I love israel. I decided to move there because quality of life is outstanding and the mentality is dynamic and young. But there is one thing i hate: the lack of culture of basic customer service with service providers. I have lived in several countries and can compare from my own experience how this is addressed here and there.
It does not matter what service you subscribe to (mobile, internet, telephone, electricity, gaz, bank...) it is just a nightmare to get to talk to the right person.
THE WRONG COMMITMENT SYSTEM
But the worse is not here. Most of those services are working on the basis that you commit to a minimum period with their services (say 6 months) and receive a preferential price for it. The problem is that you NEVER know when this period comes to an end unless you start receiving the new bill with a new higher amount, meaning this is too late.
Of course the service provider will never call you to notify you that your promotion is about to end and that you need to renew it. I wonder how many customers like me over paid for too long because those services are not educated to call their customer before the promotion period ends. And it happens with each single service (internet, tv, mobile...). They claim they add a mention in the bills. My ISP say it appears in the email they created for me (I never use because their webmail suck: 013 FYI). Then i asked a paper bill. But i checked and it appears lost in other mentions and it is definitely not enough.
Then you have to call them to explain you overpaid (they will claim you did not since you did not renew your commitment) And the only way to get your money back is to threaten you are going to close the account. Then they offer you a special "new" promotion coming out of nowhere asking you to commit to a new period and if you shouted loud enough they will refund the months you overpaid. Imagine you have to do that every 6months/12 months with each one of your provider. This is not sustainable
This is UNACCEPTABLE. Of course all communications are on your account....
What should they do? call their customers when they are asked to (some will be happy with a letter) and ask them to renew their promotion. Could they do it? Of course, although they claim they can't (because it serves them well and because they are not educated correctly to serve their customers). This should change and the government should be involved in this change at it has a direct impact on the citizens savings and therefore on the economy.
THE HIDDEN BANK COMMISSIONS
I have an account in Discount Bank but i believe this is true with other banks. I have observed over time 2 problems
- They take a lot of commissions that are never explained or detailed. Why? Because the information system is not unique (bank, credit card) and because you are supposed to know exactly what you do and what you pay for, which is impossible once you know the complexity of their fee system.
- their internet website is not relating well the operations forcing you to call them all the time for explanations. My contacts at the bank claim that they are not responsible for what is appearing on the site and that i should speak to another department in charge of the internet site. Same thing for operations that are made in foreign currency. WTH???
Many times i have discovered some of the commissions were not justified and were paid back to me. but this is NOT NORMAL. i don't have time for this and i need to trust my bank. And i wan't to talk to only one person to solve my problems. i want someone to take responsibility. I just wrote a complain letter to the person responsible of my branch. I am not naive this is not going to change things a lot. It is very likely one day i will close my account there and will start off with a new bank that will have a clearer fee system but also a good customer service.
What is missing: responsibility and transparency
The real problem is that Israel is a very small country and service providers know very well they don't need to make so many efforts because choices are limited. That's why the government should force those changes for the good of consumers.
I am sure i am not alone in this case. I am sure that this should change. I am sure this will change because it does not make sense a customer has to waste time to pay the right price of the service is subscribed to.
update: i printed this post and sent it by fax to my bank branch manager. Immediately i got a call and commissions were paid back to me and my situation in order. The miracles of the Holy land...
I wanted to write this post for a long time but i have just read this great article in Wired about what you should/could do when you work in a cafe with your laptop and that suddenly mother nature calls you to your duties. Working myself often in Cafes in Israel or Abroad i perfectly know the situation. In the article the writer mentions 5 solutions that do not work for me.
