Why is KPN doing so poorly?

Pretty lame to choose a title like that. For KPN then. After all, instead of KPN, you could also fill in Ziggo, Enexis, NS or Rabobank. Companies that are responsible for crucial parts of our infrastructure. Companies that therefore also have to deal with forced economies of scale in order to sell their services profitably to us, consumers. But also companies that are supervised by the government and saddled with duty of care for their customers and legal regulations that nobody understands anymore. They are all struggling.

I myself had to deal with a sample of unpleasant customer experiences in the week after my mother's death. There is a lot to be arranged then and what you certainly can't have is a failing internet connection. So anyway. The Contact and Support menu headings are deeply tucked away on the website. The idea is that 80% of searchers drop out and use e-mail or chat. Well, it was down to us, as no fault was known to KPN.

'Have you turned the router off and on again?'
Tried everything, you probably all know yourself the protocols of turning off modem and router and rebooting again. Funny that everyone knows which devices these are, you can't escape regularly going into your meter cupboard and looking for these devices. Then arrange for a technician. Next opportunity was Friday, while it was Monday. The connection had failed during the night from Saturday to Sunday. A day later, KPN cancelled the appointment itself, as there was "a bigger disruption". This is communicated by SMS, no response is possible.

Thursday evening comes the message that the disruption has been resolved. Immediately testing....happily. Just reached 8pm, so KPN no longer reachable. Immediately contacted Friday morning. Next opportunity for a technician next Monday. Just took my anger out on poor Johan at KPN, that he should find a better employer and that his bosses were probably on the golf course.

Depreciation will be taken care of immediately
On Monday I had internet again, from Ziggo. If you want to become a customer, everything goes fast. I got a 50% discount for 6 months just like that. And oh yes, I had also told Johan that. They are never a minute late in debiting your monthly amount. So on that side, the organisation is perfect. But the pain is in the service. Surely it seems simple to bring power from A to B, bring an internet signal from A to B, bring people from A to B. The problem with these companies lies in staff shortages. There are plenty of people in the office, but who wants to work in the field? NS is going to use office staff as conductors. Forget it, NS, you will also chase these people out of your organisation.

Another problem is centralisation. These organisations think they have a solution for all problems at headquarters. After all, that's where all the smart people are. Every right-thinking person knows that it is much better to organise close to your customer. But top executives know better.

So do our politicians, so that feeling is reinforced at companies with a lot of state influence. What makes you think that Wouter Koolmees, who has baked nothing into the pension file, can solve the problems at NS? No, let them think for themselves locally and be responsible for their customers. That will deliver commitment and flexibility and no more angry phone calls to Johan.