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Customer Service and Satisfaction - Part 1

Over the past decade, the Indian market has grown exponentially. The onset of Malls, Multiplexes, Brands has changed the lifestyle of the average indian. Being from Mumbai, I have been fortunate enough to experience this first hand. However along with the good also comes the bad.
Things have become more expensive, real estate prices have shot through the roof and even essentially commodities cost a fortune. People today don't get the service then deserve even after paying a premium for the goods they purchase.

I will take examples of 2 companies in different areas that have failed to deliver.
  • Dell
  • Airtel
Dell:
Around around December 27, 2010 a colleague of mine purchased a Dell Streak. He took extra care (and extra money-33K INR) to purchase it from an authorized Dell outlet to ensure that he got  legitimate device and could utilize the warranty.  I was skeptical at first, since there are many android based touch phones available in the market and also for the kind of work he was doing (mobile apps), I would go with either the Samsung Galaxy Tab or the iPad. However he convinced me of features, the speed, swype, the small size and most importantly the Gorilla glass.
Everyone at work was excited with his new acquisition. And so each one of us took a test drive. After a couple off days, I noticed him without his device only to find out that one of our colleagues dropped it and the lcd inside the "gorilla" glasses broke.
This is how it happened, the colleague was sitting on the sofa and decided to wipe the screen. He accidentally dropped the device, which bounced off his shoe and hit the floor (approximately from a height of 12inches) and the screen broke. My first reaction was to go an google and search for this only to find that a number of people complained about the same problem.
On calling Dell support, he was told that they don't have parts and he should check again later.  He also called the dealer who directed him back to Dell support.
After trying numerous times he was told that it would take 3 weeks for the part to be available. Also he would have to pay for the screen replacement even though the product was still under warranty. After 3 weeks he was told that they still don't have the part (Also the dealer has stopped taking his calls :))

On the 17th of Jan 2011 he bought an iPad.

Part 2 of this post is here





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