levin) yesterday (millions of FICA documents to complete, who decided that was a good idea!) his company has been doing business on the West Coast in Vredenburg for 90 years, they are one of Standard Banks oldest clients (more than 75 years) we were talking about shopping on the West Coast and he said that if he can get the product in Cape Town for say R10 but has been quoted R15 from the local supplier in Vredenburg, he simply offers the local supplier R11 or R12 he is happy to support the local supplier, but not price's that are vastly different, he said that not one of his suppleirs had ever said no, to his proposal.
It’s a simple rule, if we don’t support local business why should they support us, and the service levels are much better locally.

Walmart the story.

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/77/walmart.html

This is worth a read we are heading this way.

How to destroy the West Coast.

To change this senario, and to destroy local, purchase from big business that is not locally owned, or go to the city and purchase from a large chain store, and the profits go to the share holders.

If you don’t own shares in the company ‘why buy from them’ they are cheaper, ask yourself how much cheaper, ultimatly big business will destroy small towns read about walmart (I will tell you more about Walmart in future postings) in America, a similar situation is growing in South Africa, with the like s of Makro & Game (to mention 2) and large shopping centres. Shopping centres give the likes of Game the rental for 10% of what you pay for the same space rented in the same shopping mall they call them anchor tenants, where do the profits go? Back too the share holders, the local economy does not grow. But you may argue that they create jobs, and yes they do, but if the local business was supported it would also grow and create jobs, with better conditions and pay for the employee’s. Think before you buy from a chain store that doesn’t support the local cummunity.

I have owned my small business on the West Coast for 36 months now, and one think which is very apparent is the amount of businesses and retail shoppers are willing to travel to Cape Town 120km away to do there business.

There is a perception that its cheaper?

I would like to try and bring it home to business owners that shopping local boast the whole economy of a small town, and ultimately leads to better prices more jobs, more spenders in the local community hence a massive knock on effect.

The 120km

If you buy your new TV from the local store, and everybody else does the same, this store will get busy, he will be in a position to negotiate better prices from the distributor/importer he will also have to employ more staff to help with the busy store these new staff will spend there money in your store! Seems like a basic idea. But it doesn’t work like that WHY NOT, why do we get in our car drive 100km to Makro or HiFi Corporation WHY do we get better prices, better selection, better service. I don’t think so its just a perception. Did you save any money driving those 120km time, wear and tear on the vehicle.

How do you encourage clients to buy local?

Shop West Coast

What does it mean to shop locally!
You support the local micro economy, and your business will grow, more people will have jobs, less crime, the list is endless.
Sounds simple, right, wrong!