By Bizna Brand Analyst
Zuku is the best internet provider in Kenya right now. That isn’t even something that can be put to referenda. The quality of the speeds is super excellent. I even wrote a good review about the provider a few weeks ago after I met a girl whose career was on a high because of Zuku. I conducted a survey and found out that most subscibers love the service but hate the customer care.
On the first of July, Zuku launched a short campaign enabling new customers to get free fiber installation. Installation normally costs 4K and having that scrapped is a genius way to acquire loads of new customers. It’s more than a bargain. I understand that the offer was meant to last until the sixth of July but it has been extended.
The problem is that most people who paid for a package of their choice in the current offer haven’t received installation up until now.
I came to know about the offer from a friend on Saturday. She’s been using Zuku fiber for over a year now and she has never had any complaints. Excited, I informed around 20 other people about the offer.
On Monday morning I called customer care to make payments for the Infinite 15 package. After they confirmed that my area had service, I was referred to a person who would be handling my account. He assured me that technicians would be coming to my place later in the day to install the fiber. They would call me an hour before arrival he said. So I stayed at home and waited.
Until today, no technician has called me. It’s Thursday, the 7th yet I made payment on the morning of 4th. Out of the 20 people I told about the offer, 17 made payment s that same Monday. Only two of them have had their fiber installed so far.
The guy who was supposed to handle my account has been dodgy with phone calls. Whenever I call, he picks and says he’ll call me back but he doesn’t. I tweeted the Zuku handle inquiring about the status of my installation and I was told that it is normally done within 5 days after payment. This isn’t true at all. That information doesn’t appear anywhere on their website
My colleague called customer care only to get a different story. He was informed that installation is done within 7 days, yet he even made his payment before me. So which is which?
What seems to be the problem? It seems the free installation offer brought crazy demand , thus overwhelming the staff. But this is something the company should have anticipated in advance and placed more technicians on duty.
If all the existing Zuku customers I know had their fiber was installed within a day, I expect mine to be installed within a day too. I don’t understand why customer care should change rules according to their convenience. I personally subscribed because I needed the internet urgently. Now the date and time of installation is unknown.
I checked Zuku’s social media accounts to see if there are other Kenyans complaining about the same. There are plenty. I hope that Zuku handles this matter soon. It would be great if customer care at least told someone the exact date and time of installation, so that you don’t cancel plans and wait. I personally can’t get out of Nairobi at the moment because I don’t want to leave then miss out on the Zuku installation. I wish my account manager would have been honest with me in the first place and said
“Hello, we normally install fiber within a day but we are currently having a surge in demand so we will do so within five days. Kindly bear with us.”
Not a hard thing to say right?
Otherwise, Wananchi Group is doing a great job at providing fast, reliable internet for thousands of Kenyans. I pray that future offers are planned out carefully next time. Let me be patient now. It might be worth the wait.