The invitation was for a working dinner on the 33rd floor of a hotel on Shaikh Zayed Road. In the media world this is normal.
What was not normal, however, was that every elevator in the building was grounded at the lobby level and nobody was going anywhere, despite hurry writ large on the faces of the groups of people hovering in the vicinity.
"There has been a fire, and it has been brought under control," it was explained privately by an employee of the hotel, after he was queried. The fire alarm however continued screaming softly in the background, while the minutes ticked by and people got impatient.
So typical, I thought, why is it that companies are so poor at communication, especially when paying clients are being put through an inconvenience?
An hour later there was still no clear announcement on what was happening, even as new people walked into the open elevators and tried to make them work and the fire alarm continued to ring.
Frustrated, my colleague and I gave up the idea of footing it to the 33rd floor and, instead, took the steps to the mezzanine level where our favourite restaurant is located.
Our experience at the restaurant was unbelievably amazing. There he was, the young restaurant manager going from table to table apologising for the "terrible inconvenience", apologising that parts of the menu would not be available for us to order from and then apologising further for the smoke alarm in the background, which continued banshee-like despite the fire being brought completely under control.
How I privately wished then that I, as a consumer, would always be treated with such soothing elan so that I would never be accused of volatility, especially when standing up for my rights.
Would it not be a wonderful thing if airlines, banks, property developers, electronic companies, car dealers, et al, would treat all paying consumers with the respect they deserve; a clear explanation, a quick apology and then the choice of replace, refund or repair? With the economy not yet completely out of the woods, would it not make excellent business sense to ensure that a satisfied customer returns again and again?
Unfortunately, common business sense is uncommon. Why else would the Consumer Protection Department have to deal with 2,400 complaints in the first eleven months of 2009? It may seem a small number, but it is well known that most people refuse to complain because they have neither the time nor the inclination to go through the process of being an unhappy customer to becoming someone who starts harbouring thoughts of strangling the vendor.
