NBAD and Team Express

How not to run token distribution campaign

In early March I received an email from National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) that my RSA token would expire by end of the month and that I would be contacted by a courier company for delivery.

Oh, wonderful! I said to myself.

The entire month passed, the token expired and I didn’t hear from anybody. I then emailed NBAD and let them know I had not received my token. In the meantime, I called the Call Center and complained. I was told I could go a branch and try to get one. So I went to a branch and they told me they could not give one as that was not my branch and I would be charged. I complained that this was causing problems for me. The Rep at the branch agreed with me that there should have been a better way to handle this.

After a couple email messages with the bank, I decided to wait as I realized I couldn’t do much. The Rep at the branch also said there was a shortage of tokens.

So, on Saturday, 18 April, at 8:30am I receive a call from the courier company. I really could not understand the name of the company but I was told there was a token for me to receive and that I should be available between 9 to 5 on Sunday, the next day. I complained that it was impossible for me to simply sit around at home and wait for the courier the entire day. I lady on the other end kept insisting on the entire day availability.

After some time, I convinced here that I should be available only in the morning from 9 to 1. So we agreed.

The company reminded me of the TV cable companies of the old

Yesterday I waited until 2pm and decided to call the company to inquire why I had not received the token by then. I was outside.

It was a mistake. I was literally fighting with the phone attendants, who were helpless, although trying very hard to help me. They did not know why there was a delay in the delivery and kept promising me a return call.

I never once received a call from anyone at the company who could tell me the status of the delivery. I made a total of 12 calls to their office. One time I was told I should call the Abu Dhabi office. Why?

Let’s cut the story short, I asked to speak to a manager. It happened only after they came back from their lunch break. The manager apologized and he spoke to the courier and assured me the token would be delivered within 20 minutes. Lo and behold 20 minutes later, I had the token. This was around 4pm.

The experience really calls into question how companies–large and small–go about treating their customers.

Lessons Learned:

• If you are a major bank in the region, you need to do a significantly better job of running a campaign or distributing tokens to customers. Secondly, you need to work with a reliable partner. Don’t mess with the customer.
• If you are courier company and you’re given a chance to build up your reputation, you need to step up to the plate and do a better job. Don’t ruin your chances at improving your business.

Companies Mentioned:

Team Express Services

National Bank of Abu Dhabi