If you're a shareholder of the mobile provider Zain in Saudi Arabia, then please pay attention. Zain shareholders may be wondering why the company isn't doing so well despite substantial investment. The reason is simple – poor customer service. I am a Tamayyuz customer at Saudi Telecom (STC). Tamayyuz customers are the most difficult to attract and the most valuable for any telecom. Our monthly charges run into the thousands of Saudi Riyals and we are the most likely to take premium subscriptions and services. How did I become a Zain customer? STC has awful connectivity in one area of Medinah that I frequently visit. Residents of the area advised me to take a mobile line from Zain and I'd be able to make and receive calls without frequent service interruptions. Back in September 2014 I signed up for a Gold Zain 1000 postpaid subscription. I was given a special number 0599111774, a special package and a hefty monthly line fee of at least SR1,000. The first chance I had to try the new service in Medinah, I excitedly turned on my phone and found that it didn't work. Zain's friendly customer service at 959 advised me that the line had been disconnected because the proper paper work wasn't in place to support it. They wouldn't reactivate the service and it was just too bad that I had paid SR1,000 for nothing. I returned back to Al Khobar and went to the Zain office in Al Rashid Mall. There the customer service representative advised me that I would have to again fill out all the documents in regards to my account activation because the paperwork I'd already completed was “somewhere inside the file storage area and couldn't be found.” I completed the application forms again and was assured that the number was now working fine, roaming was activated and I would have worry free use of the Zain service moving forward. Not to bore you with the miserable details of my continued line failure with Zain, but the number hardly ever worked again – neither inside nor outside Saudi Arabia. My complaints were ignored and on February 28, I disconnected the service. I estimated that I paid SR6,000 to be allowed to make three phone calls. I had to return to the Zain office in Al Khobar to disconnect the line. There, the service representative advised me that despite my requests, the roaming on the line had never been activated even though company instructions are that Zain 1000 customers should leave the sales office with all their services, including roaming, fully working. I was told that someone in customer service would follow up to hear all my service problems in order to provide better service to other customers and I was asked for a number where I could be reached. No one from Zain ever called. And while I'm giving STC thousands of riyals in call charges and service fees monthly, it's not something that pleases me. On Friday I discovered that one of my fixed lines wasn't working. Calling for technical support, I was told that the line wouldn't be repaired till Sunday as there wasn't any technical support on the weekend. But what a surprise when a few hours later an STC engineer appeared at the door to our home stating that the line was live again. It turned out that an STC contractor working on the nearby telecom cabinet the day before had left five lines unplugged. But then delight turned to unhappiness when the technician asked for the service request code so he could prove to his management that the job was complete. When I showed him that the code had never come to my handset and in fact the message was incomplete, he advised me to, “buy another handset compatible with the STC messaging service.” I don't want to single out Zain or STC for their poor customer service. Treating customers badly is the norm amongst telecom providers in the Kingdom. I don't use Mobily because once I signed up for a Mobily Internet connection and then had to fight recurring service charges for years – even though the modem had been returned. My question is, “Why isn't the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) forcing its licensed telecoms to provide excellent customer service and imposing significant fines on those providers when they fall short of the mark?”
