Disclaimer: This has been written in my capacity of a consumer.

This is a question that increasingly being debated on Twitter - the platform for opinions - and have been a part to it. Whilst, the conversation have been heated at times, I have always preferred to “move on” (polite way of saying disengage from the conversation), when it becomes too passionate.

One of the chief advocates Girish Mallya believes that the above is definitely the case.

Over the past couple of years, I have had many instances of problems and negligent customer service, where I have had to use my rolodex to get action initiated. I have always used the specific escalation method, however there are times, when it jsut does not work. Read the rest of this entry »

Da Milano one of the fastest growing retail chain, giving a tough fight to Hidesign etc. etc. is someone who has received respectable business from me over the past year or so.

As a normal AD Policy, I do not give out my mobile number to any retailer, however they seem to have bought out the entire Airtel database and hence received an SMS from them on 11th June 2011 at 14:10 “First Time Ever!! Da Milano brings EXCHANGE OFFER. Get your ANY old bags, wallets and belts and get 20% off at Da Milano. Offer valid all across India” Read the rest of this entry »

A couple of months ago, my wife went shopping (Ok, that’s nothing new but still) and found some formal shoes that she knew I was interested in at Aldo

Having normally done shopping for me over the years, she asked the person if they had the required shoe size, quoting other brand size, receiving a reply that Yes, they had, different numbers but the same size they reassured. Read the rest of this entry »

I have been a loyal LG Electronics user, what with automatic washing machine cum dryer, airconditioner etc. of the same brand for the past couple of years.

Recently two episodes involving both the products happened that left me Happy/Sad. Read the rest of this entry »

I had blogged about Tata Motors Saga… the beginning here.

On the 3rd July, we were leaving around 12 noon, when Mayuresh from Fortune motors calls “M’am your car is not ready, I have been trying your number since morning, it may be ready by tomorrow or so, I will call and inform you” My wife could not speak at all, I took the phone and asked to speak to the manager, the phone went dead. We drove from Lokhandwala to Marol Andheri East which is 45 minutes away and there was no call back.

On reaching, I asked for the owner, luckily being a slow day, there were no barriers and we managed to meet him. Mr. Sanjay Chandra received us, listened to us, looked at the system and started apologizing, accepting his staff had goofed up on the following counts:

1) Giving false commitment
2) Invoice paid on 21st June but car not ordered.
3) Letter of authority not taken for fund transfer till the 29th of June
4) No documentation done for RTO registration till 29th of June
5) RTO person on leave, nobody else referred etc. etc.
6) Accessory approval delay Read the rest of this entry »

I had earlier written about Dell here.

Exactly a year later, it stopped working a couple of days back 4th May 2010 to be precise. Since my wife has been using it for basic surfing, chatting, skype, I thought it strange; however the problem was diagnosed as the adapter not charging the battery correctly; the plug being lose; some issue with the motherboard on the 5th May 2010.

She lodged a complaint on 6th May 2010 at around 2 pm. They verified everything and assured her that it would be sorted out in the next 24 - 48 hours.

They walked in at 2.30 pm on 7th May 2010 and replaced the motherboard once again; changed the socket in the computer and gave a new adapter & walked away at 3.30 pm

I know, I know some people told me that with some brands you would not have this problem etc. etc. however my reasoning is simple:

1) For an additional 4000/- I got an onsite warranty in which the total changes would have ordinarily cost me 40,000/-
2) The time saving & customer service commitment which leads to peace of mind is worth it.
3) Having used other brands in the past & even currently, I still think DELL is VFM for product & service particularly for hard usage.

AND hence I see no reason to say that I would have no hesitation to recommend it all over again.

I have in the past written about Vodafone and my experiences here, here & here

It has been nearly a year after that, in the meantime I changed my handset twice over, finally settling for a BlackBerry Bold 9700, which entailed my going to the store, paying a year in advance, following up for nearly 48 hours and getting it activated.

During this time, Vodafone also made its presence on Twitter, where for nearly a month it got hammered for the EDGE services, since they had not intimated its customers about some hardware & systems upgrade.

In the past 4 months, I have had the experience of prompt service from them on the following aspects:

1) EDGE not being activated, had tweeted about it & in turn substantial people also joined in. Received a call from a young lady, who explained the problem and assured that it would be done by a time line which surprisingly they adhered to.

2) Once EDGE was activated, within a couple of days it stopped working, again tweeted about it, promptly someone from BlackBerry services replied with the problem & got Vodafone to call me. The same young lady provided an explanation and also assured me that I would not be charged for that month so effectively for my package now would be allowed 13 months. (I am yet to verify this, however, I have no complaints about such issues in the past & have found that they keep their word)

3) One month later, received a whopping bill, which charged me double, so back I tweeted about it, promptly the call came with reassurances that it would not happen and I could pay the correct amount; however a week later my ECS withdrew the entire amount & on tweeting the problem, the young lady called back with reassurances of my account being credited in the coming month’s bill etc.

Traveling, busy with work, I have decided to wait for the next month and verify this.

A lot of people have asked me why do I continue with Vodafone? Also told me that soon number portability shall come & then I can teach them a lesson.

My take is very simple:

a) At the end it’s a % game, losing customers is built in the business.
b) Who amongst all others is ready to guarantee that they shall provide better service?
c) I have been hearing Number Portability for the past 3 years & do not see it happening for maybe another year or so.

Yes, I have had problems & suppose would continue having them, but over the past couple of months their reaction albeit via twitter has been impressive & as far as I’m concerned as long as that continues I am happy with a known devil:)

CRM - Customer Relationship Management as it is called, though I prefer calling it Customer Retention Management.

It is the core component of effective brand visibility as well as resultant sales. Whilst, everyone jumps on the band wagon of CRM, they forget that concept needs to be tailored to their industry, brand, people which involves a fair amount of Personalization, Training and some Trend forecasting which should add some unique value to the brand.

The customer with variety of options has become quite fickle & loyalty is now at a premium.

It is quite interesting to see what companies have done in the recent past and how CRM is actually evolving rather than the same vanilla offering of card, points etc.

Shoppers Stop arguably has one of the best programs which they have invested a lot over the 10+ years.

Personally, I like the Future Group - Green Card - which offers instant gratification - 5 - 15% off on immediate purchase, no worries about collation of points etc. And mind you they offer this discount during their Sale time also.

Tata, Westside, Landmark et all offer the vanilla card calling it CRM but which is of no real use. You collect points and encash at their outlets, which is fine, but 1 point for Rs. 50/100 means spending a Lakh or more to get something worthwhile, but yes there are people who keep collecting these cards and then of course need a bigger wallet to carry all of them & then get a back ache because it digs into their rump.

However, there are some good samples of how some brands are changing rules of engagement; some of them

Brioni believes in intensive direct marketing & ensuring sale conversion in a consumer’s own space.

Ferragamo/Kenzo/Cavalli/Paul Smith/Canali all hold Trunk shows in different cities where they don’t have a retail presence. This enables luxury brands to increase not only their sales, but also customer brand awareness, before they finally take the plunge to enter the location.

Emporio Mall in Delhi introduced the concept of Personal Shoppers probably the first time in India where an experienced stylist finds clothes & accessories that fit your tastes, size & budget thereby increasing probability of a sale at relatively low cost and it worked well, but I do not know if it still continues.

Some brands inc liquor brands began referral programs, which were a bit different than the Pyramid scheme or member get member scheme, but these eventually die out, having finished its cycle.

Then of course there are those extended distress sales; SMS marketing; New Brand Ambassadors but is this really aggressive marketing or retailers fear a spillover effect of brand equity dilution.

But in this broad spectrum of generation, catchment, geography that one needs to address in India the only ones that shall succeed would be those who would be able to communicate across multiple channels, quickly, crisply and answer the consumer’s basic question “What is in it for me”?

After a lot of discussions, debates, advice I had opted for a custom DELL XPS M1330 in March 2008.

Except for a couple of small glitches (more to do with my being a technical retard) the order placement, delivery etc. was all seamless.

I loved working on it (though at times I did miss the finish of my Sony VAIO) but you cannot have everything.

In June 2009, I had done some editing for my daughter’s presentation, but before I could copy it for her, the screen went black:( And the next day we had to leave for Pune with it.

In desperation called DELL, quoted all the numbers etc. was assured that by 12 noon the next day, a technician would be there to ensure that it would work soon.

So whilst the old copy was there & started work on it again, hoping against hope that DELL would deliver. Mind it! They did - promptly at 11.45 am their technical support came with a large box & upon enquiry was told that “Sir, you had opted for 3 yr on site warranty, so I need to change the panel, including the motherboard” Wheee, it took him an hour & half but the complete new DELL was ready & raring to go!

Now only if they work out a super NETBOOK, I do not have to opt for Lenovo or Asus!

I have been a staunch Nokia loyalist from the advent of cell phones in India.

This has more to do with simplicity, choice, upsell, trade in value & their constant WOW service factor.

For my daughter’s birthday in February 2009 we got her a 5800 Xpress phone, which she loved & used it regularly & thoroughly over the past 10 months.

A couple of weeks ago, the screen display went off (a common complaint, I believe). Promptly like the kid’s of today she came with a proposal (albeit with her mother’s approval) that she should trade in this phone etc. etc.

Having complete faith in Nokia, I asked why was it not shown to Nokia care since it was still under warranty. She said they said it would cost 4,500, which is when I realized it is the Priority dealer; so giving her the address sent her to Nokia care in Andheri.

She came back happy that it would be done free of cost. Promptly 2 weeks later, yesterday she has got the phone back with complete panel changed, looking better than before.

Now you know why I still opt for a Nokia (though iPhone & Blackberry do come a close second).