My estimation of new Post Office CEO Mark Barnes, already high, just ratcheted up a few notches.
Yesterday, a community member sent an email complaining about Post Office branches “always” being offline, suggesting licensing departments would be better served partnering with the banks. I forwarded her mail to Barnes’s old email address, more in hope than conviction. After all, even if he received it the newly installed SAPO bossman has other things on his mind. Like a threatened strike.
Even so, the one time candidate to run Standard Bank found the time to call, himself, and ask for more details. Proving that if you want something done, hand it to a busy person. Given its continued drain on National Treasury, fixing the Post Office is something all South Africans should want done. We seem to have the right man in the job.
And now I also know why Barnes was such a favourite of the late, great Bertie Lubner.
From Biznews community member Garth Luxton
Dear Alec,
I read BizNews avidly on a daily basis and appropriate bits find their way around the globe! Thank you!!
I am particularly interested in today’s topic as the CEO’s of all major companies simply hide behind illiterate desk staff in call centres or so called Customer Care email addresses, far removed from reality and certainly with NO care ethic either inherently or in the training!!
This applies to the City of Cape Town, MTN and my lesser favourite, Telkom; not one of these operations does anything to instill any confidence in the public –  in the first instance I have written for four weeks now to the Accounts department, the Office of the Mayor, the Ombudsman and my City Councillor and not one of them had bothered to respond in four weeks; MTN are notoriously uncommunicative – calling them is useless as the lines are always “busy” and NO written correspondence has ever been attended to in 25 years!!, and for all their promoting their amazing new fast ADSL/fibre optic capability, etc, etc, at great expense, the entire structure of Telkom falls apart in their billing department – it took 18 months to get them to stop billing me for a service which I terminated and now, with the latest telephone directory, they have actually printed the number, a business number, which was terminated 2 years ago and they are giving that incorrect number out at Telkom enquiries; they, too, do not respond in any form to written communication and speaking to anyone there after hanging on, in one instance for 40 minutes, does not mean that anyone will actually do anything about the query or complaint!
Where does one get hold of THOSE CEO’s?? Their names may appear in obscure places but there are never contact details, email addresses nor physical addresses for them! What has business become?
From Biznews community member Daniel Lekgari
Morning Oom ALEC,
I agree with you about Mark however I am worried about the pending strike because SAPO as it is today, there is absolutely nothing to strike for.
Whatever plans Mark has for SAPO will be shattered and the same people he is trying to help will be the losers. Mark does not need SAPO and the money, he is genuinely there to help like a true son of SA.
I hope the union wakes up.
From Biznews community member Cecile Joyce
Hi Alec,
Mark sorted the problem in no time. I still wonder why he took on this task. Intellectually I can see he wants to make a difference, but emotionally I wonder.
Regards
From Biznews community member Alex J Nagel
Dear Mr Hogg,
Thank you for your daily insights, which are just that.
I could not agree with you more about Mr Barnes, he has really risen to the challenge of turning the ailing
behemoth around, and he is certainly hands on.Just a pity that the unions, who were part of the cause of the rot are trying their stunts yet again, but I think in a person of Mr Barnes quality at the helm they may just come in a poor second.
