Some months ago, I had encashed my I-mint points for a Phillips home theatre system; not because I like phillips (on the contrary) but was afraid of points lapsing.

It was delivered, installed, worked fine; till one day last week just stopped! Fair enough, I do not have a climate controlled house etc. etc. & phillips is finicky but?

Found the hotline number & my wife called them up on 5th November, received a promise that someone would come in 24 hours. Nope NO sign at all, called up at 5 pm, was assured that “Our engineers work till 8pm, so you can expect him to come” & they left closing the office at 6 pm

The next day it took 11 calls to the service center/hotline/engineer himself before he turned up at 8.30 pm thereby wasting the entire day, since we could not step out also. This was Day 3 - 7th November. Came & gave a cursory glance & Einstein said, will tell the service centre, because some part would have to be changed, they will give you a call back.

No news till 10th November when they called, said it would have to be taken to the service centre, sent a person who carried it away & that’s the last we have seen of it.

Today is the 14th November & they are still investigating what is wrong with it, no calls, nothing. BTW approximate cost if part is available would be 4000/- if it is out of warranty!

Hello! I do not have a bill, since it is a so called gift - No problem sir, we will check in our records!

This is the 2nd time in my life I have allowed my wife to coerce me into a stupid useless Brand called Phillips! AND it is the last.

I have been a Samsung user for the past 8-9 years. AC; Fridge;  TV and have always loved their VFM & superior customer service.

In the recent past, not really recent, but in February 2009 changed the TV. Last month watching DVD the screen suddenly went blank.

A call was made to the hotline & pronto the next day 12 noon technician turned up to inspect, made a couple of calls & said that we would need to replace the panel. With my heart in my mouth, I asked the cost & was told “Sir, it is in the warranty period so no cost but please have a copy of  the bill ready & we shall come tomorrow”.

The next day a call was received at 4 pm & question asked ” Is it OK if we come at 7pm or do you want us to come the next day morning”

They came in the evening, changed it, collected a copy of the bill & went. All of this was always followed up by a courtesy call/sms to confirm action taken.

In my books, it wins hands down! They have a lifelong customer in me.

Sometime in February/March 2009 after MTNL had finally connected my WiFi, in an attempt to curtail costs, I went on a lookout for a dongle which would connect my daughter’s desktop in the adjoining room.

Croma, Vijay Sales; etc. were checked out & prices were not exciting enough. Visiting Hypercity for something else found a good deal nearly 15% cheaper than others on Linksys.

The installation was a breeze, worked fine for the next couple of months, when one fine day, just stopped.

Called Hypercity & got the details, logged in created an account, complained online, called the number in Tardeo & were told to bring it the day after.

Being away, the wife went with the old modem & printout. Unfortunately, there was a mistake in the number, asked her to rectify it on the spot, replaced the dongle with a new upgraded one, wished her all the best & that’s it.

Smooth, minimal people interaction but WOW service. I like it very much!

Have visited it a couple of times. Some observations about the mall.

There is always a good crowd, which means decent to good footfalls.

Security is good outside the mall, but there is always a line there. And just bag opening & frisking with the detector.

Was stopped from taking pictures inside by the management?? But clean facilities. Sale, Discount going on everywhere, with more than half stores wearing a deserted look. So where did the people go??? Food Court of course. Nicely laid out, with lovely seating, good food, different stalls than Inorbit.

All in all, a good place at a good location, easily accessible for people in the east, and in a couple  of months should do well for itself.

Requested by my daughter to pay off her invoice - because she was too busy with the 12th board exams, reached the place around 12 noon.

Quite full as is normally the case. There was a long line outside where the automated counter was - with the security & staff helping everyone to understand how to use the machine. As usual, only one was working. So went in & stood in the line at the counter. After 20 minutes finally reached & recited the number 9920……….; the staff confirmed the name, recited the amount 655/-. Took out the money & was promptly informed that NO CASH could be accepted, for that I would have to use the automated service. So I asked him, why was it not written on the glass where it stated “Payment here” - reply company policy sir!

Quietly paid & went off.

So guess there is company policy which does not have consumer policy!!

Went to hypercity after a long time with the wife. Whilst she was adding to their profits, I decided to pay off the cell bill & check if I could get some lovely deal on my sms usage.

The bill was paid immediately & then the pain began. Told to take a token, for which there was a person who would allot. The printer was not working, so verbally was given the number. Whilst waiting for it to be called, glanced at the counters - 4 of them - only 2 were working with 3 people clustered around them. The manager was moving up & down talking on his phone.

My phone which was on the blink, so trying to fix it (more likely damage it more) raised it high trying to peer into it…phew…was surrounded by the manager & 2 more trainees, who informed me that photography was prohibited, on my blank look, they gestured to the phone & repeated it. Having waited for 15 minutes with no luck, asked them, what is the problem in taking a photograph - company policy was the answer - so I said OK if I step back, I am in hypercity, so then I can photograph; promptly the answer was, that depends on hypercity.

So then I politely asked him, why does it take so much time to attend to a customer & why 2/3 staff are clustered on each counter, whereas the other 2 are empty. Some vague reply, with the question - sir are you in hypercity? why don’t we give you a call & you can come over?

Impressive, I said so to myself, gave my number & went shopping.

This happened around the first week of february, today 25th midnight, still wait for the promised call.

It was quite a pleasant shock to receiving money back when one handed over a large note for 2 tickets at a nearby multiplex.

Whilst I guess there are numerous reasons for the price reductions & why not? If everyone can do it.

However I have always been curious to know, why do the multiplex chains not weave in the loyalty factor, so to speak.

A couple of examples may illustrate this point -

A couple of friends are always keen to either watch a movie on thursday night (paid preview) or friday night i.e before any review clutters the mind. It is painful to find out if there is a paid preview, when would booking open (thanks to yashji undecided whether to release in multiplex etc) amongst other. Can there not be a card with the prefixed seat number for a month/quarter/year that one could buy (this could be for 1/2/4 seats) so that one is assured of the seat, the multiplex is assured of income in advance, which overcomes the problem of discount being offered. Here there can be variants…..such as days; combos etc. that could be introduced.

And now cutting prices - at 40% why not try out the 1:1 for people, movies, timings what have you. Take a leaf off the pizza guys.

And yes I know, some of them do have offers, unfortunately the conditions are so constraining that you just decide to give up.

AND MY FAVORITE - Just like the airline, pizza, mcdonald etc. Why can you not offer the add on/Up sell in the beginning, when tickets are bought - Sir would you also like to order your coke, popcorn, samosa to be brought to your seat…..this can work on internet, tele booking & of course the counter.

This keeps customers happy; allows logistical planning & more important adds revenue!!

Multiplex owners write into me for more nuggets:)

Multiplexes cut movie ticket prices by 40%

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