When the World Cup kicked off last week, the Multichoice Botswana offices were crowded with hundreds of people who had waited until the last minute to pay their DSTV subscriptions so they could watch the soccer event.
Multichoice experienced an unprecedented influx of customers, both old and new, who wanted to either start new subscriptions or maintain existing ones. Three days prior to the Opening Ceremony of the 2014 Brazil World Cup Batswana thronged Multichoice Riverwalk offices in high numbers, some paying for their DSTV services while others were registering their new decoders. Everyone was desperate, anxious and impatient as they shoved each other in a bid to pay up their subscriptions so they could also get to watch the World Cup.
“I came here in the morning and I am at position 603 in this long queue. This line is too long and I am not sure if I will get served before the World Cup ends,” said Dintle Moagi, a resident of Block 6.
Moagi is a new Multichoice customer and was buying the decoder only for this World Cup. She went to Multichoice around 10 am and was stuck in a queue. Daniel Mosala was very anxious that he would not be able to watch his favourite team Brazil playing in the opening game of the World Cup.
The fifty-three year old looked impatient outside Multichoice offices in Riverwalk on Thursday, repeatedly fidgeting as the line dragged on very slowly. But he bid his time as he could not afford to miss the opening ceremony of the World Cup, especially when Brazil was part of the match.
“I am coming here to pay. I have not paid for months and I also want to make sure my decoder is working properly,” said Mosala.
He said he was too old to use the other paying methods like Orange Money, My Zaka (Mascom) and FNB e-wallet.
“Us old people believe in paying with cash and most importantly for ourselves…..We are too cautious and vwe don’t trust this new technology and we are too old school,” said Mosala giggling.
For some like Mary who preferred us only is using her first name paying with Orange Money takes time as the paying network system is always “on and off.” This middle aged lady looked impatient as she has been there the whole day. She took a day off, but could not get an immediate help at the Multichoice offices.
“I came here yesterday (Wednesday) after work and could not get help….I lost patience and went home. Today (Thursday) I took a day off but the queue is too long,” said Mary.
Batswana are not new when it comes to getting a big event fever late. Multichoice Spokesperson Tshepo Maphanyane said they are aware that there is always high demand for their services everytime before a “big event” kicks off.
“It was like this even few days before the 2010 South Africa World Cup and we were expecting this. This seems to be an ongoing trend,” said Maphanyane.
Maphanyane who came to Multichoice in 2005, said every year when they is a big event people would throng their offices in high numbers. She would not give the exact figures and comparisons since 2006 Germany World Cup but admitted that soccer has been bringing in customers.
Maphanyane said they are doing everything to make sure that they assist their customers with everything they want.
“Few days prior to this World Cup we made sure we got everybody involved with assisting our customers. We even involved our back office…..our back office stuff are also involved and we have even extended our working hours,” said Maphanyane.
Maphanyane said they will ensure that the services they have at their disposal like call centres, retailer services and their agents are up to scratch to meet the demands of people.
Maphanyane also said where there is service one is to expect challenges. She said some challenges are beyond human control.
