The Customer Is King. Just Not in Zimbabwe.

You can tell a lot about a country by how it treats people who are trying to spend money.

In countries where customer service is taken seriously, businesses compete to make customers feel welcome. Staff are attentive. Complaints are handled professionally. Queries are answered promptly. Customers leave feeling valued.

In Zimbabwe, the customer service experience can sometimes be very different.

You join a queue only to be told the system is down. You arrive at an office and are sent from one desk to another in search of a document that should take minutes to process. You walk into a shop and interrupt a lively conversation among employees. You ask a simple question and receive a shrug, a scowl, or the familiar response: "Hameno."

Yet these are the very institutions and businesses that want your money.

"The customer is king" is one of the most repeated phrases in business. It appears in strategic plans, mission statements, and marketing campaigns. In Zimbabwe, however, it often feels less like a guiding principle and more like a decorative slogan.

The reality is that many Zimbabwean customers do not feel like kings.

They feel like inconveniences.

This is one of the great contradictions of the Zimbabwe economy. Businesses depend on customers for survival, yet many operate as though customers need them more than they need customers. Somewhere along the way, we seem to have developed a business culture in which the person paying for a service is expected to be grateful simply for being served.

It is a strange arrangement.

Every dollar earned by a business comes from a customer. Salaries are paid because customers spend money. Rent is paid because customers spend money. Profits are generated because customers spend money.

Without customers, there is no business.

Yet poor customer service in Zimbabwe remains one of the most common complaints. Whether it is in retail shops, restaurants, banks, transport services, or public institutions, many people have stories of being treated with indifference, impatience, or outright hostility.

The problem is not that Zimbabweans expect perfection.

Far from it.

Zimbabweans may be among the most patient consumers anywhere. They endure long queues, delayed services, network failures, power outages, and endless administrative processes. They adjust. They improvise. They return tomorrow when today's efforts produce no result.

What most people seek is not perfection.

It is respect.

Respect for their time.

Respect for their money.

Respect for their dignity.

The deeper issue, however, may not be customer service itself. It may be our relationship with power. Zimbabwean society often places a high premium on authority. We respect titles, positions, and offices. We admire those who occupy positions of influence. In many institutions, authority commands respect while service is viewed as a lesser responsibility.

This mindset shapes how we interact with one another.

The person behind the counter becomes a gatekeeper rather than a service provider. The official behind the desk becomes someone who controls access rather than someone who assists. The customer seeking help is treated as a petitioner rather than a client.

The result is a culture where service can easily give way to power.

People are made to feel that they should be thankful for receiving a service to which they are already entitled.

That attitude is costly.

Customer service is not merely about politeness. It is about competitiveness. It is about trust. It is about economic growth.

Countries that succeed economically understand that customer experience is part of their competitive advantage. They know that customers remember how they were treated. They know that customer satisfaction and loyalty are earned through consistency and professionalism.

Trust, after all, is one of the most valuable assets in any economy.

People may forget what they bought.

They rarely forget how they were treated.

The world is changing rapidly. Consumers today compare their experiences not only with local businesses but with global standards. Social media allows people to share experiences instantly. A poor interaction that once remained private can now become public within minutes.

Businesses are no longer competing only with their neighbours. They are competing with expectations shaped by the wider world.

This is why customer service excellence can no longer be treated as an optional extra.

It is a necessity.

The same principle applies to public institutions and public service delivery. Citizens may not be customers in the traditional sense, but they are entitled to efficient, courteous, and professional service. Public service should, by definition, be about serving the public. Zimbabwe does not lack entrepreneurs. It does not lack talent. It does not lack ambition.

What it sometimes lacks is a culture that consistently places people at the centre of service. The day we begin to value service as highly as we value authority, something important will change. Businesses will earn loyal customers. Institutions will build public trust. The economy will become more competitive.

Perhaps the true measure of a nation's development is not how it treats its leaders, investors, or dignitaries.

Perhaps it is how it treats the ordinary citizen standing at a counter, trying to spend their money.

Until then, many Zimbabweans will continue to hear the familiar phrase and smile knowingly.

The customer is king.

Just not in Zimbabwe.

Simbarashe Namusi is a peace, leadership, governance, and media scholar writing in his personal capacity.

Customer Service in Zimbabwe