For an area (NCR) in this country which is
the back office Capital of the world. Where is customer service headed these days.? This morning I was trying to resolve three very old cases getting some service in this country. Two of these companies are supposed to be stars of the Indian Industry and the third is a dealer of Bharat Petroleoum who someone has forgotten to tell about the new India. Read on for some short stories.
Reliance Money indulges in petty larceny.Having had my fill of another great customer service organisation called HDFC Bank, I thought Reliance may be a breath of fresh air (and not to mention cheaper).
Sometime late last year, Reliance Money came out with this offer for share holders (I own some Adlabs and RelComm) where you got 20% off on the trading fees. This offer normally allows you to trade to the tune of Rs. 5 lakhs for Rs. 500 as fees. so 20% off that means Rs. 375.
So I fill up the application (with 21 signatures no less) and I'm assured by the smiling salesman, that he'll get it processed in no time. This was in the second week of December. Sometime towards the end of December, the check is encashed. So I assume all is well. A bit late, but I suppose these were the heady days of of the Reliance Power IPO and they had their hands full with applications.
Anyway. A month goes by and nothing happens. And then I'm in the middle of switching jobs, surely something more important than chasing cheap Demat and trading accounts. That brings us to the middle of February. So I call Reliance Money. Dude what happened to my application? Guess what? You can't reach the damned company. You are on the IVR and then you get disconnected. You call the trading line, they put you on the IVR and then you get disconnected. Well maybe call volumes were high. I worked for a BPO once. Such things happen. So I call later in the evening. uhh... Customer service which is unreachable during working hours is NOT available after working hours.
How nice!
Where did they learn customer service from? a Government Department? (Though
IRCTC has an excellent ticketing service and a very responsive customer care team)
So I go to the website and write an email. Well, our country does host the second silicon valley after all (Yeah right!). and Amazon, has its most amazing customer service based right here in NCR. Email response should be a snap! uhh... think again.
A month goes by and there is no response. and today I get a mail which says.
This is with reference to your email to customer support regarding application status.
This is to inform you that your application form got rejected and sent back to Gurgaon branch on March 01-2008 as odd amount cheque is given
You may quote your reference number – 633573 in relation to this query.
For any further assistance please call us on 3988 6000 or write to us at customer.support@reliancemoney.co.in
Huh! you are telling me this two and a half months after you took my money? If it was an odd amount, why did you take my money? I want my money back, you thief. With interest. Thank you very much.
The number... you guessed it. is not reachable and I can expect a response on email a month from now...
Caveat Emptor: You get what you pay for. Shoddy customer service (and I wasn't even a customer yet)
I suppose nothing better can be expected from a group that almost got away with the farce that was the IPO for the Power Project.
Update: It seems I'm not alone. Have a look at this URL.
http://www.complaintsboard.com/search/reliance_money/page/1
Where's the phone dude? Airtel charges for a phone, never asked for, never delivered. Or was it for activation?
So, I got a new job. Congratulations to me I suppose :). New job is in Noida, I'll be damned, If I will commute 100 KMs everyday. So the logical thing for me to do is switch residences to Noida., with a commute time 10 mins.
So what do I do with the phone line that I have in Gurgaon? disconnect obviously. So I call Airtel, Please disconnect my phone. I don't need it as I'm shifting towns. So he says, it will take one month for disconnection. Wha? it takes a day for you to give me a connection, but a month to take it away? Why? you think taking a months rental for disconnection is a fair practice? Another cheap money making tactic by Airtel.
I suppose they do have to make money for the shareholders etc. so what if it is my cheating the user? eh?
Anyway, thats not the half of it. So I argue to high heaven and I'm put in touch with the disconnection department. The rep says, listen, since you are moving to Noida, we'll transfer the connection for free. Hmm...
Wow! someone in that organisation has a customer service mindset. So I say ok. Why not.
The next day in Noida. I have a new number. Not Bad! This is the end of January. so a bill comes the next cycle. Which has an activation charge of Rs. 300. Huh! where did that come from? So I call up customer support. They say, this is for the phone you took? I said I didn't take a phone from you. rep says, oh we are very sorry, we'll fix it. We'll call you in 48 hours.
Ok they didn't call back in 2 weeks let alone 2 days as promised. So I call again, this time, this guys says you took a phone from us. I said I didn't. So he says, hang on, let me check. He forgets to mute his phone so i can hear the conversation with his colleague.
First Guy: He's (i.e. me) transfered a connection and been billed for a phone, but he says he never got the phone. yada yada.
Second Guy: Never mind, tell him it's for activation.
First Guy comes back on the phone and says this is for activation. What does he think I am dumb? So I told him as much. He says, then there was an incorrect commitment from the salesman. We will resolve it in 48 hours.
Another two weeks go by and no response. So I call up again. The rep says can I help you. So I give him the whole story again. he says have you paid the bill? I said, Yes I paid the bill. He says hang on and
disconnects me. What the F@#$?
I call up again and this time I just give just the reference number and guess what? he says you took a phone from us. I said I didn't. he says I'll check. We're sorry you didn't take a phone, I'll arrange for a call back in 48 hours.
This time, I'm not paying the bill. Their legal department can threaten me to high heaven. Let me see what the F can they do. I wonder if they'll send thugs. Another gang of thieves.
This is not the eighties. Gas Connection shortages were over 5 years ago.
So I moved to Noida and I got a phone connection. After years of shamming and bribing the gas delivery guy (Since I don't use much anyway). I thought, may as well get a connection.
I call up Chitra Gas, who is the agency for the area I live in. The lady's says connections are closed. huh! I called up my uncle who owns a gas agency back home
. He said Gas connections are available freely for the past five years.
So I call up the regional office and for a change for a government owned company, I get a pleasant shock. A very polite and helpful gentleman informs me that there is no shortage whatsoever and the agency may be facing temporary issues. Hmmm...
So I call back after a couple of weeks. and the agency says. no connections. I was pissed. So in frustration i write into Bharat Gas customer support online. And lo! and behold! someone actually calls me after a few days saying, please go to the agency and meet so and so for the connection.
Not Bad at all.
Anyway. So 20 minutes later, i'm at the agency and I say I'm here for a gas connection. he says connections are closed. WTF? So I tell him, someone from Bharat gas has asked me to come here and get the connection. So very reluctantly he takes my papers and says we'll get back to you in a couple of days. It's been a week.
I think its time to call the friendly man in the regional office again.
Too bad these tales can't be published in my employer's publication. Sure would have had a lot more impact than here. Web 2.0 may be here (That's another farce, but that is a story for another post), but nothing beats the impact of print in India.
and