As those who regularly read my blogposts would know, I don't hesitate to express my displeasure over my experiences with corporate firms. It's simple, they sucked, and they have to face my written wrath.
In the recent past, I've been subjected to more frequent and more disgusted forms of torture from such companies, which made me ask myself, am I not the customer? And, isn't the customer the king? It's with utmost sadness that I inform you that through my experiences, I have been enlightened enough to inform you that a customer, a consumer, was the king. He isn't anymore. (And no, the customer isn't the queen anymore. Stop trolling.)
It's one of the saddest realizations for someone who has always believed that companies actually care about their customers. I am also the one who pretended to smug when everytime I was told, 'Make a company so big, that you have call centers answer for you.' For good or bad, now, that's a thing of the past.
Let's come back to today. Here's a list of my recent experiences:
1) September, 2011: My Vodafone incident. I wrote an in-detail blog about the same, here.
2) October-November, 2012: My passport incident. Similarly blogged here.
3) October-November, 2012: AirTel disconnects my prepaid number, with enough balance and validity running upto February 2013, randomly, without any sort of intimation.
In the last 2 months, I've talked to more than 6 representatives from AirTel's Delhi/Guragon head office, and visited the gallery in Malad twice, to no resolution. I've had to explain my problem to each one of them, all of them promising me to get back to me and then never calling back. I'm called back by some other random service representative or whatever they call them, from their side, the next time.
I'm told that it is because it was lying unused, and I was intimated, to which I claimed I wasn't and thus I ask for records as proof of their communication to me, I'm told that there are none because the number has been deleted from their systems. Neat. Easy way to just dump a customer's number without any intimation, naming TRAI. About the TRAI guidelines, as far as I know and have read, the telecom operator is required to inform the user by calling on the alternate number, texting, e-mailing, and also sending a letter to the registered address before disconnecting, none of which was done to me. So there.
Also, they can't tell me who from their side had called me earlier, for much more lame reasons. The AirTel gallery in Malad explicitly stated that MNP numbers (I had ported to AirTel from Idea), can't be disconnected and he was wondering how was it that this number was disconnected, even.
4) November-December, 2012: ICICI tells me they'll take 42 'working' days (showing me a date of 25th March for resolution) to revert me a failed online transactions of 368.28. And for another failed payment of 444.04 made 4 days before the 370 payment, I'm told I'll get the refund in 10 days.
42 days for getting back 370. And then they blame it on procedures, difference in payment portals and VISA policies. You seriously think I'm so dumb?
5) December, 2012: I'm denied a nano-SIM by AirTel because my postpaid number is registered in my uncle's name, who is currently traveling and is outside the nation, even though I have the complete and appropriate documents.
More so, I'm denied to get the number in my name (in Pune I was told it is possible). I seriously don't understand the double standards here. I get that Pune is Maharashtra circle, and Mumbai is a separate telecom circle, but does the procedure change between the 2 circles? I thought the procedures TRAI lays down are for the, not some damned telecom circles.
6) November, 2012: A MSRTC Shivneri bus driver, driving rashly, rams into a Honda City which was changing the lane after appropriate indicators. I was traveling in that bus. There have been numerous other examples of me, and my friends, having experienced similar issues with these state-run and state-operated bus service.
In the period of these last 15 months, there have been other examples too, and this post, has been long over-due. I'm sure you'll would have a lot more to contribute too. From those little ones where shopkeepers ask you to pay anything from 2-10 rupees extra for 'cooling' the soft drink, to insurance lapses pertaining to the smallest, most negligent clauses. And I think it's high time that this crap stops.
In the last few days, I've been trying to figure out what I'd love as a customer myself. What is the right way to treat someone who buys services or products, or both from you. And there are some basic guidelines that I have come down to. Many of these are pulled from the current systems which are already in place in USA and other developed countries over the world.
a) Return period: Anything between 14 days to 30 days of return period wherein you'd be paid back the full amount you had paid, if you're not satisfied with the service.
b) More transparency: I want the records. Of everything that I use. And not some random made-up shit when you say your data is deleted because your number is deleted from our systems. Also, I want to know which representative of yours called me. I'm not going to sit and keep a log of phone numbers and names of everyone from your end I talk to. Hell, I don't remember their names while I'm talking to them!! It's your job to keep a track, not mine.
c) Better co-ordination and post complaint follow-up: With Tata Sky, I was happy I observed this. They made sure I got what I had asked for, at the right time, and again called a week after to know if I was happy with it or not. Amazing service, that.
d) Lesser blame on other companies and Government: Not everyone is a fool to believe what you throw in their face as a big fat lie. Some customers are aware. And they can shred you to pieces with it in a court of justice.
e) Knowledgeable staff: Seriously, do I need to explain this? Isn't it everytime that you talk to some customer service that you're told to hold while they confirm something?
f) Without bill guarantee, warranty: The only 2 companies that already do this (and I know of), are Apple and Lenovo. You will never be asked for your bill. And there's a reason for it, your device has a serial number. Period. Every device you buy has a serial number. But no, you have to get the bill when you claim warranty, because hey, I have all the time in the world to take care of every bill that I ever get for everything that I purchase! You put such big stamps of serial numbers on my device, USE them.
g) Don't sell my info: You take my information to inform me about updates about my devices and services. Use it for that. Don't sell them to third parties who'd spam me with letters and e-mails. Not cool. (This I've specifically observed for AirTel, because my AirTel online account is in my uncle's username and my e-mail ID. I got an e-mail a few days back addressed to him.)
h) Make my life easy, as you promise, and if you can't do that, don't make it tougher atleast: I buy services and products so that they help me, not because I have lesser problems in my life to add a few more to them.
I'm of the opinion that our country can't truly progress until we begin recognizing the might of the consumer, and the sellers begin respecting the same. I've come to believe that the companies and products that we rely on specifically have come to defy the reason they were made. It's an absolute ruckus out here.
It matters to me how I'm treated. It matters to me how my parents, my friends, my countrymen are treated by these people who loot us in the name of safe services and guaranteed products. And it's high time things get aligned with them. Real big a time...
Until the next post...
In the recent past, I've been subjected to more frequent and more disgusted forms of torture from such companies, which made me ask myself, am I not the customer? And, isn't the customer the king? It's with utmost sadness that I inform you that through my experiences, I have been enlightened enough to inform you that a customer, a consumer, was the king. He isn't anymore. (And no, the customer isn't the queen anymore. Stop trolling.)
It's one of the saddest realizations for someone who has always believed that companies actually care about their customers. I am also the one who pretended to smug when everytime I was told, 'Make a company so big, that you have call centers answer for you.' For good or bad, now, that's a thing of the past.
Let's come back to today. Here's a list of my recent experiences:
1) September, 2011: My Vodafone incident. I wrote an in-detail blog about the same, here.
2) October-November, 2012: My passport incident. Similarly blogged here.
3) October-November, 2012: AirTel disconnects my prepaid number, with enough balance and validity running upto February 2013, randomly, without any sort of intimation.
In the last 2 months, I've talked to more than 6 representatives from AirTel's Delhi/Guragon head office, and visited the gallery in Malad twice, to no resolution. I've had to explain my problem to each one of them, all of them promising me to get back to me and then never calling back. I'm called back by some other random service representative or whatever they call them, from their side, the next time.
I'm told that it is because it was lying unused, and I was intimated, to which I claimed I wasn't and thus I ask for records as proof of their communication to me, I'm told that there are none because the number has been deleted from their systems. Neat. Easy way to just dump a customer's number without any intimation, naming TRAI. About the TRAI guidelines, as far as I know and have read, the telecom operator is required to inform the user by calling on the alternate number, texting, e-mailing, and also sending a letter to the registered address before disconnecting, none of which was done to me. So there.
Also, they can't tell me who from their side had called me earlier, for much more lame reasons. The AirTel gallery in Malad explicitly stated that MNP numbers (I had ported to AirTel from Idea), can't be disconnected and he was wondering how was it that this number was disconnected, even.
4) November-December, 2012: ICICI tells me they'll take 42 'working' days (showing me a date of 25th March for resolution) to revert me a failed online transactions of 368.28. And for another failed payment of 444.04 made 4 days before the 370 payment, I'm told I'll get the refund in 10 days.
42 days for getting back 370. And then they blame it on procedures, difference in payment portals and VISA policies. You seriously think I'm so dumb?
5) December, 2012: I'm denied a nano-SIM by AirTel because my postpaid number is registered in my uncle's name, who is currently traveling and is outside the nation, even though I have the complete and appropriate documents.
More so, I'm denied to get the number in my name (in Pune I was told it is possible). I seriously don't understand the double standards here. I get that Pune is Maharashtra circle, and Mumbai is a separate telecom circle, but does the procedure change between the 2 circles? I thought the procedures TRAI lays down are for the, not some damned telecom circles.
6) November, 2012: A MSRTC Shivneri bus driver, driving rashly, rams into a Honda City which was changing the lane after appropriate indicators. I was traveling in that bus. There have been numerous other examples of me, and my friends, having experienced similar issues with these state-run and state-operated bus service.
In the period of these last 15 months, there have been other examples too, and this post, has been long over-due. I'm sure you'll would have a lot more to contribute too. From those little ones where shopkeepers ask you to pay anything from 2-10 rupees extra for 'cooling' the soft drink, to insurance lapses pertaining to the smallest, most negligent clauses. And I think it's high time that this crap stops.
In the last few days, I've been trying to figure out what I'd love as a customer myself. What is the right way to treat someone who buys services or products, or both from you. And there are some basic guidelines that I have come down to. Many of these are pulled from the current systems which are already in place in USA and other developed countries over the world.
a) Return period: Anything between 14 days to 30 days of return period wherein you'd be paid back the full amount you had paid, if you're not satisfied with the service.
b) More transparency: I want the records. Of everything that I use. And not some random made-up shit when you say your data is deleted because your number is deleted from our systems. Also, I want to know which representative of yours called me. I'm not going to sit and keep a log of phone numbers and names of everyone from your end I talk to. Hell, I don't remember their names while I'm talking to them!! It's your job to keep a track, not mine.
c) Better co-ordination and post complaint follow-up: With Tata Sky, I was happy I observed this. They made sure I got what I had asked for, at the right time, and again called a week after to know if I was happy with it or not. Amazing service, that.
d) Lesser blame on other companies and Government: Not everyone is a fool to believe what you throw in their face as a big fat lie. Some customers are aware. And they can shred you to pieces with it in a court of justice.
e) Knowledgeable staff: Seriously, do I need to explain this? Isn't it everytime that you talk to some customer service that you're told to hold while they confirm something?
f) Without bill guarantee, warranty: The only 2 companies that already do this (and I know of), are Apple and Lenovo. You will never be asked for your bill. And there's a reason for it, your device has a serial number. Period. Every device you buy has a serial number. But no, you have to get the bill when you claim warranty, because hey, I have all the time in the world to take care of every bill that I ever get for everything that I purchase! You put such big stamps of serial numbers on my device, USE them.
g) Don't sell my info: You take my information to inform me about updates about my devices and services. Use it for that. Don't sell them to third parties who'd spam me with letters and e-mails. Not cool. (This I've specifically observed for AirTel, because my AirTel online account is in my uncle's username and my e-mail ID. I got an e-mail a few days back addressed to him.)
h) Make my life easy, as you promise, and if you can't do that, don't make it tougher atleast: I buy services and products so that they help me, not because I have lesser problems in my life to add a few more to them.
I'm of the opinion that our country can't truly progress until we begin recognizing the might of the consumer, and the sellers begin respecting the same. I've come to believe that the companies and products that we rely on specifically have come to defy the reason they were made. It's an absolute ruckus out here.
It matters to me how I'm treated. It matters to me how my parents, my friends, my countrymen are treated by these people who loot us in the name of safe services and guaranteed products. And it's high time things get aligned with them. Real big a time...
Until the next post...
#truestory
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