SELF SERVE FILLING STATIONS, AND ATM PAY FILLING STATIONS.

The holidays have come and gone and left a bitter taste in the mouths of most Nigerians, the scarcity of the products, the high cost of patronizing the black market and the rogue stations who were milking the public by selling the products at prohibitive rates.

Currently there are no self serve stations in the country in a free market consumer should be given option, there is no value addition in the downstream sector of the Petroleum industry, there is a need for the Government to allow the market to grow and provide competitive services for the general public.

 The only form of payment for fuel at the various filling stations in the country is cash, it is important for the retailers to integrate debit cards into pump dispenser, to enable customers who opt to pay with their cards, the ability to do so.

Also pre paid fuel cards can also be developed to make for ease of payment of these products. Most car owners attest to the lack of trust that exists between them and their drivers when they give them cash to buy fuel as they are often unsure, the correct amount of fuel will be purchased by the drivers. Availability of various methods of payment will make transactions more transparent.

Establishment of self serve stations would also allow consumers the option of accessing these products 24 hours a day, consumers can fuel up at night, when the filling stations usually shut down as the attendants close for the day, thereby limiting their customers to certain hours of service within the day.

It is critical to give consumers the flexibility and convenience to choose what option is suitable for them. This would provide much needed competition among the retailers, to improve the service they provide at their filling stations, service such as clean restrooms are often not provided at most filling stations. Few stations provide free air pressure checks on tires, cleaning of windshield and oil level checks

 Giving the customers the options at the end of the day creates competition in the market and results in fall in prices and provision of better services.  

ATM MACHINES AND ITS DOWNSIDES IN NIGERIA

The arrival of the ATM on Nigeria’s shores has drastically changed the banking landscape in the country. It has provided customers with easy 24 hour access to cash outside the banking halls thereby cutting down on wait time and paperwork, as well as access to cash after banking hours, weekends, and public holidays.

Customers are also able to check their bank balances and transactions, transfer funds between different bank accounts, make payments for business transactions on the POS, payment of utility bills, withdraw cash when outside the country (Until recently).

The ATM card can more or less be researched to as a customer’s “personal teller.”

 It also has its disadvantages, any customer who has experienced inserting their ATM cards into an ATM machine and as a result of forgetting their pin numbers had their ATM card seized by the machine, especially if this happens after banking hours or during the weekend can attest to the miserable feeling of  been shut out from accessing their cash.

It was only recently I discovered that there are ATM machines outside Nigeria where when the cards are inserted, the machines do not ingest the cards, the card remains outside the machines and if the transaction is not completed the customer still has access to their ATM card. At no point in time does the card disappear in to the dark recesses of the ATM machine

It is important that the CBN, the regulator in the banking sector mandates banks to upgrade their ATM machines to these more customer friendly versions.

THE EXPRESS CHECKOUT LANE IN SHOPRITE, JABI, ABUJA.

I had to make a quick stop at the newly opened Shoprite store in Jabi, Abuja. The store was very busy with shoppers. I needed to pick up about 3 items and run home to complete dinner; unfortunately this was not to be case as after picking up the items.  I Hurried towards the express checkout lane, my intention was to be out of the store as quickly as possible. The 2 express checkout lanes in the store had been clogged up by shoppers with large number of items in their cards.

It was frustrating as shoppers with few items like me who had hoped  our shopping trip would have been expedited  since we only had few items were left queuing up for over 30 minutes. I drew the attention of the cashier to why she was attending to people with huge carps at the express checkout lane; she simply threw her hands up in the air.

Expressing her frustration with customer who insisted to be attended to regardless of the large number of items in their carps. All attempts to try to educate these customers on why they shouldn’t have been on the express checkout lane fell on deaf ears.

I didn’t think that it was my responsibility to enforce the rules at the supermarket that I believe is why they have floor managers, who were nowhere to be found