Consumer and Consumers Groups in India – A Consumerdaddy Blog

A Consumer’s Experience: Onida Microwave Oven

For my in-law’s wedding anniversary, we gifted them an Onida Microwave Oven. The Black Beauty Power Barbecue 123 is very beautiful to look at and it has many advanced features. Some of the features of this microwave oven are that it has the largest display and 123 auto cook menus, which includes the common Indian dishes that we used to make daily. The capacity of the microwave oven is 28 litres. The jog wheel on the microwave oven is very easy to use. Its calorimeter is in MWO (Maximum Watts Out). It is the first time a microwave oven is having that feature. It has a motorized barbecue. All these features impressed me very much, especially the beauty of the microwave oven. These were the main reason to buy that microwave oven.

After few weeks of usage, it stopped working. Therefore, my mother-in-law called me and told me that the Onida microwave oven that we gifted is not working. I got the customer care number from my mother-in-law and made a call to the customer care executive. I told him about my problem and registered a complaint. They gave me a reference number and told me that a service executive will visit my place to examine it. While talking to the customer care executive I felt that he was least interested in listening to my problem. To add insult to injury, my mother-in-law went and told all my relatives that I bought a low quality product for her; I am a miser, and so on.

As I expected the service executive did not come to my mother-in-law’s place the next day. Only after a week, a service executive from Onida Company came to my mother-in-law’s place to check the microwave oven. After checking it, he told that he needed to go to the service station to take some equipment to check it. However, he did not come back on that day. Therefore, I called up the customer care executive and told him about the scenario. It was the same person who attended my call when I called the previous time. This time also he gave me a reference number. For the next two weeks, no one from Onida Company came to my mother-in-law’s place to check the microwave oven. I made calls to their customer care centre several times. However, I did not get any proper response from them.

After a month, a service person came to check the microwave oven. He told me that he needed to take it to the service station for checking it because he was not able to find the problem. He told me that he would get an auto and come back. However, he also disappeared. The next day I called up the customer care executive and told him the things that have happened. He was unable to give a proper reply.

I am really fed up with their service. I did not expect this kind of service from Onida. If they are not going to solve my problem at the earliest, I am going to file complaint against their company. They have wasted my time and money. In addition, my mother-in-law has created a good image for me among my relatives.

Consumer Issues on Bottled Drinking Water

All of us definitely might have consumed the bottled drinking water in many occasions. Most of us prefer to buy and drink bottled water during journeys as it avoids the need for taking water along with you. Some of the consumers drink it by believing it as very pure than tap water. Some others use it because they like the taste of bottled water. Even though people believe that the bottled water available in the market is very pure, it is not the fact. A deep study by one organization says that bottled water is not necessarily healthier than tap water. Contrary to popular belief, tap water is not dangerous; the water authority inspects city water hundreds of times a month to ensure it is free of toxins and bacteria. The government follows tight quality standards for the tap water to ensure public health. After studying samples of bottled water from five different companies and water from a public tap they found that there is no difference between them, and the tap water contained no threatening bacteria. So bottled water is not a necessity for us while it is convenient to purchase from thousands of outlets easily . Bottled water is far more expensive than tap water or a reusable water filter. Indian bottled drinking water sales come around millions of Rupees every year.  Bottled water costs 100 times more than tap water and why should the consumers pay so much for something that can be availed almost free. Studies have shown that bottled water is not necessarily cleaner or safer than tap water, and there are many companies that do not follow any quality regulations for their products. Many of them directly fill their bottles with ground water and sell in the market. As you all know, the ground water may contain microbes, pesticides and many harmful particles.

The production, distribution, and disposal of bottled water are having adverse effect on the environment. In fact, the disadvantages of bottled water outweigh its benefits. Producing bottled water and disposing of the bottles harms the environment as it releases a lot of toxic chemicals to the nature. According to a study, the plastic needed to make the bottles requires over 17 million barrels of oil a year. In addition, over 85 percent of water bottles in India end up in trashcans rather than recycling bins, resulting in huge wastage disposal to the earth. World bottled water market is estimated to be worth $22 billion.

Considering all the above facts, it is better to carry a bottle of filtered water from home along with you while travelling or in any other cases where you have to depend on bottled drinking water. Also if you want to use bottled water, ensure that you are purchasing it from a good brand only and do not assume that costlier products are of superior quality. As your contribution for green and healthy environment, always dispose the bottle in the right manner and never throw it on streets and roads.

A Consumer’s Flight Experience

When flying for the first time, most of the consumers will have many sweet memories to cherish. However, for one of my relatives it was one of the worst experiences in her life. It is the first time she was traveling by flight. This incident happened last Friday at Mumbai Airport while she was coming to Chennai. There were about 150 passengers in the plane. The flight was on the runway and was ready for takeoff. When it started moving, one of the additional cabin crews saw fire in the engine of the aircraft. He reported the issue to the captain of the aircraft and he sounded the fire alarm. Following this, the cabin crew opened the door for immediate evacuation of the passengers which led to a stampede like situation.

Since it was her first flight, she did not know what to do. The crew members did not give any instructions to the customers in case of fire. She also rushed towards the emergency door. She saw some of the passengers jumping out from the aircraft. On seeing this through the window of the aircraft, she thought that she would also have to do the same. She was worried and wanted to go back to her seat. However, it was too late because the other passengers were pushing her from behind. When she reached the door, she saw an evacuation slide. Before she could do or tell anything one of the crew members pushed her on to the evacuation slide. She got hurt because of that. She had a small sprain in her right hand. Including her, 25 passengers were injured and admitted in hospital for getting treatment.

All these problems could have been avoided if the crew members were given proper training by the airlines company for dealing with emergencies like these. If the airlines company has given proper training to the crew members, then definitely they would have given proper instructions to the passengers on how to react during an emergency.

There are news reports that the Jet Airlines crew members did not carry out proper emergency procedures while evacuating the passengers. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) placed all the crew members, including the two pilots under suspension after an initial probe. DGCA found that the crew members have made some serious lapses while carrying out the evacuation procedures. Directorate General of Civil Aviation has formed a three member team to investigate further. They have collected the cockpit voice recorder and the digital flight data recorder to analyze recordings of voices and other parameters of the aircraft.

The Indian Aviation Regulators have set rules and regulation according to which the airlines in India should work. All the crew members including the pilots does an evacuation exercise as far as international airlines are concerned. These exercises include the basic jump and slide, wet raft training, emergency door opening and using fire extinguishers, which are mandatory for airlines to be conducted every year. I think it is time for the airlines working in India to concentrate on the safety of the customers than on the profit.

Duplicate medicines – A threat to consumers

All of us might have taken medicine for some diseases and whether we have taken the original one or not? we may not know. It can also be a duplicated one which may be harmful your health. As the population is huge, there is a vast consumer market for medicine in India and a parallel market for adulterated medicines to earn millions of money. A recent investigation by the reporters of a leading newspaper revealed the dangerous attempts of unauthorized manufacturers. There are a number of factories that are engaged in the repacking of expired medicines. Most of them were in Tamilnadu and Himachal Pradesh. The expired medicines are coming back to the consumers in new pack by changing the expiry date. One should purchase the medicine only from reputed registered medical shops to avoid the consumption of duplicate medicines. Also one should insist for the same brand which the doctor has prescribed. In the adulterated medicine, sometimes the chemical or drug content will be less but it costs equivalent to the original one. Most of the medicines are the repacks of expired one with new utility period.

Most of the unauthorized manufacturers are having a very close tie up with government officials and doctors and this helps in spreading their products in the market. All those officials and doctors enjoy many benefits by pushing duplicate ones to the consumers. Mass quantity of duplicated medicines are supplied to the poor patients at government hospital at free of cost while the manufacturers are paid for the duplicated medicine from the government fund. Most of the commonly used medicines like paracetamol are manufactured in different brand names and to have an extra profit, some of the brands are prepared with less chemical content than required. Even though this practice is not that harmful, it will not cure the illness upon consumption.

Normally all the manufacturers take back their expired medines from the shop and nobody knows what is happening to it. Since the retailers are paid back this money, there is a little chance for their involvement in the issue. But one question which remains is that what manufacturer do with expired medicine. There is a possibility that manufacturer themselves are involved in the adulteration directly or indirectly. All the expired medicines are repacked in different brand names and the best practice to avoid the consumption of adulterated medicine is to choose only highly reputed manufacturer’s products. As adulterated or duplicated medicines are harmful to the health of the consumers, it is the prime responsibility of the manufactures to ensure their products are not duplicated. Most of the companies are spending millions on R&D of new medicines and some amount should be kept to fight against such malpractices.

I have a personal experience and wish to share the same with you. For fever, I have taken medicine from a medical shop and after a day rashes were found on my skin. I have done a thorough medical checkup and all the results were negative. The doctor finally concluded that it can be due to allergy. Since I am not allergic to anything, I doubt that the problem is with the medicine. I have registered a complaint against this in the manufactures web site and unfortunately, till today I have not received any reply. This kind of irresponsibility promotes the adulterated medicine in the market. There are many consumer complaints in the society regarding this issue. My suggestion is that the consumers should take medicines only in unavoidable situations and try to use herbal products as much as possible.

The New Nissan for Indian Consumers

The automobile industry in India is developing day by day. It was in 1898 when the first car was driven in Mumbai and from then the Indian automobile industry has come a long way. Indian automobile industry is currently growing at rate of 18% per annum and many global players in the automobile industry like Ford, Toyota, Benz and many more has made India as one of their hot destination. The rising living standards of Indian consumers have flourished many industries in India, especially the automobile industry. India is a booming market for hatch back cars and all the top automobile companies have launched their hatch back cars here.
Nissan is planning to capture the Indian hatch back market with its new release Micra .It is their first joint venture with Renault from Chennai plant. To cut down the price, Nissan decided to outsource all the components locally and achieved the mission except for the air bag sensor and body control module. Nissan is expanding their network in a rapid rate to reach to their customers more easily.
The new Micra has so many exciting features in it. It has 3 cylinder and 1.2 litre petrol engine. The model with 3 cylinder reduces the engine friction by 20% and improves the thermal efficiency by 2% for the better fuel efficiency which effectively saves the running cost for the consumer. The engine is silent compared to the noise created by other models and provides good comfort to the consumers. The vehicle offers 19+ km in highways and 16+ km in city driving and it is more than what is offered by Maruti Swift. It picks to 100 km speed in 15.6 seconds. For this model Nissan has chosen the power steering settings carefully. This design avoid the chances of aches on shoulder of the driver and makes it more comfortable. I feel Micra is a family friendly car but it do not offers alloy wheels for any of its models. All of the models are with R14 tyres. Micra is surprisingly good in braking , there is no lack of power from the brakes, but the initial stroke produces soft braking followed quickly by a lot of force. Like other passenger cars it offers ABS on only the top model. The car is not that expensive .The ex showroom price is 5.29 lakhs which is an affordable range to most of the consumers. It is having a nice music system and the body colours mirrors and excellent seats in the range. It is with another beautiful facility called Key less entry. There is a black button on the front door with a large boot handle. Touch them with the keys and the car unlocks for you. There is 4.7 lakh middle variant model and 3.98 lakh XE base model is also available. But these models will be lacking Keyless operation and changes with interior and without music system. Hope this new venture of Nissan will also be a hit like many other cars launched in India.

EMI – Easy for Consumers

Easy Monthly Installments have become a common household term where the payment is made over a period of time for a purchase or a loan. There is yet another way of purchase which is more common . In this method the buyer pays for purchase in advance for twelve or fifteen months and later redeems the amount in the form of product purchased at the store. Most of the people opt for this savings option. This is especially popular among the middle and lower middle class people. Under this scheme on paying a monthly installment starting from hundred rupees to five thousand rupees for thirteen months, the consumer can purchase product of value equivalent to the payment of fifteen months. For example, in case of paying hundred rupees a month for thirteen months, the consumer can purchase a product of1500 rupees against the 1300 rupees they have paid.

Gold has been an important part of Indian custom and tradition. Consumers in all the levels consider it as an important part. Since the cost of gold is increasing day by day it has become a hard task to purchase gold even for middle class people. Hence most of the jewellery shops implement many savings scheme for consumers. These schemes are very useful to consumers because it does not ask for a one time pay. Since the amount of monthly installments is less, it is easy for consumers to allocate from their monthly budgets. This encourages families to opt for such schemes because the money for the purchase is already reserved.
To purchase an item on EMI the terms and conditions will be more or less like repayment in 24 months with an initial down payment of two installments along with signed cheques. One should make sure that the money is there in account to encash each cheque leaves which will be getting submitted each month. At any time if the cheque bounces due to insufficient funds, they will be charging an extra amount as fine and ultimately the total EMI amount will be more than expected. Before opting for an EMI scheme the consumers should think about his financial stability and repayment capacity. It is common that unhealthy incidents usually happen, like recovering the product back when consumers are not able to repay it on time. Even the EMI scheme is not directly done by the shops, processing the application and arranging the loan is done by mostly private banks. Most of the private banks like ICICI are very particular about recovering the amount on specific dates. I would like to narrate one incident related to this which happened with my friend few months back. He had purchased a Maruti Alto car from one of the dealer at cochin by paying an initial down payment of Rs.75000 and balance on 5 years EMI scheme. He had taken the finance from a private financer and arranged signed cheque leaves also as per their norms. He had shown a date of 5th on the cheque and ensured that the fund will be in the account every month.
Unfortunately he met with a severe road accident and got admitted for more than 45 days in the hospital and spent his bank balance for the treatment. When the cheque got bounced, they called him and asked to him pay the cash immediately and when the same thing happened next month, a team of 5 persons came to his home to recover the vehicle by force and threatened his family. With great difficulty they took one week time from them for the repayment and further they ensured that the funds will be in the account on time. On this background, I suggest all of you think twice before availing any EMI scheme.

The most trusted Medical Trust Hospital

Medical Trust Hospital is a super specialty hospital located at Cochin, Kerala. It is located in the heart of the city which is easily accessible. It is a 700 bed hospital with over thousands of workers comprising of doctors, surgeons, support staff and faculties. The hospital is having all the specialty departments. A lot of people from different part of the state come here for treatment because of its well known success in the field of medicine. It is having a panel of well experienced doctors. The team of nurses is also dedicated and well caring. The hospital has a twenty four hour emergency care department. The hospital has the facilities like blood bank services and pharmacy which operates round the clock. The pharmacy has stock of rare and imported medicines which you will find it difficult to get in the Indian market. The hospital is equipped with all the latest facilities in the field of medical treatment. Many support facilities like radiology and imaging, nuclear medicine, clinical labs and physiotherapy. The hospital provides religious services for all the religions by providing chapel and prayer rooms so that the people can get some relief from their tensions. The hospital also performs so many charity services. The most important among them is the senior citizens healthcare plan which focuses on providing many benefits to senior citizens. It provides facilities such as free medical checkups, concession on medical charges, rent, diagnostic procedures etc. Free Medical camps are conducted at a regular basis by the hospital.
I am very much impressed by the hospital as I have a very good experience with it. One of my relatives had undergone an open heart surgery at this hospital. He had a problem with the valve and the surgery was performed to correct the damaged valve. We were worried about the result. But the doctors gave us the confidence and explained us more about the surgery which kept us calm. The surgery was successful and they had shifted him to the ICU after two hours of surgery. They monitored him for 2 days in the ICU and shifted him to the room the next day. After seven days they made the patient to walk and the thirteenth day he got discharged from the hospital. During this period the care extended to us is unforgettable.
The rooms and the hospital premises were highly clean and hygienic. The only bad mark is the cafeteria which is inside the hospital. It does not serve good quality food. A lot of restaurants are nearby the hospital from where we had our food. The surgery was a little expensive, but successful. They have assisted us for claiming the medical insurance and in fact this helped a lot in that situation. The doctor had advised for routine checkups for few months and during that time also they analyzed his heart condition properly and gave the necessary assistance for physical exercises. Now his condition is sound and we thank all the doctors and staffs associated with that surgery. In future I will recommend only medical trust hospital for any kind of treatment which needs critical care.

The Most Preferred Airport.

Chennai international airport located at Tirusulam is the third busiest airport in India. I had several journeys from Chennai domestic and international terminal for the past few years. The facilities and infrastructure in this airport is very good. The staffs always behave in a very pleasing manner. It is the first ISO 9000 certified airport in India and the first airport to host international operations by private Indian air carriers like Air Sahara and Jet Airways. Due to the intensity of consumers flying through Chennai, the airport authority of India is expanding the runways, taxiways and new passenger terminal building. Even though expansion projects worth millions are happening, the airport authority has successfully managed to avoid discomfort for passengers.
I have very bitter experiences with Cochin and Mumbai airports during my returns from abroad. The customs officials were behind me for money in order to clear the goods I carried along with me and they delayed the formalities and kept me waiting so long. They do the same with all the passengers and there is nobody to take action against this. They will simply do anything for the sake of money and this can cause high security problem in future. There are also cases of costly products being missing from the bags of the passengers. But I never had these kinds of experiences with Chennai airport which made me to prefer Chennai airport as my favorite terminal. The officials do their duties in the proper manner. The flights are also not managed properly in Cochin airport. There are chances of your flight getting delayed. Because of this problem mostly the passengers miss their connection flights and this will cause a lot of inconvenience.
The Chennai airport is equipped with modern technological innovations and facilities. The airport terminal features facilities like trolleys, wheel chairs, assistance to physically challenged, rest rooms, restaurants and excellent parking facilities. From the airport you can opt for a prepaid taxi, an auto, bus or even a train. All these things have an easy access from the airport. There are good cafeterias where you can have some good food. There are also many duty paid shops .The airport and the premises are kept very neat and clean and the formalities are done in an appreciable manner. The airport is having a capability of handling three million passengers in the international terminal and six million passengers in the domestic terminal. After the expansion it will be capable of handling double the present capacity. The airport is located away from the city while a lot of hotels like Trident, Le Meridian etc are situated near the airport. The roads are also very wide enough to reach the airport without any traffic block. The airport mainly focuses on the convenience of the customers.
The effort made by the airport officials to prevent major accidents at the airport so far is appreciable. The security system is very tight to eliminate any terrorist attacks. The only black mark is the bomb blast that happened in 1984 in the 1.2 km premises of the airport which killed 33 people.

Indian Consumer Scenario

The world is moving at a very fast rate and there are very large numbers of technologies coming up with each passing day. The scenario in India is however different. The rate of growth of technology is not as fast as that of the US or Japan or many other countries . As a result of this, the Indian consumer market has to rely on imports for the lasts in technology. The irony in this is that the people or rather the consumers have to wait in order to get their hands on quality technology or gadgets or the latest electronic goods. The case dose not end with these, even in movie releases India lags behind in most cases. The Indian cinemas do not often see the World wide releases on the Worldwide release date.
Why is this disparity prevalent in our country? There are no answers for all these questions. A motherboard manufactured in Taiwan sells for 130 dollars in the United States but the very same motherboard manufactured in the same place costs a little over 200 dollars in India. Geographically India is closer to Taiwan than the United States and there is this difference in the costs. The difference is not small either.
Similar is the case with the numerous other products. The iPad was to be launched in India weeks after its US release date. We can find that countries like Israel and Iraq had a chance of seeing the iPad even before India. I feel like we have comparatively better ties with the great Country. Another reason may be the lack of importance to the Indian product. Indians have a natural tendency to look up to the so called foreign or imported products rather than home grown electronics. Zebronics is one of the Indian computer peripheral company which has a considerable marker in India but I is nowhere near the Japanese and Us giants even within the country.
The cell phone industry is another area where the Indian brands are marking a mark nowadays. Phones with more features are available at a cheaper rate and a number of people have got the name mixed up with the so called Chinese imitation mobiles.  No matter whom you ask, there is one standard reply, “That Company? Do not buy those phones; they will not last very long”. But who cares about all those things, if someone is giving you a mobile with lots of features at cheap rate, who cares if it lasts long or not, as long as there are no health related problems from the mobiles.
As far as I know, the majority of Nokia phones that are being sold in the country originate from a nearby plant and yet they are sold with a very small margin compared to the costs in the developed countries. Aren’t the phones supposed to be cheaper if there is less transportation cost? There are lots of questions left still unanswered and lets hope for a change atleast in the future.

Eureka … Eureka…

I am a bank employee and a net surfer. I am fond of reading articles on consumer related issues. I got a Eureka Forbes Euroclean vacuum cleaner, a few years back.  I got it because I was brain washed by a Euroclean sales man. I used it for two times and after that the machine refuses to start; the machine behaved as if it had a brain of its own. I had to switch the vacuum cleaner on and off repeatedly to make it work. Its body got heated up and I found it unsafe because there were kids in my house who might touch the body of the vacuum cleaner. I contacted the customer care and lodged a complaint. But nobody replied till now. I was frustrated by their irresponsible action, so I thought of putting in a complaint on consumerdaddy website. I was a regular visitor of consumerdaddy.com. I was attracted to the site for a very long time and this was the opportunity for me to launch a complaint. I use to read the success stories published by the website and I thought that the officials could help me soon. I lodged a complaint in consumerdaddy.com. Soon after I lodged a complaint, a representative from consumerdaddy contacted me and verified the information provided by me. The representative told me that their consumer protection team would do some research on my case and talk to the company about it. They also told me that they would let me know the status within a month’s time.
I approached the Eureka Forbes office last month to enquire about my vacuum cleaner. The customer relationship officer told me that he was busy and I should come in the evening when he was free. I was shocked to hear this from him. I am surprised that reputed companies like theirs asked me to come later when I am free. It was not ethical for a customer relationship officer to tell the customer to come back after sometime just because he was busy.  I wrote a letter about the horrible customer service and put it in the complaint box about their irresponsible customer service. But I doubted that they took these complaints seriously. I also own a water purifier. I had a thought that the company had a bad service for vacuum cleaners alone but I was wrong, the service for Aqua guard was also bad. The company had a promising sales team that had exceptional brain washing skills. The Aqua guard model I own has a candle through which the water has to pass. The candle has to be cleaned properly once in three months and the charcoal inside the candle has to be cleaned else the water coming out of it will have a foul smell. The service person did not do it properly and the water had a foul smell. The customer care did not bother to correct this and I had to clean it manually. This is how careless the customer care is.

My washing machine !

I got a BPL ABS 50F washing machine twelve years back. I want all BPL consumers to know the good and the bad about the company. The company claims that the machine is a fully automatic washing machine with Fuzzy logic (I have no idea what it means). I bought this washing machine in July 1997. I think I got it for Rs.18, 295 and since then the washing machine was working fine with just minor problems. And it was last year 2009 when it stopped working and I feel 12 years is a very long period for the washing machine to work well. The washing machine had given some problems during its warranty period but it was fixed by the company without much delay. The washing machine had an insurance cover and I sent it to the franchisee for an inspection. I had to wait for three days for them to report back. The inlet valve and the switch were not working; the company replaced it for me for Rs.700.  I was irritated because I had to go through the formalities of the insurance company. The insurance company first inspected the machine, and then sent me an estimate to repair the machine. The branch manager of the insurance company replied soon to my surprise. I also took an AMC from BPL so that the company will take care of all the repairs in the future. The washing machine’s spinner gave too much noise so I called the customer care and they sent a technician to fix it for me. The technician inspected the washing machine and gave me the list of items to be changed. I asked him to change it and it was fixed. It is a good thing that the companies come with an option of AMC nowadays. Consumers get an advantage of getting their problems fixed. I was lucky because the AMC was to expire in a couple of days. But other than these instances, the machine worked well. It worked well for about four years. BPL should strengthen its support through service centers so that the consumers feel better about the service. BPL has a website that has a column that says consumer complaints. I seriously doubt if they respond to this column regularly because I had put up a complaint in this column, and till this day I have not received any feedback about it. The complaint I wrote was about their service. My BPL television did not work properly and I had complained about it but the company did not respond to me well. So I put a complaint in their site but it was of no use because nobody has answered it till now. I am not happy with the website either, it is not very friendly to the consumers. In cities like Chennai where there is water scarcity and most of the water is saline, BPL has to take some measures to make sure that their washing machines are compactable to salt water. As the saline water ruins the inner shell of the machine.

Hyundai i10! – Review

Hatchbacks are better than sedans because it is easy to drive through the traffic and I think the consumers feel the same. It is clearly evident by the increase in the sales of hatchbacks. I drove a Hyundai i10 recently and I felt that it was almost equal to Maruthi Suzuki A-star but a lot better. Hyundai i10 had a great engine; it was a 1086cc, 4 cylinders, petrol engine. The low end torque gave the car easy drivability. The car gave a mileage of 13 kilometers in the city and 16 kilometers per liters in the highway. The car came with a 1.2 liter Kappa engine. The engine is simply awesome, it is silent yet powerful. All other cars have the same kind of engine in terms of power, but the difference is in terms of weight. The engine weighs jus 900 kilograms. I was able to reach a top speed of 150 kilometers. The gear shift was ultra smooth; I was able to shift to the intended gears without any strain. The mileage was low, 13 kilometers in the city was low compared to other cars. The fact was that it was not a heavy car like Fabia, but a small car that with a low powered engine that does not give enough mileage. The automatic version does not give more than 9 kilometers. Compared to Indigo Vista, Fiat Palio, Skoda Fabia the boot has lot of place, the leg room is decent and rear seat is spacious. The car more looks more like a Santro. It had a tall roof and the windshield gave a wide angle view. The hard cornering affected the handling. The steel rims do not suit this car and it was disappointing that it does not come with alloys. The suspension was soft and this made the ride smooth on Indian roads. I felt that this was one of the best cars in this range as it had a comfortable ride and I am sure the consumers would love it. The car had a good package for its consumers with dual airbags, anti lock braking systems and electric sunroof. The car was priced at 5.5 lakh and the car came with an integrated audio that supported iPod. The car does not have power seats or power door locks but had power windows. It does not have fog lamps; I feel it would be an important addition for the people in hilly areas. Traction control is another important functionality the company should have given. The rear seat is provided with three seat belts. This is definitely a safe car Hyundai has released. The front dashboard has a glove box and many holders that consumers can use. The speed-o-meter, fuel gauge, tachometer, temperature indicator are well placed and lit. Hyundai service is the best in the country. The spare parts are available almost everywhere in the country and they are cheap. The company offers free service for the first 20,000 Kilometers. I hope this review was of some help to the consumers.

Musical Ear Buds..

All of us are fond of listening to music. To have a pleasant and wonderful listening experience apart from the music, the consumers must make sure that they buy good quality earphones. The market is flooded with earphones that are costly, good and comfortable. All these factors put the consumers in a dilemma. Unless the consumer is a ‘wonder dog’, he cannot find out which earphone suits him. I hope this review is helpful for the consumers to choose the perfect earphones within the budget. I tested a few new earphones available in the market. Some of them impressed me; they were Goldring GX-200, Sennheiser Cx-300-II, Denon AH-C360, JVC HA-FXC50, Ultimate ears MetroFi 220 VI and Pioneer SE-CLX50.
Goldring GX-200 were very comfortable, they were fun to use. The earphones had foam in the corners that fit perfectly in the ears. The performance was awesome; the sound was natural and well balanced. The only negative aspect of these earphones was that the headphones did not have a high bass like its competitors. I felt unhappy about that because I listen to songs with powerful beats. The earphone was priced at Rs.3, 400/-.
Sennheiser CX-300-II was a better choice for powerful beat songs. The CX-300 was also extremely comfortable. The barrel shaped earphones were so accurate in picking up the music notes. The earphones were so accurate that the listener could differentiate the notes to a great extent. There was no disadvantage about these earphones. They had excellent sound quality and reproduction capability. All these features were priced at Rs.2, 100.
The Denon AH C360 was a total disappointment for non bass lovers. If you like your song to be more bass and heavy these have the capability to do so. Compared to Goldring, I felt it did not give a good performance. I felt that buying it for Rs.3100 was a wrong choice. The JVC HA-FXC50 was better. The clarity was decent and it suited acoustic music well.  The sonic balance was something that amazed me because I did not witness such clarity in any of the other earphones. But they did not fit into the ears well. I spent most of the time adjusting them back on to the position and setting them right. The price was as low as Rs.2, 400/-.  Consumers have to be careful about the earphones they buy because a wrong choice could result in headache or ear drum malfunction.
The Pioneer SE-CLX50 had large ear piece that were pointed inwards. These were designed in such a way so that they could fit well into the ears. But it was disappointing as the earphones never stayed in the ear canal. All the sound and effects were wasted because of this. The fit was very awkward and it never felt comfortable. The MetroFi 220vi from Ultimate ears were decent. They fit well, had good sound clarity, and were comfortable. The earphones could be used with Blackberry and had built in buttons that could be used to attend calls. These were priced at Rs.3, 400/-.

Test Drive!

I got a chance to test drive a few cars recently and this review will be of some help to automobile loving consumers.  Three of the cars I tested were Suzuki SX4, Toyota Etios and Volkswagen Polo. The polo is available with 1.2 liter petrol and diesel variants. The Polo is a fine example of German engineering.  The car has it all halogen headlights, dual airbags, ABS, integrated CD/MP3 player, driving seats that are adjustable, and tilt steering wheel.  Toyota Etios was a car that was simply awesome to drive. The company used the Auto Expo platform to launch the concept. The car will come with the newly fitted petrol and diesel engines. The car will be first launched in India and Indians will be the first to test it. We know that the hatchback version of the Suzuki SX4 is already a popular version in Europe. It is available in 2.0 liter, 1.6 liter and 1.5 liter petrol engines. The car has an intelligent all wheel drive system. The intelligent all wheel drive system converts the car from a two wheel drive to a four wheel drive at the press of a single button. But I felt that the car had lot of disadvantages compared to the other cars in the segment. The mileage which I think to be the most essential factor was really pathetic. The car gave a mileage of 8 to 9.8 kilometers per liter. It is a bad idea to choose this car because other cars give a better mileage. The fuel indicator does not estimate how much petrol is available on the tank and how many kilometers can be driven though most of the cars have this option. The windows do not close automatically, the consumer has to close the windows individually before locking the door.  The torque distribution of the car is not good. My Maruthi 800 gave a better mileage than this car. The accelerator pedal reaches the floor easily and it is a disturbance while driving in the highways.
I was bored of the cars that were already there in the market so I went to test drive a newbie and I was stunned by the looks and performance of the car. Volkswagen Polo is best hatchback I have driven till this date. The hatch back was priced at Rs 5.72 lakh for the petrol and Rs 6.70 lakh for the diesel which comes with 15″ alloy wheels, ABS, two airbags, fog lamps, front and rear windshield wipers, keyless entry with remote opening and closing of the windows and an awesome music system integrated into the dash board. Polo is available in a choice of three levels for each of the two engine options – the Trendline, Comfortline and Highline. The Trendline was the base version that is priced at Rs 4.34 lakh for the petrol and Rs 5.32 lakh for the diesel. It came with a standard with 14″ steel wheels hidden away by some neat looking wheel caps, it had body colored bumpers, halogen headlights, a 6-years anti-corrosion warranty on its galvanized body, air conditioning, central locking, telescopic steering wheel column and power windows on the front. At around Rs 50,000 more for both petrol and diesel versions, the Comfortline adds body colored wing mirrors and door handles, height adjustable driver’s seat and power windows at the rear as well. I hope this review was of some use to the consumers.

Consumer education – at school level

Children are becoming one of the largest consumers in the country and parents are permitting their children to take decisions while shopping. Most of the parents have made it a point to take their children to shopping and this has made most children aware of the different kinds of products that are available. Children now check the details of the product and enquire thoroughly before buying any product from the market. Consumer protection is an important factor because the dealers usually target the younger sections of the society to sell their product in a tactical way.  Though the Government has taken many steps including legislative, to protect consumers, the consumers are still cheated. Advertisements are the major medium through which a company attracts the consumers. The change in social and economic set up of the country has increased the competition and this has made the producers adopt very unfair and unethical means of trade. It is not a surprising fact that the consumer courts take so many years to process a case because the court has so many cases pending.   
With the majority of population unemployed and illiterate, consumer awareness remains a problem. Children especially are becoming the young consumers of the country. Consumer education is an important part of this process and is a basic consumer right that must be introduced at the school level. The most important step in consumer education is the awareness of consumer rights. However, consumer education is incomplete without the responsibilities and duties of consumers, and this influences individual behavior to a great extent. Schools must teach children to obtain information about goods and services, understand the motives of a dealer and advertisements, to shop wisely and distinguish between wants and needs. They must also understand the how a dealer takes advantage of temptation and greed to sell his goods.
All of us spend most of our leisure time watching television but the young minds are more sensitive to advertisements and offers given by companies. There has been a significant increase in the number of television channels and majority of the advertisements aired on them are aimed at young children, especially those covering food products, beverages and cosmetics. Schools also need to help children develop the ability to understand the purpose of advertisements. They must train the children in such a way that they are able to distinguish between the right and the wrong. Schools must also teach about environment and conservation of natural resources. The concept of reduce, reuse and recycle must be thought to the students. There is an immediate need to include consumer education into the curriculum in order to cope up with social and economic changes.

Whirlpool whitemagic – no magic

I had problems with the whirlpool microwave oven I had. It did not work properly and the printed circuit board had some problem. I tried lodging a complaint but that did not work either. They were not bothered at all. So I was in a dilemma weather to buy a whirlpool product after that. I was impressed by the washing machine I saw at the showroom and I wanted to buy it. I assumed that it was my bad luck that the oven stopped working and I hoped that the washing machine does not let me down.

The washing machine I bought was a fully automatic Whirlpool Whitemagic. The washing machine was 6.5 Kilograms capacity. I bought the Whirlpool Whitemagic, the machine was a top loading model and it was just two months old when it stopped working. I am a bachelor and my company is situated in the other corner of the city, I spend 2 hours everyday to and fro travelling for work. The time I spend home is less and I regret that I had spent Rs.15500 on this worthless machine. It was a Monday when I woke up in the morning and switched on the machine and it did not turn on. I had to wash all my clothes on my own and I was late for work because of that. My boss was really angry and I had to stay overtime to finish my work. At last I returned home totally exhausted. The mechanic examined the machined and told me that the printed circuit board was burnt and I had to change it. I was lucky as the machine was under guarantee and the replacement was free. For my reference I asked the mechanic the cost of the printed circuit board and he said it was around Rs.5000 to Rs.6000, which is a huge amount and it will take at least 2 months for me to earn it back.

I asked the reason for the failure of printed circuit board and the mechanic said that it was because of the moisture as the washing machine was in the bathroom. This was shocking as the statement contradicted to the one given by the mechanic who came to install the machine. I had clarified if it would be a problem because I did not want that to affect the machine. He assured me the problem would be solved if I use rust proof trolley the company gives. The funny part of it was that I had to spend 1000 bucks on the trolley and the trolley has started to rust. It was just to fool me and it was just a marketing act to drive consumers mad. The features of washing machine are washing, rinsing, etc which is average. There is nothing much to boast about because the washing machine does not have any extraordinary feature. The washing machine does not have a drier and like my previous washing machine. I hope the printed circuit board that I had replaced recently stays long enough because I cannot afford another replacement.

HP Recalls Laptop Batteries

Many of us use Laptop computers and we are aware of the heat generated from the laptop when we use them. Battery is the component which is wholly responsible for generating most of the heat. This is quite a common scenario. However, consumers who are using HP laptops need to be a little more careful since the batteries used in them generates heat enough to spark a fire and ultimately cause minor or significant injuries.

HP has extended a worldwide recall program for batteries that could cause laptops to overheat and pose a fire hazard. The company on Wednesday said that it added new battery models to an original laptop recall program announced on May 14 of last year and updated last October. The Lithium-ion batteries are being used in more than 30 models worldwide in HP’s laptop brands including Compaq Presario, Pavilion, HP and HP Compaq. There have been two incidents where the batteries overheated, resulting in flames and fire that caused property damage. HP had already initiated a recall of 70,000 similar batteries. Consumers should be aware of the details of the HP battery recall, and act in order to have any applicable batteries replaced before they cause injury to users or potentially spark a fire. The affected batteries include those found in HP and Compaq laptops (or purchased separately) between August of 2007 and July of 2008. HP assumes that “less than 3 percent” of the laptops contained the affected battery packs. According to the recall details, consumers should immediately remove the batteries referenced above from their notebook computer and contact HP to determine if their battery is included in this recall (even if the battery was previously checked). Consumers with recalled batteries will receive a free replacement battery. After removing the recalled battery from their notebook computer, consumers may use the AC adapter to power the computer until a replacement battery arrives. HP recommends that only batteries obtained from HP or an HP authorized reseller be used with HP notebook PCs. If you are experiencing overheating or other issues with an HP or Compaq battery (or any other manufacturer for that matter, you can contact the Consumerdaddy website and file a complaint and it would be conveyed to the respective company. This website is a leading consumer portal in India with consumer reports and you can also lodge consumer complaints, file consumer reviews and read about consumer rights on this website.

Apart from the heating issue, one other issue with laptop batteries is that that they eventually stop holding charge and die. Even if you have never experienced any overheating issues with your battery, if it is part of the recall you should take advantage of having it replaced. You can have two advantages in one change–preventing potential fire or injury, and getting a fresh start with a new battery that hasn’t had years to deteriorate. Consumer awareness must be created among everyone regarding this incident, those who are using laptops as well as those who are going to buy one.

Music mania

This review is dedicated to all the consumers who are music lovers and are fond of taking their songs with them on long travel. There are many mp3 players in the market which plays almost all formats. I wanted to buy an mp3 player and I searched the internet to find out the best player. I found the names of the players in the market that were Sony NWZ-S544, Apple Ipod Nano, Philips GoGear Muse, IRiver B30, Creative Zen X-F12 were the best in the market. So I went and tested them. I went to one of the biggest electronic showrooms in the city. The showroom had almost all the latest players. I asked the salesman for the models and he was surprised that I asked for such rare and unique models. 
The S544 was small compared to the Sony’s X-Series player. It was a solid little device that is capable of taking shocks. The sound of the player was not bassy and the ear phones were uncomfortable. My ears started paining when I tried to listen to it continuously for an hour. The S544 also had an FM radio onboard with stereo speakers that were tiny. The battery life was about 42 hours which. This was best suited for travelling as the consumers can have a long playback. Priced at Rs.6990, it was a good player but it lacked many features. The next product I asked for was Apple Ipod Nano. Applt Ipod was there in the market for quite sometime now so as a consumer I expected to experience something new here. The Ipod Nano had tiny headphones that had a very decent sound quality. Ipod Nano has a VGA camera but it was ridiculous to see the lens positioned at base. The player has “Genius”; which generates playlists of alike songs and also has a VoiceOver; that speaks the name of the track that is played. The design is great and the player is small enough to fit into the pocket. The headphones are not of such a good quality though and it surely needs to be replaced. The Ipod Nano is priced at Rs.11200 which I feel is a costly deal. Philips GoGear is much better than the Nano and NWZ. The ear phones have inbuilt noise cancellation which are designed to produce detailed and clear sound. The Muse is very easy and straight forward to use. It has decent features including an FM radio and a video player that can play videos at high quality. IRiver B30 has a very good reception quality, with its antenna picking up the signals effortlessly even inside the building. The battery life is amazing; it can last up to 40 hours. The disappointing fact for the consumers is the interface. The interface is complicated and uneasy to use. At last I had a look at Creative Zen X-F12, it had a 3 inch touch screen and had high quality headphones that could deliver high quality music. The player also has a card slot for extra storage and all this for just Rs.  11,999.

ICICI- the good and the bad

I work in a multi national company and I had a bank account in ICICI bank. I regret that I took a wrong decision by choosing this bank. My money gets deducted unnecessarly. I opened an account on 24 July 2004. The good things about this bank are that the bank has a well organized website and anybody who has a GPRS enabled phone can access the account from their mobile phone. It is possible to carry out all the transactions throu  gh the internet. The best part is that consumers can pay all their bills online. A consumer can also link two accounts together if he has two accounts. The mobile application that was launched by ICICI bank was the most amazing service. Consumers can download the application from the ICICI website and make any transaction through it. To say about the negatives, the bank’s customer care is the worst ever.  I tried to call the customer care and enquire about my account, they were impolite to me and I feel the help desk officials lack proper training. The phone banking option is the worst of all; it is a very rare thing to find a good customer service personnel who talks properly and patiently to listens to your problem. Though they claim to be “the most customer friendly bank” in the advertisements, I did not find any friendliness. I feel that visiting an ICICI bank is worse than visiting a government office. You can never return home on time and be satisfied with the service. The only reason I still bank with ICICI is for the internet banking facilities they offer. They disturb me on the telephone and irritate me. Recently they came up with a DND- Do not disturb facility. The consumer has to go and add his number to the list at the ICICI website and after that they will not call you on phone. This has been of some help till now.
ICICI has more than 2000 ATM centers through out the country. Most of the ATM centers are crowded and they have long queue. It is a rare sigh to see an ICICI ATM center deserted. The interface is user friendly but I feel that the system is time killing. I had to spend 10 to 15 minutes to withdraw money from the ATM. High speed networks are essential for these machines to work effectively and the transactions can be quicker. The security guards at these ATMs drive people crazy by their impolite talks and attitude.

Other service from ICICI bank includes home and automobile loans. I availed a home loan from ICICI bank about 4 years back at 7.25 per cent floating rate. 3 months later I received an email stated that the rate was revised to 7.75 per cent. They raised the rate to 9.5 per cent soon after that. It was ridiculous and I decided to transfer to IDBI. I demanded my papers but they refused to give me the papers. They offered me to reduce the rate from 9.5 per cent to 7.5 per cent as a special consideration because I asked them so. I think it was a business trick that is played on innocent consumers.

Samsung X210

During my engineering final year, my dad had gotten me a new Samsung X210 mobile phone. It is a flip flop model. I had got the black color of the model and it was very attractive.  It had sleek looks and exactly fitted in my palm. Generally Samsung mobile phones have attractive looks and have a good display. There is good clarity in the display when compared to other mobiles phones of the same rate.

After my final year semester exams were over, my family had planned for a trip to Pondicherry along with my relatives. That was the first time I was visiting Pondicherry and the beach is supposed to be very famous. We had planned the trip by car as the place is just 4 hours from our house. The relatives had gathered in my house as it was the starting point of the journey. Before entering into the Pondicherry territory there was a wide landscape of salt evaporating ponds. I got the opportunity for the first time to see the process very closely. On reaching Pondicherry, the first thing we did was to visit the Osho Ashram. It is quite a peaceful place where one can awaken the spirituality within them and find peace within them. The area raound the Ashram and the residential surrounding it was very posh. The houses were constructed in Italian style. All the houses were painted white and the streets were very clean unlike the ones we find in the Chennai city. Next, we had lunch in a chettinad restaurant and went straight to the beach. The beach looks similar to the Bandar band stand in Mumbai. With rocks covering the shores of the beach, it was very cool and pleasant. In order to go near the water I climbed the rocks with the mobile in my hand. There came a huge wave and drenched my mobile along with me. I dried my mobile and flipped it open, I was shocked to find that there was no display while the keypad was still showing on the light. Everyone consoled me that after the mobile is fully dried from within it would work normally. However, that never happened. I consulted a mobile repair shop and they mentioned that there is no use of repairing the display, instead he suggested that we can go for a new mobile. I was quite disappointed and approached the Samsung showroom. The distributors asked us to contact the dealer and we had to approach them via the customer care. On approaching the dealer, they also said the same thing that there was no use repairing the mobile.

I had apent 3000/- for the mobile and it went in vain. I was cheated, since a mobile which would not even come for one year and which would have no replacement or repair warranty is not worth spending a big money. Big companies like Samsung should give importance to Consumer rights and Consumer Protection Acts, only then they can gain regular and satisfied consumers. Government should make sure this is followed in every concern and fine them if they are not following proper warranty service which is every consumer’s right.

Best Phone in the market!

I came across three high budget phones that impressed me so much that I could not stop myself from writing about them. Three phones that I saw were the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, Garmin ASUS M10, and Sony Ericsson Vivaz. The three phones were developed by the companies to give the consumers the best mobile experience. I had a chance to test and play with them. The Sony Ericsson Xperia is a king sized mobile. It reminded me of the old cell phones that were amazingly big and which could not be kept in my pocket. The phone was flat, long and would not fit into my skinny jean pocket. It has a wonderful big front screen that was customizable. There are 3 styles you get to choose from and the user has the liberty to choose either the shortcuts or click the menu button on the front panel. The phone has lot of built in apps, such as pdf viewer, document viewer, games, and other regular stuff. The phone also has a 3 month trial for WisePiot navigation app. The phone also supports Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace. The phone has an 8.1 mega pixel camera that can take ultra decent shots but the disappointing part is that there is no High Definition capture. Thanks to the 1Ghz snapdragon processor onboard, the phone does not get stuck in between. I feel the phone is a bit costly and all this at Rs.35,795 seems too much. The Vivaz from Sony Ericsson is a much better choice for the consumers. The phone runs on a Symbian S60 5th edition. It also has a 8.1 mega pixel camera with face and smile detection. The camera also has scene models and image stabilization. The phone can catch 720p High Definition video at 24fps, and that too with continuous autofocus. Connectivity, as expected it is superb. The phone also has a GPS and Wi-Fi. The phone has tons and tons of apps that are useful to the consumers. The built in apps include Facebook and YouTube too. The high definition resolution is 16:9 with resistive touch screen which is very responsive. It has a 720Mhz processor which ensures there are no lags while multi tasking. It is priced at Rs.25, 695 which is slightly cheaper than the Sony Xperia X10. ASUS GARMIN M10 is the phone of my choice, and also the winner of the competition. This has a 600Mhz zippy processor and runs on WinMo 6.5.3. The phone has many apps provided by the operating system including MS office and PIM. The Wi-Fi sharing option in the phone allows the consumers to share the phone’s GPRS connection and any Wi-Fi sharing application. The phone has a 5 mega pixel camera that has a fixed focus and has no flash. The disappointing thing is that there is no FM radio. The phone is priced at Rs.19,990 and I feel that it is the best buy in the market. This is the only comparable phone to the Smartphone.

First 3D laptops in the market

I am sure every one of you has seen 3D movies which are also called stereoscopic movies. Stereoscopy is the technique of recording three dimensional visual information or creating the illusion of depth of the image as defined by Wikipedia. This means the process of creating the images that are rendered by the eye as 3 dimensional. The fun of watching a 3 dimensional movie is different and it is incomparable to 2D. Just imagine that a bullet fired by the villain seems like it is coming to you and your reflexes acting fast. Many companies like Nvidia Corporation and ASUS have started working on 3D imaging and stereoscopic rendering, and have come up with amazing solutions to make their customers happy. Now days many game developers make sure that the game is also good at a stereoscopic view so that the consumers could have a better game play and gaming experience. This year is named as the “Year of 3D” because of the increase in the number of companies working on stereoscopic imaging. ASUS and ACER have released their contribution towards the stereoscopic year. ASUS G51J and ACER Aspire AS5738DZG are the first 3D laptops in the market. Acer Aspire can convert 2D games into 3D, the users have to just right click on the game and select stereoscopic vision. 3D games can be played with naked eyes, but one will not experience the 3D effect. The user has to use a pair of 3D polarized glasses to get the effect. To talk about the glasses, they are undoubtedly stylish and weigh very light. The laptop has a 15.6 inch screen with an Intel Duo Core 2.1Ghz processor. The laptop has 500 GB memory , Wi-Fi, and all other usual features. This is a budget laptop and it was developed by the company with a motive to give its consumers a 3D experience at a budget price. The ASUS G51J is much costly. The glasses use an active 3D system. The active 3D system has shuttered glasses flickering in sync with the screen via an infrared receiver. Each eye sees a slightly different image and your brain is fooled by into thinking that it is seeing a real 3 dimensional image. The company has made sure that it uses Nvidia graphics which is known to be the “King of Graphics” into its machine. The machine has a Quad core i7 processor. The screen is 16 inches and it has two 500 GB hard drives. The laptop also has a built in Blue-ray drive. As far as converting 2D games into 3D, Nvidia has done lot of research in it and now it has nearly 400 titles that are already converted to 3D. Now Nvidia plans to release all its forthcoming games in 2D as well as 3D. About the price, ACER Aspire AS5738DZG costs Rs43, 516 and it is affordable. But ASUS G51J, is a costly deal. It is Rs.99, 000 and taxes may pull its price to a lakh.

Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTS-i – Pros and Cons

Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTS-i was the bike I bought on my 21st birthday. I made sure that I read enough reviews about the bike before buying the bike. Consumer reviews allowed me to understand better about the bike. After I bought the bike, I went carefully through the instruction manual. The instruction manual said that I had to ride it slow and maintain the speed limit of 60 Kilometers during the run-in period. I believe that it is true and we must obey the instructions in the manual for a better riding experience. The handling is simply superb, the steering is light and the mid corner changes are easy to pull off and the excellent brakes made me confident. After the first release the company has made lot of improvements on the bike. The braided steel cable in the front brake disc has lot of improvement in the braking feel. The advantage is that the cable does not expand when the brake is applied unlike the regular cable. The cable delivers the exact amount of pressure you apply on the brake pads to the discs. I was able to tuck my legs on the petrol tank with ease and it was comfortable. When you ride the bike the poster is very sporty and comfortable. All this when the bike has one person on it. But when there are two people riding the bike, the case is different.  Cornering is a problem and I find it difficult to take tight turns. About the performance, Pulsar 220 never compromises on performance. I have pushed the bike to a top speed of 140 Kilometers and the bike was ready to push further. The looks are polished and decent. The bike has good aerodynamics with the front dome shaped smooth. The switches are well fit and are solid. The plastic is fit perfectly and the glowing lights on the switches help the user to operate it with ease. 

By the end of the second month I had issues with the bike already. The bike had problems on cold starts, the bike made loud scary noises every morning at the time of its first start, but the bike would work fine after that. The shock absorbers top part had chrome in it and it started to rust after the first rain. After the first service the starting problem was fixed.  But after the service the rear view mirror was loose. I got it tightened but still it matters because they were quality issues and these happened in a short period after the bike’s purchase. The Bajaj Pulsar DTS-i is a very good product from Bajaj. To compare it with Yamaha Fazer, there is nothing special about it, even the design. The first time Bajaj Pulsar 220 DTS-i was released; there was a problem with the carburetor. It was fixed in the next release, and that has definitely been a positive aspect in the performance. If we had to compare the bike with R15 then R15 is value for money. The handling of R15 is better and the acceleration figures are similar.

Citibank – no process transparency

Citibank is very good at torturing customers more than which the bank is good at goofing. The mistake I did was that I had given my uncle’s number in the reference column of the form. From the first day I opened an account, they keep calling my uncle. My uncle is a sick man and he needs rest. The bank agents keep troubling him by calling him and asking for loan. I had a terrible experience with Citibank recently. I did not expect such a big mix up from a famous bank like this. I had invested my money in mutual funds and I had requested redemption of my mutual funds on 17 December 2009. The time taken for the money to get credited into the savings account is usually 3 working days. On 19th December 2009, I received a SMS from the bank saying that the amount had been credited. I also received an email about the redemption, I was happy that the bank was prompt in processing it. I had already planned other commitments thinking about this money. I checked my account status online on 20th December 2009 and I was shocked to see that my balance was the same and the amount was still not credited.
I lodged a complaint and the customer support assured that the matter would be investigated soon. I kept checking the balance on the 20th but the amount was not credited. I was restless and I called the customer care again, and this time the promised me that the issue will be definitely investigated. On 22nd December the amount was finally credited. Note that it was the 5th day after I requested for the redemption but the rule said 3 working days.
I was happy that though they took two extra days to process my request they had finally done it. But I did not expect that I could be wrong.
On 23rd December 2009, I got a call from the customer support executive who said the request was still under investigation and the mails I got was just a approval copy and not the confirmation. I wondered if it was an approval copy then why should it read-“You account has been credited with Rs XXXX.XX”. It was getting more and more ridiculous and all this mix up irritated me. I had a copy of the mail and the SMS they had sent. Both said that the amount was credited. I immediately took a copy of the mail and lodged a complaint at the bank.
It is very strange that the bank sent the confirmation mail two days in advance before completing the process. As a consumer, why should I be at a loss for the bank’s fault? I was broken emotionally because my money was lost forever. I do not think that the bank cares even a little about that. Till now I have not got any response regarding the issue even though I call them frequently.

Super CoolerZ !

I read an article in a magazine that involved tests to find out the super cool SUV of this summer. The increase in the income of the people in India is directly proportional to the size of the car they prefer to buy; this was known by a survey that was taken recently. So SUVs being the most preferred vehicle by most of the consumers in the country, tests were conducted to know about the coolest SUV in the market. The cooling problems in an SUV has always been a matter of concern for two reasons, one being the sun gives the SUV a black box effect and the inability of the air conditioner to cool such a big area, being the other. The test was performed between 12 noon and 3 pm when the sun is at its peak. The SUVs were parked on the scorching sun and were let to heat up. The SUV was let to heat up till 50 degree centigrade and then the air conditioner was switched on with the blower at full blast. The drivers drove the SUVs so that the temperature reduced to the lowest. A 10.5 kilometer standard route was followed. The route had no traffic with minimum signals and all the SUVs participating in this competition obeyed the same speed limits. After reaching the finish line, the SUV that had the lowest temperature was declared as the winner. During this test there were companies such as Mahindra & Mahindra who withdrew from the competition. But there were totally 22 SUVs who entered this competition to show their consumers that they were super cool SUVs.

The first SUV was the BMW X6 which was the hottest among the SUVs; the reason could have been the large cabin and the wide sunroof. The X6’s air conditioner recorded 33.3 degree Celsius where as the vents showed 16.8 degree. Audi Q7 is a huge SUV, in fact the biggest of all SUVs. It had several huge vents but the best it could do was 31.3 degrees and the vent temperature was 18 degrees. BMW was keen to bring all its SUVs into competition so it also brought its X5 into competition. The X5 has air condition vents both at the driver and the rear seat ends and both had individual controls. The German SUV reached 30.4 degree and the vent temperature was 12 degree. Nissan X trail, BMW X3 and Mitsubishi Pajero all the three cars recorded 29.5 degree Celsius. The X3 performed better than the X6 and X5 and it definitely put BMW back into competition. The next lowest temperature car was Ford Endeavour, the American SUV that recently had a makeover recorded 28.4 degree which was the best the judges thought. But the Honda CR-V was -1 degree better, which showed 28.3 degree. The judges were shocked to the see Chevrolet Tavera to be the hottest vehicle, as it recorded a 34.1 degree Celsius. TATA Safari, Toyota fortuner and Mitsubishi Outlander had temperatures in the range of 27 degrees. Toyota Landcruiser, Toyota Prado were the two final contestants and in which the youngest sibling of the Toyota SUV family- Toyota Prado was the winner of the competition. The temperature it recorded was a stunning 24.9 degree Celsius and the temperature at vents was just 8.4 degree.

Bullet – or not to bullet!

Bullet was a dream, and I got it as a gift on my twenty third birthday. I have a Bullet Electra 5S. It is a black one and I have been using it for 6 months now. The bike is awesome only to look at, but it does not have any other positive aspect that can be boasted about. From the day I bought this bike, I regret why I made such a bad choice.
The mileage of the bike is just 30 to 35 kilometers per liter and to achieve it you have to drive slower than 60 kilometers per hour and be really good at gear shifts. For the first month I had to write it in a piece of paper and stick it on the speedometer so that I do not forget and over speed. The next terrible thing is the maintenance; I took the bike to the service center. The dealer had promised me a free service at the time of purchase. I took it for a service and asked him to change the oil. The oil change costed me Rs800 which was supposed to be free. Your problem starts the day you give it for a service. The engine oil leakage and the oil spill are some of the after effects of the service. Even the authorized service stations perform a service in such a way that the oil surely leaks. The next problem is the noise. All the parts in the bike become rickety after regular use and they give a terrible irritating noise. My bike has started giving this noise and I have no clue of its origin. The ground clearance is very less and the silencer touches the ground every time I go over a speed breaker. As a good consumer, I expect that I should give a feed back about the product to the company, so I contacted them and sent them an email regarding the issues. But I have got no acknowledgement regarding it nor have I received any solution for it so far. The self start that comes with new bullet is not maintenance free. The rear view mirrors are so low aligned that they hit my wrist, and it is very annoying at times. The battery box that is situated in the belly is of poor quality, the interesting part is that I found that it can be opened with a safety pin. I have replaced the front bulbs twice and the tail lamp once. The clutch is a total failure, it becomes too much loose and at last the plates have to be changed often.   These are some of the bad aspects of the bullet.

Some things that I have experienced only in bullet are its excellent handling and the comfort it gives during long drives. The bike glides through ditches and pod holes because of its big tires. The bike is suited for people who have a good body and that make it special for body builders. So as you see there are more cons than pros. And if you guys want to still try it, you can. But I can assure you as a consumer you will be unhappy with this bike.

Jurisdiction- a trouble to consumer

This is a small incident that I read in a newspaper. It was interesting to see such a consumer related case and I felt that I should share it here. Vikranth had taken a Medi-claim policy for his family in Mumbai. I hope every one us know what a medi claim policy is. But for the people who do not know what a medi-claim policy is, it is an insurance policy, which covers medical expenses on hospitalization. The subscriber has to pay premium amount and the medi claim covers the expenses according to the premium paid. But the diseases such as Asthma, Bronchitis, Diabetes, Epilepsy, Hypertension, influenza, Tonsils, etc are not covered.  Ok now back to the story, Vikrants’s wife underwent a surgery six months ago. He had submitted the necessary papers to the insurance company for the settlement of his claim. But he was denied on various grounds. He tried convincing the company that he had submitted all the papers but it was of no use. In the meanwhile, Vikrant was employed in a multi national company and he was transferred form Mumbai to Chennai. The insurance company had a branch at Chennai, so Vikrant decided to file a complaint against the company at Chennai. The law does allow a consumer to do that. The rule states that the case could be filed anywhere in India where the opposite party has its branch office.

In a case that happened a few years back the case between Sonic surgical Vs National Insurance company, the appellant’s godown was in Ambala. There was a fire in the godown and the appellant submitted a claim that was repudiated. The appellant filed a complaint against the insurance company before the state commission of Chandigarh, where the company had a branch office. The complaint was processed and the insurance company was asked to pay the amount. But later on further appeal the State Commission reversed the order and asked the appellant to pay the amount saying that the state commission had wrongly assumed the jurisdiction and dismissed the complaint.

The Sonic Surgical aggrieved by the decision of the Nation commission, it appealed to the Apex court.  The word “branch office” in the rule –“the case could be filed anywhere in India where the opposite party has its branch office” meant the place where the cause of action took place. In this case the place was Ambala, but the jurisdiction lay in Haryana. The Supreme court released a statement that it would be absurd if the complaint could be filed anywhere in India and it would lead to unwanted consequences.
It is highly discouraging and in Vikrant’s case it is impossible for him to file a complaint in Mumbai and then travel back and forth to Chennai. There are many loop holes and the flaws in the consumer laws of India which put the consumers into trouble. The Apex court must look into this matter and soon take initiative to revise the rules so that there are no confusions in the future.

W350i-unsatisfactory !

I was a huge fan of Sony Ericsson mobile phones. The mobile phones had almost all the features that were there in the phones available in the market. I had tried almost all the mobile phones in the market but Sony Ericsson were the ones that I felt were comfortable and easy to use. As a consumer I expected a few things from the company, they were, value for money, good design and good customer service. When I started going to college, my dad promised me a cell phone. And guess what my answer was it was Sony Ericsson W200i. I went to the showroom and went through all the models available there. Some had 3.5 megapixel camera, some had extendible memory, some had a music player and some had a internet browser but there was not even a single phone that had all the features except Sony Ericsson. I had read consumer reviews on the internet about W300i, it was a good phone and it was priced at Rs.5500, but the sad fact was that it was out of production. The W300i looked good and had all the features that a phone must have. I also looked at W380i, it was costly and it was far out of my scope. I looked at many other phones like W660i which is a 3G enabled phone, as a college student I had no clue where I would use 3G so I did not mind to choose them. I did not feel comfortable with slide phones so I did not even care to look at W580.

So I decided to choose W350i, which was priced at Rs.5000. I had heard that the top cover of the phone was very flimsy and it would break after sometime. I was a bit hesitant to have a look at it at first but then I had to go with the model as my budget was restricted and I did not have any other choice. The phone was ubercool. The black and orange combo was simply superb. I learnt that the black and lavender combo was a female model. It looks sleek and compact, the buttons on the panel and the side of the phone lets the user browse through the songs stored in the phone. The direct access panel on the front panel allows the consumers to use the phone during the travel or at the office with ease. The cell also has a keypad locker on the top that could be used for locking the keypad. I thought that the headphone jack at the sides might be disadvantageous but I was wrong, the jack was better this way than it being at the bottom, because this way it rested better in my pocket. I do not know how much the phone can take and I would be glad if somebody can perform crash tests on this phone and then tell me the results.
Now coming to the disadvantages, everyone was right. The front panel was flimsy. The panel became weak and after regular use the bottom part of the panel developed a crack and broke. I had to spend Rs.500 for the spare panel. The most disappointing part was that the phone was in the warranty period  and the company did not fix it for free. I got this phone thinking that the phone would play videos and it was highly disappointing to find out that it would play it only if it was converted using a particular convertor. The first time my baby began walking I took my phone from my pocket and searched for the video recorder so that I could record the moment. That was the first time I realized that the phone could not record videos. I called the customer care and enquired about it and they had no idea about what I was talking about. At last they told me that this camera did not have such a facility at all and it was not meant for recording or photo shoots. The problem was that the sales person did not say me about this nor the advertisements were clear about this. I would advice you to be sure about the product you buy and make sure you enquire enough about its features.

Egmore to Chetpet – Rs.1000

Auto rickshaws are a lifeline to Chennai city and where ever we go, we are sure to hear only the negative traits of the auto drivers.  I was shocked to witness an incident, which raised questions about the security of the tourists in the country. Tourists are consumers of the tourism industry and it is our responsibility to protect them. 

In the near past, an American vessel named “Nimitz” had a chance to visit this wonderful city. The vessel was here at the harbor for its crew to take a few days off. The crew got off board and went to see the beautiful city. A sailor named Jeff had an opportunity to visit India for the first time. Jeff had neatly planned an itenary so that he could go and visit all the places around the city. I had a chance to talk to him about his trip around the city, at the end of the day. He had a good opinion about the country and its people, until he had a bitter experience with an auto rickshaw driver. The American sailor took an auto rickshaw from Chetpet to Egmore railway station. Egmore was just 5 Kilometers away from Chetpet and the auto driver demanded thousand rupees for it. It was ridiculous that he had spent thousand rupees for an auto ride of 5 to 6 km. Not knowing how much the actual fare was, he had asked the policeman standing next to the auto stand, if the fare was reasonable. The policeman replied that it was reasonable and it would cost more actually. He got in to the auto rickshaw. The policeman got in with Jeff and told that he was riding with him to make sure that he is safe because “foreigners were guests” and it was his responsibility to protect him. They reached the place and the innocent sailor gave the auto driver Rs.1000. He took photos of the railway station and visited the museum.  In return, he took an auto rickshaw from the nearby auto stand in the evening to Chetput. He handed over a thousand rupee note to the auto rickshaw driver and thanked him for the good ride. The auto driver called him and gave back nine hundred and seventy rupees. Jeff was totally vexed as the auto driver gave money back to him because the fare was just thirty rupees. He realized that he was fooled by an auto driver. He said India was a greedy country and there was no protection for the consumers.

 It was very shameful to hear such an incident in my country. I felt insulted for the way Jeff was treated. He was amazed that the policeman was a part of it. I apologized to him and said that India had problems as far as consumer protection was concerned and we are creating consumer awareness among the consumers.

This incident raises question about the consumer protection in the country. The government must take steps to protect the tourists from such incidents.

Health care in India !

Indian government has never focused itself on the health care in India. It is possible to see hospitals that lack all necessary commodities. There are two kinds of hospitals. Firstly, I have seen hospitals that are do not have doctors and adequate number of employees and secondly, there are hospitals where there are doctors and adequate number of employees but they treat the people who have lot of money. They are concerned about the people who can afford to spend for their treatment. One such hospital is the Apollo hospital situated in New Delhi. The hospital is a multi specialty, well equipped hospital. It has all the facilities to make it one of the best hospitals in the country but the way it uses its consumers is shameful.  I have never seen such a pathetic service before.  The super specialist doctors Dr.Kasliwal, Dr. Tickoo, and Dr. Shakti Bhan are the cruelest and unethical doctors I have ever seen.  Apollo hospital is not for Indians anymore, they concentrate more on the non resident Indians from whom they can loot money.

The receptionists and the secretaries of these doctors put a show as if they are the busiest doctors in the country. It is very hard to get an appointment on regular days even if they are totally free. They forget that their job is to serve the consumers and it is not a favor that they do them. Every time I go to the reception, the receptionist would be busy with the phone and she would not mind me. I waited 2 hours in the reception to get an appointment to see the doctor. The doctor was in a complete style. The smell of the perfume and deodorant made it impossible to go near him. He had two secretaries walking beside him who handled all his phone calls.  After two hours, the doctor consulted me.

The doctor asked about my profession and financial background. It took him 2 minutes to write a chit that had a list of tests I have to take before I came for the next visit. It was ridiculous that I had to take many tests for a common cold. The doctor did not listen to any of my problems. Every time I start to explain my problem, he got a phone call. The mantra is simple, the doctors ask the patients to take all the tests from the Apollo test center even if they have taken the tests from a laboratory outside. The price of a test at Apollo test center is three times cost of any other laboratory in the market. This is how the hospital has been cheating its consumers. The hospital concentrates on foreign customers, because they come to India for a cheap treatment. They will do all the tests given by the hospital because it will not cost them much and it will be affordable to them.

Such hospitals must be closed down and the doctors who work for these hospitals should be given stringent punishment. Their license must be seized and they must not be allowed to practice medicine anymore.

Water tankers- A lifeline to the public

Water is “elixir of life” which means that all living organisms need water and all living things are dependant on water directly or indirectly. In a city like Chennai where rains are not regular, it is a frequent sight to see the public running with pots to catch drinking water which is distributed to the public by the government through water tankers.  The lorry strike on April 15 2010 has disturbed the city totally. Consumers were troubled and had to face lot of difficulties as they had to wait hours together for a pot of water.  The middle class and the low class families were the ones that were mainly affected by the strike.

Owners of private water tankers did not operate their vehicles on Wednesday.  Their strike was in response to the action taken over the lorry drivers by the Revenue Department’s staff. The staff from the sholinganallur taluk had seized 11 to 12 lorries that were transporting water from the farm wells of Medavakkam. Water tankers were lined up on Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam highway and it disturbed the life of the consumers in the city. Nearly 200 water tankers took part in the strike. Water security is an acute problem in the city with people pumping water from the farm wells. Ground water tables are very low in the city. With the new desalination plant coming in the city the water scarcity is soon going to be solved.  Government has brought strict rules for the establishment of bore wells that has made the public dependant on the water tankers and it is not affordable by a middle class family.

With the new desalination plant in the city we can expect new changes in the life of the people. Desalination is the process of removal of excess minerals and salt from the water. This technique makes it possible to use the water from the ocean for drinking after a small treatment. The Chennai water desalination plant is still under construction. The desalination plant is facing problems at the final stage of completion and it is believed to be completed by the end of this year. The plant will be the only solution for the water consumers who have been facing lot of water crisis all these year. Chennai plant is known to use reverse osmosis. A reverse osmosis plant uses reverse osmosis to desalinate water. It is estimated that an average reverse osmosis plant needs six kilowatt/hour electricity to convert one cubic meter of salt water into fresh water. The output of such a plant is fresh water and the waste product will be salt waste. The process of reverse osmosis is simple but a very costly process in terms of energy and infrastructure.  Reverse osmosis is a process of liquid filtration, the process of removing solid from a liquid.
With the new desalination plant we can hope that the water problems in the city will be solved and we do not have to depend on the water tankers. Consumers can soon have safe drinking water.

Eye of the Indian Law

Many rich people in India have many court filings and FIR’s filed against them.  Few people in the following positions such as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, M.F. Husain and IPL Chairman have all criminal cases lodged against them on court orders. During the year 2009, 41,000 FIRS were lodged in the court, which amounts to one fifth of the total criminal cases registered during the year. This was the highest amount of cases ever filed in the past ten years. During the year 2000 only 13,000 FIRS were filed.

Nowadays many people have started approaching the courts for consumer complaints. Obtaining results from various sources, thousands of people come to courts for both criminal and consumer related issues. The court blames the police for not lodging a FIR. Theoretically and legally, registration of an FIR against someone is not a proof for the crime but it attracts social stigma as much as a conviction would. It creates hurdles in getting job, passport, visa or even getting married.

Several years back, few embarrassing situations happened as many anti social parties started making really big issues against Shilpa Shetty. Hollywood star Richard Gere and Shilpa Shetty were strongly opposed for kissing at a public function in 2007. Well, the actress had many cases filed against her for this. But after several months, the sex scandal of a MP from Central was caught and released on tapes. But the eyes of law were closed and the issues were easily over looked.

In 2007, a foreigner unintentionally placed his whisky glass on India’s national flag while watching a one-day cricket match in Jaipur. The issue was however very small than expected but due to the critics of many anti social groups, the problem became big. The court pulled up the police for saying that the main accused could not be traced. After a recent one-day match however national flags were seen lying in garbage. No case was filed this time against any of them.

People are rarely using courts to lodge cases concerning serious crimes such as murder, rapes, assault and dacoit, or even for vehicle and mobile phone thefts which the police often refuse to register. Instead, courts are mostly used for bank recoveries, disputes over property and tenancy, money borrowing and marital problems including dowry and mental torture.

The chief Minister of Rajhastan Ashok Gehlot and his predecessor Vasundhra Raje faced a case each for allotting land to thrusts in which they were involved. Besides, the issue was getting a little bit stronger where the lands were not transferred to the allottees. When the consumers went to launch a complaint, the allotments were cancelled. The consumers could not launch any case against them for not giving the allotted lands.

Many fraudulent cases are being launched in courts and it has increased in the following years. Till the people lodging such bogus cases are brought to book, courts will continue to be misused and justice shall remain blind.

Apple Products in India

Apple has definitely taken a stand in the Indian market. Many consumers feel comfortable with Apple’s range of products. The design and quality of these products are made in such a way that people go crazy after using these products. Many consumers follow each and every move Apple makes, and when it announces new products, they fall over each other to express their opinions – positive or negative. No matter what other companies do to overcome this giant tycoon, Apple products stand strong and all their criticisms turn to their positives. Apple has a wide range of products starting from Music Players, Phones, browsing devices, software’s etc., and the features of these products are endless.

Apple launched iPod in India, during the end of 2007. The product had a much awaiting fan club and all of them were really eager to try out the product which was popular all over the world. The product sold more than what Apple had expected. Its rivals were completely awestruck since the market had completely turned its table towards Apple. Apple kept on expanding its paw in India and its rivals started struggling to hold their market. Indian consumers were completely stunned by the technology Apple’s products had. It was definitely a giant leap for everyone in India for they did not know such technologies even exist in India.

By the end of 2008, Apple launched its phone called as iPhone, which was widely expected by everyone in the world. The phone had many criticisms regarding its security which was resolved on further releases. The functionality of the phone is simply outstanding. Even though many features of iPhone cannot be used in India people buy these phones because they are very stylish and comfortable to use. Constant advancements are being made in the phone such as from 3G to 3GS where the phone has better connectivity towards 3G networks on a wide scale. The most interesting feature about this phone which I like is its touch response. The phone is quite fast and steady which has made several of its competitors already to back out from the race to capture the Indian market.

Apple has still not stopped its venture into the global market. It’s much awaited product iPad or iTablet, was released on United States earlier this month. The product was extremely catchy and pre-bookings have already been started in many countries outside US. The iPad looks like a much bigger version of an iPhone. The iPad is much more sophisticated in technology and its features are simply outstanding. The graphics and its wireless connectivity are simply outstanding. Many companies are trying to catch up with Apple’s products which are in the industry. Even Google is trying to over throw iPhone, but the technology at which iPhone powers is much more superior to any other phone in its class. Google’s Android phone is definitely much sophisticated than iPhone when compared by the specifications. But when it comes to the hands of a consumer, definitely at all cost iPhone would be the clear winner.

Bitter Experience In IndiGo

We all are familiar with the word low-cost airline, the term originated in the airline industry referring to those airlines which has a lower operating cost structure. IndiGo is a leading Domestic Indian Airlines that offers cheap, affordable, on time and hassle free operation at a low cost. These are the words that they use to describe themselves, I agree to the first three things, but it is not at all a hassle free airline.

 
In a consumer point of view I will rate them below average as I am unable to forget the very first experience with them. They have a very pathetic customer service. Recently, I travelled with my two and half year’s old son from Bangalore to Kolkata. I travelled using one adult ticket. I had a nice journey. While on the return flight from Kolkata, the staffs out side asked me about the age of the child. I was not having a ticket for my child. I did not have the problem while I was travelling from Bangalore to Kolkata .The staffs at Kolkata airport asked me to purchase a ticket immediately. The women at the counter asked me to pay Rs. 11,070/-. I told her that I need to talk to a senior official of the airlines. I found that the woman at the counter is better than that, since the senior customer care executive do not know any thing about customer service. He spoke in a rude manner and he stated that it is clearly mentioned in the website that a birth certificate is needed for the infant. Why did they do not stop me at the Bangalore airport? Is this rule not applicable at the Bangalore airport? For that question he had no answer but he says that he cannot repeat the mistake done by the staffs at Bangalore airport. If I had known about this I would have cancelled the ticket at Bangalore itself or I could have tried other airlines tickets.

 
It is to be noted that the ticket does not mention that you need to carry the birth certificate and the staff was just repeating the thing that it is mentioned in the website. What happens to a customer with no knowledge of how to browse a website? Even what happens if he takes the ticket through a travel agent? For my questions the staff gave me a very rude reply “SUCH PERSONS SHOULD NOT FLY”. Is that the way they should behave to their consumer? They were yelling and shouting, they told me that I would be denied to fly unless I purchase a ticket of Rs. 11,070/- for my two and half year’s old kid. Even he was blaming me that I performed an illegal activity by taking my kid without proper proof. Finally, when I purchased a ticket for my child no one asked me to show the age proof or identity.  The whole time the senior staff was just watching the whole thing. Here the customer is NOT the King. The staff is the king.

 
I purchased the ticket only because my child was involved in the whole issue and I didn’t want to wake my kid up. Anyway the only impression about this airline is that, they were only trying to have a full flight ticket, without giving any consideration to the customer. Is that Indigo or individuals go!

Don’t buy Karbon!

Every one had a cell phone in my college and I wanted one badly. I started collecting money from the beginning of the year so that I could buy one. I was on a hunt for my dream mobile and I was excited as it was time for me to buy my new phone, I searched almost all the websites and the internet for a good mobile but some or the other factors did not match, either the cell phone did not have all the features or the cost was too high.  At last after so much of research, I decided to buy Karbon k560. The phone attracted me so much. It was a phone with dual SIM and a touch screen.
For the first few days the phone was awesome. The phone had great looks that made people stare at it for a long time. The clarity was superb, and I had no trouble in listening to the caller. But then after a month, the call got dropped. At first I thought it was because of the poor network of BSNL, but I was wrong. It was annoying because whenever I get a call, I could talk for 3 to 4 minutes and after that the call would get cut. I took it to the service center and explained him the problem. The service center fixed it in a day’s time. But the problem was not over.

Two months later, the phone had other issues. The charge would go down after 4 hours, even if the phone was on stand by mode and the backlight would glow often without any reason. It was annoying because at the middle of the night the backlight would light up automatically, making it look weird. I tried going to the customer service center but it was shocking to see that the center was closed and I found the subsidiary given to some one else. I was unable to find a service center anywhere around my town. The pamphlet did not have the customer care number and I spent almost 1 month in search of a Karbon dealer. In the meantime I had visited the company’s website and sent them mails, but they did not bother to send a reply. 

Somehow I got the customer care number and I gave the phone for service. They charged me Rs.550 for the service. The problem was fixed but the phone had a new problem now. It would hang after I send a message. I did not notice it in the service center because I am not used to messaging. I took it to the customer service center, but they were not able to fix it. The service center was about 50 kilometers from the town where I live. I was irritated that I had spent a lot, still the phone was not returning back to a good condition. I finally gave up and stopped trying and for this reason please do not buy Karbon phones.

Cheated by Videocon …

I recently read an article in the newspaper about a consumer, who had a terrible time demanding service from Videocon. This is Prashath’s story who bought a Videocon Air Conditioner on 29th February 2009 from the NEXT showroom. At the time of the purchase, the sellers at NEXT made lot of promises, they offered a 1 year free service but, it was shameful that they never kept their words. They did not provide good customer service, all they dis was to talk polite and try to woo the customers by their words. Mr. Prashanth bought 5 air conditioners from NEXT, but their attitude towards him was very bad. What I learnt from this article was that, It was always better to buy from small shops than these big showrooms because they have less employees and they have limited customers hence they would treat their customers well. Videocon products are the worst products I have ever seen, and apart from this complaint I have read many more complaints that have remained unanswered. This is one such story where a consumer is cheated by a company and has no where to go.

 Mr.Prashanth bought the air conditioner for Rs.17, 600 and it was an air conditioner that had almost all the features. The dealers talked to him in such a way that he was amazed by the offers they would offer him. He was hesitant for some time as he did not know the company so well but the sellers were so tricky, they persuaded him to buy it. The company promised 3 free services in the year.

The first service was done after two months after the date of purchase. The technician visited Prashanth’s place, did some formal brushing and left the place. He was surprised to see that the technician did not touch or try to check the out door unit. Usually the outdoor unit is also cleaned during a service because it is the unit that collects air in the air conditioner. Lot of dust gets accumulated in the collection pipe. Soon after the service, the air conditioner stopped working. Prashanth lodged a complaint by calling the customer care and they sent a technician. The technician demanded Rs.4200 saying that the compressor had some problem and it had to be rectified. He asked the technician about the free service the company had demanded and showed him the warranty card. He even contacted the manager and claimed for a free service with replacement. The manager did not respond well and refused to offer a free replacement. He had to give an amount of Rs.4500 to get it repaired. The air conditioner worked well after that for 2 months and it was ridiculous that the air coming out of it was not cool at all. The customer care center was hopless, they would never answer his call and the AC was never repaired. Mr. Prashanth went to NEXT and complained about the product but the dealer was busy canvassing their customers and they did not mind him.

Trapped !

My wife is addicted to TV serials. My wife has this extreme talent of multitasking which is cooking and watching serials at the same time and the talent of viewing more than one serial by changing the channel regularly. It was my bad day, I had to listen to her grumbling as the TV stopped working. I called the customer care and lodged a complaint. I was told that I would be attended the next day. A technician came the next day and inspected the TV. He said the transformer was burnt and it will take two days to repair it. The technician offered me an interesting deal that he would fix the TV set for a sum of thousand rupees if I was fixing it from him and a sum of thousand eight hundred if I was planning to fix it from the company. It was a good deal but I did not want to risk the life of my huge LCD television, for 200 rupees. So I planned to fix it from the company itself. The company offered me an annual contract of five thousand rupees and it would fix my TV for free if it encountered a problem for the next two years.  I could not bear my wife’s torture and did not want to be in this situation again so, I opted for the annual contract.

The technician repaired the TV and the TV was working fine. The TV worked well for 4 months. One day when I switched on the TV, sparks came out from the panel. I felt safe because I had an annual contract and I would get my TV repaired for free. I called the customer care and explained him the problem. The service personnel inspected my TV and said that there was some problem in the printed circuit board of the TV and it would cost me about two thousand rupees to repair it. I showed him the annual contract bill and claimed to change it. I was told that the company which has my annual contract had run out of business and my bill was not valid.

I argued with him saying that the bill had the name of the company in it and I had to be given service because I had paid five thousand rupees. I understood the situation in which I was. They did not respond well to me. They told me that the contract I was holding now was invalid and I had to take a contract from the service center which was active now. I was in a vex weather to take a annual contract again because after taking an annual contract if this company again runs out of business, I would be doomed. This is the biggest problem in our country, the companies give subsidiary to service centers and allow them to attend the cases that are genuine. The customers are promised for service but they are tricked and trapped into various schemes. The consumer’s money is always at the stake for the companies for experiment. It is the time that the companies understand that the consumers are not their guinea pigs.

Vodafone Customer Care

I am a software engineer from Chennai working in a reputed organization. I recently had a major technical billing issue with Vodafone. I have a postpaid connection and during the month of December I had to go overseas for my work. I personally went to the Vodafone showroom and gave them a letter for the overseas roaming option. They said that the option would change within 24 hours. I also gave them a letter stating that I would not be there at my apartment and requested them to send me an online bill for the month of December.

Within three days, I left to South Africa and to my surprise the overseas roaming option for my phone was not activated. I called up several times to the Vodafone customer care and they said that there were some technical issues and it would be activated within twenty four hours. The connection got activated from the second day, and I was content with their connectivity overseas. The next day I got a call from a customer support executive and he confirmed whether the lines are active. I replied that I am satisfied by their services and again reminded him to send my phone bill to my email address so that I can pay it by credit card.

After three days, they barred my phone connection. I was not able to make any outgoing calls. I was not ready to contact these people again so I got myself a new office connection in South Africa. But, I am sure they barred my calls because I haven’t paid the bill and it was not my problem as they have not sent the bill to my email address.

When I returned from South Africa, I found couple to Vodafone bills at my doorstep. I dropped my bags and went straight to the customer care office where I had dropped the letter. I took all the bills with me and started blasting at them. They did not have any answers for their mistakes. I even got the name of the customer support executive to whom I spoke with. I made a severe complaint on all the people who were involved in this issue.

They gave the reason for disconnection as they when the outstanding amount of the bill crosses the particular limit then the system automatically terminates after the particular due date. They had something to blame on. The most interesting part is that they have charged me for using the roaming options for the entire moth even after the connection was completely terminated. I strongly responded to them stating that I will not pay the bill if it has roaming options for the entire month.

I did not want to stand there and argue with them anymore on this issue. I got myself a prepaid card from Airtel and went back to my place. After several days, an executive from Vodafone came to my house and demanded that I pay the bill which still included the international roaming options for the entire month. I decided that this has gone too far and raised this issue in the consumer court. And trust me even now I am getting their bills every month for the outstanding payment.

Renault promises more customer service stations

Renault is planning to introduce couple of new cars in India soon. Apart from launching cars with its partner Mahindra and Mahindra, the company has decided to make independent entries into the country. Renault will set up a nation wide distribution network in the next 3 years. This is very exciting news for its consumers. The company is launching a 1.1 liter small car in the next 24 months. The company also has plans to launch a SUV. Renault is the number two car maker in France and the launch of its new car Renault Fluence is on the top of the list. Renault Fluence will be available in two versions. Both being petrol engines, 1.6 liters, 16 Volt engine that delivers 110 bhp with automatic transmission and 2 liter, 16 Volt engine that delivers 140 bhp with continuously variable transmission. The car has beautiful interiors, with well furnished dashboards. The car does not produce any vibrations and has no noise. The steering feels really good and the handling is superb. The braking system is very effective and the disc brakes provide good stopping power and durability. The power steering is easy to use and feels good.

The new plant that will be opened in Chennai will produce around 2 lakh cars annually. The plant is yet to open and the project is worth Rs.45 lakh. This is very good news for the consumers in India as the prices of the car will go down incredibly. Renault Fluence will compete against the Chevrolet Cruze. The company plans to release a new car Koleos which will be a rival of Honda CR-V. It will also launch a small car to take on Hyundai i10 and a version of utility vehicle, Kangoo which will compete with the new Maruthi Eeco.  Consumers will have lot of new products that is of exceptional quality and standard. The company has also revealed that there would be more number of Renault service stations soon throughout the country and they would concentrate more on the customer support and service.  It has made changes about the production of Mahindra Logan as well. It will convert Logan into a notchback and avail the 4 meter tax benefit.

There has been lot of consumer complaints about Mahindra’s customer support. The company is criticized for its careless attitude and rude behavior towards the consumers. With Renault coming into the country, the company will deal with its customers directly rather than Mahindra and Mahindra. Consumers can be sure that they would get a better service from Renault than from Mahindra and Mahindra.

A Mobile Mishap

I guess everyone is familiar with the poem, “for the want of a nail”. It goes on to tell how a simple nail created havoc and led to the defeat of an army in a battle. This is very true in my case. For the want of a phone number, I lost three weeks of my time. It was the winter of 2008; I bought myself a fancy cell phone with all the latest features and applications. The phone was loaded with features, it had a powerful camera with a decent zoom, expandable memory, and it could play mp3, video, browse the internet, was 3G compatible and so on. There were umpteen features and many of them which I was never going to use. I loved my phone and I use to have it in my pocket 24×7. When it was not in my pocket, it was in my hand and I was browsing, texting or playing games.
I was totally dependent on my cell phone, all important dates, things to do, friend’s birthdays, contact numbers and lot of other data was all stored in my cell phone. I even used it record lectures in college to cut down on the writing work. Everything was fine until one day.
My mobile stopped working. There was a dynamic picture of a smiley similar to the one seen during signing into yahoo messenger. It would be quite all along and suddenly beam smiling and open its mouth wide and laugh. This was my wall paper and on this day, the smiley opened its mouth and it never closed. I tried pressing every button on the keypad but it was of no use. The phone seemed dead. Even restarting wouldn’t work. I consoled myself thinking that it would be repaired and set right. But my relief was short lived. I remembered something that made coping up with the phone’s loss even more miserable.
Few weeks back I sent my cell phone for a service, it was basically to be sure that the phone worked well and did not cause any trouble. On the very same day I had to attend an interview. Things went on well and I took down the HR’s contact number in a piece of paper as I was supposed to call him back in a couple of days. I promptly added the number to my list of contacts on my cell as soon as it came back from the service. The number was in the phone and I had to call up the person in a few hours. I took a cab and went over to the service center and asked what kind of a service he had done to the mobile. The guy at the counter was like, “Sir please take a token, we will call you and address your problem soon”. I had no other option. I waited with the token in hand, I just wanted my phone to work. I told him when my turn came that I wanted all the data to be backed up on my memory card as I had lot of important information and also told him to repair  the phone. He diligently copied down all that I told and then took my cell put it into a cover and stapled the paper on to it.
I was told to wait for an hour. I waited and after an hour or so a guy came out and my name was called, I went to the counter and the guy told me, “Sir, your card has been formatted as you asked and the phone has also been rectified, that will be 700 rupees. Would you like to pay by cash or card?”
So much for a priority service center from one of the leading mobile phone manufacturers in India.

Aveo RS in India!

Chevrolet is all set to release its new car in the auto expo at Geneva. The Chevrolet Aveo RS is a five door hatchback that will be available in India soon. The car has an aggressive style and an awesome performance. The car was already displayed by General Motors in the Detroit motor show in January. The car will face a much wider audience at Geneva. The Geneva motor show has been a place where the manufacturers could boast about their upcoming models and the consumers get to know the products better. The car will be sold in Asia, Europe and North America soon after this exhibition. The car is sure to be the star of the show and the company is already boasting about it.

The Aveo RS is longer and wider than the current U-VA. The car is lot different from the Aveo 5 as well. The car has a 1.2 liter engine with its naturally aspirated power plant. The company is also planning to release a CNG version soon after the exhibition. The diesel version is still under development and it is certain that it will be released later in mid 2011. The petrol version of the car is currently priced at 4.5 lakh and the diesel version will cost Rs.70, 000 more. The car has the look of a devil and its performance is outstanding. The front bumper has double grille with integrated fog lamps. The design is purely original and it has not been copied from any other car. The bulging wheel arches give the car a more aggressive look. The rear door handle is almost hidden and this is one of the best improvisations made by the company. The steering wheel has all the controls on it, and the buttons on it are comfortable and well organized. The radial tires give the car a good grip and make the ride comfortable. The car comes with 15 inch rims. The tests show that the car is aerodynamically efficient, and the car is slightly dipped towards the front. The tail lamps are similar to the headlamps with rings that have chrome surrounds. The interiors are stunning, the cockpit has an amazing finish and the dashboard is well furnished. The company has concentrated on the ride and smoothness, and it has been successful in achieving the standards to satisfy its consumers.

The company has developed early prototypes that give good results. The release of this car will be appreciated by the consumers as the car is said to be the most efficient in its class. The car will be launched with the same design except for the changes in the spring and damper settings. These settings will be modified based on the local driving preferences. This car will be a big step for the company in the small-car segment. And we can expect that the car will provide many personalization options to its consumers.

Electric-cars

It is time that we start using electric cars to reduce pollution. I feel that some information on electric vehicles will be useful for the consumers. Electric vehicles are broadly classified into three types, gasoline or hybrid vehicle, rechargeable hybrid vehicle, and fully electric vehicle. Consumers can choose on the type of vehicle they need depending upon their requirements. The gasoline hybrid vehicle is the first type of vehicle. The name is self explanatory; the vehicle uses both gas and an electric motor, it uses two energy sources liquid as well as battery. The car can use the electric charge for a short time because of the limited charge capacity. The electric energy can be used as a boost for the gas engine. The electricity is produced by a method called regenerative braking. Regenerative brake is an energy recovery mechanism that is used in these hybrid vehicles as an energy recovery mechanism that reduces the vehicle speed by converting the kinetic energy. The energy is converted into useful energy and is stored in a battery, which can be used in the future instead of dissipating it as heat. These vehicles do not need to be recharged. This type of vehicle is suitable for consumers as there is no need for recharging the vehicle.

The next type of vehicle is the rechargeable hybrid vehicle. These are also known as plug-in vehicles. A plug-in vehicle is an electric vehicle that has a small combustion engine.  This type of vehicle can independently run on electric power for short distances. These are widely used to cruise in and around the city. The vehicle can run for about 50 kilometers per charge. The vehicle can run at a top speed of 40 kilometers at maximum. The electricity for this car is provided by an electric network grid. The recharging is not a complicated process and it is possible for consumers to recharge the vehicle from the existing electrical outlets in the most public and private parking spaces.

The third type is fully electric vehicles. The vehicles run on electricity 100 percent without any heat engine. The disadvantage of this kind of vehicle is that it needs complicated recharging infrastructure for recharging batteries. This is not such a good option because the cost of the vehicle is high, and the distance capability per charge is 200 kilometers per charge, which is very low. The cost for building the infrastructure is also very high.
Reva is a good electric car but was very small for family use. The companies such as Chevrolet and Hyundai are well known manufactures of electric cars that are most liked by the consumers.

Autorist – Auto Terrorist!!

Ask anyone from Chennai about their auto rides, you will hear horror stories. They are that section of society who does not come under any law! Government sets deadlines for them to fix fare meters in their rickshaws, but they defy them, apply political pressure and use other back door channels to evade it. The end result is that, the hapless consumer has to cough up whatever the amount the auto driver demands.  The nexus between the politicians, auto drivers and police officials should not be ignored. Most of the autos in Chennai are owned by the traffic constables; hence the road is pretty much their home! They are instrumental in providing the muscle for the politicians during elections and campaigns.  Also most of them are street corner thugs and you cannot really mess with them. Therefore, there clout knows no bounds which are why they define their own laws.

From the passenger’s or the consumer’s point of view, all they want is a regularized system by which they do not end up haggling with the auto drivers. A normal middle class guy, who does not have personal means of transportation, has to completely rely on auto rickshaws in the city. Of course he can use the public transport, but they are not very reliable. So, the consumers really do not have a choice but to bow done to the auto drivers’ demands. There have been many consumer awareness groups who have protested over the years against this type of extortion in the name of public service, but all of them fizzed out due to lack of response from the government. Also those odd tough guys who try to stand up to the auto drivers either do not get a ride back home or would get back home with a blackened eye!

Autos, taxis etc are the key modes of transportation for any city. In cities like Bangalore, the autos are very much regularized. They have a fixed meter system and the fares get revised every time there is a correction in fuel prices. Yes, they might ask a little extra during a late evening or late night ride, which is understandable, but otherwise generally do not charge more than what the fare meter displays. I am not saying that all of them are angels, but once a system is enforced at least there would be some sort of regularization, which would benefit the consumers.

Most of these auto drivers come from poor and uneducated backgrounds and they do not own the autos. So, based on their daily collection, they need to pay off the auto owner (generally a cop), pay for the fuel, their food and take some home for their family. Therefore, they would rather not stick to any systematic form of fare generation.

Also the ever increasing incomes of people also add to the problem. People nowadays not really care of money’s worth. They do not mind paying 100 bucks for a ten minute ride, which is why the government does not really step in to take guard and this works in the favor of the auto drivers. So I feel that the only way to counter this problem is to use other  means of transportation like buses, suburban trains, share autos, car pooling etc. and isolate them completely. Once, the Chennai metro starts functioning (I think I am being too optimistic!!) the auto drivers would definitely have their fare meters fixed!! What say??!

Inflation on food

Ten years ago, the average wage for a normal family from Tamil Nadu to sustain themselves was from 1500-2000 rupees but at the current state it ranges from 3000-5000 rupees. It is because of the price hike on all the consumer goods in market. This is the age of the food processing industries and it is one amongst the fastest growing industries.

India is the world’s largest second food producer. There has been a wastage of about 30-40 thousand crores worth food products every year by the Indian Government.  Although the government has taken up several measures to reduce the wastage of food products, it still remains the same.

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries has placed several proposals to develop the infrastructure in order to reduce the wastage of food products. Once the infrastructure is put in place, which is quite apparent, it will help tame the sky-rocketing prices on all the consumer goods. Also, the livelihood of the people can be improved by utilizing the resources which often get wasted in the supply chain.

The farmers are still struggling on the lower side. Well, the situation is getting worse day by day. The food products which they cultivate at their farm lands are being bought by the food processing industries at much cheaper rates than that of the market prices. They bargain with them stating that the vegetables or fruits which are grown at their farms are not of good quality.

Indian food processing sector has a bright future in ahead of them. ITC has ventured with a huge investment this year. It has introduced 5 new products within this quarter. Alcohol, cigarettes, fruit juices and chocolates are the key food products for which inflation has risen up tremendously.

The government places heavy taxes on these Food Processing giants and in turn they increase the price on their food products and ultimately the consumers who are struggling to move up with their lives suffer terribly. The quality of food which they provide to the consumers is also decreasing steadily.

There are several consumer problems lined up against major food processing industries and even consumer courts could not help out in these issues. All the consumer food packets have a description about the minerals and added nutrients it contains. Who knows whether all the facts that are stated above are true?

During college, a field trip was arranged to the biggest milk distributing factory in South Chennai. They have so many certifications and quality is the only word which they emphasize on but trust me, its worst than a pig sty. You can see cockroaches and lizards running all over the place. The building on the outside was very eye catching but on the inside it was very much like a dump yard. That was the last day I ever bought any products from that company

IPL – Come Back

 “IPL” the money minting machine has started again for a new season. But this time the money spin is much more than anyone could have ever imagined. All the top level corporate houses are strongly competing against each other for having their hands on any one of the teams. It became a gamble for the power and money. The only difference between the last two seasons is that the stakes are really high, they have actually tripled this year.

Two new teams have come up, Pune and Kochi. They have ventured into the race having a huge total of $700 million. IPL -3 promised the investors twice the money due to new sources of income. There are two segments for the teams to earn money.

The Central Revenue Pool

Till the second season, the main revenue was from TV rights but many new sources have emerged. This time the investors who have bought the teams share the major benefit. The following are the areas where the teams make their money,

1.       The rights of screening in halls, theatres, bars and pubs.

2.       The rights of viewing the IPL matches in YouTube

3.       The parties which are held after match

4.       Sponsorship

5.       Advertisements which are put up between every over

6.       Mobile rights including live streaming

7.       Ground sponsorships – Placing banners and posters inside the grounds

IPL has many new changes added in this season. Like never before, there are short commercial breaks after every over. Modi made 54 crores by selling 150 seconds of airtime on Set Max by carrying ads on the score board. It is really shocking to hear that MRF has spent 15 crores just to have its blimp over the sky.

The Local Revenue

The local revenue is also expected to reach double than what was expected. Some of the areas where the teams get their share are

1.       Sponsorships made by each and every team

2.       Entry passes for every match

3.       Team Merchandise and Licensing which includes caps, shoes etc.,

Major investors have found IPL the easiest way of gaining quick profits on the very idea of growth. Every team has brought their own luxury spots in the stadiums where the game is being played. Super luxury spots include food, drinks and party but the price tags are 5 times more. The KKR IPL Club Lounge costs rupees 40,000 each and 20 days before the match could start they sold the entire set of 200 tickets.

Within 3 years IPL had developed into so many stages. One can definitely expect in future that IPL happens to be one of the world’s costliest sports in the world where only the Corporate Giants would step to play in.

The Rise of Cyber Criminals

 Who would have guessed that the US top most official website would be taken down by a bunch of high school kids? Cyber crime is the latest trend these days and many countries have created security infrastructures inorder to protect themselves against security breaches. Many countries have already started the war in their own cyberspace with deadly digital weapons.

The first major salvo was fired last December when more than 500 top government official computers were attacked, including the Prime Ministers office, National Security Advisor, Defense Intelligence agencies and the chiefs of Army, Navy and Air force officials. It was termed as the single largest breach of the Indian Defense establishment. The government was completely compromised with this act and nothing could be done to come out from this problem.

The Chinese has already started the cyber warfare with India .They use Trojans and Malwares to penetrate into our defenses. Suspected Chinese hackers were traced downloading tender documents for the Commonwealth Games network Infrastructure.

 Many acts were implemented for enhancing the cyber protection in our country. Some of the Cyber war threats are

Intelligence Gathering – Enter using a doorway and gather information by planting viruses in them

Information Warfare – Attacking the adversary while defending their own network

Insider threat – People within the midst having a thorough knowledge about the vulnerabilities and configurations

Hacking – Carelessness of people to give out their personal information to strangers

Cyber Crime – Web-based criminal attacks

While the government trying to figure out the security problems, every individual who uses a computer must know the vulnerability level of the system which he uses. An attacker usually tries to enter a computer using the techniques involved in hacking, which requires collecting all the personal information related to person including the computer, the network etc., As soon as the attacker gets an entry into the computer he inserts worms or trojan horse depending upon the attack he wants to perform. And such a system which he compromises completely is called a Botnet.

Many banks have suffered terribly because of these attacks. A perfect example would be ICICI bank. Personal information of the consumers is at stake here because of these attackers. However these problems can be solved only by being careful. Cyber crime officials in India constantly keep an eye on all the activities happening. However the government has to improve the punishment level for people involvedg in these kinds of criminal activities. Moreover the government must assign more people to fight or protect against these cyber wars.

According to me, a dedicated cyber security organization is needed in India, which develops strategies to protect the national information infrastructure against cyber-criminals.

Bad service at service centers

I bought a Sony Ericsson W705i exactly a year back from an authenticated Sony Ericsson dealer. It is a really good phone having a thin sleek design and the warranty period was for one year. Since it is a music phone the sound clarity and quality was exceptional.

After 2 months, the sound quality of the phone was slightly low so I approached the service center to check the problem and get it fixed. As soon as I went inside, the receptionist gave me a stern look which was very rude. So here goes the story, I told her that the sound quality of my mobile phone was not good. She immediately responded “So!” I started explaining the problem from the start and she blankly told me to come back the next day. I was slightly disappointed with her answer and rude behavior but I wanted my phone fixed, so just walked off.

Next day, I walked to her desk and again explained the problem. But this time she asked for my warranty card and I gave it to her. She took the phone, removed the sim card, battery and gave it back to me. I asked her the reason for removing the battery, she told me to come back after 2 weeks since all their engineers are tied up currently.

Couple of times I kept calling them but none of them responded properly. After 2 weeks I went to the service center, but to my surprise my phone was not fixed. Instead she gave it back to me and told me the speaker was torn and that is the reason for low quality sound. They told me that the speaker for the phone is currently not available and I have to come back after a week. By this time the speaker in my phone completely stopped working. I had to use an ear phone in order to connect to a call. I got furious a bit and started shouting at them. I said that I will launch a consumer complaint against them but they did not take it very seriously.

Without second thoughts, I launched a consumer complaint against these people. Now guess what? A person from Sony Ericsson called me and said that he was terribly sorry for the problems. He told that he will replace my mobile phone in turn if I remove the complaint. He called me to the service center to get the phone replaced.

Next day I went to their office to exchange the phone. As soon as they saw me they called me inside the manager room. They started giving me all sort of excuses stating that they are very busy people since they have many clients to handle and once in a while these problems does happen. It was really annoying and they were talking like kinder garden. I was asked to hand over the old phone in order to claim the new one. Finally I did get my new phone.

In this case consumer court helped me a lot. I got my problem fixed even though I spent some time roaming here and there. As long as there are consumer protection laws in favor of consumers we can ease a little against these kinds of people.

Responsibilities as a consumer

The consumer must know what is happening around him and that is the first and the foremost step for a consumer to prevent himself from getting deceived. Consumers must read newspaper and make himself aware of the cases of various thefts, scams, burglaries, etc. that are highlighted in the local newspaper and also seen on television. The consumer can learn from the mistakes made by others and take measures so that such incidents do not happen to him. If a dealer has given a faulty gadget to your friend, do not make the mistake of going to that shop. If somebody stole important mails from your mailbox, make it a point to collect all your crucial mails directly from the post office.

Never reveal your personal identity to a stranger and do not reveal any personal information by email. So do not disclose your residence, telephone numbers, your workplace numbers etc. to any company or dealer unless you gather complete information from a known person about the company. Tell your particulars over the phone only when you are sure that the call is genuine.

If you buy products online, carefully read the agreement and do not accept courier services. You should never hand over your credit or debit cards to anyone, even to your friends. Never tell your friends or colleagues to check your mails while you are holidaying with your family. It is not wise to let others know your password and mails when you bank online. Use virtual keyboard instead of entering it manually because internet is not a safe place to leave your details. Before purchasing any product, always read the manufacturing date, the expiry date and the MRP carefully. Bills are the only proof of a transaction so never forget to take all the bills as an assurance for the warranty period.  Call the police and lodge a complaint if you loose your wallet. This can protect you from illegal use of your documents by others. Keep a backup in a diary of all the numbers. This will facilitate you with all the information in case you lose your mobile phone.

Hospital – care “less” Organization

I recently read an article in a newspaper that was about a hospital in Kerala. ESI stands for Employee’s State Insurance Corporation; it provides certain benefits to employees in case of sickness, maternity and employment injury. ESI has nearly 30,000 employees working for this and the hospital serves ESI employees. The ESI hospital in Kerala has all the facilities for is one of the best hospitals in the city but it does not serve its purpose to its consumers. Though there are almost all the facilities for a perfect treatment the number patients who are attended are less than 13 in an average, daily. The hospital recently was fined Rs.1, 78, 000 by the water department for being careless about a water filter. The water filter costed just Rs.1000 but the authority had to pay an amount equal to 10 times of the price because of this carelessness.

The hospital is a key organization for the employees of the employee’s state insurance corporation. The hospital has a fax machine that does not work. The staff never bothers to fix it because of the less number of faxes they receive. It is shocking that such a big hospital has employees who are lethargic and ignorant. It is one of the hospitals in the city that uses blood sugar analyzer; it is an instrument used to analyze the blood for sugar levels. The hospital is equipped with a blood sugar analyzer but it has not used it for more than a year just because the plug was broken. It is ridiculous that such a common instrument has remained unused for more than a year.  The staff in the hospital is rude and the doctors are never available. The staff and the doctors leave the hospital after signing the attendance register. Recently, the CPU of a computer was found to be missing and it was brought into notice to the authority just now. The operation theatre is well-equipped and has all the provisions for an operation to be carried out. The superintendent of the hospital does not permit to carry out any of the operations in the operation theatre.
The hospital had an ambulance that was never used. You can still see an ambulance parked in front of the hospital but rusted and punctured. The ambulance was brand new and it had run just 150 kilometers and after that the driver quit the job. The locals say that after that they have never seen anyone driving it. The ambulance has no driver for the past 1 year and it has been parked in the same place near the sea shore.

The hospital is one among the 13 other hospitals in the state that does not make use of the facilities and refuses service. The government must look into this matter soon and solve it else there will be many hospitals who will want to adopt this kind of service.

Consumer education – at school level

Children are becoming one of the largest consumers in the country and parents are permitting their children to take decisions while shopping. Most of the parents have made it a point to take their children to shopping and this has made most children aware of the different kinds of products that are available. Children now check the details of the product and enquire thoroughly before buying any product from the market. Consumer protection is an important factor because the dealers usually target the younger sections of the society to sell their product in a tactical way.  Though the Government has taken many steps including legislative, to protect consumers, the consumers are still cheated. Advertisement is the major medium through which a company attracts the consumers. The change in social and economic set up of the country has increased the competition and this has made the producers adopt very unfair and unethical means of trade. It is not a surprising fact that the consumer courts take so many years to process a case because the court has so many cases pending.   

With the majority of population unemployed and illiterate, consumer awareness remains a problem. Children especially are becoming the young consumers of the country. Consumer education is an important part of this process and is a basic consumer right that must be introduced at the school level. The most important step in consumer education is the awareness of consumer rights. However, consumer education is incomplete without the responsibilities and duties of consumers, and this influences individual behavior to a great extent. Schools must teach children to obtain information about goods and services, understand the motives of a dealer and advertisements, to shop wisely and distinguish between wants and needs. They must also understand the how a dealer takes advantage of temptation and greed to sell his goods.

All of us spend most of our leisure time watching television but the young minds are more sensitive to advertisements and offers given by companies. There has been a significant increase in the number of television channels and majority of the advertisements aired on them are aimed at young children, especially those covering food products, beverages and cosmetics. Schools also need to help children develop the ability to understand the purpose of advertisements. They must train the children in such a way that they are able to distinguish between the right and the wrong. Schools must also teach about environment and conservation of natural resources. The concept of reduce, reuse and recycle must be thought to the students. There is an immediate need to include consumer education into the curriculum in order to cope up with social and economic changes.

Responsibilities as a consumer

The consumer must know what is happening around him and that is the first and the foremost step for a consumer to prevent himself from getting deceived. Consumers must read newspaper and make himself aware of the cases of various thefts, scams, burglaries, etc. that are highlighted in the local newspaper and also seen on television. The consumer can learn from the mistakes made by others and take measures so that such incidents do not happen to him. If a dealer has given a faulty gadget to your friend, do not make the mistake of going to that shop. If somebody stole important mails from your mailbox, make it a point to collect all your crucial mails directly from the post office.

Never reveal your personal identity to a stranger and do not reveal any personal information by email. So do not disclose your residence, telephone numbers, your workplace numbers etc. to any company or dealer unless you gather complete information from a known person about the company. Tell your particulars over the phone only when you are sure that the call is genuine.

If you buy products online, carefully read the agreement and do not accept courier services. You should never hand over your credit or debit cards to anyone, even to your friends. Never tell your friends or colleagues to check your mails while you are holidaying with your family. It is not wise to let others know your password and mails when you bank online. Use virtual keyboard instead of entering it manually because internet is not a safe place to leave your details. Before purchasing any product, always read the manufacturing date, the expiry date and the MRP carefully. Bills are the only proof of a transaction so never forget to take all the bills as an assurance for the warranty period.  Call the police and lodge a complaint if you loose your wallet. This can protect you from illegal use your documents by others. Keep a backup in a diary of all the numbers. This will facilitate you with all the information in case you lose your mobile phone.

Café Ignoramus

One thing a guy always wants is to be treated like a king when he is out with his girl. It really would kick his ego in the wrong place if he was to be treated otherwise. One such incident that happened to me is what I am going to write about. The setting for this scene is a popular café in Besant Nagar overlooking the beach. It was a nice evening and I was having a stroll on the beach with my girlfriend.  The sea breeze was refreshing and gradually I began to feel hungry. I spotted the café on the road and since it was a part of a popular chain I had no problem of going in for a bite. So we both went in and took a seat where we could also enjoy the sea view.
There were two servers in the café and there was a third, a female at the counter. Normally they would come over after about five to ten minutes to ask what we would like to have. Fifteen minutes, then twenty minutes passed and still there was no sign of anyone. There was one other couple in the café sitting about fifteen feet from us enjoying their frappe and chatting away happily. I looked at the counter and saw the female was tapping away furiously at her computer. I looked around and the two servers seemed to have disappeared into thin air. I went up to the counter and asked the girl if this is a self service café. She told me to wait for a sec and she came with a small notepad to take down our order. I was happy at this little success, it made me look big in front of my girlfriend. I ordered a chocolate latte, a cappuccino, a chicken sandwich and a plate of samosas (the wait had made me hungrier). She told she’d be back in a minute with the food and went into the kitchen. Seconds later she was back at the counter fighting with her computer.
The two servers appeared after a while and it took me another two reminders to get the food to my table. When it finally arrived it was nothing like what I had ordered. I got a chicken salami pizza and the cappuccino was strawberry flavored. I was too hungry to complain, but nevertheless told him how stupid it was to bring his choice to my table. It took me a while to finish the pizza and of course we were talking about a lot of things. It was almost an hour by the time we finished, I signaled for the server and asked him to bring my bill. He nodded and went to the counter and told something to the girl and came back. The girl was still angry with her computer and she continued tapping away on it for quite a long while. By this time the café was also beginning to get crowded and there were also people waiting for seats. It took another fifteen minutes for my bill to get processed and reach my table, and when it finally did come I took my own sweet time to pay it.

The Selling Consumer

Gone are the days when the consumer used to be the one who always bought products from company. This is the age of a new kind of consumer, “The selling consumer”. Consumers are earning from companies by advertising for them. It is the easy way to earn a few fast bucks and it is pays well. Selling and renting of personal property is a catching trend that is also paying well.
Everything from empty space in front of the house to a spare bedroom is up for rent or sale. It is very much becoming like Michael Schumacher’s Suit where six companies bid for the three square inch space left on his cap. Companies are looking to push their brand through every possible channel. This is increasingly seen with band names on T shirts, cell phone towers in houses, garage becoming office space and the spare bedroom becoming guest accommodation.
Putting up the front porch up for rent in a popular locality can earn a monthly rent of over Rs10000, brands like Burger Man or other similar kiosks are ready to shell out money in order to promote their business. A large number of telecom companies are approaching strategic locations in the cities to put up their cell phone towers. More number of towers increases the coverage hence making the consumers happy. Improving the quality of service to consumers will make operators more popular and attract more consumers.
The old for new popularized by Aladdin is also becoming an effective marketing technique. The TV brand Akai is a classic example. The brand took the used and second hand television sets in exchange for brand new sets. This got the company a lions share in the television market and they also made more bucks by selling the second hand sets. (India has an enthusiastic market for second hand stuff too)
Popular brands are bringing up offers of exchanging anything for anything. This is a major shopping attraction as few of these companies report a 25% increase in the number of footfalls. This relates to at least a 12% increase in the number of people buying goods under that brand name.
This is not all; there are several other selling techniques that are being used by the consumer turned producers. They provide feedbacks and statistical reports for moderate amounts. A large number of manufacturers prefer getting their products tested and benchmarked by the user segment. The amount they have to pay for this is very much less compared to professional testing and also the people testing get to try out the latest products plus they also get paid for it. Now that is having the cake and eating it too.
Paying guests or Bread and Breakfast for tourists is another increasingly popular method to earn money. Any spare room or an extra floor can become a space where you can rent out for shelter for short durations and also earn decent money. Home made food could be optional or sold at a price. This is the new booming consumer industry, where the consumer does not buy, but sells.

Alien Universities

First it started with branded clothing and then the trend of foreign firms coming into India was for International Food Chains, now it’s the turn of the education system to make way for the foreign universities to set up their campuses in India. With the passing of the Foreign Education Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operation) bill, more and more foreign universities are likely to set up shop in India.
Foreign universities are looking to open their own campuses in India. The major question here is will they continue the same policies or draw up new parameters according to our Indian standards. One major issue in our country is the process of reservation, so if the foreign universities are looking to set camp here then how are they going to conduct the admission process.
There are lots of problems that would arise with the coming of foreign universities. Our very own IITs and IIMs would begin to lose their luster. The attraction of foreign and imported things is deep rooted in the minds of Indians, and with the universities opening up their own campuses there is a lot to change in the future. This is a slight alteration to the things that happened a while back. In India, after the private institutions started schools and colleges, the quality of education in government aided schools and colleges slowly degraded. This was mainly because people began to prefer the private institutes and did not look forward to the government funded institutions. Lack of attention lowered the quality. A classic case is the depreciation of the value of professional courses in Tamil Nadu, with premier institutes providing affiliation, there are over 600 engineering colleges in the state alone. This has led to a massive increase in the number of engineers being churned out every year.
Improving the quality of education in our own institutes should also be given prime importance. The foreign universities are coming under the impression that India is a developing country which is very true. The price of quality education of the foreign universities is not going to be less; it would probably be away from the reach of the majority of population.  Perspective of the student plays an important role in what they are looking for. A majority of the students looking for foreign universities look forward to the environment and the ambience of the institutes that they study in like MIT or Harvard.
The top level students looking forward to pursuing foreign education would go out of India while the others would have to settle for the foreign campuses in India. This leaves a very small proportion taking up Indian universities and our own courses.
A foreign university in India would have its own effects; this is nothing more than taking up a franchise. A franchise is never at the same level as that of the original, though the brand name would give it enough weightage. A Mc Donald’s In the US is not the same as one in India, there are differences and these differences cannot be sorted out easily.

BMW – the best always!

BMW stands for Baverische Motoren Werke. The company is a Germany based motor company founded in 1916 and is known for its performance and luxury vehicles. BMW has given its consumers the best vehicles in terms of comfort and performance. The company manufactured aircraft engines in the World War 1 and after that the company started manufacturing bikes. BMW has been the manufacturer of the cars such as M3, M5, M7, X3, X5, X6, X90, etc.

The corporate edition of the BMW M3 is priced at Rs22 lakh which is almost 7 lakh cheaper than the 320d. The car has the same engine, transmission, airbags and wheels like the standard edition and does not have features like sunroof, Bluetooth, wood trim, bi xenon lights, iDrive, six CD changer, leather upholstery, lumber support for passenger seat and lights. This price tag has brought the BMW into the category of Skoda and Volkswagen. The car has good acceleration and good traction and handling is great. The accelerator response is something that is unique and which only the people who drive a BMW can feel. The other car which impressed me is the X3 which ranks sixth in the luxury SUV category. The car’s handling is exceptional and acceleration is better than the other SUVs. The free rewind steering wheel and inline 6 engine are the best features of the car. The leg room is enormous and the car concentrates on the comfort. It is a disappointment to consumers as the car costs more than the other cars in the same class. The car has a 3.0 liter engine that delivers 260 horsepower and 255 pound of torque. The other features are power windows, a premium audio system, heated front and rear seats, adaptive xenon lamps and parking sensors. The car is safe and it includes all the safety features, the car was rated good in the crash testing constructed by   Indian institute for highway safety.

The X90 is one of the best cars in the mid size SUV category and stands fourteenth in the luxury midsize class. The car performs extremely well as it has the best handling and performance compared to other SUVs. The car has a 6 cylinder V8 engine and has a unique design. The interior is made of few low grade plastic panels that make them dull to look at. The car even cleared the federal government crash tests and was named as the top safety pick. The car comes with four years or 50, 000 kilometers warranty.  
BMW 7 hybrid version is the new release by BMW. The hybrid version makes the car more fuel efficient. The performance of the car is same as the previous version. The car reaches a speed of 60 kilometers in just 4.7 seconds and it is ranked number 3 in the super luxury car’s class. The car is extremely comfortable and smooth. The car has a 400 horsepower and 4.4 liter twin turbocharged engine which makes it powerful enough to take off the run way. The car has an 8 speed automatic transmission. The integral active steering add speed sensitive rear wheel steering to the car. The car also includes a steering controlled headlights and collision detection sensor. The engine is super quiet and provides a vibration-free ride. BMW has an outstanding consumer support and you will never have a problem with that.

Cell phones – Right choices

Every one of us has confusion in judging a good mobile phone. India being one the largest consumers of cell phone it is important that we are aware of the cell phones that are taking over the market. I have reviewed few cell phones because of the exceptional features they have.
Nokia 5800 was one of the best phones I had ever seen. The phone was an excellent release by Nokia and was the first touch screen phone. It had a 3.2 megapixel camera with an autofocus option. The phone was fully dedicated to multimedia as the phone supported tons of multimedia applications. The music player in the phone was outstanding with a superb sound quality. The interface was easy to use and any user could operate it. The long lasting battery allowed the user to use the phone continuously for long hours. The headphone supplied with the phone was comfortable and it delivered good quality of sound. The 3G and Wi-Fi ensured speedy web access. The phone had a 3.2 inch screen that made the browsing easier. The phone also had handwriting recognition.

LG KP 500 was a touch screen phone that had a very few traditional buttons. The response of the touch screen was very good and could recognize even small finger motions. The phone weighs just 90 grams which makes it easy to carry. The large screen helped to read messages easily. The only difficulty was writing messages as there was no keypad and I had to make use of the virtual keyboard on screen to type in the message. The phone had a 3 megapixel camera which took really good pictures but there was no autofocus option. The music player could not be compared to that of Nokia but it was good. The sound quality was good and the large display clearly showed the artist name and track name. 

Sony Ericsson W705 was small and lightweight phone. The battery is the most outstanding part of the phone. The battery lasted up to two weeks in stand by mode. The phone was a walkman enabled model and the sound quality delivered by the phone was superb. The phone also had an FM radio and TrackID feature. This feature helped the user to identify a song based on hearing. The phone had a 3.2 megapixel camera and it was capable of taking amazing pictures. It did not have a Xenon flash hence the pictures taken in dim light were disappointing. And it was not possible to send messages to a contact stored on your SIM card. You could send messages only to the numbers stored in the internal memory. 

Samsung Touchwiz was preferred by the college students. It had a 2 i.nch touch screen. The phone used haptic technology by Samsung. It gave a vibration when the touch screen was tapped. This was helpful as the phone responded by letting the user know that he had touched the screen. The phone had a 5 mega pixel camera and had an autofocus option. The phone also had a face detection technology. But the absence of Xenon flash made the pictures taken in dim light less impressive. The phone also had a FM radio and an Mp3 player. You could also listen to songs wirelessly via stereo Bluetooth. The phone supported micro SD memory card.

Blender mania!

I read an article in “The right choice” which compared various blenders that were available in the market. The blenders were evaluated by a test. Fifteen liters of yoghurt, 42 bananas, and several cardamom pods and fresh ginger roots were the shopping list for the test. The expert chefs made three smoothies and three lassies which each blender that is 84 drinks in total. Same recipe was used in all the blenders to ensure fair results. Three testers were assigned the job of testing the drinks. The judging criteria were smoothness, consistency, sedimentation and taste. The factors also include noise, grip and set up. The blenders that participated in the competition were Inalsa sleek silver chopper, Black & Decker SB35, Phillips HR 1361, Boss Power PB-3306, Bajaj Majesty HB07, and Phillips Jaipan.

Boss Power PB-3306 was a costly blender. The blender had attachments for blending, chopping, and whisking. The blender weighs just 700 grams that made it very light weight. It does a great job in making smoothies and lassi. It was compact and the design was very professional. The super silent motor attracted the judges. Many consumers have rated this blender well and have not had any problems. The blender was vibration-less and had attachments designed in such a way that it could be cleaned easily in a dishwasher.

The next entry was Phillips HR 1361 that weighed about 700 grams. Consumers could operate and carry it anywhere easily. The blender was exclusively for blending, and it did not have any extra chopping attachments. It had complicated attachments which made it impossible to be cleaned in a dishwasher. The blender did a great job in making lassi but it had a tough time making smoothies. The HR 1361 had a good set up that helped the user get a good grip of the machine. The blender was noisier than other blenders in the market, this resulted in negative points. The complicated attachments that come with the blender and the design made it difficult for storage.

Bajaj Majesty HB07 was the costliest blender to participate in the competition. The blender had many features but was not efficient when compared to its rivals. It had complicated attachments for blending, chopping and whisking which was not dishwasher safe. The users got a better grip of the blender because of the unique grip around the blender. The noise was average and cannot be judged as silent. It had vibrations that were irritating.

 The Inalsa sleek silver chopper was a good looking blender. The blender was made of stainless steel and easy to clean. It took more time compared to other blenders to blend smoothies but was the wait. The blender had chopping and blending attachments that could be cleaned easily in a dishwasher. Other blenders had problems with dismantling and assembling the attachments. It had a wall mount holder which could be used for hanging. The blender was quiet and weighed less than 700 grams. Though there was no speed control feature in the blender the judges were attracted and surprised by its outstanding performance. The Inalsa sleek silver chopper was rated best by the judges and was declared as the winner.

Long Awaited 3G

In accordance with the latest developments world wide, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has started discussions on the introduction of a Fourth Generation (4G) mobile standard in the country this month. In India the 3G allocation and licensing is deadlocked, should we think about 4G? The 4G technologies are designed for high-speed Internet connectivity such as  multimedia services like TV broadcasting, real-time high-resolution video conferencing and multimedia based mobile commerce. They are completely interoperable across various types of 2G and 3G networks. The 4G technologies allow operators to pack more packet-based voice calls per MHz with superior quality.

In India the mobile subscription is crossing 525 million, the landline subscription is showing a negative growth and Indian operators should jump from the relatively inefficient 2G to an efficient 4G technologies. The big question here is whether the operators will get the desired radio frequency spectrum to offer the 4G services.

The world moved to 3G nearly five to nine years back, but still India is struggling to get into 3G. Finally the much delayed 3G auction is going to take place next month; probably it will begin by April 9. The auction for 3G has been postponed thrice since January last year.
The Department of Telecommunications, Government of India, has received 11 applications for auctions of BWA (broadband wireless access) spectrum. There are more than 20 applications. The companies taking part in the auction are Aircel, Bharti, Etisalat, Idea, Reliance Telecom, S Tel, Tata Teleservices, Vodafone and Videocon Telecom. The new players are Augere, Tikona Wireless, Infotel Broadband Services and Qualcomm.

It is important to note that global bidders are not taking part in the auction. No wonder the reserve price is very high (INR 35000 million). Moreover,  they have to face various challenges in the Indian Telecom Industry like low average revenue per user, low tariffs, high competition etc. It is interesting to note that 3G was introduced in Japan and Europe in 2001, South Korea and Australia in 2002 and in the U.S in 2003.

In India the services should be launched at an affordable rate. The thing to be considered is that, it is not only cities, but rural areas also need high-speed networks. These kinds of technologies even if it is 3G or 4G, it will become popular once it is affordable. We have seen the base price of 3G spectrum, I wonder how affordable it will be.

The 4G technology known as Long Term Evolution (LTE) was rolled out on December 14. It was first carried out by Swedish operator Telia Sonera. We can find that in the US and Europe there has been a strong movement to deploy 4G technologies. The efficiency is found to be almost 40 times compared to 2G.  It is high time that the government and operators wake up to the reality.

Auto Expos- an eye opener to consumers

We are fond of blaming the product and the company, whenever we encounter a problem with a product. Though the company is responsible for the failure of the product, it is our responsibility to investigate thoroughly about the product before we buy it. Auto Expos are one such place where the consumers get to know the product better, and know where they can buy a product with confidence. They get to know the product better because they get to interact with the company directly.
The Auto Expo at Delhi had one of the best cars in exhibit. Tata Nano was the show stopper. The car was a hit among the audience as people flooded inside the exhibition ground. The crowd consisted of foreign media and carmakers who lined up to see the small car. The car makers and the public were very eager to know what the car would look like. Tata introduced a new multi utility vehicle named Aria. Tata Aria was more like the Innova. It was a wonderful sight to see the way the consumers gathered to know the products and test drive the cars. The Expo also had a prototype version of Tata CNG and hybrid vehicle. The exhibition also had various other brands including Toyota. The Honda Civic Hybrid was one of the first hybrid vehicles in India.  Tata also showcased a hybrid version of Tata Indica. Tata’s collaboration with Fiat and its ownership of Jaguar and Land Rover was the talk of the evening.

Maruthi Suzuki had a concept MUV. The MUV appeared to be much smaller than the Innova. The company also introduced a new car named Eeco which was to replace Versa. Hyundai had its pavilion filled with MUVs this year. The company was showcasing the H-1 Wagon from its product line up. The exhibition also had a Chevrolet Camaro with its 6-litre engine. Renault showed off its F-1 car with style. Fiat exhibited its 1.4 liter T-jet engine that will go into the Fiat Linea soon. The expo had companies like Audi, Volkswagon, and Mercedes Benz a well. The exhibition provided good and healthy competition, and was a launch pad to many new products.
Consumers get an idea of the services provided by the company by visiting these auto expos. Thus he gets an opportunity to understand the features of the car better than in show rooms. They can make a comparative study of all the cars in terms of looks and features. Exhibitions also form a bridge between the consumers and the company and enhance the relationship between a customer and a company. So, companies must organize more exhibitions, where they can conduct surveys, get customer feedback, and use these to improve its quality of service.

Tata Indigo caught fire

I bought a Tata Indigo LX in 2004. I bought it from Koyenco motors kerala. I found the post sales service horrible. I have been spending around Rs.12, 000 for the maintenance of the car every year.  On May 15 2009, I gave the car for a service at a Tata authorized service station. It was one of the reputed service stations in Kerala. The next day I and my mom were returning home from the service station. The car was cruising at speed of 70 kilometers per hour and the engine got switched off. I checked the temperature indicator, it was normal. I started the engine and continued the journey. After some time the same thing happened again.  But this time the engine would not start and thick black smoke filled the place. I immediately stepped out and tried to open the bonnet. The bonnet will not open and the smoke became thicker. We rushed out of the car and stayed away from it. The public surrounded us and we were the center of attraction. With some help from the public I broke open the bonnet and I was shocked to see the car was on fire and the parts exploding. It was a heartbreaking scene. We quickly moved away from the car because the fire was spreading fast. Soon the fire engulfed the front part of the car and we were not able to go near the vehicle.

We called the fire service and they rushed to the spot. But it was too late, whole car had already burnt. With some help from the locals I controlled the fire entering to the front cabin. I called up the service center and they came with a recovery vehicle. The total estimate to rebuild the car is around 1.85 lakh. The customer care was not able to find out the reason for the fire even after a thorough investigation. They guess it to be a short circuit. They have not replied to my mails or phone calls. The incident took place after the service and I feel the service station had something to do with it. The customer support officer is denying the fact of a human failure.
I have also appealed for a compensation for the mental agony they have caused. The customer care is justifying saying that they are not responsible for the short circuit and it is just my bad luck that such a mishap happened. I tried to approach the manager of the company and I spent most of my time waiting in front of his office. It is a shame that Tata has such an irresponsible team of customer support executives. There has not been any improvement in the company’s actions and I feel that the company is ignoring me. I would advice you not to buy Tata products and fall into trouble like me.

Line Disconnected!

From north to south and east to west, it connects the consumers in India. Though there are many national and international service providers, BSNL is the major player in the telecom sector. But the company is fast losing its share in the market due to its inefficiency. The company has had sharp erosion in profits and market share for the last five years. BSNL has not expanded its network for the past one and half years. BSNL is losing its share because of the increase in the number of private companies entering the sector. BSNL is the seventh largest telecom company in the world, and is the top company in the fastest growing market in India. The company now stands second after Bharati Airtel. 

The consumer services at BSNL is bad which is one of the reasons why the company is losing the market. BSNL has a team which is inexperienced, not well trained, and is rude to the consumers. This incident happened a year ago and after which I decided to never use BSNL again. I had a BSNL Broadband Plan 250. I struggled a lot to get a new internet connection because my house was in a remote location. A technician came to install the connection. He spent about 2 hours to hook up the service but the connection could never be established. The laptop kept on showing 678  error. The technician put the blame on my laptop but it was a new one and was fairly fast. He finally told that a more experienced technician would come and inspect it. The next day a senior technician rectified the problem. The internet was fast and had a bandwidth of 1.2 Mbps. However, two days later the connection went down and I had a terrible time talking to the customer care officer. He had no knowledge on how to fix the problem, they asked me to restart the modem again and again. At last the officer said the problem was likely to be a network problem and it will get fixed by itself. But it did not get fixed by itself, I called the customer care and I was shocked to find out that the complaint number given to me did not exist. I guess the customer care officer was careless and must have forgotten to update my complaint in the database. I called the chief customer care officer and explained him the problem and at last got the problem fixed.

BSNL has good accessibility which means that it provides internet connections throughout the country and it is very easy to get an internet connection. But the customer service is poor. The customer care officer is unaware of the plans provided by the company. The technician came within a week to get the security deposit but took 3 weeks to rectify the problem in my connection. The staff needs to learn manners and be courteous towards its customers.

Localization drive for Windows interfaces

IT companies such as Google and Microsoft respond to the user’s needs by offering many of their services in local languages. An internet cafe in Vijayawada has customers using the internet cafe in their mother tongues, and the internet cafe has seen a reasonable increase in the number of customers.  Many small companies are using local languages to make their interface friendly to the consumers. Now the biggies which form a major part of the market such as Google and Microsoft have started using the local languages. Language is a barrier when it comes to the executives who work on the lower end of the system. They interact with the consumers and it is a problem if they are not able to make their consumers understand what they are trying to say.

Google’s tools have proved to be of a great help to the lower end executives. Google provides a language tool called Google Translator which is used to convert one language to other. The translation tool has changed the dimension of business especially in rural areas. Google translation enables translation between English and Hindi. The tool is designed to translate either the text or the web page. The more advanced feature now developed by Google allows searches in languages other than English. Google transliteration is a tool that allows the user to convert text to 11 Indian languages. These languages include- Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Gujarati, Bengali, Marathi, Nepali, Punjabi and Urdu.

Google has extended these features to other services like GMail, Blogger, and Orkut. The consumer can hence use these sites in his/her mother tongue without any difficulty. Social networking sites such as Orkut and Facebook are popular in many urban parts of the country. By integrating the translator to these sites, the sites become a hit in the rural parts of the country as well. The number of users in rural India has increased considerably after the implementation of this service. You Tube is also available in Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, and Gujarati. Google started this project two years back. The company consulted many language experts to design and code the translation tool. Google tool allows the user to create maps, include local listings and add data into Google Maps. A user can add a local road or a shop that is not listed in the map, and the team incorporates the change after verifying the given information.

Bing language translator developed by Microsoft Corporation is the latest tool in the market. Microsoft offers local language interfaces for Windows 7 and Microsoft office in 12 languages.  Despite the fact that so many big companies are building languages in local languages, the localization drive faces many challenges. The unavailability of fonts and scripts are a problem. The developers find it tough to find experts who can guide them in local languages.

Gold rates… up and down

Gold rates have been high for some time now. The rates in the Indian market are always high and it is a common sight to see sudden hikes in the price. The fluctuation in the gold rates has always been a matter of concern to the consumers. The recent Chile earthquake has resulted in a rise in the price of metals. The price of other metals like copper is up by 5 percent. The price of gold is sure to rise up again soon. Copper has an increase of nearly 5.6 per cent in its prices as it is a main industrial metal. There is no doubt that the Chile earthquake may disrupt the supplies. Chile produces 5.4 million tones of copper a year. Other commodities rose after the US economy expanded at 5.9 per cent in the fourth quarter. This is the highest in the last 6 years. The Euro was 0.1% higher than the dollar and we all know that the price rice of gold directly against the value of dollar.

The prices of other commodities were also pushed up because of the Chile earthquake. The prices of the base metals were the one that were pushed up to the most. The strength in gold prices is supported by other metals and oil prices. The dollar’s affinity towards gold will continue because the dollar was down against Euro. Silver also showed a different price trend, and in London it climbed as much as 1.7 per cent an ounce. More than two thirds of the silver produced is mined as a by-product of industrial materials.
On Mar 3 2010, the rates were down as the supplies were restored. The price of copper fell from its highest in five weeks. The power in Chile was restored and at last the production was started again. London mines in Chile also restored its operations and the dollar gained, reducing the investment of the metals. Gold rate rose moderately to Rs.20 per ten grams at the market. Aluminum production fell by 1% and production of other metals such as lead also fell drastically.

The world’s largest gold exchange traded fund says that its exchanged remains unchanged from the previous day and global commodities rates are expected to rise slightly soon due to the demands in the emerging market economies. Oil prices rose and it was $79 in New York. There has been lot of fluctuations in the prices of commodities especially gold and oil. Business analysts feel that this is the trend for next few weeks and there will only be a slight modification.

Fake E-mails a threat to tax-payers

The internet has once again proved to be an unsafe place to be in. The income tax department has tracked a few emails that ask tax payers to share information of their accounts with subjects like tax refund. Tax payers are warned not to exchange their PAN card number with strangers who impose themselves as agents or officials from the income tax department. The recent analysis by the Income tax department has revealed that a number of people have encountered fake emails that require the consumers to submit their PAN card and account number for an identity verification. The Information has been received from several quarters of people who are receiving electronic mails informing them of their income tax refunds and seeking their credit card details. The income tax department has declared that it never sends e-mails regarding refunds and does not seek any information regarding the credit cards.

The tax payers should not respond to mails that are sent from strange mail addresses. Consumers must be aware that any mail sent by the income tax department should not be replied to as the mails are sent by an automated system. An incident that involved a business man from Avadi recently alerted the income tax department. Navin Thyagarajan was a business man who owned a jewellery shop at Padi. Navin got an e-mail regarding his refunds. He was asked to submit his full bio- data and PAN card details in an email. The victim submitted all the details with an interest to co operate with the department. The imposter replied to Navin’s email immediately and asked him to submit his credit card and bank account details as soon as possible as a second level check.

Not knowing that he was being fooled by an imposter, he innocently sent the details which included his bank account. After two days Navin was demanded to pay a fine of Rs.2000 for not keeping his details updated. He was asked to pay it to an agent who would come and collect it at his residence. Navin paid Rs.2000 and Rs.500 extra as the service charges to the agent. 

It was after all this he realized he was fooled and there was no reason for him to pay money to the department as his records were up to date. Though he approached the police station and lodged a complaint, the police were not able to track the thief. The income tax department has advised the consumers to keep their user id and passwords safe and not to reveal it at it any cost. The department has also suggested the users to change the password periodically.

Highest Cement price hike ever

The country has encountered the highest cement price rise ever. The price of cement bags has been hiked by Rs.10 to Rs.12 per bag. Apart from cement, the prices of all building commodities have been increased. The excise duty hike and the hike in the diesel prices are the main reasons for this. The hike is about 4.5% in Mumbai alone, and it has been in effect since March 1. The price hike will be effective in all zones of the country says the senior executive of the large cement companies. This is the first time the cement companies have raised the prices uniformly throughout the country.  Previously, the cement prices were zone specific and the price of the cement depends upon the market conditions of each region. The last time the price hike was in November 2009 and was as low as Rs.10 per 50 Kg. The price rise that time was due to the shortage of rail wagons. The shortage affected the supplies in the key markets of western and southern India. The maximum hike overall was not more than Rs.5 per bag.

The hike in these prices will affect the public. It will be a small amount only but still a matter of concern. This is an industry where any price rise will affect the end users directly. Grasim’s Industries is currently the largest cement manufacturers in India. The CFO said that the market is highly dependant on the diesel prices as the cement bags are transported by vehicles and hence they are forced to increase the prices due to the increase in diesel prices. Mumbai is the largest consumption market for cement and the prices in the market are raised by Rs.12 per bag. The retail price of a bag is Rs.280 and wholesale price is Rs.265 per bag.

Cement companies are increasing their production due to the increase in the domestic demand. India’s annual cement production is around 250 billion tonnes every year. The annual production of China is just 1.4 billion tonne every year. The excise duty for cement has gone up to Rs.290 from Rs.230.  For the cements that cost more than Rs.190, the duty is hiked from 8% to 10%. Cost of coal, pet coke and freight charges are high and these are other factors that make the price of the cement high. The production of cement bags will depend on the demand-supply ratio. The price rise will surely affect the common man, as this is an essential commodity. The demand of this commodity is increasing day by day due to the increase in the number of construction projects in the city.

Air India cuts for 15% pay

The company is headquartered at Delhi and was established in 1953. Being such an old company in the service industry the company is expected to provide a good service. The company is owned by National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL). They offer flight services to various cities around the country. The company has suffered a lot of criticisms recently for bad customer service. The consumer report for this company is awful. The flights are never punctual, the way the consumer is treated is bad, the food served is disgusting, the ground service is bad and the planes are not neatly maintained. I have had lot of trouble travelling with this company. They made me wait 5 hours at Delhi airport without any proper response because the flight was under maintenance. I had booked a ticket for the flight from Delhi to London Heathrow and I had requested the company for a bassinet for my 3 year old daughter.

The company did not provide any bassinet seat and the staff were rude to me when I asked for an explanation. The supervisor shouted at me and insulted me in front of other passengers. I assume that the staff in the plane did not undergo any training on how to treat the passengers. The flight had no food for the infant and my daughter had starved throughout the journey. Nobody from the crew even bothered about the child. This is one company that allows the captain to carry a bottle of Jonny Walker during the journey. I was stunned to see the captain of the plane having a bottle of whisky with him during the trip.

Now, the company has decided to cut 15% pay of the employees in order to gain government bailout. What will be the degree of customer service they will provide after the 15% pay cut? The savings will cut in retirement and employee benefits. The company would save around 600 crore by this measure. I am sure no body can forget that this is the second attempt to cut wages after the pay cut for the pilots last year. The Chairman Mr. Aravind Jadhav addresses that the company is sinking for the past many years because its rivals chipped away customers from it. The customers are unhappy of the service they have had from Air India. That is the reason why the customers never prefer Air India and shifted to other companies.
Air India has sought around Rs.10, 000 crore as equity and Rs.10, 000 crore interest free loans for the next three years.  The company will take about two months to implement the plan. It is time that the company focuses upon the customer service.

Loan rates high as funds dry

Many banks such like HDFC, ICICI and Kotak Mahindra have turned out to be more expensive with large retail lenders. These banks provide loans to its consumers with high rates now. Raising lending rates from 25 to 100 points, the rate hikes are caused due to he RBI’s liquidity-soaking measures. The private loan lenders have also increased the rates, where loans were available at fixed discount rates earlier. The recent deposit rate hikes have increased the cost of the funds. The hike in the prices does not seem to be a problem to state owned banks. The state owned banks like State Bank of India and Canara Bank still continue to offer the same rates. These banks still have enough funds but Reserve Bank of India criticizes these state owned banks for not changing the teaser rates.

Teaser rates were introduced by the bank as limited period special offers.  But these offers are often extended several times and these are later subjected to rate reduction. The Reserve Bank of India had let the state owned banks little loose these days. But now it cannot afford to be liberal, it has told the state owned banks to rethink the decision. ICICI and HDFC have increased their deposit rates in a bid to beef up their retail deposits ahead of the year end. The Reserve Bank of India is very strict this time and wants all the banks to stop teaser rates taken away from their promotions. The Reserve Bank has announced 75 basis point hikes in the cash reserve ratio requirement in its monetary policy. The yields have gone up by 40 basis points because of that. The Axis bank was the first bank to abide by the rules of the Reserve bank and stop teaser rates in February after the policy. The bank was offering fixed rates for two years at 8.25%.

ICICI has floating rates loans at 8.75% up to 30 Lakh, it has 9% from Rs.30 Lakh to Rs.50 Lakh, and 9.5% above 50 Lakh. The bank was earlier offering rates at 8.25% for two years and from third year, the rate was floating rates minus 3.5%. The bank increased the loan rate from 25 base points to 50 base points from March 5 that increases the rates to 11%. The new revision in the loan rates will be effective soon. HDFC’s home loan rates have been reverted to 8.75% for loans up to Rs.30 Lakh, 9% for loans between Rs.30 Lakh and Rs.50 Lakh, and 9.25% for Rs.50 Lakh and above. The interest rates will be effective from March 31. The consumers will be benefitted by this declaration by the Reserve Bank of India.

Customer care never cares!

A company can never provide hundred percent customer satisfaction but it can at least help its customers get the service they deserve. After the following incident, I gave up hopes of approaching customer care center. I bought a microwave oven in the year 2005. The oven was a costly one. The oven costs about Rs.14, 000. I was very happy at first to buy this product because the company was known for its customer service. It was one of the most reputed companies at that time and I was promised good customer service at the time of purchase. The microwave looked amazing. The functions and features it had were awesome. Everyone at home were stunned to see so many features in it. The microwave oven worked well for a month and after that it started giving a hissing sound. I asked my wife not to touch it and called the customer care center. I lodged a complaint and the customer care officer gave me a reference number. The officer said that the service person would come and inspect the machine soon. I waited for a week but nobody turned up. I called the customer care center again and enquired about the service. They gave me another reference number and told me to keep it for future use. I told them that I was already given a reference number but they ignored it.

After a long wait, a service person finally came and inspected the machine. The technician said that the Printed Circuit Board was damaged and it had to be replaced. I gave him permission and asked him to change it soon. He came the next day and changed the PCB and when he switched on the machine, it blew up into flames. I was shocked to see that. I asked him the reason for it and he casually replied that everything was under control and there was nothing to worry. He left the place saying that he had forgotten his multi meter. He never turned up after that. I called up the customer care and it was weird that they gave me a new reference number every time I called them.

After many calls, the company did not send an engineer to solve the problem. I finally gave up calling them. I went to the head office and asked for the general manager’s number and contacted him. The general manager was sorry for the trouble the customer care had caused and promised me a replacement as compensation. He asked me a week’s time to complete the process. It was absurd that I did not get any call from him even after a month. I tried calling his number but the number was no more in use.  It has been almost 6 years and still the oven has not been repaired. The company till now has not given any response to my problem.

ICICI fined Rs.1, 95 000 for being rude to customers

I am an agriculturist and I had taken loan from ICICI bank to purchase a tractor and a trolley a few years ago. I had to submit various documents for procuring loan from the bank. The bank also demanded post date cheques from me. I was not informed the payment schedule hence I was not able to repay the loan. I had deposited Rs.45, 000 as first installment on Jul 29, 2006 and Aug 14, 2006. But the bank sent me a notice saying that Rs. 11, 300 was still payable by me towards the loan of trolley. I went to the bank to pay the amount but the bank refused to take it. They said that I had to use the post dated blank cheques. I showed my willingness to pay the loan but the bank did not accept it. The bank without any notice took away the tractor from me. I was helpless and suffered a huge loss because of this. After this the bank issued a notice to pay Rs.8, 400 on Dec 15, 2006. I was asked to pay a sum of 24, 400. I felt this kind of action of the bank to ask me pay money as they wish just because I had obtained a loan was unfair. So I filed a complaint against the bank for getting my tractor back and also claimed Rs.20 lakhs as damages. The bank denied most of my averments. The bank also told me that as per the agreement I cannot file a consumer complaint against the bank. The bank claimed at the court that I was a defaulter and I did not pay the installments properly. The bank had no rights to take possession of the vehicle but it had taken possession of my vehicle saying that I had not paid the installment. The bank also claimed that I had prepared a bogus statement from the chartered accountant and I was fooling the forum. The bank pleaded that because I had not repaid the loan on time, the bank could take the vehicle back hence the complaint lodged by me is devoid and the case should be dismissed with cost.

Some financial institutions are resorting to tactics using which they take the laws in their own hands. There is no rule that says that the bank can take away the property from the consumer because the consumer has failed to repay his loan. No bank or any financial institute cannot do such an act under any circumstances, and if done the consumer can file a criminal complaint.  After investigation the forum fined ICICI bank of Rs.1, 95 000 and I was paid Rs.70, 000 as compensation.

ICICI fined Rupees one lakh!

I read the following incidents from a newspaper and I felt that the consumer forums in the country have improved.  The case was filed by the editor of the Lokmat newspaper. He owned two cellular phone connections and he was in a special scheme introduced by Idea in the year 2007. The case was filed for the deficiency of service by Idea cellular services. The bill for the period Apr 15, 2007 to May 14, 2007 was sent to the complainant. The total amount of the bill was rupees two thousand one hundred eighty six and seven paisa. The due date of the bill was given as May 30, 2007 and the bill was paid by cheque by the complainant on May 25, 2007. The company deposited the cheque and en cashed it on May 28, 2007. The company carelessly did not update their records that the payment was made and disconnected the connection May 28, 2007 even though the due date was two days away. The complainant tried to contact the customer care center but he did not get any response. He sent an email to the cellular company saying that he had already sent the payment. The company did not restore the mobile connection even then. Without the phone, the complainant suffered huge business losses. He also suffered mental agony. He filed a complaint against the cellular company in consumer court.

The company defended itself by saying that the consumer had not specified his full account number behind the cheque as directed in the bill. The consumer court judge was confused and undecided since as mentioned by the company, the account number was not mentioned by the complainant behind the cheque. However it was the responsibility of the company to reply to the mail sent by the complainant, which they did not do. Considering all these facts, the court passed a verdict against the company and directed the company to pay Rupees twenty five thousand to the complainant for damages.

In another case, the complainant obtained a car loan of Rs.4 lakhs from ICICI bank as he already had a fixed deposit of Rs 58000 with them. The rate of interest was 12.5 % and the easy monthly installment was Rs.10, 632 per month . The bank had taken 48 post dated cheques and two blank cheques. Two cheques were dishonored by the bank due to insufficient balance and the vehicle was repossessed. The consumer filed a complaint. But the bank had a stand saying the cheques were dishonored. The bank was not able to justify the act of repossessing the vehicle especially from customer with whom they had an earlier relationship profitable to the bank. The loan contracts did not mention anything about the bank repossessing the vehicle in case of failure to pay the installments. Four or five unknown people had been threatening the complainant at odd hours at night. The court altogether passed an awarded the consumer a sum of one lakh rupees for distress caused.

Microsoft BPOS Vs GOOGLE APPS!

Microsoft Corporation has lowered the price of its new BPOS. BPOS stands for Business Productivity Online Suite. The BPOS is a software suite that has various software such as Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft Office Live Meeting and Microsoft Communication Online. The software is released by Microsoft for their users to get maximum out of their business. The suite helps to keep in track of the functions of a company. Microsoft BPOS were available in the market at the rate of Rs.700 and now they are available at the rate of Rs.460. The storage limit was 10 GB and this has been increased to 25 GB per user. The BPOS has about 1 million paid user in just more than a year of launch. The senior vice president of Information worker product management group at Microsoft told that they are getting 70 % of its users from IBM Lotus Notes or Novell GroupWise. Google seems to be Bragging about its success. Google has about 20 million active users for its Google Apps and nearly 2 million companies. Many college students use Google Apps, which costs about Rs.2900 per user. Microsoft has free editions as well at live@edu service, but it is not included in BPO subscriber total.

To serve 30,000 employees in Los Angeles, Google is building a special version of Google Apps server called Google Cloud. It will provide extra security and will be hosted on Google servers. The Gov cloud will be certified under the Federal Information security Management Act (FISMA). Microsoft has already implemented a similar project with more than 5000 employees on separate servers known as BPOS dedicated service. Microsoft has ISO 27001 security certificate for its data center. Microsoft is starting its service from Singapore this year. It will offer its services in India as well. The price cut on BPOS is just the initial stage of its marketing. The company has prices on almost all the items. The Exchange Online is reduced to Rs.250 from Rs.500. The SharePoint services were reduced from Rs.338 to Rs.244. Office communications from Rs.116 to Rs.93. Deskless work suite from Rs.139 to Rs.102.

The prices cut in the products have been an advantage to the consumers. The price cut shows us that the company is taking the market than its rival. The launch of BING by Microsoft is also a new move. Microsoft BING is a search engine that was launched by Microsoft to beat its rival Google. Though the search engine has not made so much of an improvement, it is trying hard to be in the picture. The Google is the most popular and most effective search engine and the search is based on the page ranking algorithm. Though Microsoft Bing uses a different concept the search results are not so reliable. Google’s popularity is the main reason for the people to even if another search engine exists. The competition between the two companies is letting the consumers have a good service.

Microsoft: XP, Vista, or Windows 7- which is the best?

An operating system is the main component of the computer as it binds all the operations in a system. Choosing the operating system is the main task after buying a computer. A user must decide on his operating system based on the nature of work he uses the system. There are many operating systems such as Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Linux. Windows XP is one of the best OS fit for a basic user. The OS has 3 service packs and that are advancement in terms of security. The service pack 3 is the most secure. The latest service pack is always the least infected. The operating system is known for its stability and fast multi threading abilities. Windows Vista is more secure than Windows XP. Microsoft’s security intelligent report released says so. The infection rate of windows Vista Service Pack 1 is about 61.9 percent less than Windows XP service Pack 3.
 The study shows that among all the operating systems of Windows, Vista is the least infected. But the Windows 7 as the new comer is one of the best in terms of speed and security. The people who install the service packs are the safe from security attacks. In United States of America, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy Trojans were the largest threat. China is subjected to several language specific browser threats were prevalent. Brazil whereas had malware targeting the banking transactions. Worms are the main threat in Korea which was after online game accounts.

Many of the social networking sites were targeted by phishing attacks. The phishers targeted sites such as gaming sites.  The biggest threat last year was on the site 1H09. The spam in 1H09 caused lot of problems. The spam in the site was dominated by advertisements of pharmaceutical products. In total Advertisements were 62.2% spams in the site. The most frequently attacked software was Microsoft office and this was by the update released by Microsoft. Computers that were updated by this update were protected by all the attacks.

Windows 7 is far more advanced than any other operating systems in the world. Windows 7 has the security and appearance inherited from Vista. The speed and stability of Windows 7 is like Windows XP. The engine of Windows 7 is also similar to Windows XP. Windows 7 has a better benchmark than other operating systems. The operating system provides encryption with EFS, but it does not protect the entire hard drive with the encryption. Some of the features of Windows 7 have always helped the consumers to get the best performance from the operating system. The Direct Access feature allows any user to make a secure connection between the internal network and the remote systems as long as they have an internet connection. Branch cache is a built in feature of Windows 7 which improves the network efficiency and response time by maintaining a local cache of files and information as it is accessed.

Railway Budget appreciated by eminent personalities

The recent railway budget passed by Mamta Banerjee was on expected lines. The term “AAM AADMI” which meant common man in hindi was the only mantra. The railways are the lifeline to the country’s economy. Indian railways being the busiest and largest railways in the world, the railway industry has more than 63,327 Kilometers of track. It serves as much as 25 million passengers a day and 2 million tones of freight. The railway budget is the most important budget that decides the country’s economy and also decides the fate of the common man.

The railway budget 2010 focuses upon building some more new stations, about 94 new stations are to be developed. The new stations are mostly village turned towns and industrial areas. Ten major stations will be made world class. The proposal also includes providing the passengers with bottled fresh water at a cheaper rate. The catering service is various trains were given to private caterers. The policy has been revised and the caterers are now required to provide better food at cheaper rates. The railway stations with modern trolley and mobile vans at key places for e-ticketing will be provided. The budget also has money reserved for multi level parking complexes at major railway stations. Target of 18,000 new wagons and 5 new factories is marked. Privatization is brought up in track construction. The annual plan this year is approximately Rs.41, 426 crores. Four hundred hospitals will be built and diagnostic centers on rail land are up coming. Creches for children of women employees seem a little weird, and that money could have been spent on something useful. Contribution has been made towards central staff benefit fund hiked to Rs.500. Indian railways own lot of barren land that are reserved for its operations. There was a plan to sell the barren lands and repair the railway wagons, this is one of the good moves in the current budget by the railway ministry. After the mess up made up by Mr.Laloo Prasad Yaadav in the last railway budget, with hike of prices, fare hikes have been kept away. Many top industrialists and eminent personalities have given a positive feedback about the budget. The budget lays as a roadmap for the future says Mr. H M Nerukar, the MD of TATA steel. Nitish Kumar appreciated the work done by Mamta Banerjee.

Most of the railway stations are gross, they are not clean, and they need to be repaired. The budget doe not say anything about the maintenance of the interiors of the trains. The toilets are disgusting, at least this budget could have some measures to improve the aesthetic looks of the trains. The consumers expect more cleanliness and get rid of the filthy toilets. The train accidents are also a matter to be concern. There are more derailment accidents now a days and the budget must have had some maintenance steps taken for ensuring safety of the passengers.  

TV Commercials: as Commercial as it gets.

Television commercials or TVC as they are known in the media world have one prominent purpose. 30 seconds to convince a person into buying something. In the early days of television, one major technique used was the glamour and sleaze in the commercial to interest people in the products. But of late such a concept has become stereotyped. What is a skimpily clad celebrity doing in a Mosquito repellant cream ad? Even that is somewhat related but a model in a bikini vouches for a cement brand in the middle of a beach, it does sound absurd.

What is it that a company does to promote its products and to gain good customer base? First thing to do is to make quality products. Second is to have proper sales channels. Third is a good customer support.  After all these factors comes the media advertisement. A study of people and their TV watching habits has revealed that 90% of TV viewers use the commercial time to attend to certain jobs.

A commercial must be engrossing and must have content. It should not bore people. It should make them like the product more every time they see the TVC. In spite of several government rulings regarding the censorships for advertisements it has become very liberal as compared to earlier days. There  are ads which to a possible extent can even promote violence in the minds of kids.  Another major issue of TVC is that companies now openly degrade their rival products. This is not legal. No company is supposed to degrade the quality of another company’s product or present any negative publicity about it. These ads should not be given the go ahead by the respective companies in the first place.

Customers are gullible without proper knowledge. If a particular good brand does not aggressively promote itself through advertising then the brands with lower quality who market it efficiently take the lead. The market is basically a dog it dog world and there is no place for any kind of a emotional thought or even humanity. This is the new age business world and it is affecting the consumer at large. The consumers have enough options but they are baffled by the reviews companies give for themselves. There is no guarantee that it is essentially true. Company offers are also aimed at selling products and making profit. Buy one get two free is a common slogan in the mobile market today. The present consumer also seems to worry lesser about the quality with each passing day. It is similar to trying to reach for the moon. With hundreds of companies providing thousands of products for millions of people, quality is fast becoming obsolete.

In such cases it is the consumers who have to take necessary action, to halt the speeding companies and tell them to stop and check their products. This can be done by complaining. Complaining is not wrong. It is necessary to bring about quality and it is one of the very few methods we have left to bring order from chaos.

Athithi Devo Bhava

The Indian tourism motto is Athithi Devo Bhava and it means that a Guest is equivalent to God. This is typical of the tourism industry which has its only income from guests from other countries and sometimes from within the country.
When we have a visitor from another country it becomes an obligation to serve him. Reason is that we are the shop and he is here to consume. How we treat the tourist? (Henceforth known as consumer) we charge him outrageous rates for short distances, Hotels become 5 stars for the consumer even if they are three starred. 
Is this a consumer issue? Not for us this time. We are the providers, we provide products to the consumers and charge them heavily. After all they have to pay for visiting us, don’t they? Not long ago, the government tried to drill into the brains of the service sector not to scare these people away, popular celebrities made guest appearances in government ads to protect these alien customers. With due respect to all the measures taken by the media and the government, not much has changed.
Some time back when I went on a college tour to few places in south India, I noticed a number of issues which can assert the fact that our service sector is more than hungry for foreign currency (even if it is from the next state).
Temple Town Madurai, Day 2 of the College Tour, a Rajasthani Family hires an auto to go to the Meenakshi Temple. Auto driver charges them Rs100 saying the temple is very far away. I didn’t know the distance so I did not take it seriously. Auto rates go through the roof all the time in Chennai. Ten min later the auto is outside the temple. I still cannot imagine the distance, cost to time ratio and how it all works.
The second incident happened at the hotel where we were staying. An American couple had come to the hotel for accommodation for the night as all the big hotels had been booked in view of an upcoming festival. The rate for our room was Rs500 per day. But they were charged Rs3500. Personally I believe it was because the hotel owner was jealous of their accent.
Why do we do all this, I am pretty sure this kind of an attitude does not happen in other countries. Why cannot we as producers be reasonable to our consumers? One classic answer I got when I posted this question on a Q and A site was “We have to get back all that the English stole / took away from this country.” Are we donating this money to the government to cover up the loss? What is gone is gone. There is no point crying over spilt milk. And for the records, I would like to say to that person who gave me that wonderful answer that:
 “People from England alone are known as English. Not people from outside India, they are known as ‘foreigners’ in general.”
And for all the other people out there who welcome visitors with a big fake smile, Athithi Devo Bhava!!

Are you a Green Consumer?

Green consumers are those who are worried about our ecological problems and prefer buying eco-friendly products. Eco-friendly products are made of components that can be easily recycled. These types of products do not harm out planet as they are reused. Consumers nowadays prefer going green as they are aware of the rising danger to our planet.

Green products not only help the environment but also the people. Green products are less dangerous to our health as they do not use any toxins or chemicals. Many household products are dangerous to consumers as we do not know what chemicals they are made of but when it is a green certified product we can be sure that it is safe. Many consumers feel that Green products are very expensive but what they don’t realize is that most of the green products are concentrated and we should useless that what we generally use. They all work you to the same amount as the products last longer.

There are a lot of small things that we can do to save our planet. These things may seem smaller but when each and every consumer follows it then it will definitely make a very big difference. Recycling paper is the basic thing of all. Consumers should learn to reuse and recycle papers. Learn to use e-mails instead of letters. When you receive newsletters which are not of any use for you then immediately cancel the subscription. Just because it is free do not waste paper this way. Share magazines with your friends and neighbors. It will definitely save you money and also prevents wastage of paper. Same way, try and recycle wood, bottle and other products which can be reused. Carry your own bags when you go shopping and minimize the usage of plastic bags.

Learn to switch off the lights when you leave a room. This makes a great difference when it comes to saving electricity. Electricity is not a renewably resource and a huge concern will arise in few years so we should do our part now to try and save electricity. Avoid travelling through air whenever possible as they are the major cause for the emission of green house gases. Travel in public transport or form a car pool with your colleagues to go to office. It will help the environment and you can also save on fuel. The amount of traffic during peak hours will decrease if everyone becomes environment conscious.

A lot of environment friendly products are launched nowadays. Every organization is coming up with complete eco friendly products. They may be a little expensive but they are totally worth it. Going green is the new trend.

I P L – What is in it for us?

Entertainment comes at a cost, often a pricey one, but in some cases customers spend a fortune for a couple of  hour’s entertainment. I am talking about the ticket auction for ’My Name Is Khan’ where a single ticket was sold on eBay for nearly Rs 60,000, enough money to run an average sized Indian house hold for three to four months. That is a totally different issue from what I am about to write about.

IPL, the newest cricket fever which is also a money making machine is what I want to write about. The largest companies in the world are fighting each other to sponsor and take over teams before the IPL. What is in this Twenty20 cricket that has roped in several big offers, companies and celebrities into one package called I P L? It is the willingness of people to pay that extra penny for the sake of entertainment. Gone are the days of test cricket and even the shorter ODIs, now it is the express version of cricket. And as the excitement of 5 days gets into one, so does the cost. We as consumers of entertainment are ready to pay the extra money, but what does it give us in return? Richer celebrities, richer companies, (and maybe richer politicians, err… who knows?) and so on.

The concept of I P L has milked the craze people have for cricket, not to mention exorbitant rates paid for the Team Goodies or Merchandise. I don’t understand why people would buy a T shirt for a thousand bucks just because it has crazy colors and a name written on it. We consumers are very gullible, thinking before doing something is nearly non existent. Living for the moment has become the motto, last season a friend of mine spent his salary to fly to Africa to watch a single match. I don’t even know if he had money for food there. 

Consumers do everything possible to avail themselves the cup of guaranteed entertainment of IPL. From renting set top boxes to last minute internet connections to even getting large flat screen LCD TVs, people do all kinds of stuff if they cannot get tickets to watch their heroes in person. So do the various shops selling stuff, IPL merchandise and even the corner tea shop serves IPL special Masala Tea at double the normal cost (wonder which player’s masala is used).

Extra money for entertainment sounds absurd, there is no extra money. The middle class Indian spends in thousands extra. The purchasing power of the Indian citizen has increased greatly and it is spent more for the Companies that seem to grow richer and richer by the hour. No company is going to reduce the prices of its products just because of the extra income it is earning through these sponsorships.

Any kind of entertainment is welcome, but every thing should come at a reasonable price. The amount that is being spent on this I P L is absolutely outrageous. Even by the consumers who do not seem to think of the repercussions that it might bring on later.

Product of the Year

All consumer products that have been launched two years prior to the last date are eligible to enter in this contest. There are totally four stages through which the product has to go to get selected as the product of the year. A company can enroll any number of products in many different categories. Winning criteria for any category depends on the level of innovation, design, functionality and the packaging of the product.

The first process is enrolling the products. It is a whooping sum of 4, 00, 000 Rs to get your product in the contest. It is a refundable amount if your product doesn’t qualify to the next stage. The second stage is the crucial stage where the products will be finalized. The second stage will start after the closing date for the entry of the products. Only a selected few products will be chosen for each category. The number of product for each category will vary from two to six. The jury members will consist of experts and professionals from various fields like marketing, journalism, industrial etc. They will analyze all the products and each member will write down their view on which products are innovative and which products deserve to be chosen as finalist for each categories. The money will be refunded back for the rejected products.

The next stage is where the consumers can vote for the products in different categories. It is the time where the consumers’ words are given utmost importance. A survey is conducted where the intension is solely to find out which products are liked by the consumers. The survey is conducted following international standards. They hold good for the global market. Thousands of Indian households go through the interview where they are asked to fill out survey forms and questionnaires.

The survey questions are formed in such a way to find out which products appeal to the consumers and why they like that particular product and which products are frequently used in every household. In the end by processing all the information the product of the year is decided and the winners are announced on the awards night.

The winners can promote the product for the next one year as the product of the year. If any particular product wins in the category, they have to further pay a sum of 15, 00,000 Rs to carry the logo of the product of the year award on their product. The logo is internationally recognized and many companies have seen a significant growth in the sales of the product due to the logo. This makes it the most awaited award program for all retail companies. The product of the year award 2010 started on March 2009 and it goes on till March 2010. All the processes are carried out in that time and the winners for this year will be announced quite soon.

Customer care – Are You There?

I can understand that products can go wrong sometimes even the new ones. It would just mean that I am the unluckiest person to get the worst possible equipment that was available in that particular store at that time. According to the people in the store, they have never got any such complaints before in any of the products that they sell. Even the products that are on sale were in good condition and have lasted for quite a few years. Well as if they make a routine checkup on the goods they sell. The store manager always asks us to contact the company in case of any problems with the products.

That is one place where I am denied services, then I call the customer care and it goes to the automated messages. Well in my luckiest of days I can get through to them else I am stuck listening to some amazing music track for nearly ten minutes when I realize I am just wasting a precious phone call. So I end up trying to reach them every day and one fine day the call does go through. Wow, God has finally shown some mercy on me. I guess I thanked God too soon because the customer care executive transfers my call to another department. I am again put on hold. Then again I should have known, the person would have naturally gone for lunch or a smoke exactly when I. I should feel sorry to have called them at that time. So the call goes unanswered and I immediately call back the same number so that at least I can talk to the person who had attended the call previously but again no one attends the call.

So I decided to send an email to the higher official and wait for their reply. I guess a week passed by with no reply for my mail. Well then, why was an email id even given? So out of frustration, I again call the customer care and it got through. I took out all my frustration on the person who had attended the call. They assured me that they would immediately send the service executive over to check on the problem. I was quite satisfied that even I could terrify people. So I waited for the executive to come and fix the problem with the product but no one came.

Well I never tried to call then again because I know it is of no use. I got rid of the product and got myself a new one and hopefully I do not experience any problems with this product. If I do, I will definitely never try and reach any customer care ever again. It would save a lot of mental stress and unnecessary anger.

Mobile Number Portability!

Mobile number portability will be a technology that India will implement soon. India has the highest number cell phone users in the world. India adds nearly 72 million cell phone users every year to the total cell phone users in the world. Almost all of us have cell phones and there are many people in our country who have more than one phone. It is obvious that every one of us have had at least one bad experience with the service provider. The cell phone industry being one of the largest in the world takes lot of advantage of its consumers. Most of the cellular companies are keen in making good business out of their consumers and they are least bothered about the customer satisfaction. The consumers are tempted and they choose their connection based on various offers and gifts offered by the service providers. The group or corporate service offered by then service providers is such a plan where the user can call within a set of numbers for a minimal cost.

When this was first introduced in the country, many organizations opted for this as this was a very reasonable plan. But the service providers altered this plan without any prior notice. The providers change the plan after they have got a good number of users subscribed to the plan. The customers are often cheated by the service provider after a month. The service provider alters the plan and call rates without prior notice. The consumer is affected by this action. The consumer is in a difficult position because of his inability to change the service provider. The consumer’s number will be changed if he decides to switche to a new service provider. He will have to distribute the number to all his friends and relatives, and in case he is a part of a company, the company has to change its records. These are some of the difficulties faced by the consumers. If the number is printed on the company brochures and pamphlets then the consumer has to face all the expenses in changing it.
The government is taking measures to protect the consumers and such a measure is MNP (Mobile number portability). The mobile number portability will allow the consumers to change their service provider at a minimal cost, without the change of mobile number. The consumer can change to any service provider whenever he wants by spending a megre amount. The MNP facility was introduced long back in 2003, in other countries. But this is new to India, the facility was supposed to be effective from 31st January 2010. But it is delayed due to some security reasons. Singapore and Malaysia are some of the countries that already have this facility. The providers have to be careful now because if he fails to offer a good customer service then the consumer has rights to change to the service provider of his choice. This facility will surely raise competition among various cellular service providers in the country.

Lets Chill This Summer with Snowbreeze

There are different models of air conditioners that are being developed every day but the cheapest and the most eco-friendly one is the Snowbreeze. It is also very efficient and easy to make at home. It was invented in Delhi three years ago by a 71 year old ex-journalist, M B Lal. It has attracted a lot of media attention so that the central government has decided to fund for the project.
Delhi is known for its really bad weather and the summer is unbearable. Mr. Lal thought of the idea on a very hot day when there was no power and he was really thirsty. He used a very simple concept where the air gets chilled when it passes through a cooling agent. Having this idea in his mind, he converted his dessert cooler into an air conditioner. To convert the dessert cooler to an air conditioner, he used a metal sheet, copper wire and a water pump. These were the only three elements that he had used.
With the help of his local mechanic he started working on his idea. He took a box and made spiral grooves with the wire. He installed metal sheets inside the box and placed a box of ice. He used a small but powerful fan on one side of the box and when the air spiraled around and escaped out, it was chilled.
Many neighbors started using Snowbreeze. It consumes less electricity than a normal air conditioner and it does not harm the environment in any way. The major advantage is the cost. Building it would cost the consumers a lot lesser than buying a new air conditioner or fixing their old ones. This started as a simple prototype and become a full fledged working mechanism.
Consumers need seven to eight kilograms of ice to make the Snowbreeze run for an entire night. An average refrigerator can make that amount of ice in a day. If you need it to run for extended hours then all you need to do is contact the ice vendor. The ice can be bought and stored in insulated boxes. Any middle class family can afford it and this mechanism will bring down your electricity bill easily during the summer season. Snowbreeze is a dual purpose mechanism. It can be used as a dessert cooler and also as an air conditioner. It can bring down the temperature of a room by 7 degree Celsius and also dehumidify the room. The total unit would cost only about 5000 Rs.
The Government funded 1, 10,000Rs for this project. The great part about this is that Mr. Lal has not patented his invention. Anyone can make the prototype anywhere and anyhow they want. Plus they can order for this green mechanism online in www.greenairconditioner.org . The air conditioner that is sold in the market is a great threat to our environment and I am very sure that this invention is going to be a huge success and the prototype will be made into a sophisticated model very soon.

What an Idea Sirji!! – Becoming a reality…

Mobiles phones invaded us in the mid nineties and they are here to stay. Mobile phones or mobiles as they are better known as are indispensible things and a mandatory tool for every single individual. Not only that but they also have diverse functions and applications as it is well known. Adding to this huge basket of value added service is “Mobile Money”.
Mobile Money is payment through mobiles, or cash transfer using mobiles. So there is no more reason to worry, “Oh I forgot my purse!!” and “Is the credit card surcharge on this so high” and so on…

Nokia is onto serious business in partnership with Yes bank and also good collaboration with Obopay, a mobile payment technology developer. This scheme would be known as Nokia Money and pilot projects have started in Pune and Mumbai. Also both banks and telecom companies are charting out more viable methods to make this scheme profitable as well as acceptable to the public.

India has one among the leading mobile phone subscribers in the world and hence there is definitely a very large scope for this scheme with money transfers increasing per day. The technical details of this scheme are not available. It is however known that this service will provide mobile payment of bills, bank transactions, mobile phone recharges and shopping purchases. The main aim is to ease services between people and the banking sector.

The ease of day to day cash transactions by this method is obvious due to two major factors, the large number of subscribers and the competition among banks to provide services at lower rates.  Though it is now considered only between Nokia and Yes bank, this is very likely to catch up with the other private and also public sector banks and numerous other Mobile Phone manufacturing and service providing companies.
The Indian mobile phone market is the second largest in the world and currently the fastest growing with projected numbers of over a billion users by 2015. It is also projected that India will overtake China within the next ten years with the largest base of mobile phone users. This is opening newer horizons and many more mobile network providers are likely to set up camp in India. All these factors would play a very important role in the concept of mobile money once the project is ready and mobile.
Presently the banking sector is looking to reduce the work load on its employees by shifting more and more of its paper work and record work to ATMs. The introduction of mobile money would soon facilitate mobile banking which is currently being run as pilot projects in major parts of the country. This would further reduce the work load on the bank employees, in turn giving them more time for customer service. 

This Is however not new to the world scenario as there  have been over 120 implementations of this method worldwide including in Kenya and the Philippines. A researched fact provided by Obopay is Mobile Money can generate revenues up to $7.5 billion annually.  Though these figures seem very large for the Mobile Money sector, it is practically viable considering the growing mobile use and the large population of our country. The Managing Director of Obopay, however, states there is still no way to ensure the safe delivery of funds and this is something that they are still working on. The project is likely to be implemented on a full scale basis in the near future.

Batteries and BOOM!!

Laptops and cell phones initially started with helping us out with easing our life style. However, the recent instances with laptop and cell phone batteries going boom has literally struck terror in the minds of a large segment of consumers. There is no guarantee when the next ear or lap might experience a blast. This is typical of the mass production in companies today. Majority of the manufacturers are all aimed at making profits by increasing production and accordingly they have lesser time to quality check or “QC” the products that they manufacture.

This is not only the case with batteries but also with many other products. However let us stick to the discussion here.  Several Laptop brands blatantly blamed the battery manufacturing companies which supplied them batteries, who in turn blamed the raw material suppliers and so on and so forth. So I guess it becomes the duty of the consumers to go into the company and check each and every product and then purchase it!

Each company is supposed to have a quality control team which is responsible for the quality of the products that are produced in that particular company. They are responsible for quality checks and have to submit regular reports regarding any observed changes or irregularities. Also the QC department must strictly not compromise on any factor that could even remotely disrupt the quality of the product. So where is the quality control department of these companies when there were complaints of Laptops blowing up during usage and cell phones blowing up while people are talking on them? Apparently Indian Law does not take consumer complaints very seriously and unless you have the strength and patience to fight any company there is no point in even trying.

A similar case in the United States or some European country could have cost that particular company millions of dollars to just dispose the case of one consumer. So what is wrong with the picture in our country? (Now can we understand why a large number of companies try to create their markets in India?) It is not only the huge consumer base that our country provides but also the easy going nature and acceptance or being content with “not so good” quality products.

The case of cell phone batteries was a bit complicated. A leading cell phone manufacturing company in India one fine day discovered that a large consignment of batteries had a tendency to blow up while in use. This led to a call back of the batteries. Batteries of a particular series were all called back but not in time to attribute to a zero percent problem scenario. There were a considerable number of reports in news papers about a considerable number of people suffering from ear problems.

All these seem to show that it is time for us to do something about our consumer rights, to wake up at least now and fight for what is ours. Once we do that, the quality of products will improve, for the better.

Fed up with Long Wait?

Most of us have the experience of waiting in some places may be at Airports, Railway Stations or Bus-stands. We usually get bored in such situations and time seems to be crawling. To get rid of this situation especially in airport we can think of some alternatives.
At some airports, they seats may not be so comfortable. It is a painful situation to sit in the airport for a long time. Why just simply sitting, you can have a lot of activities. Are you shopaholic? Then you should definitely kill the time by going for a shopping. This is possible if you really have cash to burn. You can shop for your family members and friends.
Passengers, who love music can listen to your iPod, always keep the iPod with you. Do you have the habit of reading? Then definitely you should keep two or three books with you, so that you can read it without getting much disturbance.
Are your emails filled with junks from different sites, then go on, clear all the junks from your laptop. That may make you little bit bored, but you have to do it some other time. Better use these waiting hours for that. Are you fond of gym? Check out if the airport has one. If not walk slowly and watch the displays on the walls. It is good for blood circulation.
Time flies away if the airport has a broadband service. Find the Internet kiosk, make maximum out of it. You can blog, check mail, chat with friends. If all these things makes you again bored then try playing some crossword puzzles or Sudoku.
Singapore and Hong Kong airport takes passengers for city tours, if there are long stopovers. Are you fond of painting? Then Seoul has an art centre where you can try your sketching for free. San Francisco International Airport has a mini museum. If you are at Dubai International Airport you should definitely check out the shopping malls, taste the dates and ladies can compare the gold prices too.
If you are a business person you might be interested in watching TV, enjoying snacks and drinks or checking out business or computer equipments. Right?
Consumers who are fond of music can also listen to pianist and local musicians. Moreover you can try your luck at slot machines. If you are willing to burn your cash then why can’t you go for a relaxing body massage? O’ Hare’s Hilton Health Club at Chicago Airport is definitely worth a visit.
If you are lucky enough to get a school mate you can find that your time flies. Sometimes you may get bored too, that depends upon the person. If there are free cinema halls you can visit there too. You may welcome a meditation area, if the flight is delay in the early morning. 

Make most out of your waiting hours so that you are boosted up for a good and happy journey.

Blackmailed…

I lived in Chennai and I am fond of eating at hotels. Whenever I used to go out with my friends, it was my habit to go out and eat junk food. There used to be a shop near my work place called “Lal Bagh” where I used to go and eat chicken biryani. “Lal Bagh” otherwise known as “The Biriyani Center” is one of the famous hotels in Chennai. They served mouth watering biriyani and they had a small chat section outside their hotel with a garden. The hotel was known for its service. I always was a regular customer. The food there was so tasty that anybody will want to eat it. One day while returning from office I thought of eating biryani.

I went in and sat at the table where I always sit. The corner seat facing the garden. I waiting for the bearer. The bearer came in and took my order. I waited for an hour and the waiter came apologizing for the time he made me wait. I accepted and let him serve.

I could smell the steam rising from the chicken biryani and my mouth was watering. The smell was so awesome. I was waiting to dig my fingers into the chicken biryani. But then the waiter interrupted. He asked me if I wanted something else. I said no and chased him away. He went away and I was all relieved.

I ate really slow to savour the tast and to prolong the experience. The biryani was great. But then in the middle I felt something hairy and hard like shell. It was not good to taste. I put my finger in my mouth and took it out. To my horror, it was a cockroach. I could not eat anymore. I choked and I spat everything from my mouth. I called the bearer and showed him the cockroach found in the biryani. The owner came running to apologize. It was a Saturday evening and the dining room of the restaurant was full. Everybody was shocked to see the cockroach and some even left the hotel. The manager came running and consoled me.

I asked him if this was the secret ingredient they were adding to attract their customers. The manager took me to his room and tried to console me. I was not able to accept it because I had eaten a cockroach and it was gross. He tried to cool me down, but when he understood it was not working. He called his body guards and surrounded me. He took a suitcase and handed over a sum of 1 lakh and told me not to tell this incident to any one. And if I had uttered even one word about it then he would kill me and my family. The business was very important for him and he would do anything to survive the competition. I was blackmailed.

It is really shocking how companies and shopkeepers take advantage of the consumer’s innocence. Not having a choice I had to accept the cash. It is really a sad fact that such a thing happens in India. The consumers do not have any security to voice out their problems. The consumers are very small in front of the big companies. I was in a traumatized for about a year. And after a year even now I hesitate to eat outside.     

Is it time for the Maruti 800 to retire?

Is there any substitute really available for Maruti 800 when we compare its price, running & maintenance cost? Do you agree with Maruti’s decision to stop its Maruti 800 production by 2010?

It was in December, 1983 when the first Maruti 800 was rolled out of a factory in Gurgaon. Now they have decided to bring the curtains down on this iconic Maruti 800. This decision is sure to leave a lot of consumers or at least the Maruti 800 fans emotional. Always the consumers had a personal attraction with this car right from the beginning.

Maruti 800 is the second largest Indian production car which is next to Ambassdor. Since its launch twenty seven lakh units were contributed. It has been the most common sites on Indian roads for more than two decades. It has undergone technological upgradation for more than three times. Consumers were offered with fuel efficiency and reliability which attracted more masses towards this car.

Maruti 800 was a joint effort between Maruti and Suzuki Motors of Japan. The first Maruti800 was sold for a price of Rs. 48,000/-. After twenty six years the same car costs some two lakhs(approx). Since its first launch, Maruti 800 has undergone minor facelifts. The first facelift in1986, when a new Maruti 800 was introduced into the consumer market. The features added were air condition and music system. After a decade only the second facelift occurred i.e. in 1997, a change was made in the structure but was not welcomed by consumers.

In 2002, India’s first color-coordinated car was launched, following with change in trend like Maruti 800 Duo in 2008. These versions were more consumers friendly as it has better performance, safety standards and high power. It also has the capability of switching between petrol and LPG engine technology according to consumers choice.

Now there are many cars in competition with Maruti 800. In fact, Maruti’s own Alto has become a tough competitor of 800. As the numbers of small and affordable cars are increasing in the Indian car market, the future of Maruthi800 is in darkness. It is maybe because of the launch of Tata Nano. As a consumer do you want Maruti 800’s production life cycle to come to an end? What would be the possible reasons for their sudden decision? What about the market share? Maruti gets maximum sales from Maruti 800 only.

Maruti still has the ” image problem” that it does not make much appeal to the young car buyers. Most of the consumers today wanted to buy their first car as a part of their status symbol and social image. Tata Nano definitely attracts the low end consumers.

However, let’s hope that the Maruti brings its new Maruti 800 in some other version later. Until then, we consumers can treasure the nice memories. After all, the Maruti 800 will always live in our hearts and in the pages of Indian auto history, as a car that changed the Indian roads.

Ticket – less travel..

The local train is the main lifeline of the city. Majority of the population use the train service. As a user of this service we can be called the consumer of it. It is the responsibility of the railway professionals to treat the passengers properly. One such incident happened to me when I was 17years old. My school was 10 kilometers away from my house. I had to take a train to school. I had made lot of friends at school. We used to travel together in train.  

I had a train season ticket which can be used to go up and down infinite number of times. Once when I was coming from school I had lost the season ticket and it was really late. So I took a return ticket to go home and to use it back the next day.

The return ticket was valid for two way travel till the midnight of the next day. The next day morning I used the same return ticket to go to school. My friend who was living next to my house was also with me. Just as we crossed two stations the ticket inspector got in. He was checking all the passengers for tickets. He came to me and asked me for a ticket. I showed him the return ticket I had. He saw that and said it was not valid because it was the previous day’s ticket. I showed him the thick black line printed at the bottom of the ticket that said “VALID TILL THE NEXT DAY’S MIDNIGHT”. He asked me to shut up and he dragged me out of the train holding my collar. I was insulted in front of everybody and dragged like a robber. He slapped me in between and tore my shirt as I questioned him. My friend kept on following me. Even he got slaps for arguing with him. He took me to his cabin and locked me. I was alone in the room not knowing the mistake I had done. I even told him that I was ready to pay the fine if that is what he wanted. He did not listen. He locked me and went out. He came after three hours and scolded me. He abused me. He then at last asked me how much money I had. He blackmailed saying that he would file a case on me and I will not be able to study further. I asked him if I could call my parents. He did not allow me.

He kept on asking me how much money I had and certainly expected a bribe from me. I did not feel secure thinking how Indian railways can be like this towards its consumers. I studied commerce and had read a lot about consumer protection but this was the first time I felt how important they were. But I also realized that knowing the consumer rights was not enough and consumers had no freedom to apply it.

My friend was peeping from the window and he called my parents. My parents rushed to the place. He complained to my parents. He said that I had attempted to jump off the train and he was advising me. My parents knew I would never do that, but still they kept quiet and asked him what he wanted. He told that he wanted 600 rupees to give to the police so that they do not register a complaint on me.

My parents gave him the money and we came home. It still surprises me that a government organization which works for the benefit of the citizens treats them this way. It is a shame on our country to have such people who disrespect their consumers.

Fooled by a term..

Ralli mixie was a famous mixie company. This was one of the companies that brought mixies to India. There was a time when we used to make chutney, and curries using grinding stones. The ladies in the family used to sit hours together to grind a cup of chutney powder. It was a time consuming job.

Now we have high speed mixers in our country that can make chutney powders in minutes. These are so simple to operate and now a days everything is semi-automatic. But there was a time when we were not aware what a mixer was but we wanted to buy it and try it.

I got a Ralli mixie in the year 1988, it was 22 years ago. The mixer had just come to India. All the ladies in my family were so happy that we had got a new mixer. I had to show them how to operate it. I showed them once and the ladies got it really fast. I had no troubles in teaching them because they had so much interest to learn. And in just one hour they made chutney powder. I was proud that my family was the only modernized family in the neighborhood. The mixer worked well.

Two months passed Ralli mixie was everywhere in the market. It was the only famous mixer then. It was a Sunday and I had invited my relatives to my place for lunch. The relatives were on time and we were busy talking. My wife called me and said in a feeble voice that the mixer had stopped working. I was shocked and I tried to handle the situation. I told her to cook using the grind-stone. She is a smart girl and she finished cooking fast. After lunch we boasted that the lunch was made using the Ralli mixie. It was a lie and we did not want the guests to think that we had a broken mixer at our place. The next day I took the mixer to the dealer.  At that time I was not aware of warranty, I did not know the meaning of the word at all because this was the first product we had bought. I told the dealer about the problem. He told me that he can get it rectified as soon as possible. The Ralli mixie had a huge round sticker saying it had 1 year warranty, I asked him what it meant by that. He told that if I had damaged the mixer within one year after I get it, I had to pay double the amount to the dealer. I thought he was telling the truth because I was unaware about it.

I gave the mixer for the inspection and came home. The shopkeeper told me that I had damaged the mixer so he claimed double the amount from me and fixed the mixer. I told my wife to use the mixer carefully because I had spent thrice the value of mixer by now. Once I was narrating this incident to my cousin. He jumped out of laughter saying that I was fooled by the shopkeeper.

He said that if the product had got damaged during the warranty period, the company would do all the repair free of cost. I felt insulted and small thinking how jack ass I was to believe him. The whole family made fun of me. This is just one incident. This happened in 1988; even now the shopkeepers have not stopped fooling the customers. It is still happening. There are consumers who are still cheated. There are consumers who are still unaware of their rights.      

Spice Jet – Ain’t spicy anymore

I know consumers have bad experiences with our Indian Railways but I never realized that even Airlines have such issues. Airlines charges much more the number of passengers travelling in an airline is very less when compared to the trains. But recently a huge mishap has happened in Spice Jets.

Few months ago, a flight was cancelled because the pilot declared that his duty time was over after all the boarding passes were issued to the passengers. There were nearly seventy passengers who were waiting to get on board to go to Mumbai from Vishakhapatnam. The airlines jus declared the flight was cancelled and expected the passengers to return back. Well I guess these people do not realize that they do not have the authority to screw up other people’s lives. After the passengers repeatedly question the authorities, they told that the aircraft has some mechanical problem and it cannot take off. And they did not give any alternate suggestion to the passengers.

It is really a puzzling factor. How can an airline mess the schedule up? Aren’t these kinds of things pre-planned? Plus the airlines did not make any alternative plans for the passenger. Even after the passengers requested the airlines to try and get tickets in the other flight. It was a Sunday and almost everything was booked or extraordinarily priced. After the repeated requests of the passengers, they agreed to fly them halfway to Hyderabad. They got back the boarding pass to Mumbai, tore it, and gave them the other boarding pass. The airlines authorities were utterly rude to the consumers. When one of the passengers called the higher management, they cut the call saying they do not want to talk to them. Well if they do not talk to the consumers who else will they address. It is one thing that the airlines authorities act rude but the higher management should try and appease the consumers and not aggravate them. It was highly unprofessional. They left the passengers to fend for themselves.

Recently, a bomb scare took place in a spice jet aircraft. On a Chennai to Kolkata flight, there was a note saying that a bomb will explode. The flight was landed midway and the aircraft was thoroughly checked for any bomb. All the passengers were questioned and they had to identify all their possessions. The passengers had no other way out but to go through all these tortures. Well safety is very much important but manhandling the customers is not a solution. Only after they made sure that the message was hoax they were able to leave.

Consumers are the people who give them business. I am sure after these incidents many consumers would definitely boycott the airlines. Consumers should always be given first priority. Their needs are to be taken care first before looking into any other issues. Many organization do not realize that it is only because of the consumers that they even exist.

Unethical Railway Employees

I am an engineering student. My college is in Chennai and I had come home for the study holidays. My home town is in Bangalore. All trains were booked and I found it very difficult to get ticket for two days before the exam. So I had no choice but to get on the train for the day before the exam. I was already nervous as I would not have any time to revise. It was my semester exam and I was in my final semester. I sat and I prepared well before the day of the journey so that I did not have to worry later on.

On the day of the journey, I reached the station on time and everything seemed perfect until I found someone else occupying my seat. I rechecked my ticket and I asked the person if that was his seat. He pointed at the TTR who was approaching behind me. I went and enquired, the TTR causally told me that my ticket has been cancelled and it has been issued to the other person. It was not right to treat consumers that way. His reasons made no sense and he did not ask for the other person’s ticket. The ploy seemed to be well planned as they cannot cancel my ticket without my knowledge. It is not even legal. I was furious and I did not know who to go and complaint as the TTR is acting like a moron. But now the panic has set in as I remembered I had an exam the next morning. I really couldn’t miss my final semester exam. I would have to waste an entire semester. I was not going to let TTR ruin my life. I went and spoke to the station master and other higher personals. It was of no use.  Everyone turned their deaf ears and acted like they were busy. I was really clueless.

Then I again went and spoke to the TTR and asked him to give an alternative as there definitely has been a problem and it was not my fault. It was their responsibility. The TTR told me I could come in the reservation coach provided I pay him some amount of money. I was totally frustrated but I did not want to give in to these games. I was sure this TTR would have sold my ticket to the other person for twice the amount. That’s how unethical Indian officials are. I had to make a quick decision and one look at the reservation compartment and I decided I wouldn’t get into it as I knew I wouldn’t even get any place to stand.

I called and hoped to find flight tickets. Thankfully I got a ticket on the late night flight. I knew I would not be able to sleep and I definitely wouldn’t perform well in my exam. But I had no other choice. After my exams, I filed a consumer complaint against our Indian railways employees. I will definitely fight till I get justice. Government employees cannot treat consumers this way. Consumers should not be the victims of their selfishness.

Bitter Experience in Chennai

This is a true moment in my life. I had to relocate to Chennai from Kerala. Since the place was new to me, I never go anywhere by bus. I hired an auto rickshaw for my travel from Egmore. I wanted to go for some purchase and I asked him to go to a nearby place where I can do my shopping. He said about a place called Purushuvakkom where you can find a mini shopping area. When I got inside the auto, he started immediately as if I he is driving some rocket. He had a rash and negligent way of driving. I feel like he was drunk. After half a kilometer I found that the meter was not working. When I asked him, he replied that, no auto rickshaw driver use meter here. The reason he explained to me was the rise in fuel price which is not affordable for them.

I was wondering what is going on. Is this a city with no rules and regulations for a consumer? While halting at a traffic signal I found autos with more than five people, fully loaded in front of the traffic police. The traffic police never gave a look on that. The driver in my auto rickshaw was not wearing a uniform. He seems to be like a Tamil hero with jeans and T-shirt with a cap on his head.  The music he played on his vehicle was so loud that everyone was staring at this man itself. He was enjoying the FM music like anything. In between he was asking me personal questions.

When he passes by humps and all, he never put a leg on his brakes as if he is having allergy with brakes. I was in air while he passes the humps and I feel like jumping out of the vehicle. At last I reached my destination; I pinched myself to make sure that if I am alive. Thank God I am Alive!  He asked me to pay extra charges for a 2km distance. I told him, the same distance I travel in Kerala I should pay the half of it. He shouted at me, started to abuse me. Now I too tried to compete with him. I told I won’t give him that much and I will complaint about not putting meters and all. He was never listening to me. By hearing us two three people came and started arguing from my side. At last he managed to adjust a little bit and finally got settled. At least I didn’t give the whole money he asked. In the mess, I forget to takedown the auto number otherwise I could have lodged a complaint against him. The entire travel was irritating for me.

The same day I heard news involving an auto rickshaw driver took a woman to a deserted spot and attempted to molest her. Why the authorities are closing their eyes towards these serious issues? Are they afraid of the auto drivers union? Pre-paid auto rickshaws that you find stationed at bus stands are also a big menace, because they try to cheat bus passengers. As a consumer we have our own rights. So I personally think that we should never agree to their demands for extra fare. Women passengers should be extra cautious. The moment they notice the auto rickshaw driver behaving indecently, they should force him to stop the vehicle and inform the police. It is better to keep all the police control room numbers in their phone. It can’t be predicted when we need it.

An experience with Indian Airlines

Most of the passengers who had travelled with Indian Airlines surely have a similar moment to share with. I had a journey from Sharjah to Ahmedabad  with my family. The problem started from the check-in time itself. No matter, we somehow occupied our seats. To my dismay I found that the seats are old, broken and uncomfortable. I informed the airhostess to make a change in my seat and she told she will do it. Till the end of my journey there was no sign of her. As an Indian, I always have a mind to adjust.  I found similar problems with my co-passengers, they told me it is usual and there is no use of complaining. As a consumer I don’t have the right to complaint? I asked myself and kept silence.

They never takeoff in time, it was three hour’s late. They told some mechanical problem rose instantly. As an Indian consumer I always had the patience.  At last that auspicious occasion of flight take off occurred. We were happy and all our happiness ended within an hour, as soon as the food was served.  It was such a meal I have never had before. I do not know from where they get such expert chefs to cook such kind of meals. I cannot even make a comparison regarding their food service. It was so bad we did not even had anything during the whole journey. The flight staffs are polite but inattentive. The passenger beside me pressed the call button at least ten times, they never came. The staffs never pay attention to their consumers. They just work to get the pay, it seems.

By the middle of the journey I went to use the toilet, I found it unclean. I found used tissue stuffed in the armrest when I attempted to open up the tray table.  This time I called the FA and asked to clean it. I found the FA quarrelling with another for not cleaning properly. I was little bit happy as I was able to make them fight at least. I think there should be a restructuring from the top management side itself. First of all they should remove all the lazy employees. Consumer should lodge complaints to the necessary authorities.

Indian Airlines has implemented an efficient telephone ticketing service (dial a ticket) which lets you book cheaper, non-refundable fares. However the toll-free number is only accessible from India, which makes it a hassle for consumers from abroad. Do they think that consumers should book ticket only from India since it is Indian Airlines? They should be careful at least in the basic requirements a consumer should get during the travel. Their present consumer star rating is two; it is definitely justified as far I am concerned. In conclusion, Indian Airlines infrastructure is very poor, and until this improves, I do not believe the airlines can do much to improve.

“BISLERI” or “BISILERI” ?

I live in Bangalore and I have a son. He is 9 years old. He suffers from a disease and he has immunity problems. It was almost 10 years we have never planned a trip out of this city. My wife planned a trip to Chennai. And we were bored of going in the plane so we decided to take the train this time. We thought it will be a different experience for our son. He was advised not to drink water from outside so I used to carry a huge water bottle whenever I go out.

We were all set for the trip and my son was the most excited. In the train my hand tripped and the water bottle was broken. Unfortunately we did not have another bottle of water. The train was still in the station and we bought a can of “BISILERI”. Yes, now you might be thinking that I have misspelled the word. No I have not. We got the bottle thinking that it was the original “BISLERI”. The letter “I” was very brilliantly inserted between the letters “S” and the “L” to fool the customers that it was the original “BISLERI”. The color, the shape and the structure of the bottle was exactly the same as the original “BISLERI”. I did not notice that in the beginning. And there was no way anybody can notice the letter “I” unless he carefully observes it. The train started and my son was celebrating the moment. It was noon and my son was dull. He was sick and he was falling down. I was worried and I did not know what to do. His body was burning hot. We did not know what had happened and why he was in such a despair able state.

We got down at the next station and rushed to the hospital. The doctor said his immunity has gone down terribly and he is in a serious condition. He was kept in observation. We had nothing to do but pray that he gets better. We could not watch our son in the intensive care unit with so much of instruments connected to his body. It is a hurting moment for any father to look at his son in his death bed, struggling hard for his life. The doctors tried to find the cause of this. Many tests were taken and at last the doctor accused me for feeding my son with food from outside during the journey. I denied the fact because we did not buy any food from outside. And then I noticed the water bottle in my wife’s hand. The bottle spelled “BISILERI”, which was suppose to be “BISILERI”. I quickly snatched the bottle from my wife and went through the markings. I was stunned by what I saw. It was the exact replica of the famous “BISLERI”.  I took the bottle and got the water inside it tested from a laboratory.

The reports were shocking. The water was not at all fit to be a drinking water. It did not have any standard for it to be considered for drinking. The water had all kinds of bacteria in it ranging from e-coli to paramecium. The laboratory report said that the water was not treated and it has never undergone any treatment at all.

Fortunately, my son recovered. And he is doing well now.

There is no protection from this kind of replicated goods in our country. The tricks that the companies use to fool its customers can never be listed out. It is up to us to be aware of what is happening around us. Because if I was aware and careful, my son would have never been through a hard time.

Fooled by a replica !

Gaming is an area where the reaction time really matters. A gamer should have a good reaction time in order to beat his opponent. But it is not just his skills that allow a gamer to win, but also the gaming gear he is using. The gaming gear plays a vital role in narrowing the reaction time.

I am an avid gamer. I play counterstrike at international level. The gaming gear matters a lot to me which decreases the reaction time. I use custom headphones and gaming mouse. The gaming mouse I use is different from the ordinary one. The gaming mouse has laser sensors whereas the ordinary mouse has optical sensors. This makes it more accurate and sensitive.

This is a real life incident that made me real mad about the consumer rights in India.I bought a genius ergo 520+ gaming mouse 6 months back. The mouse costed me lot of money. I bought it after reading the reviews from genius website. I went to a dealer and asked for a genius ergo 520+. It was a combo pack with a steel qck mouse pad. I was impressed by the dealer’s words by the way he endorsed the product. He told me that all the best gamers use this and this is the best brand available in the market. He told me that the warranty period was 3 years. I was so impressed. I bought it and I was all excited to play with it. I opened the pack and connected the mouse. It did not get detected. I was shocked. I immediately rushed to the store next day and asked him for a replacement. The dealer argued with me and after a 2 hour fight, he replaced the mouse. Even this mouse had some manufacturing defects. I used it for two days and after that the mouse started double clicking. The mouse was not so comfortable either. There mouse got heated up. I used it for some days but it did not work out for me well. As a result of this I lost my skills. I could not play well and it was getting worse. So I thought of getting the mouse replaced. I went to the dealer again and told him my problem. He told me there was no stock and I will get the mouse replaced in two days.

I left with a hope that it would be replaced in two days. Even after two days there was no stock and I was asked to wait for a week more. I had to do it because the dealer would not refund the money back. After a week I lost my cool. I could not be without gaming so I rushed to the store and enquired about my replacement. The dealer was rude. He said that it was not his business to go after replacements and he had other better things to do. I was stunned by his words. And for a minute I was wondering what protection the consumers had from these kinds of ruthless dealers. I approached the genius head office for support. They took my mouse and told me to wait with patience. I was told that the mouse was duplicate and it was not the original genius 520+. But was a replica of it.

I gave him them the information about the shop and the dealer from where I had bought the mouse. They investigated and told me that the dealer sold genuine products only and I was trying to accuse him of some reason. I was rendered helpless. I was not able to believe that I was cheated. I was caught in a maze not knowing how to get out.

In India the lack of awareness rules the minds of the people and the dealers take advantage of it. The consumers are the people who get affected by it. It is advised always to be careful on what you buy and where you by from. Because it might help you from not getting into trouble such as I got into.

Consumers to Sue Toyota

Toyota is the leading manufacturer of automobiles. The faulty gas pedal and defective floor mats have caused quite a stir. More that 8 million vehicles are called for the recall. Consumers always had strong belief in the Japanese standards which has been shaken right now. There were many accidents and crashes which are linked to their particular gas pedals mishap. This problem has been linked to nearly 20 have been killed and over 2500 accidents and rapidly losing sales. It might take 5 months to fix all the vehicles but it will definitely take more than that to restore the confidence back in their products. So Toyota issued a public apology in order to gain public support. The damage from this recall might be greater compared to the previous recalls.

The gas pedal creates friction which causes the accelerator to either function faulty or might lead to increase in acceleration leading to collision. If you experience such gas pedal sticking problem, you are advised to hit the brakes hard and keep holding them. But now, Toyota has developed a fix for the accelerator pedals and put it under rigorous testing. They have finally announced the fix for the recalled vehicles. The repair involves installing a steel shim of couple of millimeters thick in the pedal assembly to eliminate the excess friction between the two accelerator piece mechanisms. Toyota underestimated the seriousness of the problem initially and so it took time to come up with the fix.

The fix was made on the 21^st January but the approval was not received until one week later. Most of the parts have been reportedly shipped out and the dealers are undergoing vigorous training and are made to work extended hours. Some of them are working 24 hours a day. Most drivers are alarmed and scared to drive their cars as they don’t know whom to rely and not sure how safe their cars are. There are certain preventive measures and for any mechanical problems you can call the customer care of the companies where immediate results are available.

They have suspended sales of eight different models of Toyota for safety reasons and they have intension of calling even more for recall. The affected cars include RAV4s, Certain 2009-2010 Corollas, 2009-2010 Matrixes, 2005-2010 Avalon, 2007-2010 Camry’s, 2010 Highlanders, Tundra, 2008-2010 Sequoia. Scion and Lexus vehicles remains intact and the other vehicles that are not affected are Toyota Prius, Tacoma, Sienna, Venza, Solara, Yaris, 4Runner, FJ Cruiser, Land Cruiser, Highlander hybrids and some Camry models which all still remains on the market for sale.

The main problem was not the recall measures taken but there seemed to be a delay in the management response to the seriousness of the situation. The top management should have addressed the American consumers regarding the faulty pedals earlier and hence it would not have been a big issue. This was least expected as Toyota always put their customers and quality first. The consumers are all getting in line to sue Toyota. They are relating all accidents in the past to this particular problem. Well the main idea behind suing is only so that consumers can get some money out of Toyotas misfortune. Let us see if they are able to see a single penny!!

Being Effective with your Consumer Complaints

Consumers are the weakest social group in India today. Consumer laws, consumer courts and rhetoric on consumer rights from our governments has not been able to improve such a situation even 24 years after the introduction of a consumer law in this country . Consumer protection is merely limited to books and propaganda. Scores of consumer products are being marketed in this country with blatant disregard for safety, satisfaction and situation of the country’s consumers.

Let’s examine a simple case of medicines being advertised. All modern societies permit medicines to be advertised only after a full disclosure of all the after effects or side effects of the medicine. Yet in India how often do you see a pharmaceutical company disclosing any effects the medicine may have on the patient?

How often do you see consumables and durables being sold for above the MRP (Maximum retail price). Does the government inform consumers about what to do when someone charges you more than the MRP? Every state has a legal metrology department. Yet to find the contact information of this department and push a complaint through, it is practically impossible even in this day of the digital information age.

The fundamental two industries that need to be regulated in a consumer interest caring nation are the food and the pharmaceutical industries. This is mainly so due to the fact that its lack of regulation has the potential of a life threatening situation for consumers who may accidently consume poor quality food or medicines. Every developed economy in the world enforces that a ‘nutrition label’ be placed on all food and drug packaging. Yet in India it is not implemented either due to the lax attitudes of our lawmakers or due to the lethargic outlook of our law enforcers. Our government has no statistics on how many deaths, disabilities and accidents occur each year due to unhygienic food consumption or intake of dangerous drugs.

Right to redressal, a fundamental right of every consumer in the country, is a mockery to our legal system. If you have a dispute about a Rs.20000/- product that you bought, you are expected to engage in a legal battle that could take you anywhere from 4-10 years of your life! Apparently our government believes 10 years of our lives is not worth anything. From a consumer stand point we are perhaps the most hyper taxed countries in the world. We pay income tax, various taxes, VAT, service tax, sales tax… you name it, and our government has a tax for that. Yet the amount that we spent as sales tax, what percentage do you think honestly goes into consumer initiatives?

I would say very little, if not none! Many developed nations of the world designate a portion of their sales tax as consumer protection tax. In other words, it can be thought of as the tax we pay to be protected should anything go wrong with the transaction.

As with other socio-economic problems in this country, the remedy is activation by consumers. Buying reputed brands is critical. Sharing information about bad and good products in the market place is critical. Exercising your consumer rights does not automatically mean going to court, it could merely mean that you report your problems to a consumer protection web portal such as consumerdaddy.com. This is a blog for you to discuss your consumer problems and complaints with other consumers and moderators from Consumerdaddy. Go ahead… tell us how you think problems of consumers can be solved in this country…

Airlines Misuse Security Regulations

As an extensive traveler it is my opinion that airlines have found ways to misuse the security regulations and the public paranoia about security needs on airplanes to circumvent several consumer protection laws. It is amazing that for a highly regulated industry they have so much rope to hang when it comes to disclosing prices and dealing with consumers. How often have you come across the advertisement that says ‘Rupees One to Paradise*….’ Well on exploring it is Re 1 for the ticket charge and Rs.3999 for the fuel surcharge. These kind of advertisements are against the fundamental tenets, ethics and norms of any cultured economy, specifically aimed at hoodwinking innocent consumers.

Equally shocking is the incidents where consumers ‘misbehave’ with the cabin staff. How many incidents have been reported where the cabin attendants have misbehaved with consumers. Consumers are constantly subjected to abusive, insulting and demeaning behavior by cabin attendants. Yet, if the consumers retaliate in any manner, they are threatened as subdued using laws that were originally meant against the terrorists and highjackers. So many incidents have been reported recently whereby the Airlines have gotten away with inferior services and inappropriate behavior of cabin attendants quoting security reasons. 

If Air India express has the cancel a flight, permanently delaying, inconveniencing and stranding 100 passengers all it has to give as an excuse is a ‘technical snag’ or a ‘security problem’. When will the lawmakers of this country learn to build enforceable laws without loop holes?

Catchy Captions for Crooked Politicians

Today the buzz word for both the central and state governments is that they are the government for the “aam admi”, the common man. So it is worth examining this claim. During the reign of the Manmohan Singh UPA government in the Centre, the prices of common commodities, groceries, and produce have almost tripled. So unless and until the “aam admi” learns to survive consuming petroleum products or raw iron ore, there is no way he can continue surviving in this country. Living in Tamil Nadu, the most frivolous claim made by the M Karunanidhi led DMK government, especially his heir apparent, M K Stalin is “singara chennai”, a beautiful Chennai. Yet, during the last 3 or so years of DMK rule, Chennai city has degraded itself so much that the “”aam admi” do not even have good roads anymore. Montieth road, Pantheon Road, Halls Road and Spurtank Road were world class quality roads at the time the DMK had taken over the government. Today, there is not one single square feet of these roads that can be remotely classified as roads. Perhaps the DMK government and prince Stalin expects all “aam admi” to purchase hover crafts to navigate through these roads in “singara Chennai” !

Branding: Star Value and Quality of Product

Today, we are in the age of star endorsements of brands; Shahrukh Khan for Hyundai i10, Sachin Tendulkar for Royal Bank of Scotland, Amitabh Bachan for Binani Cements, Mahindra Singh Dhoni for Reliance Communications… the list goes on. Wouldnt you wonder for a moment why a brand would need a star to endorse it so that it becomes appealing to the public consumer? In India we dont simply adore celebrities, we worship them; they are brands on their own, if not gods. If they ask us consumers to drink poison, we gladly consume it; for our gods have spoken! Personally, I believe if a brand is good in itself, it doesnt need anybody to endorse it for it to be appealing to consumers; most of the brands that look for star endorsements are brands that have no inherent quality that would drive consumers to them. No consumer would buy it if it was not endorsed by a celebrity!

A good product sells on its own, it doesnt need a celebrity’s star power to sell it for them. The most ethical way for a product to sell is word of mouth from consumer to consumer; not through a celebrity spokesperson. Heck, most celebrities do not even know what they are endorsing; during an interview with Deepika Padukone, she was asked which watch company she endorsed, and she was at a loss of words.. heh heh. Celebrity endorsements of brands are nothing but fake pretences to consumers that the celebrity actually uses the product, is happy with the product or recommends the products. 99% of the times, the celebrity hardly has used the product, and 90% of the times the celebrity does not even know the name of the product they endorse; perhaps the first time they read the name of the company they endorse is on the big fat cheque they receive for the endorsement…

Cricketers and movie actors outside India do half the endorsements that are done by celebrities in India; the reason is simple, the consumers dont believe them. In India too consumers should start believing in quality of products and not when a celebrity repeats the unscrupulous words of an unethical company hoping to ride on star power. The obvious conclusion is in fact quite simple; the higher the star value of the celebrity endorsement of a product is, the lower is the quality of the product. The bigger the celebrity is, the poorer the product is. An undeniable inversely propotional relationship between star value and quality of the product. So the next time you hear a celebrity tell you how good a product is, be sure, it is a sloppy product that has no inherent quality that cannot sell on its own; the only way it can be sold is through the star value of a celebrity…. still want to buy the product?

Quality Difference Between Indian and International Goods

Recently I bought an iPhone 3G from the US from a major service provider, unlocked it and bought it to India for use. Round about 3 months later I bought another iPhone in India for my wife from a major service provider in India. 3 weeks after the purchase the iPhone I bought in India started malfunctioning. It had software glitches and the onboard controls were faulty. A lengthy investigation revealed that both my iPhones were manufactured in the same manufacturing unit in China. If so, why the quality difference. One can only speculate that at the end of the assembly line where iPhone (and many consumer goods are produced in China), there is sorting based on quality. The highest quality goods go to the US, Australia, Canada, Japan and western Europe. The mid quality goes to the middle east, singapore, and other semi-developed economies. The poorest quality ends up in India, China, Russia, Brazil and the developing economies of the world. So the next time you are in dilemma as to where to get your digital camera or your watch from, if you can, get it from the US, Australia, Canada, Japan and western Europe.  If not, get the same model from the Gulf or Singapore. If not, do not buy it