Success in entrepreneurship is definitely not measured alone by fiscal success alone but also by maintaining a culture of excellence. Finding this balance between excellence and ambition is the bane of sustainable growth for many businesses in Nigeria, and has prevented many pan Nigeria brands from becoming true global players.

One major impediment to maintaining a culture of excellence for Nigerian businesses is poor customer service. Nigerian businesses in their bid to be profit driven have jettisoned the place of customer centricity, as a result, they eventually alienate their customers. In a twinkling of an eye, the brand goes under like its predecessors.

Every day on the social media we read stories of poor service delivery by Nigerian service providers which cut across but not limited to banking, retail, hospitality, even online car hire service providers like Uber and Taxify get drawn into the fray. These breaches of client/customer confidentiality is so rampant we have come to accept it as a consequence of patronising businesses here.

Some service providers in the country have zero tolerance for complaints and criticism and many of their customers have been manhandled and arrested by them. All this is possible in a country where customers have no right.

However, at a time like this, the cup seems full for God is Good Motors and we won’t let their latest infractions slip by. The company which prides itself as the number one transport company in Nigeria is making things difficult for its customers and they have taken to Twitter to vent their anger.

On the morning of Thursday, February 1, 2018, an aggrieved passenger set the tone for the myriad of complaints against God is Good Motors. Toyosi Ayeleso tweeting via @toyosicsi was the aggrieved passenger, in a series of tweets, he complained about the poor customer service he experienced at their Festac terminal. He had booked a seat for a Lagos to Akure trip two days earlier, he was assured of getting to Akure via an Abuja bound bus, he got to Festac terminal on Thursday morning at exactly 5.33am, waited for his turn and when he boarded the bus, he was asked to alight as the driver said he won’t be going to Akure which was a contravention of the earlier arrangement. He protested but his cries were ignored and he was forced to disembark a few minutes past 8am.

Another Twitter user @O_Gbemiro took to Twitter to complain about poor customer service which has made him ditch the brand he once enjoyed as a constant traveller.

As if this was not enough another passenger, Tosin Oluwalowo described a sad experience with the company while making his bookings with them in February 2017, tweeting via @toluwalowo he stated that he made his bookings online and while trying to make payments, the message from the website was “Payment unsuccessful” however he was debited over 6000 naira. Till date, according to Oluwalowo, the company is yet to refund the money for a journey he was unable to make as confirmed in a phone interview with this writer.

If that wasn’t bad enough, God Is Good Motors continues to use buses that are clearly unfit for road transportation. The company which named its buses as ground aircrafts have subjected their passengers to untold hardship. For Shade (not real name) who chose to remain anonymous her experience on the 1st of February 2018 was not different from other complainants.

Her Abuja bound bus was delayed at God is Good Motors park at Jibowu, the trip slated for 5:30am didn’t commence until 8.30am without any apologies. Few hours into the trip, the bus developed a mechanical fault at Ogere, before Sagamu, Ogun, and they were delayed for long hours until they were attached to another Abuja bound God is Good Motors coming from Lagos.

Suffice to say, they had to hitch a ride despite paying about 9,500 Naira. All these experiences are few of what aggrieved God is Good Motors customers protested online and offline in an interview with this writer.

The management of God is Good Motors needs to reposition itself for effective customer service delivery in a competitive market like the transport industry. At the moment, things are definitely not good with God is Good Motors.

NOTE:

As at the time of filing this report, calls made to God is Good Motors via their numbers 09087821924, 08090470861 for an official response proved abortive.