Citibank India's Unprofessional Banking

Here they go again ! Citibank's unprofessional banking is visible yet in another incident. Another customer has faced issues regarding their cheques. Despite the account holder having sufficient balance in his Citibank account, the customer's Citibank cheque bounced. Citibank India continues harassing customers and causing them endless inconvenience. They deduct more from the amount in the cheques issued as it is. And after all the inconvenience they do not even have a sincere word of apology or make efforts to ensure that their mistakes are not repetitive.
Citibank India can never ever possess the required commitment towards their customers in making them have a pleasant banking interaction. They never ever fix responsibility on their staff or hold them accountable in making the customers suffer. There is something definitely wrong with the working of Citibank India ! People please be careful before issuing Citibank India cheques and make sure you take screenshots of your account and cheque before any transaction. Citibank India is proving to be an unreliable bank for long now !

Citibank India- Unpleasant banking and unpleasant interaction

Never can one have a really pleasant banking interaction with Citibank India staff as they are always so full of bad attitude, rigidity and insensitivity. In fact one can easily detect a tone of arrogance and impatience in their voice even when they are wrong. In short many I know including I have always had quite an unpleasant experience in dealing with Citibank staff where complaints are concerned. In the recent episode of the cheque where Citibank was responsible for the wrongful  deduction of an amount of Rs.3000 instead of Rs.300, they did not even have the courtesy to send a written apology for the inconvenience caused. Instead they took long to even solve the entire issue and when their senior staff member Jyotsna called it was merely to inform me that finally the amount had been credited to my account and not to really offer a sincere apology. From her impatient attitude and tone of voice, it was very evident that she was really not ready to offer a heartfelt apology or take my feedback seriously.
From a reputed bank like Citibank India, one would accept better but what one receives is thorough disappointment because they do not know how to talk well with customers. They lack the professionalism, tact and diplomacy that is so required in resolving issues with customers. Their way of complaint management is careless and atrocious.
 Citibank U.S.A staff is so helpful, sensitive and courteous. Then one wonders why Citibank India staff have such a bad attitude ! Citibank India needs to train their employees how to have professional interactions with consumers without offending the customers. They are really in need of a lot of training. HDFC bank is definitely better than Citibank as their regional managers too get involved when addressing escalated complaints and are very interactive with customers. It is mostly pleasant banking with HDFC bank. Of course there can be problems at every bank including HDFC but eventually someone hears you at HDFC unlike Citibank India where nobody is willing to even understand the customer's point of view. I did have an escalated complaint with HDFC a long time back but their seniors got involved in providing an effective resolution and even made it up to me as a customer for the inconvenience caused. Many years back Citibank India may have done the same but since 10-16 years somewhere it seems they are hiring the wrong sort of people who are definitely not able to perform well with customers or their training is lacking completely. Anyone who is a HDFC customer would never ever like any other bank because they assign a team of dedicated people to your account to make your banking experience as pleasant as possible. As I say there are all kind of unprofessional people everywhere and at every bank but Citibank India has most of them. My feedback is based on all the feedbacks I receive from other customers as well.

The fight against Vodafone continues...

My petition " Vodafone's Dishonest Business Tones" on www.change.org may have been closed but the fight against Vodafone will continue ! Maybe there were not enough voices that TRAI could hear to respond effectively on the matter. But it is definite that TRAI was not at all interested in addressing this matter from the beginning despite their false assurances in written. And the Department of Telecommunications did not even want to discuss it. The fight against Vodafone continues on my Facebook page ONE RIGHT too. As one customer rightfully commented on my One Right page that the fact that Vodafone is thriving in India despite so many raising numerous complaints against them is because somewhere there is still corruption prevalent at some levels around here. I am thankful to all from India and the U.K who supported my petition and left comments. It is clearly evident that Vodafone is not performing well in the U.K too.

Please do leave comments here as well as there whenever you have any complaints about Vodafone and this may help my petition or start a new one. Vodafone is continuing harassing customers beyond comprehension every day !

https://www.change.org/p/trai-department-of-telecommunications-vodafone-s-dishonest-business-tones

https://www.facebook.com/oneright4all/posts/1718442325151642

VODAFONE'S WAY OF DISHONEST BUSINESS

Vodafone activates default services in your account such as mobile data connection etc. without the customer's knowledge or permission and then they  present them with exorbitant amounts in bills. By the time you realise it it is too late ! These services that they activate in your account are termed as "default services" by them. Vodafone customers please be careful !
For example they activate mobile data connection in your account without your knowledge then the mobile data ( GSM network ) automatically gets connected and activated on your phone whenever Wifi gets lost or it's signal strength is weak. This information is based on many customers' feedbacks regarding the same. And even when you put in a request to deactivate that unwanted service immediately, you are already charged for it and it is restored back the next day even after deactivation. So be alert ! And please make sure that you have not selected or activated mobile data connection even in your settings on your phone to doubly protect yourself fully if you do not want it.

Citibank India's never ending irresponsible approach towards customers !

My complaint regarding the deduction of an amount far more than the amount of cheque that I issued has not been addressed even on the target date . I find that in all these years Citibank India has never ever adopted a responsible attitude towards it's customers and there is never an apology from their side whenever they are wrong. They have a very arrogant attitude ! In comparison, HDFC Bank has a much more responsible and interactive approach where customers are concerned. Problems can occur at any banks but the way the bank addresses and resolves those problems speaks a lot about it's customer service and interest in keeping their customers.

Citibank India's unpleasant customer service

Citibank India's customer service has never been that great all these years but at least one could always rely on their Phonebanking for support and prompt actions. But my interaction with their Phonebanking Officer Mr. Naresh changed that impression for me as well because I feel that he lacked the patience, diplomacy, sensitivity and initiative that a person in his position must possess to deal with queries and complaints from customers. Instead of trying to understand my concern and demonstrate any effort or sensitivity in assuring me that my complaint would be considered, he refused to even give me a reference number for the issue I wanted to raise. He was not even ready to treat my concern as a feedback for future reference. Instead he was quite hostile and expressed lack of belief in what I brought to his attention regarding my account. In the past, many including I have been dissatisfied with their customer service in various branches but never did I expect such attitude from their Phonebanking officer.
As a consumer or customer, we have a right to raise our concerns and complaints regarding Citibank's services, Internet banking and other products. We have the Right to be Heard irrespective of how irrelevant our problems may appear to them. But despite my endless efforts to make him understand my concern at length, he expressed lack of belief just because according to him such a thing has never ever happened in his Citibank account or any of his other accounts. He came across as very arrogant,aggressive, difficult and hostile in his approach.
I had already raised another serious complaint with them a few hours before regarding a cheque. I had clearly issued a cheque of Rs.300 but Rs.3000 had been deducted from my account. I had discussed the same with the person the cheque was issued to and was calling Phonebanking to give a feedback on that issue and remind them to treat this matter as priority as promised a few hours back  by the previous Citibank Phonebanking staff. And that is when I thought about informing him about an unusual activity regarding my deposits where the money invested had been transferred back to my account much before the date of maturity and confirmation date of withdrawal. I couldn't help but co-relate the two incidents and pointed out that there may have been some technical error in their system in both the cases for which the backend team should be consulted. But instead of realising the insecurity of a customer regarding the account he became defensive and rude. In fact he was very abrupt and kept trying to terminate our conversation every time I talked about the second issue. The entire interaction with this person was unpleasant and made me consider if my continuing with Citibank India is a wise choice or not. I have often felt that Citibank India never takes responsibility and is not at all interactive with customers in addressing their complaints effectively. Also there is never a proper follow up.
 Please check your accounts regularly Citibank customers and take screenshots of any unusual activity in your account which unfortunately I forgot to take regarding my deposits. Also please follow up on the Citibank cheques you issue or the nominees you register in your deposits and account . I know a NRI whose nominee was changed from his wife's name to a stranger's by Citibank without his knowledge. So always stay alert when banking with any banks for that matter and particularly well known banks like Citibank India. We tend to trust famous banks without realising that they too can make mistakes.

AT&T needs to work on their connectivity

Years back in Chicago we had used AT&T services and were quite satisfied with it on the landline. And so naturally I chose AT&T again this time in the U.S. But I was not happy with their connectivity in the Bay area. While the phone and data connection seemed to work just fine in downtown San Francisco but in connecting areas there would be no connectivity whatsoever and that made things pretty inconvenient. People have been recommending Verizon over AT&T but as a loyal customer I am hoping that AT&T would do something to give good connectivity. And they definitely need to improve their telephonic customer service.

Apple's lack of initiative in resolving the errors in their applications

Like many over the months, I too have faced a lot of problems with Apple products and applications. There is definitely something wrong with their server and applications like Notepad, ICloud, FaceTime, I-message and photos.
Notes and photos continue to disappear suddenly and even reappear out of the blue on their own. When I lost all my Notes just like that one fine day, I obviously contacted them and explained everything at length so that they could find a solution to recover my notes. I conversed for long with the Apple team in the States over web chat and the Apple India over the phone. Of course their customer service attitude was very professional and I complimented them on that. In fact I think they were very courteous and even did the initial follow ups on my case.
But even after various interactions with them, my problem was not resolved. And then they just lost interest after that in following up on my case and work on the feedback I gave them regarding their products. Many others must have done the same but I personally think that Apple is not doing anything to rectify this common problems of so many consumers worldwide. Before getting in touch with them, I had done a deep research on the internet concerning this issue to find out reasons for such errors in their applications and search solutions for it. I was not surprised to find that many have been facing the same problems for a very long time and in the process lost their valuable notes and photos but Apple till date has done nothing much to fix this problem or find solutions by replacing these applications with better ones to combat the errors.
What is worse is that many a times it is so difficult to connect to the Apple server when utilising FaceTime even though the wifi connection at home or work is great. Also the recent IPads keep having unexpected shutdowns and that's when all the losses of notes happen and one has to again register the password etc. like the first time. Now that makes many people wonder if they chose wisely when they selected Apple products like IPhones and IPads. I find it more convenient and useful to use Microsoft products and Windows phones as you can completely rely on them to save your notes and important stuff for good. 

Linkedin's Bad First Impression- Discriminatory attitude

As much as I like LinkedIn and it is certainly a great platform for people to connect and network professionally, the recent attitude of LinkedIn has entirely put me off. I am actually very disappointed!
It concerns an account of someone I know and her initial impression and first experience with LinkedIn has not been great. LinkedIn blocked her new account and placed it on high restriction without so much as even properly investigating the matter. I wonder how this person's account has been blocked when this person has not even started adding connections as yet and so there could be no possibility of someone even remotely complaining about the account in question.
LinkedIn is supposed to be connecting people and not alienating people from each other by preventing them from connecting without no reason whatsoever. I am thoroughly disappointed by the U.S team of LinkedIn as their investigation and follow up on the case is not thorough. Also they have adopted a very discriminatory attitude towards this entire case without so much as even confirming the authenticity of the account. This was definitely not expected by the American team of LinkedIn . They should contribute their time and energy on actually blocking fake accounts and not genuine ones. Perhaps they are selecting random accounts to block just to save time in proving falsely that they are doing their job which they are not. I was the person who strongly recommended LinkedIn to this person in the first place and now I feel responsible for making this person endure this discrimination from LinkedIn U.S.A. Let's hope that we are able to effectively resolve this problem and convince LinkedIn of this person's authenticity by providing an identity card as evidence though that is an invasion of privacy. But I think that now I would surely think twice before suggesting LinkedIn to any more people. I always believe that there should be uniformity in rules and norms. They should request identification evidence from everyone and not just a few. As it is people in the States unlike other countries can be easily checked out by an online background check and so all the more the LinkedIn team there should have done their homework properly before placing this person's LinkedIn account on high restriction and subjecting this person to such an unpleasant and discriminatory attitude. That way people would not feel discriminated !

ANA Duty Manager's negative response

ANA at New Delhi Airport are distorting the facts. Their reaction to the complaint was negative.

The response from the ANA Duty Manager Ms. Rawat at New Delhi Airport was very disappointing as it lacked empathy, sensitivity and a diplomatic stand on the entire matter. She was clearly siding with her staff.

It was obvious that they are not interested in their passengers' feedbacks or complaints and they are not willing to make it up to their customers the way Emirates does or even offer a sincere apology. Instead they are out to contradict the customers all the time. I am particularly disappointed because I expected better from a Japanese Company.

ANA should be more selective about their Airport staff and teach them to demonstrate sensitivity in addressing complaints through emails. Instead of neutralising a passenger they tend to alienate their passengers. Perhaps travel agents were right in telling me to choose other airlines over ANA over the years. The only reason we always chose ANA was only because of their reservations office staff.

I talked to the ANA Reservations Delhi office  and they too agreed that the whole idea of web check-in is to save time and give entire information including visa details of a traveller before arrival at the airport to make it easier for the traveller.

Now even if ANA systems were down that is not the passenger's problem specially when the passenger has already updated all her details including Green Card number a week before travel. It is untrue that the Green Card number was not updated in her record with them as Ms. Khan had informed my mother because I did it myself on ANA website because I manage her bookings. We know the procedure as we are frequent flyers and that too with ANA, Emirates and Lufthansa on this route. There is this form for travel to America regarding visa or immigration details which has to be filled in much in advance or the passenger may be denied boarding and once that is accepted from their end does the Airline allow web check-in to that passenger on that route.

Ms. Rawat claims that Ms. Khan had informed my mother that the delay was only due to the systems problem which is not true. Ms. Khan did not say that the delay in check-in was ONLY due to system outage but she said that she needed to update the passenger's  Green Card on the system as well which does not make sense as my mother's green card number had been accepted by ANA system many days before the system outage. In that case why did she want to swipe the Green Card ?

All Nippon Airways New Delhi Airport : Harassment of Senior Citizen

ALL NIPPON AIRWAYS NEW DELHI AIPORT CHECK-IN COUNTER- HARASSMENT OF SENIOR CITIZEN

Pathetic and unprofessional  customer service ! The ANA representatives are harassing senior citizens. I am writing to inform about the undue harassment of my mother who is a senior citizen. She is a frequent traveller and has been travelling with ANA for a long time now but never has she been harassed and discriminated like this.

She is a permanent resident of U.S and always does web check-in before her travel. But tonight she was made to wait for an hour at the ANA counter at New Delhi Airport because the lady behind the counter wanted to "swipe" her Green Card and claimed that her system was not working to do so immediately. It was not her place to swipe the Green card as this is the job of the immigration counter.

My mother due to health issues can't stand for long and naturally this long delay at the ANA check-in counter affected her greatly and caused her endless inconvenience. They should have upgraded her seat considering the long delay because of their fault and inefficiency.

No senior person from ANA intervened to resolve the problem . Since she is a permanent resident of United States, I would like to know from ANA under which rule ANA staff insisted that the Green Card had to be swiped at the check-in counter from the originating station of the travel i.e New Delhi Airport. We have the Right to Answers and the Right to Information. And so I have raised this issue with ANA on their social media page and website.

On insisting on having the name of the lady concerned, much later we were informed that her name was Bushra Khan if that is the correct name we were given.

 ANA is spoiling the image of Japanese Customer Service. I have worked in Japan and my family has lived in Japan too and we know for sure that such bad customer service is inexcusable and unacceptable in Japan. So why doesn't ANA deliver the same smooth customer service and pleasant experience internationally ? Shitsurei desu !

Livpure Water Purifier finally repaired after escalation of complaint for several days !

Patience and persistence do work in pursuing complaints.

Well though delayed action from Livpure team, the water purifier was finally repaired today. I am now satisfied with the solution of my complaint and I appreciate their follow up on the matter since Saturday.

But it must be noted that this  complaint could have been handled at the earliest when I first escalated it on the 15th evening . Anyway Mr. Yogendra did a good job ! I trust that they would consider my suggestions so that customers like us do not suffer like this in the future.

I do hope Livpure will not give us any cause to complain in the future and look forward to a renewed relationship. 

Costa Coffee- Coffee losing it's original taste !

In recent times when I have visited my all time favourite Costa Coffee here, I have been really disappointed with the regular cup of cappuccino served there because now the cappuccino taste more like cafe latte as there is less coffee and more milk. Initially their cappuccino definitely tasted better as it was  a stronger cup of coffee. On enquiring about it, I was informed that the smaller the size of the serving of cappuccino, the less coffee it will have. That may hold true for some but it certainly really did not make sense to me because their regular size cappuccino never tasted so milky before. It is just not value for money anymore and I am inclined to visit other cafes now which serve a much better and stronger cup of coffee in regular size. Actually the same goes for their Hot Cocoa and one has to insist that they add a fair amount of cocoa to the milk every time.

Livpure's Bad attitude towards customers

Livpure's bad attitude towards customers

 Only words no action ! As expected even after their customer service representative calling me to assure that an engineer will be detailed to handle this problem, nobody has got in touch regarding the same. This has happened far too many times ! Since the 15th of July 2016 I have put forward three complaints but nothing was done to resolve the problem !

Through it all about five times their team told me on the phone and social media that this would be handled at the earliest but they only mislead the customers !

The character of a company reflects in the services it gives and we all can see what kind of atrocious service Livpure is giving to it's customers. If one has to run behind them for so many days to get the service that is our right, then it is not worth buying Livpure products.

It is time everyone stands collectively to inform everyone about the bad attitude of Livpure and it's terrible customer service so that others do not have to go through the same ordeal. Most customers are having similar problems regarding their after sales services and delay in the complaints being addressed effectively according to Livepure's social media page. Their harassing customers like this speaks of their lack of seriousness towards customers and such kind of attitude causes a lot of stress to customers specially senior citizens. As mentioned earlier on, their engineers except one are never punctual and do not follow up when the complaint escalates.

Livpure has been fairly warned and I have demonstrated immense patience in the matter but now the time has come to seriously report about them. To start with all the Defence Canteens have to be informed about them as a large number of their products are supplied to them. At the time of installation of the water purifier too Livpure had given us problems .At least then more people will come forward with same complaints  about them and something will be surely done and stringent action will be taken against Livpure !

Livpure customers can leave their feedback here too-

LIVPURE WATER PURIFIER- Worst customer service & pathetic complaint management !

LIVPURE WATER PURIFIER'S PATHETIC CUSTOMER SERVICE !

Pathetic customer service ! Since the 15th of July I have been complaining several times on their customer service number and social media page and nobody has taken any action.

They closed my case without resolving the problem and consulting us. We are extremely dissatisfied with the careless way they have handled our complaint. We have paid an extra 8000 for extended warranty and we regret that now. Mr. Subhash was supposed to be visiting again for the first service but he is never easily available and then someone else was sent over instead of him.

Considering Mr. Subhash visited our house after work hours around 10pm the first time he installed  the water purifier which was inconvenient for us , all the more he should have made it that day to our place however late when we requested prompt service as there was leakage from the purifier which later affected the digital indicators too. On the 15th evening I had escalated the complaint further and I was assured that someone senior would visit the next day to address the problem but till date nobody has contacted us.

They have deleted all my posts regarding the negative feedback on their social media pages and now all the more I will escalate the issue on my Consumers Rights Blog  !

Worst after sales service specially in Noida ! There is no follow up on complaints. They have demonstrated a complete lack of responsibility and insensitivity to repeated complaints of a customer.

TATA SKY'S POOR COMPLAINT MANAGEMENT

It states on the Tata Sky website that "In case of complaints (other than non receipt of signals) by Subscriber, at least ninety per cent of all such complaints shall be redressed within a period of forty-eight hours of the receipt of complaint. All other complaints shall be addressed as early as possible.
In addition to the dedicated call centre network in place, Tata Sky has nominated nodal officers for redressal of grievances of those subscribers who are not satisfied with the redressal at the call centre level. Such subscribers can contact the nodal officers citing the docket number issued by the call centre." 

So I got in touch with the Nodal Office as I was not satisfied with the way my case is being handled . And as  expected they too would gave a very crisp response devoid of any clarity on my case.

My complaint had not been addressed effectively even after 48 hours due to their lack of efforts in seeking information regarding my transaction with the concerned department in the proposed time. They agree the payment was successful and stands submitted by me on the 5th of July 2016 but they still need more time to process the payment for it to reflect in my Tata Sky account.

The Nodal Team's response was as follows-

" Your payment of Rs 514 made on 05/07/2016 to recharge your Tata Sky account has been processed and the status is SUBMITTED. Please give us 48 hours to process the payment.  

If payment is successful then recharged amount will be credited to your Tata Sky account. If payment is unsuccessful and in case the amount has been debited from your bank account or credit card account, it might take 7 to 10 working days to be credited back to you."

My response to the above was- 

"I too am aware since the 5th of July that the payment of Rs.514 stands submitted. Since the 5th of July around 11 a.m, I have given you more than 48 hours to process the payment but all your representatives are not talking the same language and I am not getting accurate information till now. There seems to be lack of co-ordination between your departments resulting in not giving me accurate information about the status my case. And now you are saying you want another 48 hours to process the payment in question. This matter is being delayed and we are not reaching a conclusion. 

This complaint should have been addressed at the earliest specially when I had gone through a similar experience with Tata Sky last month though fortunately then the matter was resolved in one day and my account had not been deactivated during that time. I can't comprehend why it is taking so long this time to tell me the exact status of my payment which stands already submitted even according to you. I would also like to know why this is happening often at the time of making online payment on your website. But since the 5th nobody is willing to give me information regarding that. I may encounter the same problem get again if your backend team does not get your act straight and address the errors in your system. 

 As it is on the 6 the of July my Tata Sky account was deactivated from your end despite my recharging my Tata Sky account on the 5th and being assured the previous day that I will be given a credit till the case is resolved. Anyway I managed to persuade your representatives to extend the credit limit till Saturday or till the time you reverse the money to my bank account. Your other representatives were trying to assist me in the matter but Ms. Priyanka from your backend team was aggressive and rude. I do not appreciate that kind of treatment. Instead of discussing the matter to reach a mutually suitable alternative, she was more interested in terminating our conversation. She was not even happy about your other representatives granting me credit till the case is pending.

Now some of your representatives had said on the 5th of July that my payment though successful would only be processed and reflected in my Tata Sky account within 24 hours to 48 hours due to faults in your system. But now some including you are telling me to give you another 48 hours which is alright with me only if you do not deactivate my services till you are clear about the status of my transaction. If you are still not clear about the transaction and are not able to give me accurate information, then I suggest that you give me written confirmation that between the 10th-14th of July ( which makes it the time duration Priyanka and you are proposing to credit the money back to my bank account) Tata Sky would reverse the money back to my bank account before I make a fresh transaction. 

As I said earlier I am willing to co-operate on the matter and go ahead with a fresh payment  as long as Tata Sky confirms to me in writing that they will reverse the money back to my bank account in the said duration of time and action is taken against Ms. Priyanka for being so insensitive, inefficient and rude to a customer. Responsibility has to be fixed and somebody has to be answerable for the wrong information I was given till today where it was said to me on the 5 the that till today my payment will either be processed or credited back to my bank account.

Look forward to a positive and sensitive response from the Nodal office considering that this is the second time I am enduring this problem in online payment on your website."

I wonder what their response would be or how long they will take to determine the exact status of the payment submitted successfully by me. But I must add that the entire interaction with them has made me conclude that they lack the professionalism that I so expected from them. Further their representatives specially the back end team lack the ability to address the problem and their complaint management is poor. My overall interaction with them has not been pleasant and has consumed a lot of my time and money in calling them several times. Tata Sky staff is just as bad as SITICable in terms of business etiquettes and dealings. I never had to ever go through such experiences abroad in my entire time there where the lack of efficiency of the companies costs the customers so much of time, money and stress. Mistakes happen but not every time and if there are problems there should be effective complaint management and proper follow up.

Tata Sky Services declining by the day !

Tata Sky' s subscription charges have increased as they have added new channels to their packages but in that process their services have really declined and we are thoroughly disappointed ! 

Their website reflects error every time one makes online payment and even after the payment transaction is successful it does not get reflected in the My Tata Sky account leading to deactivation of services. This has happened a lot lately and because of the inefficiency of their Backend team and lack of responsibility of the seniors, the customers suffer even after making timely payment.

The above happened again on the 5th of July 2016 at around 11am. After successful online payment , once again the transaction did not reflect in the Tata Sky account. On complaining about it immediately, I was informed that they would solve the problem in 20 minutes which they did not. Then later I was told on calling them that the problem would be resolved by the afternoon and then they extended the time to 24 hours and eventually 48 hours.

 On the 6th my Tata Sky account was deactivated despite their assuring me earlier on that this would not occur till the case is pending. Anyway I managed to make them agree to restore the services till the proposed time of complaint resolution. During this time I have had to call them several times which has been so inconvenient and irritating. Since last month I have had to spend a lot on calling them on the due date of payment as I face this problem every time on their website. After completion of the duration of 48 hours time limit, I am now informed this morning that the case is still pending and will only be addressed till the 9th. 

On complaining to them that I would address this case on social media, I suddenly receive a call from their backend team at last informing me that they are not able to reflect the paid amount in my Tata Sky account and so they will now reverse that money back to my bank account but it may take ten days or more. They could have informed the same earlier instead of misleading me and making me wait all this while. 

I requested Priyanka from the backend team to do this on a priority basis considering how long I have waited and so that I could go ahead with a fresh transaction. And I also requested that till the time the money is not reversed, they should not deactivate my services again and I should not be forced to pay again till then. Such a thing had happened once with Costa Coffee but they were efficient enough to reverse the money immediately to my bank account. Another alternative I have offered them is that if they want me to pay again before the previous amount is reversed to my account, they should send me a written confirmation stating that they would reverse that amount within the said duration of time. But Priyanka rudely declined to co-operate on the matter or offer another suitable alternative. Instead she just cut the conversation and  tried to terminate our conversation abruptly. 

All this while all the Tata Sky representatives ( about 6-7 names can be provided ) had confirmed that the online payment transaction was successful though it has not reflected on my bank account as yet which according to my Bank and Tata Sky may be due to the technical error of Tata Sky server as their system accepted my payment but was not able to reflect  the same in my Tata Sky Account. Whatever the reason, I seek clarity so that this case is resolved immediately so that I could go ahead and pay again to avoid more harassment from Tata Sky who are threatening to deactivate my services again. But Tata Sky representatives refuse to let me talk to their seniors even though they promised me many times that their seniors would call me regarding the case. I need answers and accurate confirmation of the status of my case and I am willing to co-operate but their backend team is making matters worse by their lack of efficiency and lack of professionalism. I demand a written confirmation that Rs.514 would be refunded and a written request to make a fresh payment.

I did not expect such bad attitude from Tata Sky representatives when Tata is known for it's good services. I intend to escalate the matter. Having worked with Tatas I expect better services than what their amateur employees are offering now.

Nathu's Sweets not fresh sweets anymore !

Over the years, the quality and the taste of the sweets sold at Nathu's have declined considerably . And their lack of professional customer service is contributing in the decline of their services in a big way.

Just day before yesterday, we bought a couple of sweets ( mithai ) from there in the evening and we were so disappointed with the taste and the packaging. The sweets did not seem to be fresh and the gulag jamuns ( kala jamuns ) were sour...On complaining about the same, we were met with a very careless approach. According to their representative it is natural for any sweets made of dairy products to get spoilt easily in summers but we had served those sweets the same evening to our guests.

Well at least this was not the answer we were looking for . We had left the sweets as soon as we tasted one or two of them. We had hoped that they would get those mithais tested. And they should not sell some sweets in summers if according to the person concerned these sweets get easily spoilt or they should use good quality ingredients. They could go in for seasonal sweets if they can't handle the making of some certain mithais in summers.

Customers must complain whenever they find that they are given stale sweets as then only will these famous shops take such matters seriously and be forced to address it effectively.

In summers they have to be all the more careful in not selling stale sweets and focus on their proper storage as well.  Hygiene of the containers and people handling these sweets should also be taken into account.Now Haldiram is better in that respect though there too the hygiene can be questioned and I would be elaborating on that later in another article solely on Haldiram Sweets which involved my complaining about the matter. Talking about this subject, this has become quite a problem at many restaurants and cafes recently where the staff behind the counters are not wearing gloves to handle the eatables and using their hands to either squash a ' aloo tikki' or passing eatables to the customers soon after doing something really unhygienic before the customer.

The idea of complaining about the above is not to get a fresh box of sweets for free but to inform them that Nathus should be more careful as their customers could fall ill because of stale sweets. We would particularly go for the 'ladoos' there but we may have to think twice now.

Department Manager can make all the difference in enhancing customer service

After long I experienced very good customer service at Shopper's Stop a few months back and it is all due to their Dept. Manager Mr. Kalrha. I would be writing about the details about his exceptionally good customer service in the coming days which created the most favourable impression on me a few months back and ever since then I have been meaning to write about it.

The growth of a pleasant interaction between the customer and the store depends a lot upon how the customer and the store are willing to co-operate with each other along the way where sometimes the customer understands the store and other times the store. Sometimes the  customer has to give in to understanding the store's limitations and policies...And sometimes the store has to have a flexible approach towards customers. Most importantly a Manager has to be able to differentiate between a genuine and a false complaint.

His action that I would be talking about in the coming days definitely demonstrated his sensitivity to the customers. I appreciate his recognising the fact that the complaint was genuine and taking the appropriate action accordingly in all fairness. Honestly does pay and gets rewarded ! What is important is to make honest complaints and sooner or later someone sees that and helps you out.

SITICable's " lack of connection " with customers

People please do not waste your time in posting your complaints on SITICable social media page  as they will never be effectively resolved as SITICable refuses to take any responsibility in taking any action against their employees or Local operators for the way they harass the customers through bad attitudes and bad customer service.

Many in our neighbourhood have been disappointed with their services and have turned to Tata Sky.
The person assigned to collect payments from our neighbourhood was very rude and insulting. He always resented our decision to pay by cheque instead of cash. We wanted to continue their services but he made sure our channels were blocked before deactivating the  services completely when we escalated the matter and insisted on demanding for a change of person for collection of cheques or a drop box. 

Over the months I had complained about it on their website and FB page. I got a call from from SITI Cable but according to their representative they cannot take any action against their operators or provide us with the contact details to get in touch directly. So then who is responsible and whom do we complain to ? Instead of being helpful and co-operative, the male representative  was defensive and aggressive. They ought to be selective about choosing their operators or at least have some control over them. Instead they are letting their operators create their own rules, terms & conditions as well as modes of payment. They should encourage their operators to have an interactive approach with consumers in handling of complaints or information regarding cable connection services. Their operators are the face of their company and so all the more they should keep them under strict vigilance. Online payments should be allowed as well in Noida as that will make it more convenient for the customers to make payments.

Better than posting complaints , share your bad experiences regarding their services on social media. Tata Sky services is much better and after the first connection, their Multi connection works out cheaper. It was my mistake to expect SITI Cable to intervene in my issue against the services provided by their operator and investigate the matter. Their attitude on the matter regarding harassment by their operator's payment collector and deactivation of our account without warning and despite our payment is very disappointing. They seem to be clearly siding with the Operator as they have given them full freedom to treat customers any way they want even at the stake of tarnishing the name of SITI Cable. The same can happen to you too. So do not choose SITI Cable. As it is their connection and signal is bad and one does not get good picture quality.

As a Consumers Rights Blogger, it is my duty to inform consumers about the deficiencies of SITI Cable.

Bon Bon Pastry Shop definitely losing it's touch & taste now

We have been Bon Bon's loyal customers and so all the more I was very disappointed to see the declining customer service, quality and attitude. Customers gave the right to receive a pleasant experience while buying something from a shop. Customers are entitled to good service. I noticed that they are not getting good reviews anymore because of their lack of interest in maintaining their original quality and service. We like the chicken patties, chocolate triangles and eclairs there but lately the lady behind the counter is just not keen on packing the patties in the boxes bearing their label. The other day I had bought about five patties and even then they were not given to me in a box.

 Many a times we buy stuff from there as gifts for others and not having the confectionery packed in their boxes and that too separate boxes can make others feel that we have shopped from a roadside vendor rather than a reputed shop like Bon Bon. I even told the lady concerned that their name sells and all the more I would prefer that everything irrespective of the quantity is given to me in their boxes instead of blank brown paper bags. After all presentation and packaging matter and that is why one goes to a shop like theirs.

As for the all time favourite eclairs, the cream does not seem to be that fresh anymore and the quality of breadsticks is deteriorating. Some time back we were told that we could not buy just a packet of breadsticks and instead we had to place a big order for them and which we did. But again the breadsticks were not packed properly and they did not seem to be fresh.

I hope they are able revive their old time hospitality and quality instead of taking it for granted that customers will keep returning to them because of their reasonably priced goodies. I have always liked Bon Bon because of their prices and quality in the past but because of the recent attitude of the lady there I may be inclined to change my opinion. As it is I find myself going more to other shops now.

Save Water- each drop counts !

Save Water and don't waste it ! Every thought in this direction counts and every drop counts. Every drop can save a life ! There is scarcity of water everywhere and we hear of droughts all the time all around the world in the news. Soon there will be wars over water ! We may not be able to do much in providing water for all but we can definitely do our bit by contributing in saving water and in turn saving lives. We can start from our homes. The shortage of water is a very serious issue and we need to save water all the more now than ever because everybody is entitled to have water !

Having access to water and that too clean water if possible is a human right. Not many are doing anything about it and what we don't realise  is that tomorrow we too may not have access to water at all. We could face drought as well. So many people have to walk such a distance just to get water and I was informed about this by many children from neighbouring villages when I visited Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. Many children even requested me to give them empty bottles so that they could use them to store water. Such is the condition of people who are denied water not only in certain villages but certain cities too. Their thirst is reflected on their faces...

Everybody has a Right Not to be Thirsty ! Everybody had a Right to get water !  And we must keep that in mind and educate people not to waste water so that in the process we could share water with all.  As said earlier, It is our right not only to have water but get clean water !

Some days back we bought a RO Water Purifier and from Day one my mother was concerned about the amount of water that is wasted in the process of purifying the water for drinking purpose. An enormous quantity of water just drips from a pipe during the water purification process and it is so heartbreaking to see that when one considers how that amount of water could be so useful to so many who are denied water. Of course we worked out a way to end this kind of wastage of water . We store that quantity of  so-called wasted water that the Purifier leaves in big vessels and use it to clean utensils or mop floors. Actually that water could be used for so many other purposes instead of just throwing it away. In a world that is now facing water crisis this is the least we can do.

But my concern is that why the companies selling these Water Purifies are not doing anything at all in finding ways to save that water by using certain techniques to recycle the water wasted by the machine at the time of purification. Maybe they could design the RO Water Purifiers in such a way that the wasted water could be emptied or released simultaneously in another container with a tap to recycle it or something. Many responsible citizens have found ways to store that water wasted by the RO Water Purifiers in big containers to use it for cleaning utensils or washing clothes. One of my friends shared a post concerning the same on FB today and that  reminded me to share what I meant to write for long regarding how we are combatting the wastage of water by these Water Purifiers.

I feel that gigantic water purifying plants should be set up everywhere in the country to provide pure drinking water for people and at the same time recycle the large amount of water released during the process of purification of water for various other purposes. This way nobody would need to buy individual RO water purifiers which result in immense wastage of water in households. As it is , this will ensure in real saving of water as well as providing clean water for drinking purposes for everybody. The mistakes of some are depriving others of having water and that is not fair. And some who may have access to water are just not getting clean water . Some are just not getting water safe enough for drinking. Strict measures need to be implemented to tackle not only water shortages in every way possible but also provide clean water.

Each step towards saving water can contribute in dealing with the long-term possibilities of a water crisis in the not affected areas as well. Many countries have already found sophisticated ways of dealing with water shortages as well as water  problems by recycling wasted water and advising people to save water at their homes by doing the same.

As I always spread the word around that water is a necessity and we must not waste it at any cost or soon it will just become a luxury accorded to a few who can afford it. It is our right not only to get water but get clean water ! Save Water as well as collectively do something somehow to get pure drinking water for everyone ! All deserve water and that too clean water. 

Know your Rights as Customers in dealing with Telecommunications Companies

Nice to have so many people from India, U.K and so many other countries come forward to support my petition against the Dishonest Business Tones of Vodafone...

For some this may be sheer wastage of time but for some such things matter ! Any telecommunications company could target you next and One has to stand up against such harassment as One to start with and then collectively as One  ! 

Vodafone may never respond positively ! Vodafone may never act responsibly ! But we as customers still still need to spread the word around about their dishonesty to create an awareness amongst others who may become their next victims. Customers must know their Rights ! Customers must be aware of how to deal with the unpleasant behaviour of any Telecommunications Company for that matter !

Just the other day a Vodafone customer I know was being bullied into paying for the 4G SIM card which is supposed to be delivered free at your residence on putting a request for it through their customer service number. Fortunately I intervened and talked to the Manager and as luck would have it that day the Manager agreed with me and ensured free delivery of the 4 G card. So it is important to know what you are entitled to and how...Know your Rights as Customers ! 

Thankful to All of you who supported my petition ! Started with one and now there are 32 supporters...Means a lot ! Please spread the word around !

A new Chapter - Good Customer Service at Marks & Spencer

In recent times, Marks & Spencer GIP Mall has undergone a huge transformation in it's customer service and attitude towards customers and I for one am certainly glad about seeing this positive change in their attitude. The credit goes to their Managers ( Mr. Anand and Mr. Rishab ) as well who it seems took my recent feedback seriously regarding the impatience and insensitivity demonstrated by a certain staff member in dealing with me and specially a senior citizen. So you see how important it is to bring forward your concerns so that they may be addressed if possible by the stores.

Since then I have experienced a visible change in their way of dealing with customers and I compliment them in taking my feedback seriously and implementing it right away to enhance their customer service. Henceforward shopping would be certainly a pleasant experience at their store hopefully. As it is I like their exchange policy whereby they give you a credit note for a long duration to shop later or refund the entire money. Just last week I was forced to return a very nice top as the piece was defective but I seemed to have misplaced the price tag as I took the piece back to the store much later since the day I was about to wear it. Fortunately the store manager accepted the defective piece to be returned in exchange for a credit note based on the bill I provided and I am truly grateful to him for that.

Their staff  members like Navneet and Amjad Khan are quite helpful, courteous and interactive. Their  knowledge of clothing contributes in selecting the right stuff for yourself as a customer.

Such good customer service extended to me and the pleasantness of their staff now will definitely make me want to keep going back there for more and more shopping !

We did it !!!

It  is always important to speak up ! It is important to do something ! If nothing else many customers feedback including mine made a difference and even though a very delayed response and not well timed in my case, Air India has agreed to extend miles of customers till 30th of June 2016 ! 

So we definitely made a difference if not for us then for others !

Air India may have initiated some flexibility in it's dealings with it's Flying Returns Members and that is a start but Lufthansa is still way behind...Miles and More should follow suit...

No pleasant returns from Air India's Flying Returns mileage programme

I think Air India's Flying Returns is the worst ever mileage programme that I have come across because one faces lots of hurdles and unpleasantness in simply redeeming miles leave alone upgrades. The entire interaction with their staff handling flying returns at their central contact centres is just not smooth as they just don't know much about their own mileage programme and every representative offers a different perspective about flying returns resulting in total confusion. The customer suffers because of their lack of accurate information and lack of real assistance to resolve any issues or complaints regarding redeeming miles. In fact they are very rigid in their approach and just do not know how to deal professionally with customers.

As for Air India's Flying Returns Service centre at Mumbai, they are just not responsive or interactive. They never really answer calls or reply to your mails even if you constantly send them reminders regarding mileage related queries . They are as good as not being there.

I have an old account with them and in all these years they never ever thought of  verifying my details. Suddenly AI wakes up and realises that they need to verify my details just when the miles are about to expire ! Naturally one cannot redeem miles till KYC is updated and verified according to them and one can't help but think that their timing is perfect in terms of making the customer lose their miles because the verification process takes time. I can't help but think that it would have only been fair had they informed me much earlier about the KYC updating, I would not be on the verge of losing my miles. It seems now because of them I may be about to lose an award flight since their back end team is just not in the mood to verify the documents I updated ( proof of address certificate by the Superintendent of Police, passport details, aadhar card etc.). And their lack of co-operation in the matter reveals their lack of interest in promoting their mileage programme. They were not willing to extend the miles so that the customer does not suffer by losing miles due to their delays in verification or even accept another alternative where the customer could provide the KYC documents in person at their office so that the miles could be redeemed right on time before the expiry date,

Emirates has a much better mileage programme compared to Air India or Lufthansa for that matter and have a very courteous and flexible attitude towards their customers. Emirates had once extended my mother's miles for a year  as they were having technical problems but Lufthansa never did anything like that and Air India too would not ever extend such courtesy to their customers in the same situation. Flying Returns definitely does not offer pleasant returns !

Costa Coffee Shop

Life is all about choices and the choices we make everyday affects are lives in so many ways...Some choices are easy and some difficult...but each good choice makes our lives worthwhile and getting value for the hard earned money we spend is one such choice. It is our right to get value for the money we spend on purchasing things or the services we use...

Recently I visited the newest mall in the neighbourhood and after a very long time for the first time around here did I actually enjoy a steaming hot and delicious cup of Hot Chocolate at Costa Coffee situated in the DLF Mall Noida...The ambience is great and a very courteous person responsible for this shop there by the name of Dinesh prepared the most delicious thick Hot Chocolate beverage for me and that made my evening. It is all about the right amount of mixing ! At the time of placing an order, I had shared with him the fact about Costa not really serving that good a Hot chocolate and that I was yet to come across a truly tasty Hot Chocolate drink here but he assured me that this time I would change my mind about Hot Chocolate drink at Costa's and he stood true to his word. I am already looking forward to my next visit there because of  the good service and the delicious Hot Chocolate drink served there. Cost may be high but it certainly is value for money there all thanks to Dinesh !

All Nippon Airways India

It is always a pleasure to interact with the ANA ground staff at the reservations office in India specially in the capital. They are courteous, helpful and flexible. They are always ready to offer alternative fares and alternative flights to make your travel experience with them as pleasant as possible. What I like the most about them is that they always give you sufficient time to re-confirm your booking with them before payment by putting the booking on hold for a few days because they are confident that their customers would always return to them and the new customers would choose them.

NH flights as well as their code share flights with United Airlines to U.S.A are quite convenient and affordable and more so if you are flexible with your dates. As it is they offer the best fares to Japan and a host of other amenities and discounts on your arrival there to enjoy their country to the fullest.

Somebody has to make an effort in trying to change things for the betterment of consumers !

I intend to wait as long as it takes...And the petition remains open ! Whatever people may say I choose to pursue this matter as far as possible and as long as possible. Vodafone has still not instructed the representatives named in this petition to send out a genuine apology letter. It seems that it has become a fashion for telecommunications companies like Vodafone and Reliance to treat their customers badly and easily get away with it. This has to stop ! We as consumers need to get together to ensure that we get pleasant customer service. 

From activation of a number till deactivation of a number and from buying their products to upgrading plans, customers face thorough harassment and this is not acceptable. Customers are forced to buy certain plans, forced to retain numbers or forced to give up numbers by these telecommunication companies through verbal and mental harassment. This should not be allowed as the customer has the right to decide or choose how long he/she wants to stay with a telecommunications company as long as the customers is paying bills on time and following rules. So customers should be entitled to valid answers and justification if a company wrongfully deactivates their numbers and services.

 Please stand with me and spread the word around to people to support this petition. Many a times I am discouraged by people to continue with this petition for my safety and peace of mind but I contradict that because someone has to become the voice of so many or things will never change around here. We can at least try to work towards changing things for the betterment of consumers.https://www.change.org/p/trai-department-of-telecommunications-vodafone-s-dishonest-business-tones