Most of the customer care officials of the Abak Road branch of Access Bank in Akwa Ibom State, don’t seem to know what their job entails. As early as 9am on Friday, May 30, 2025, most of the bank’s customers were wearing long faces, some others grumbling loudly because of a seeming chronic poor service.

The customer care unit of the branch has four desks, three of which were manned by ladies and the other by a dark complexioned young man. I was at the bank quite early, hoping to be attended to in less than 30 minutes since I met only three women on the queue.

As our queue was getting longer, one of the three female customer care officers was busy watching the screen of her desktop computer as if she was paid to do just that. The other lady next to her was busy gossiping, not attending to any customer. The third lady, was just parading around with her multi-coloured garment. Only the young man was attending to customers.

At a point, another customer, a young lady in jean trousers, joined us. With the obviously insensitive female bank officials doing nothing, she grumbled loudly. According to her, anyone who has business to transact with the branch must spend hours. “The workers are not serious here”, she said.

A lady seated close to me spoke of the “bad attitude” to work that is forcing Abak Road customers of the bank to the Aka Road branch. “That branch is always filled with customers at the Akpan Andem Market”, I told her. “They will always attend to you”, she responded, pointing out that she came to the branch where we met to open account for her son.

She was obviously disappointed with her experience with the customer care officers. Suddenly, I heard, “next!”. That was my turn. Without any courtesy, I was asked, “what did you come to do?” Promptly, I brought out my documents, and told the female official with the multi-coloured garment, “to update my account name.”

Since her other colleague remained glued to her desktop, pretending to be busy, I was told to wait. The other lady turned to me and declared that “you will wait till I finish this thing (the paper she was holding).” Okay, can your male colleague attend to me? She nodded in approval, and I ‘defected’.

The bank’s forms are not visual-friendly for some of us that age has impaired our vision. Calmly, the young banker guided me through the process, cracking jokes with me in-between. I requested if I can use his “executive biro pen”. Responding in the affirmative, he said, “sir, the executive biro pen also comes with executive charge.”. (Smiles). Shortly after, he discharged me. He politely fixed the challenge that took me to the bank.

As I stepped out of the banking hall, my heart kept pounding, wondering if most of the customer care functionaries of the Abak Road branch of Access Bank in Akwa Ibom, do not understand they are upsetting their customers. Seems they have no clue what to do. They and the branch are missing out on enormous growth.

I have never had such experience at the Ikwerre Road branch in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Not even in a branch I visited in Keffi, Nasarawa State, during the COVID-19 lockdown. Not at the Ahmadu Bello Way branch, Karu, and Nyanya branches, all in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.

The management team of the Abak Road branch needs to drum it into the ears of its staff that when customers are dissatisfied and vocal, it poses several risks for the business. It will decrease customer loyalty, spark negative word-of-mouth like some of those I heard from customers, potential legal issues, and a strain on the rest of the employees morale.

When customers are dissatisfied with the service a bank is providing, there are some kind of complainers – aggressive, expressive, passive or constructive – with consequences. The branch has to urgently identify effective customer care, and evolve best ways to respond.

Those who know better say the aggressive complainer is an extrovert who is controlling, practical and decisive. To get on their wavelength, avoid small talks and get straight down to business. Give them options so they feel they are in control. Aggressive complainers are most difficult to please and are often more concerned with displaying their emotion than actually achieving a solution.

The expressive complainer, they say, is also an extrovert but more sociable and impulsive. They will respond to an enthusiastic presentation style and need time to talk. Go for the big picture and avoid too much detail if you want to win over an expressive customer.

Their social nature means that expressive customers are more likely to complain openly to others, but possibly not directly to you. They may use social media to express their dissatisfaction – which will give their complaint a public airing. You should consider responding publicly, swiftly and positively in return.

The passive complainer is an introvert. They are friendly but can be totally indecisive. You cannot hurry this type of customer. They hate sales pressure and need reassurance. Passive complainers are the most lethal to a business’ success, as they will complain to everyone but the actual business. Since the business is left unaware of their error they can’t correct it, and the only thing a passive complainer succeeds in doing is depriving the company of potential business.

And, the constructive complainer is organised and critical. They are perfectionists who can suffer from ‘paralysis under analysis’. Give them plenty of detail and proof to win them over. Constructive complainers are most beneficial to a business since they are analytical and address their problem to the business in a calm, rational and detailed manner. This means you can identify the exact cause of the problem, making it easier to address and help you avoid future problems.

Whatever type of complainer the branch customer may be, it is important to deal with all complaints with the utmost care. After all, the customer is essential to business success.

Sometimes a customer complaint can be serious. If a customer has suffered a loss or damage as a result of your product or service, they might have a claim against you.

For now, customer benefit is ostensibly the most vital thing for any business to get right. Awesome customer administration can conquer poor showcasing, yet it is unfathomably troublesome, and costly to supplant poor customer benefit with even the most extraordinary, “delightful” promoting.

Inbound advertising is customer centered and intrinsically helps customer benefit. But, that does not mean businesses that utilise it cannot in any case be liable of terrible service encounters. Fortunately, even the most noticeably awful customer benefit propensities can be redressed without unfavourable harm to your image, expecting you make a move rapidly.

(Published by The Southerner on Thursday, June 19, 2025)