Kyunki Albert Pinto is a customer

Angry...nah. That just doesn't capture it. Baying for blood

Its happened again. Just when i thought it was over.
How many times everyone has to got through this?

There i was..a happy customer. And boom boom boom, my blissful world of consumer satisfaction keeps falling apart..over and over again.

For anyone who is wondering what is wrong with this girl (again!), I will let you in on the story.

I purchased an airtel sim after coming to pune..that would make it roughly around 7th august or something. Since a week or so i have been getting constant messages from airtel people saying my validity is about to expire on 09/07/09 ..so kindly extend it. Fine. And because i am such a wonderfully impossibly gifted person..i mistook the 07 for 08. So there i was thinking all this while.." These airtel people do get worked up for small things..the validity expiration date is like a month away..and they start so early"..the d day kept approaching. And suddenly yesterday..i went through something resembling an awakening or sorts and this perfectly formed observation landed plumply in the middle of my cerebrum.

"WHY ON EARTH WAS MY VALIDITY EXPIRING A MONTH BEFORE THE ACTUAL DATE????"

And so i got worked up (cos thats what i do when my customer care sentimentalities are offended). I called them up..told them there is no way i could have purchased a sim on 10th july cos i was in bangalore at that time and landed in pune only in the last week for my joining of 1st August.

Hah..can u even guess what i was told by the customer care person.(who by the way started smirking mid way through the conversation and who i politely chided( going for an oxymoronic thing here..i never politely chide) for doing this)*?He said " Mam (hee hee) i think you have FORGOTTEN(hee hee) that you had purchased the sim( any guesses..yeah u guessed it..hee hee) on 10th july only.

I remember vividly now that i must have shouted atleast 5 times that Heloooooo..i didnt purchase it cos i wasnt there n i dont have such a retarded memory. No result. New customer care person...same result( no hee hee's this time though)

To cut a long story short..i mailed them 2 times (only thing i got back was an acknowledgement that my mail has been received...Am i delighted or what!!), tried calling their nodal officer(they must have taken the number just for nerds like me...you know just to have around and keep it in the box inside the 4th drawer...it was either engaged or wasnt answered), talked to the guy from whom i bought the sim and tried a customer care executive again. It seems the sim guy sold me a preactivated card and airtel apparently has no idea this is happening.

This time i thought ill put up a fight. I believe that most of us get shoddy customer treatments bcos we dont stand up for what is rightly ours. We don't want to be rude and feel that its better to take the second route as it wudnt involve all the taam jhaam. And most realistically..we know that " Ek ke karne se kya farak padega". I still believe otherwise .

I think that the Indian customer is a long way from holding the title of " customer is king" and "the customer is always right". Partly because of our laxity and mostly because of the product makers and service providers. There is such a shocking lack of competition and quality..that we the consumers always end up compromising on our choices. I will stick to airtel despite this..bcos idea vodafone etc are even worse.Its like picking the best out of the worst.

Till then the Jaagrook customer in me ( though stirred but not shaken) will continue to fight for my rights, will continue to publicise customer friendly entities ( Pizza Hut over Dominoes anytime) and will keep spreading a bad word about companies that take their customers for granted(hee hee..take that).

I just hope that it happens in India in the coming years..because a growing economy like ours needs competition..not just within the national horizon..but with the international brands also.

And someone please calm down Mr. Pinto.

*this one was a novelty..a bracket inside a bracket..told you i loved em :)