CTO Act

While i was composing my last post on curious case of sales call, I had also forwarded the mail conversation of problem with NRE account to the CTO of bank Mr Pravir Vohra, whom i had met recently during FST evevt in Sydney.

Thanks to him that service managers are taking action on same and did called me up to discuss the case and are acting on it.

I am wondering…

1. What if I would not have fwded the mail to him? am sure it would have taken longer and I would have been struggling with mails

2. What if CTO would have just ignored it thinking its not his department but that of customer care.

What is your Institution doing for your customers?

I feel gone are the days when IT was purely back office, increasingly IT leaders are realizing this as Mr Dhiren Kulkarni  Joint CIO,  St. George bank stressed during his presentation at FST event that I as a CIO own my customer. I feel Its a big statement, customer is not only the responsibility of customer care rep or front staff or business but also of the IT. No wonder that CIO of CBA took sal cut when their Net banking was down and thus customer satisfaction levels went down.

All said lets see how long will it take at ICICI before issue gets resolved. Anyways, thanks to Mr Pravir for taking action.

How’s your experience mate?

Yesterday I randomly asked one of my friend in India about his experience with ICICI bank, and he repeated what i broadly feel about them – it’s been best so far compared to all the banks he banked with’ for customer care he said that its good however their promotional and sales calls are very irritating. Now this was an interesting comment he made about sales calls, which also made me write this post …

New Account and a New Problem…

I recently opened Non Resident External (NRE) account with ICICI bank. Its just been a month and I faced one major problem. For the past  7-10 days I have been interacting with various people from ICICI bank over phone (making international calls) or having tough time explaining issue to different customer care reps over e mails. I will not go deep into the issue, as I still feel that team is making sincere effort to help out,  however am waiting to see  how long will they take…

Interesting….

Yesterday my mom called me up and told me that somebody from ICICI called up, took your Australia number and they might give you a call. I was wondering if they are trying to reach me out for the issue I am facing with NRE account, I also wondered why will they call up my home in India when I have already given them my Australia contact details. This lady calls me up at around late evening Australia time, being busy with another call that time I asked her to give me a call in 10-15 mins. She did called up again after couple of hours and that was late during night at around 11 pm, am sure she was not aware of my time zone. I was like no issues… at least she might be calling to help me out…

Sir, Why are you not using your Trading account?

However to my surprise (or not so surprised now) she was asking me why am I not using my online share trading account for quiet some time now …what the hell!! Now I did informed her about the time and told her that I am not using my trading account for the reason that I am not in country … I thought of giving her my peace of my mind asking her about other issues I am facing with NRE account, but then realized no point telling her all this as she might not be aware of the fact that I hold NRE account with them too. (and that too interestingly when all accounts are opened at same branch!!!). She was simply doing her job and trying to meet her target of making calls …

Sir, read our research reports and gain more …

Then she went on telling and selling me about ICICI stock research reports and asking me to invest in market as Indian stock market is looking bullish and I should read daily morning reports and weekly calls and invest accordingly to get good returns. I did ask her if she is giving me guarantee of those returns or not (I know its not possible, was just checking how she responds and unnecessarily grilling her..) however it was very late at my end so I asked her to send me all that info on mail and I will see what to do with that. Thank God they had my valid mail id !!

ICICI, Any answers??

1. If sales rep can take so much of effort to call my India home, take my International number and give me a sales call, what’s stopping rep from After sales team to give me a call to understand the issue I am facing, rather they are just playing mail mail …
2. If sales rep can make an effort to get my number, they can also make an effort to do some more research to know that this is Australia number and what should be right time to call up … Put some effort to delight customers mate …
3. In terms of Technology, ICICI is really great in India, however Sid with trading account is still different from Sid with NRE account! I would have felt much better if customer rep should have first updated me on the status of issue I am facing with NRE account and then went on asking me about my trading account. How wonderful it would have been !!
4. And please somebody check why are you so promising on phone that reading ICICI research reports and then investing in market would give good returns … Indian market is looking bullish, this is the right time to invest… things like that ..are you going to take guarantee? I don’t think this is good example of selling ….

Finally…

I have been banking with ICICI bank for quiet some time now. Thanks to their sales force they follow you every where. Be it student account while I was in college, salary account with all my employers till date or Online stock trading account and latest entry being newly opened Non Resident External (NRE) savings account. In my relationship so far I have had my share of good and bad experiences. Overall its been a decent experience compared to all the banks I have dealt with so far in India. They are simply ahead of every other bank in terms of services and technology they provide.

However…

The kind of effort you put to sell the product and start the relationship, please also put similar effort to sustain the relationship and show similar level of enthusiasm for AFTER sales effort.

One rep went ahead to take my number from my mom to give me a sales call in Australia at 11 pm in night… am waiting to see how much time and effort will you make to resolve the problem with my NRE account…

How’s your experience with bank so far? Do share if you have some interesting story or experience.

…On Another GoAir (Mis)Adventure story

1) Spicejet was better and smoother experience

2) Exchange of number of calls i was finally assured that i will get refund of my complete money (Rupees 3945) in two parts: (a) Money transferred directly to credit card – Rupees 1420 (b) Money sent via demand draft – Rupees 2525.

As i mentioned in the last go air post -

“Anyways to cut the coversation shot, I confirmed with her that amouht that will be credited (in next 7 working days) to my credit card is Rs 3945 (Rupees Three thousand nine hundered forty five). She assured me that nothing will go the voucher now and all amount will be credited to card. And she again said no mail will be sent on this, for mail you can contact on feedback@goair.in”

It took them more than a month to return complete money, although amount (a) was transferred in 7 days, it took them more than a month for for amount (b)

Alls well that ends well …. however from next time i will have to think thrice before choosing go Air

Vivek sent this mail conversation. This is between Vivek and Tata Indicom guys, which is (just) another Telecom operator in India which like others take us (subscribers) for a ride.

Read on the unabridged version of the conversation…

______________________________________

Fwd: I have been SO HARASSED!!!!

Vivek Chaturvedi <vivek2050@gmail.com>

Tue, Aug 19, 2008 at 12:10 PM

To: siddharths@gmail.com
This is my last mail to them….   

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Vivek Chaturvedi <vivek2050@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Aug 19, 2008 at 11:36 AM
Subject: Fwd: I have been SO HARASSED!!!!
To: Nodalofficer.north@tatacommunications.com, nodalofficer.delhi@tatatel.co.in, nodalofficer.upw@tatatel.co.in, nodalofficer.corp@tatatel.co.in, dotpg@bol.net.in, jayanthi@titan.co.in, mail@tce.co.in, suroor.hussain@tatatel.co.in
Cc: contact@tatanet.co.in, corporate@tatatechnologies.com, ttl.ho@tatatea.co.in, corporate@tsmg.com, sanjay.choudhry@tatasteel.com, help@tatasky.com, msonawala@tata.com, tataryerson@vsnl.com, shalinis@tpc.co.in, am@tatamotors.com, mjkotwal@tata.com, tintl@tatainternational.com, tismarketing@tatainteractive.com, njdriver@tata.com, rjuneja@tata.com, financial@tata.com, cummins@tata.com, corporate.office@tcs.com, ravindran.s@vsnl.co.in, corporate_communications@tatachemicals.com, veetika.deoras@tatacapital.com, partners@serwizsol.com, shvetal.diwanji@tacogroup.com, kiran@tataamc.com, tajair@tajhotels.com, ashok.lalla@tajhotels.com, feedback@corusgroup.com, jhzhan@tata.com, tata@tataafrica.com, tata@tata.co.uk, info@tata.com

THERE HAS BEEN NO REPLY FROM ANYONE ON THE LONG MAIL BELOW!!!
TATA INDICOM is spoiling the name of entire TATA GROUP!!! hence i am cc’ing this mail to as many Tata group company ids as i cud get hold of…

I plan to use spray paint and write on the roads around Tata Indicom delhi office, saying “Tata Indicom SUCKS”… I would ideally like it to be covered by media via helicopters but i guess all this is just a pipe dream…. untill then… i can at least spread the message in general interest of humanity and goodness!!!!

MORONS!!

check these:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/tata-indicom-c90551.html
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/cheating-the-customers-on-the-tariff-plans-c16306.html
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/broadband-connection-c17006.html
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/fake-promises-c42531.html
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/not-providing-good-services-c33445.html

there are many many more here..

____________________________________________________________

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Vivek Chaturvedi <vivek2050@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Aug 18, 2008 at 4:21 PM
Subject: I have been SO HARASSED by Tata Indicom!!!!
To: Nodal Officer North <Nodalofficer.north@tatacommunications.com>, nodalofficer.delhi@tatatel.co.in, nodalofficer.upw@tatatel.co.in
TO WHOMSOEVER THIS MAY CONCERN!!!!
(Depending on whose nodal “jurisdiction” does Noida fall under)

I have had such a horrendous experience with Tata indicom that I have stopped payment of a 6.5grands cheque for a broadband connection that i was about to purchase.

I purchased your wireless internet device (USB modem) a couple of weeks ago and part of the relevant communication is attached below. The marketing team was very prompt. The person came over to my office, accepted whatever papers I gave him, took cash and gave me the device on the same day of the call. My net got activated the very next day! So far so good. Unfortunately, I lost my device within a couple of days, and I didn’t have the 10-digit number saved. This is where you people began to harass me. i called at least 20 different people over 2 days and no one was able to do ANYTHING… everyone just kept pushing me to the automated helpline where i need to 10 digit number to enter, or some different number. each time i explain that i have lost my device and the sim, your people either dont understand or dont comprehend. YOU HAVE IMBECILES WORKING ON YOUR HELPDESK. now i’ll tell you why…
one of the delhi customer support person told me that someone will call me the next day and give me the details…i call back the next day post noon because noone had called back and the same lady, very promptly takes my customer application number and gives back a 10 digit number!!! WHY CUD SHE NOT DO IT ONE DAY BEFORE!?!?!?… and then THAT number is WRONG!!…
so i call back… and she gets all worried and tells me that she will sort it out within an hour… after 3 long hours.. i am given another number…
and now YOUR people tell me that i have to VISIT YOUR OFFICE to deactivate the sim and get a new device!!!

WHY?!?!…. when you want to sell the device you come begging on your stomach and take the money..

then i get the good news that my sim has been deactivated already because of negative address verification… NOW!… this is interesting… your verification person had called me after i purchased the device and I was out of delhi…so i tell him that do the verification when i am back… he calls me the day i am back and says he will come over within an hour.. i was in office!!.. and noone is home!…. i request him to come after office hours so that address can be verified when i am home… HE REFUSES!!!! I mean WTF!! and then he gives a negative address verification!!!

coming back to the lost device…I decide that i will rather purchase a new device than go to your office and do all the unnecessary paperwork… SO NOW your people say that it will take 3 days to get everything going… whtever…
your person comes again (same guy)takes the papers from me… which are in fact more detailed this time… and takes the money… CASH..

my device is not activated for 3 days… and on 4th day (yesterday) your person calls me saying that the papers are not OK…1!!!!! WHY?!?!…. your freakin company accepted the same papers last time>!!>>,,,,?!?!,,, now what???,,, he says that the company address is NOT mentioned on the paper!??!?!…. MMMMOOOORRROOONNNNN…. its a COMPANY LETTERHEAD … a company letterhead has the OFFICIAL REGISTERED address of the company in the header or footer!!!…. what the HECK is your problem… he doesn’t accept (Name INDER – 09891937167) i ask him for his senior’s number and he gives me the helpline number which is “SWITCHED OFF” since 15th august… FREEEDDOMM I SAYYY FREEDOM…. then i call him back and then he gives me his seniors’ number and he has the same issue… blindheaded people (name.. some jeet – 9990046823)

another issue they have is that the name and designation of the authorised signatory is not written!!!…. THE SAME LETTERHEAD WITH SAME SIGNATURE AND SAME OFFICE STAMP WAS ACCEPTED JUST TWO WEEKS AGO!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!… then why not now?!?!?!… What stupid processes are these?!?!? i request both these people over 2 hours that PLEASE activate my device as i have office work to finish and i’ll give them whtever papers they want the next day… i told them they cud talk to the authorized signatory… but NO BLOODY HELP!!1…. i told them that THEIR person has visited my office twice and done the address verification on office address!!!!… still…. no one budges… SARKARI BABUS ARE BETTER THAN TATA INDICOM…

this senior promises to me that he will call me today first thing in the morning and sort it out and someone will come to office to take revised papers… its 4pm NOW… noone has called… and my device is still inactive…

i had ordered a tata indicom broadband recently and had given the cheque of 6500 which i have now cancelled… i am taking airtel broadband…

SMS

______________________________________
following is the sms messages i sent to the INDER chap and his boss  -

“This is your chance to accommodate my request and change my perception about Tata indicom. so please help. thanks a lot—– “17.33pm 17th aug –9891937167

NO response to this too
_____________________________________________

GO DIE ALL OF YOU!!!

Vivek Chaturvedi
Genuine Tata Indicom Hater
9873693951
A-67, Sector 35, Noida- UP

Sim Card Number – A000000ACF     ED60(8026D8D9)
Device Number – SXC – 1080 , S/N: EUSC332885, ESN: 05B340DA

PS.
Am an avid blogger and am going to make sure that a Tata Indicom hate club is created online across all social networking websites. I might use spray paint to write on the roads near the Tata indicom office that “Tata Indicom Sucks”.

____________________________________________________

On Mon, Aug 4, 2008 at 5:27 PM, Nodal Officer North <Nodalofficer.north@tatacommunications.com> wrote:

Dear Mr. Chaturvedi,

Thank you for writing to Tata Communications Ltd.

With reference to the appended mail, we apologize for the inconvenience caused to you due to interruption in services.

We would like to inform you that Delhi & NCR are feasible for us but to resolve your Concern for port feasibility we need some details about your installation address so as you see this mail kindly revert me back with your complete address.

For any further assistance please,

• Contact 24 hours toll free Customer Care: 1800 209 7070or call the Customer Service number in your city.

• You can also write tousat customerservice@tatacommunications.com.

Assuring you of our best of services at all times,

Nodal Officer – North

Tata Communications

ur helpline guys are unable to confirm if tata indicom broadband is available in noida sector 35 or now.

do let me know

thanks

–
Vivek Chaturvedi
+91 9873693951
[ www.crimsonfeet.blogspot.com ]

……Thanks Vivek for allowing me to post the same………

I thought it was Happy Ending with GoAir. They working hard to prove me wrong…. Here is another (mis)adventure. No wonder they had to drop 300 flights

Gift Voucher

During their last adventure GoAir gave me a gift voucher, valid for six months. So, for this Ahmeadabad trip I thought of using the voucher. Tried my best to find out how to use the voucher while booking tickets online through GoAir web

site. Alas! cant find the option for the same.

Help lines

1800 no is only for BSNL / MTNL lines  I am not too sure if the other no 09223222111 is toll free or not, and was in no mood to spend money calling them up . So SMSed them on the no given, forget 24 hours till date its been few weeks havent yet got any call from them

Booking the Tickets

Finally i called them up on the other no (09223222111) and came to know that voucher can only be redeemed thru travel agent or tele booking. Anyways got my ticket booked and was happy that everything went on smoothly (except for the fact that i had to pay some extra money to get it booked thru call center and then may be the money and time i had to spend on phone call).

So, I was supposed to fly to Ahmedabad on 12th July 15:15 hours via flight G8-104 (confirmation no KQQC7C)

(Mis)Adventure

11th July around 3 pm my cousin called me up and told me the great news that GoAir people called and said that the flight has been cancelled ( interesting to note that they called up at my home PSTN no and not at my cell no provided to them while booking the ticket… they can send confirmation for the ticket booking but not the cancellation of flight)

Now, I was given two options – 1) To book same flight next day and  2) to get the full refund

Cancellation of Ticket

As i had to attend important function on 12th evening there was no point  to go for option 1, so i chose option 2 and got my ticket cancelled.

Again i had to call them up from my cell phone …. explained the story was on hold while the person was trying to cancel my ticket. Lo! his system got hanged and he cannot proceed. I was told that somebody will call me up in 10-15 mins.

After some time Pranav called up. I first asked him following questions

Me: Exact reasons for the cancellation of fligh?

Pranav: Some issues on air line control and flight will not be operation tomorrow for this segment!

Me: Do you have tie up with other air lines so that i can book flight same day

Pranav: No, sorry sir we dont have tie up with any other carrier

Me: Okay, tell me the amount that will be credited back to my credit card and also can you please mail me these details, I need written communication from your side

Pranav: Sorry sir, i cant mail you

Me: Can I talk to your supervisor?

Pranav: yes sir, hold on for a while

And i was again on hold ………

Some time and Seema is on the other side.

Seema:  Sir, how can i help you

Me: Will I have to repeat whole story again?

Seema: No sir, money credited to your account …. ( I cut her short)

Me: Can i please get this information on mail

Seema: No sir that is not possible

Me: But i have always got it on mail earlier, do you want me to talk to Gp Capt Sachdev for it (Gp Capt are you listening)

(By this time lady was lil irritated and was lil rude in her responses …. that is fine with me but is she supposed to be rude to customer??)

Anyways to cut the coversation shot, I confirmed with her that amouht that will be credited (in next 7 working days) to my credit card is Rs 3945 (Rupees Three thousand nine hundered forty five). She assured me that nothing will go the voucher now and all amount will be credited to card. And she again said no mail will be sent on this, for mail you can contact on feedback@goair.in

Open Questions

i still want answers to following questions from GoAir guys:

1) Reason for flight cancellation

2) Is such cancellation of flight covered in rules and regulations. If not what is the compensation?

3) How much money will be refunded and credited to my credit card (or as voucher, though I prefer cash now)

4) Why 7 working days when money is debited instantly while booking?

I am again looking forward for some sort of email or written communication from GoAir people. I am sending this blog post to Feedback and also Gp. Capt Sachdev ….

Spicejet

Meanwhile to reach Ahmedabad as per plan, I booked my ticket with spicejet, everything smooth till now. I have my fingers crossed for Spicy adventure

This story ended with a happy note

1) Make My Trip refunded all money for second Ticket of higher value

2) Go Air gave gift voucher which can be redemmed within next six months (hope that will happen smoothly

So, monetary harm has been taken care of … However it would be meaningful if they learn their lessons from this and take some steps so that it is not repeated in future. However there is immediate need for following upgrade:

1) Central view of all the communications that happen with the consumer. Be it via mail or on phone or any other mode. Every call center rep should have access to this central updated data. This will save us from repeating our story to every other call center rep. There were instances when i received more than one mail asking for same data which I had already provided. This problem is common to most of these call centers, as is also highlighted by Sachin in this Ezeego Case

Recently, My friend had a wonderful consumer experience with ezeego1. These Travel sites make sure to make your travel a not-to-forget affair. Can it be more interesting than planning to go to destination A for your honeymoon and after high end  drama you end up going to destination B … Read on what Sachin has to say…

————————————————

I Have a similar story to tell with ezeego1.com:

You may publish this as a post:

I booked a package tour on ezeego1.com on 26th March for a holiday trip from 12 Apr to 19 Apr 2008. Ezeego1 happily deducted 27984/- (Package Amount). I was given a booking number: EZR-2008-188647, which was epitaphed in my mind, because I repeated this number to several CSRs in some 25 -30 calls I made to ezeego1.

The Problem:

whenever you book a holiday from a travel website, you need to wait for a confirmation from the website to actually confirm whether you will go on that package or not. This is a timeframe of 48 hrs. as ezeego1 website claims. These were the terms on which i booked the package:

Payment Policy for on Request Bookings.

1. The package that you have selected is currently on request and is subject to confirmation.
2. We will require Pre Authorization of your credit card and the same will not be charged till the package is confirmed.
3. Your credit card would be charged only if we are able to confirm the booking within 24 hours and the terms & conditions associated with this booking would be applicable.
4. In case we are not able to confirm your selection, we will offer you an alternative in a similar Hotel.
5. Only on acceptance of the alternative offer, your credit card will be charged and the terms & conditions associated with this booking would be applicable.

These conditions were flouted blatantly, as I was deducted the said amount real – time, as soon I clicked the submit button. Now, I dont have a confirmed package, and I have been deducted Rs. 27984

Ezeego1 Response:

I think Ezeego1 has a primitive customer care, where no one cares to write case history and never ever a complaint number is generated. As a result, according to the complex Call Centre software algorithm, you always get connected to a different call cetner rep and poor you have to explain your problem every time you called. Imagine my plight, having to call 25 – 30 times and explaining to as many people every time.

Now, the real fun began, on 2nd April, I had this chat with this floor manager of the call center who valiantly fought for ezeego1. He says, Sir, we are very sorry that we could not process your confirmation, but would do by tomorrow. I replied, Can you please reply this via Email? He Says, Sorry Sir, but I Cant write you a mail. But have faith, it will be done by tomorrow. Now, If this guy representing ezzeego1 cant commit/write a mail regarding confirmation on 2nd April, (Ideally, which should have been done in 24/48 hrs. from 26 Mar), How am I, a poor consumer can believe a verbal promise. Especially, when you don’t take money verbally from consumer, but swipe his credit card for the full amount.

I started calling ezeego1 from 29 Mar seeking for confirmation as I had to book Air Tickets as well. The air fares were rising fast, so was our expectations from the Holiday break. Everyday same reply from ezeego1, that it will be confirmed next day, or wait till tomorrow, you will get a call from us.

One, the package was never confirmed. Two, I never got a return call from ezeego1 (except in one instance). Three, Time was running was fast and it did create some disharmony between My wife and me.

The Falllout:

I religiously called ezeego1 several times from 29 Mar to 6 Apr, Finally decided to cancel my trip. This was getting too much as I had already applied for leaves in my office. So had my Wife. This was supposed to our much awaited Honeymoon, 3 months after our marriage in Jan’08. You can understand the emotional value of this holiday for us.

We were on the brink of canceling this Honeymoon when sense prevailed. Finally, my request landed on deaf ears of ezeego1on 6th Apr, and I got a mail saying your money would be refunded in 7 days from now. I booked an alternate holiday, all by myself, not choosing a package this time, for much higher hotel/travel fares, which could have been avoided if ezeego1 had cleared its position much earlier.

Even though the money has been refunded, I was harassed unneccessarily. The situation could very well have been avoided, if Ezeego1 followed their own rules and guidelines.

—————————————————————-
Actual story submitted by Sachin Arya

On this whole issue of Air Tickets following are the responses from Go Air and MakeMytrip ( other than the comment from Gp Capt Sachdev from Go Air)

———————————————————————————
MakeMyTrip

Mail 1

From: Service <Service@makemytrip.com> to siddharth sharma <siddharths@gmail.com>,
date Fri, Apr 4, 2008 at 3:00 AM
subject RE: who will Refund my Money?
mailed-by makemytrip.com

[I cant make head or tail out of this mail, what are they trying to say and highlight, seems like responded to mail withouht even reading the whole story. As a next step I have replied and forwarded the conversation at feedback id given in this mail]

Mail 2

Received an auto mailer from MakeMyTrip, saying that money has ben refunded and will reflect in credit card account within ten business working days. I am not too sure what this refund for, may be for the connecting Air India flight (on 3rd April) i got cancelled at air port

Telephone call

In evening got a call from MakeMyTrip, they need details of my new flight which i took on 4th April he was looking for fare of both the flights and would refund the money as soon as they get these flight details.

[Have mailed them the same, lets see what they intend to do with it]

————————————————–

GO Air

1) Comment from Gp Capt Sachdev

2) Call from their cost rep that their manager Richa will soon contact me on this whole issue

3) Checked with MakemyTrip database that my account no with their records was wrong, updated the same.

I appreciate the fact that Go Air management has been quiet prompt and responsive so far…

————————————————————————-

Air India

Further I managed to catch my flight today ( i was at check in counter one and half hour prior to departure time ) – Today i could see the logic in my Dad’s advice of reaching railway station early and not just in time…

There was lot of chaos at mumbai airport while catching connecting flight fo Air India ….However it taught me good lessons for consumers

Keep Your Eyes wide open: IC 157 flight which was supposed to leave at 8:55was delayed by half an hour. I was lucky to notice the same at the check in counter display. Person delivering my boarding pass never cared to inform me about the same…

As a consumer they want you to keep your eyes open, look around and pay attention to detail.

Be patient: All the display boards except one at check in counter were showing old time and there was no info about the boarding gate of flight. I asked the concerned person, who smiled and asked me to wait in the lobby, there will be an announcement about the same.

It was 9 am now, by this time couple of other air india flights were also delayed and departure time of all was nearly same. So there was a mad rush at the gate no 8, there was single queue for all these flights, nobody was sure when will their flight leave. Staff was repeating same sentence – will inform in few minutes sir, please be patient.

So as a consumer you got to be really patient and keep asking the same question no matter if you get the same response.

Be on your toes – As the density of crowd at gate was increasing and the time was half an hour past 9, I decided to join the crowd and i realized it was wise decision for a Air India staff person standing near the gate was making an annoucement, only audible within the crowd. She was actually calling out the flight no and people were accordingly moving out.

I got lucky around around 9:30 am, when she announced about the boarding of flight no IC 157. How foolish i was sitting in the lobby and waiting for the announcement information to come to me through some speaker, or on any of the LCD display

As a consumer you are not supposed to sit and wait for the information to come to you… make an effort, move your ass and go as near as you can to the information source … again keep your eyes and ears open … Be on your toes ..

Finally I could board the flight and somehow managed to reach my destination, it was realy a sense of achievement, it would have been really boring journey, thank you all for making it so eventful and adventurous.

By the way … think twice before making any commitments to others… you might not be able to reach on time .. or may be not reach at all

My experience as a consumer of MakeMyTrip and Go Air …. Read on it happened today …

Kindly refer to the Attached file, which is an e ticket I booked through Makemytrip, for your reference I am reproducing some of the details here:

MakeMyTrip Booking No. FLT1435237

PNR No. 89INLQ

Passenger Name: Siddharth Sharma

Flight No G8-451

Departure Date and Time: 03/04/2008 5:20 AM

The Problem

This mail is to bring to your notice the fact that I could not board this flight, as the Departure time mentioned was not right, as this flight departed at 5:05 AM (instead of 5:20 AM as mentioned on e ticket).

I reported at check in counter well with in time at 4:30 am (which is 50 mins prior to the mentioned departure time on e ticket). However I was not allowed to board as check in was already closed (as per new departure time of 5:05 AM, as check is allowed only till 40 mins prior to the departure time).

GO Air Representative at Air Port

Now, GO air representative on desk told me that actual flight time was 5:05 AM and not 5:20 AM, so it is an error on part of MakeMyTrip and GO Air is not at all responsible for this and asked me to get in touch with MakeMyTrip.

Further on asking Go Air that they should have communicated the change in flight timings, they told me that MakeMyTrip never share customers’ phone details with us, so we were not in position to communicate with you and inform you about any change in flight timings to you.

Interesting comment:

He looks at my e ticket, which was print out of mail from MakeMyTrip; seeing the Gmail logo person chirps back :

” Yah to aapnay Gmail se book kiya hai ….insay hi baat kariay ki galat time kion baataya ..” ( You have got this ticket booked through gmail, ask gmail guys why he gave you wrong time) – This speaks about the Quality and knowledge of guys sitting at check in counter of Go Air!!

On contacting MakeMyTrip

First call: customer rep simply took my details, apologized and said concerned department will call you back in 3-4 hours, I requested him to expedite and see if I will be able to get it adjusted with similar flight next day as I had to go to attend 3 day conference at IIM Kozhikode (In any case day 1 has gone for a toss). He assured me of faster response, which incidentally didn’t happen and I called up again after two hours

Second Call: I again explained whole thing to a new representative, who put me on hold for quiet some time to check the details, and then again on hold as she wanted to talk to airline people, then she put on conf call with Manager (Piyush). His story goes like this:

Piyush: Sorry for the inconvenience sir, time of the flight was changed however we did informed passengers through SMS.

Me: I never got any SMS from Go Air, moreover your people at airport counter told me that MakeMyTrip never give you any customers’ no and so there’s no way airline can communicate. Now, I am not too sure whom to believe … You or your person at counter.

Piyush: Sir, in that case I request you to please send a mail to feedback@goair.in saying that you didn’t receive any SMS about change in timing of flight and so could not board the flight. And you will receive a response within 24 HOURS. We are extremely sorry that we will not be able to help you out with this only headquarter can do so. They will tell you if you will get refund or not. Is there anything else I can assist you with?

Me: No, you were not of any help I will get in touch at the mail given by you and also will approach consumer court for this. Thanks

I also asked him that who will be responsible for my other investments which have gone for a toss (Other investments include: Money I paid for conference, my return ticket). Forget about the loss of conference, and requested him if He can arrange for similar flight next day (
in place of this) so as to save other costs. Further asked him to give me a contact no of head office, he gave me this no +91 2267410000 (which I tried once, but nobody picked up)

Till this time lady from MakeMyTrip was listening to our conversation. I asked her:

Me: As I booked the ticket from your portal and was interacting directly with your company, isn’t this your responsibility to keep updated and inform me about any changes in flight timings well in time.

Her: NO SIR, as GO Air changed the time at last moment even we were not informed about the same. Moreover we are not at all responsible for the same and refund if any will be provided by Airlines. So it is advisable you kindly mail Airline guys.

And here ended my conversation with this lady and so does with all other representatives

Meanwhile, as it was sure that I will not be able to board connecting flight of Air India from Mumbai, so I got it cancelled from the representative there who said your taxes will be refunded to you.

NEXT STEPS:

1) I have composed this mail, and will be sending to MakeMyTrip and Go Air.

2) I want complete refund

3) I am not interested in this blame game which MakeMyTrip and GoAir are playing, I am least concerned, I want my money back, they will have to decide among themselves

4) However, as I was directly in touch with MakeMyTrip, so I feel that it is their responsibility to keep me updated and informed

5) I will post this mail on my BLOG for general public to see and respond to

6) If in stipulated Time (24 hours), I do not get desired response I will be forced to move to consumer court.

7) I booked another ticket for next day so as to able to attend remaining workshop and complete my other works and returns as per previous plan.

8 ) I want mail or telephonic conversation and some sort of assurance from the top management of all concerned companies ASAP.

9) I expect following compensations

Complete Refund of money for the said ticket and travel expenses to airport,

Extra fare i paid for the second ticket booked for 4th April

compensation for loss of time and compensation for loss of 1 day of workshop at IIM Khozhikode.

My question to readers is … have you faced any such problem? Share it ….

What do you feel whose fault is it? aAir lines or MakeMyTrip ….??

Following are three mails:

Mail 1 –> From Reliance saying that our request for termination of services has been processed ….( check the typos in the mail…) This mail was a shocker for me as such a request was never placed by us

Mail 2 –> My response to Mail 1

Mail 3 –> Reply of reliance to Mail 2 ….

Its still a mystery who requested for termination of service … however good news is that they delivered the repaired modem at home … waived off charges for a month …. still have to check if the piece is working or not ….

I hope this is an end to whole reliance story.

———————————————————-

Mail 1

RE: ‘RIL=002-135-720′Reference to your Service Request ID 61630791

From: serviceassurancecell@relianceada.com

Sent:

Tue 2/05/08 2:43 PM

To:

sid_success@hotmail.com

Dear Customer,

With reference to your mail regarding Reliance Mobile number xxxxxx, please note that as per confirmation receive from relevant department request processed fro termination.

Yours sincerely,
Archana Dhawale
Service Assurance Cell
Reliance Communications

———————————————————-

Mail 2

RE: ‘RIL=002-135-720′Reference to your Service Request ID 61630791

From: s ! d (sid_success@hotmail.com)

Sent:

Wed 2/13/08 3:54 PM

To:

serviceassurancecell@relianceada.com (serviceassurancecell@relianceada.com)

Hi
Strange!! I am not aware of the fact that who gave the request for termination..Coz we never did that … and as per reliance people in Shahjahanpur and Sitapur they are still working Hard to get it repaired and delivered on time…. Can you update me with the request number and other relevant details

Regards
Siddharth ———————————————————-

Mail 3