Unnecessary complexity

It doesn’t seem to matter what you’re purchasing or dealing with these days (a car, mobile phone, broadband plan, computer or government service), the number of products or variants is quite extraordinary. This is why I find buying anything or dealing with government so difficult. Even if you work through the multitude of choices, and decide on a particular product and specification to meet your needs, you often find it is out of stock and no one knows when it is likely to be available again, if at all.

I bought a new vehicle a couple of years ago as my old SUV, which was 13 years old, but in excellent condition, was beginning to need more expensive maintenance work done to keep it operating properly. It was also larger than I needed and didn’t have any of the driving assistance aids modern cars have to help in our much busier and hectic suburban environment. I don’t know about you, but it seems the streets have become far narrower than they use to be, and it probably doesn’t help that other road user seem to want to travel on your side of the road or pass you in your lane. As I have always been interested in cars and now being retired, and in a reasonably comfortable financial position, I decided I would reward myself for over 40 years of dedication to my work, and buy a small SUV from an up market brand. Although I did a lot of research before even venturing into a dealership, the joy of buying the little SUV started to diminish a little as I was confronted with multiple variants of the model I was considering. I was able to select from five engines (all 2.0 litre), four model variants, multiple specification packs (with names that didn’t seem to relate to the features they provided), and a never ending list of individual options.

The real issue wasn’t just the complexity of the range, but the marketing jargon used and a lack of consistency in terminology. The same item was referred to differently in different sections of their documentation and this often varied from how it was referred to as part of a pack or as a separate option. This makes it extremely confusing, not only for the customer, but for the sales staff, as it was difficult for them to explain the differences or what you were actually getting. Being interested in cars, I have previously waited up to a year for the right model in my chosen colour, so having to wait five months for a more ‘up market’ car with the the features I wanted was no surprise. The surprise was when the car arrived in Australia and didn’t include all the options and features I had ordered. Whoever placed the order had possibly entered or selected the incorrect specifications, most likely as it was all too complex.

Thankfully, there were a couple of advantages to this less than ideal situation. I was able to amend my order from a diesel engine to the mid tuned petrol engine, as diesels were beginning to go out of favour for smaller SUVs, and the petrol engine provided better performance. I needed to drop a couple of nice to have options to offset the increase in price as there were additional taxes on the petrol version as it was not quite as fuel efficient as the diesel. Also, as I had originally negotiated the use of a loan car should delivery not be made within six months of ordering, I was provided with the use of a brand new larger model SUV for nine of the 14 months it took for my car to be delivered.

This is just one example of how complexity is counter to good customer service or is an added cost to the company. You only have to look at mobile phone and data plans. Most companies have reduced the number of plans available, but the options or restrictions within these plans means the decisions to find a plan to best suit your needs is still incredibly complex.

The brand of SUV I selected has since reduced the engines available in this model to one and the variants to three. However, it seems their research indicated most customers selected an option pack, costing several thousand dollars, which only provided superficial trim changes. It also lowered the ground clearance, and they have now incorporated this across the range. This added cost for little benefit would probably mean I would not purchase this model if I was looking for a new car today.

I don’t regret my purchase in any way. In fact every time I drive my little SUV I appreciate how well it drives, how quiet it is, and all the wonderful features it has, many of which came standard in the variant I selected. One of the greatest features is an operator will automatically be notified if I am in an accident where the airbags are deployed. The operator is able to contact emergency services and provide details of the cars location and details of who is driving. They can also advise emergency services of any existing health conditions of the driver. If the accident doesn’t activate the airbags there is a button you can press to activate this service or there is another button you press to call for roadside assistance in the event of a breakdown.

I really appreciate and look forward to driving my little SUV.