If you have ever opted for a marketing course, you would
have heard the phrase ‘Customer is the king’. But how many times, as a
customer, have you felt so? “Never” would be the most common answer. Even if
you have had pleasant and delightful experiences, I’m quite sure that you’d be
able to count them on your fingers. Some experiences which I have faced in the
past:
1.
I had shifted my rented apartment in Gurgaon and
so also wanted to get my internet connection shifted. It took more than 2
months to get the connection shifted. That too when I sought help from one of
the legal service providers who help customers file case against companies in consumer
courts.
2.
I’ve invested in a flat. It’s been 5 years since
I booked it. A decent amount has already been paid to the builder but the
construction has still not started. It was only when I sent a legal notice to
the builder that I received a phone call from them updating me about the status
of the project.
3.
I placed an order for a parenting on an online
retailer site. While booking the website showed the book showed as available
and was also reflecting an expected delivery date/time. After placing the
order, they did not deliver the book for 2 months. I called the customer care
to check the status. The person said that the book was not yet launched and
that they would inform me when the book would launch! What? Why was the website
showing a delivery date/time when the book wasn’t even launched? I called again
2-3 times but to no avail. Finally I asked for my money and got a refund cheque
of the amount I had paid. This, when I started conversation on the company’s
facebook page.
4.
I ordered a smartphone from a very famous online
retailer. But my misfortune that I had a “negativish” experience this time as
well. They delivered it about 4 days late. The phone was meant to be a gift to
someone.
5.
I bought a refrigerator from a consumer durables
retail chain. The moment I plugged it at home, it started making some rumbling
noise. I called the store only to find that the store was responsible for sales
and not after sales service. I told them that it wasn’t about the after sales
service but a defective product that they had sold me. Nothing happened. I had
to ultimately register a complaint at the company’s service centre when the guy
came, told me that the fan was broken and took Rs.150 to replace the part and only
to say that plastic parts were not covered under warranty. I still remember the
pain of being cheated by the retail chain/company.
And it’s not just me. I’ve heard people saying that value
added services have been activated on their phones without their consent. I’ve
read people not getting a room on their vacation and being transferred to a
property different from what was initially promised. I’ve read people lodging complaints
against companies on numerous other issues. The internet is full of sites that
take such complaints.
These experiences are at the top of my mind perhaps because they
happened to me in the past one year. But there would me numerous other
instances, if I were to strain my memory, where I have had a negative
experience. The only power that the consumer has these days is the power of
social media – the company against which you raise voice replies quickly if you
raise the issue on their facebook page – at least that’s what my experience has
been and I have been able to resolve a couple of issues this way. When someone
from the company replies, if nothing else, you have that comfort – at least
someone is listening to you.
But the story is not that bad. I’ve had positive experiences
as well – which are like a drop in the ocean of experiences. My laptop charger
had ‘broken’ and I thought that it would be covered under the (3 year)
accidental coverage that I had taken. On calling Dell I found that the charger
was not covered under accidental protection! I had a long conversation with the
company and finally Dell replaced it as an exception (it was sort of customer
delight). I truly appreciate Dell for their service and the management for
exception handling. And I most certainly will buy a Dell again!
With Oberoi’s, I and my wife had a wonderful experience. We
went to the restaurant in their Gurgaon property on our anniversary. It was
meant to be a surprise for my wife. And even though I had not informed the
restaurant that it was our anniversary, the sort of experience we had there was
something we’d remember all our life. Similar was our experience in the Leela
Kempinski at Gurgaon.
The difference in services, as I can think, is due to the
segment that the services cater to. Barring Dell, the Oberois and the Leelas
cater to the luxury segment – the rich – something which an ordinary Indian or
the common man would not have a chance to experience in his or her lifetime.
In fact, most of the times, it seems that companies think
that “Customer is a fool - Let’s use him to achieve our sales”. And it actually
is okay because no one really cares for the customer. So the customer has no
option but to get fooled, knowingly or unknowingly.
If you have had some really good or bad customer service or
product experiences, please share.
Note: This article has been particularly written in the
Indian context. These are the personal views of the author.
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