I always stand up for what I believe in and what is right even if it means standing alone...In life standing up for your rights is never easy but it is very important to embark on this Long and difficult path to enforce and protect your individual and consumer rights.We all must be aware of our rights.In exercising our rights are we truly free individuals.

I have won many long customer battles against Banks,Phone Companies, Airlines, Electronics Companies etc. I have devoted time and energy to demand positive resolutions for myself and people around me. I hate it when one is denied what every customer has a right to...and that is when I find it important to address it and complain about it. I know it takes time to escalate matters but somehow I prefer to address it no matter what. Having lived in America for sometime, I give a lot of importance to Individual Rights.

It is my nephew who inspired me to write this blog. He felt the importance of his rights and the need to address this subject in a blog very early in age when he was unhappy with the services of a certain Airline. It was then that he suggested that I should write a blog concerning such matters too.

Everyone has certain rights but we are usually not informed about them or do not exercise them. We have a right to be heard...and we must never forget that. There is One Right for All and None should be discriminated. One has the right to question and a right to information. With growing middle class touch 400 million and consumerism, Indian Companies need to become responsive to Consumer complaints and grievances. Ignoring such complaints could lead to big financial losses for the company on consumer complaints being upheld by Consumer Courts.

In this blog, I would like us to share our knowledge about how best to address our complaints effectively as a customer or consumer. It is also important to inform people about the poor customer services provided by reputed brand names. But I would also like to hi-light the names of companies and brands who have co-operated with customers and given positive responses. Please do share your experiences too.

You do not win every battle in life but you learn lessons from it and hopefully live to win it some day. Through this blog ,I would like to inspire people to stand up for their rights and if needed fight for it but the fight for your rights has to be fair and honest. I aim to create a direction and awareness for people who are not given their due rights as an individual first and then as a consumer. There are always solutions and there are way to reach those solutions or alternatives as customers through proper channels.

Whenever you have been able to get your rights heard, you should generously share that knowledge as how best to achieve that so that others could follow that too. Pay it forward ! We should share knowledge and in doing so we will learn more from each other. Alone you can stand up for your rights but with people behind you and with you , there will be more force in it and consumers and customers will not be taken for granted. United we stand in getting value for our hard earned money...United we stand in ensuring we get good customer service.

When there is a will there is a way. When you stand up for your rights and for others , somebody will listen to you sooner or later. Your voice will be heard ! But for that you have to speak out ! Silence can sometimes be mistaken as weakness or indifference. Always know your rights and request for those rights to be implemented but if they are not then demand that justice be served.


Always stand up for your rights...

Consumer Rights Consumer Might !

" Sadaa Haq Aithe Rakh ! "

"Manzil mushkil to Kya... Humhe to us rah par chalna hi hai..."


Monday, October 19, 2015

Vodafone- Vodacare number 199 team intimidating customers ! Their motto- Happy to make customers Unhappy !


It is such an unpleasant experience to even register a complaint at Vodacare's number 199 because they refuse to give you a reference number for it leave alone address it. Most times they even disconnect the calls or keep you waiting so long knowing well that you would be charged for it . What is most frustrating is that every time you have to explain your case from the beginning. There is lack of co-ordination between their various teams and they cover for each other all the time.

I had to talk for so long to convince the Shift Supervisor today to register my complaint against the person Sunder who harassed me tonight. It is my right to demand for a reference number against any complaint or query I put forward ! But he refused to accept that till the time I said that I would post this feedback on social media.

Their latest stance is that whatever may be Vodafone will not apologise and the supervisor wanted to know what evidence I possess to prove that I visited the store with updated documents. I refused to divulge that information completely. He also said that an investigation will not be carried out. Why not ?This is really some sort of gang warfare by them against customers. All this bullying is happening because of the encouragement of the Nodal team who did not do their job in June or now. So the other alternative left for them is to cause deep stress to the customer so that the customer crumbles and gives in. I am not going to be bullied or threatened ! I will stand up for my rights to prove that they are lying all the way.

The entire night I have spent calling them and reading reviews of their services. All customers are fed up of the bad attitude of the Vodafone Customer Service specially towards lady customers. Later I will be posting screenshots of some of the bad reviews. I wonder what kind of people they are hiring to deal with customers.

The supervisor at 199 told me that their customer service team and the Vodafone store said that I was not willing to submit my documents which is so untrue. Time and again I have said that I had already submitted updated documents in June 2015 and even after all the bullying, inconvenience and harassment caused by them,I was and am willing to submit those documents once again on the condition that Vodafone carries out a thorough investigation as to why false information was provided regarding my case or they send me a written apology letter accepting that it was their mistake that they did not update the information on their system that I had submitted the updated documents and they were verified but even then they barred my calls.

But it is clear to me from the mails and conversations that they are too rigid to accept their mistake. Their supervisor Naresh says that while they may agree that I visited the store with the documents but that information has not been updated by people concerned and so based on their evidence in a way they can imply that I did not submit documents which is so absurd ! It is like a Hotel Receptionist failing to find time to update Information of a guest check-in on the computer and later holding that as an alibi that the guest did not check-in at the hotel on that day just because the computer reflects that !

For God's sake Vodafone you think the above is excuse or proof enough to prove that I did not visit the store ! Like I said to the supervisor, if Vodafone Specialised care team and Nodal have made a mistake then they should gracefully accept their mistake instead of uttering a thousand lies to hide one lie. They have to take responsibility for their mistakes before expecting any co-operation from the customer. They have to admit that they reacted impulsively and disconnected my services without an investigation or getting to the root of the matter. Even after co-operating all the way so many years, I am getting this kind of treatment by Vodafone ! 

Viodafone has the worst customer service- Bad Attitude

These people at Vodafone have a very bad attitude ! They just don't know how to talk to customers and are very threatening ! One of their executives Sundar shouted at me tonight and kept saying that I am lying...when I have already submitted updated documents in June thus year. But he kept saying that I have not which is totally untrue. It is their staff who is not doing their job and updating information regarding our accounts. Even though the Vodafone store had confirmed that they had verified my documents, this man kept on disagreeing. They are bullies ! My calls have been barred for the second time in the last three months.
No point even trying to address issues with them as Vodafone Nodal and Appellate cannot be trusted to pass fair judgements. I just wonder how they are getting away by treating their customers in such a hostile manner ! It can be seen from their social media page that they are treating so many customers the same way and barring their calls without proper investigation. It is my right that the matter be investigated thoroughly ! And till then I can't even think of migrating to another company and taking this number with me there...

Vodafone bullies again !

Even after the Sector-18 Noida, India Vodafone shop's confirmation that I visited the store on June 3rd 2015 with updated documents and they had verified the documents, Vodafone Specialised Care team, Nodal and Appelate continue to attack me and have even barred my calls for the second time in the last three months.

 Vodafone has no right to treat Indian customers this way ! This is harassment and discrimination ! Vodafone would have been sued in another country for such treatment. Leave alone making up for the inconvenience and deep stress caused to me, they  refuse to even order the Specialised Vodafone Care Team to send me an apology letter for the false feedback they had given to the Nodal Office. As it is Vodafone Nodal and Appellate are incapable of resolving conflicts fairly and effectively as they blindly support their teams.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

HDFC's Delayed Response even when customers decide to compromise for the peace of mind despite inconvenience caused to them

Not withstanding HDFC Bank's reluctance to extend genuine regrets for the inconvenience and harassment caused to me because of unjustified reduction of the principal amounts of my FDs without my consent, I have in the spirit of not spoiling our long relationship compromised as suggested by them. But even then they are showing their indifference in delaying their final response. Every time they are asking me more time to give the final resolution. And if they continue the never ending delay to resolve the matter, I may actually change my mind.

 The last option offered by HDFC was - the Bank can credit the amount of TDS deducted and interest loss due to this in my Savings Account and the tax due till date shall be deducted thereafter. I told them that I can consider this option if HDFC could confirm in writing that without signing the form ( Customer Consent on TDS recovery from CASA.doc) , the Bank will ensure that the same problem will not occur again. After all how many customers have signed such a form ? As far as I know nobody from my circle has done that.

Never have the principal amount of my FDs been reduced like this to recover tax in the presence of sufficient funds in my account even when the threshold limit was crossed. Once again I would like to stress that it was the duty of HDFC Bank to inform me before doing so and if there was any change of policy then all the more the same should have been communicated through your website or mails to customers. But HDFC neglected the fact that communication must be sent to the customer.

I would like to stress again on the point that in the future too HDFC Bank has no right whatsoever to break the FDs of customers without their consent. I repeat the tax should be deducted from the account at the time of crediting the interest of the FD to the account.

Vodafone- Pathetic Customer Service !

I just posted again on Vodafone India FB page describing how utterly disappointed I am in their not following up on my case that was left incomplete in June 2015 only to surface again today. Let's see how they respond to this case on the same subject this time but from past experiences I doubt that they would resolve it once and for all.

Vodafone continues to show insensitivity and carelessness in dealing with customers. As it is the last case on the same subject lies unresolved as after that nobody from Vodafone's highest authority levels got in touch with me to follow up on my complaint. There was no follow up. There was no thorough investigation and judgement was given by them without verification. I have all the mails till now. They were supposed to be investigating the false feedback of their specialised care team but all they did was giving me fake assurances when actually from the beginning till the end they supported the lies of their teams and defended them all the way. This is a total let down ! 

Not only that but my request that their specialised care team apologise to me in writing for giving false feedback was also ignored. Not only is Vodafone incapable of delivering fair resolutions but Vodafone does not even believe in sincerely apologising to their customers in writing for the deep stress and harassment they cause to their customers. 

Vodafone does not ever take responsibility of their careless actions in recent years and they do not address or complete their cases. The grievances I had regarding this subject in June this year were not addressed effectively and the case was left incomplete because of which I am facing the same problem again.

Leave alone giving damages for all the loss of time, money and peace of mind they caused me, they were not even willing to apologise to me in writing or ensure that I would not be threatened like this again. As I have been repeating from June, I had already visited the Noida Sector 18 Vodafone store with the updated documents on June 3rd 2015 and the store staff also confirmed the same, but Vodafone Nodal and Appellate refused to believe that as they chose to be partial and loyal to their so called specialised care team who gave them false feedback. As I said earlier on, I have evidence to prove that I visited the store. And this time Vodafone is again provoking me to take this to Court. 

I expect justice to be served and for once Vodafone to take a fair stand and carry out a proper investigation so that it could be proved that their teams were lying. Now this is a matter of principles for me...and I am very serious about ensuring that  the truth is uncovered. Thereafter I want a written apology letter to be posted to me and then maybe Vodafone can expect co-operation of some kind from me. Till then I have warned them that if my phone services are interrupted again then this matter will be escalated further than where it went last time. Vodafone cannot be after me every three months to verify my identity with documents when I have already done so many times till June 2015 itself. This is pure harassment and discrimination !

VODAFONE ATTACKS AGAIN ! - Harassment continues even after submitting updated documents in June 2015




I have written again to Nodal as well as Appellate Authority directly today as the way their so called specialised Vodafone care team and customer services handled my case in June 2015 has made me lose faith in their customer services.

I am being harassed again on the same subject as I was harassed back in June. I had escalated the matter then till the Appellate and all of them did not even investigate the matter thoroughly  before giving a resolution. I was harassed beyond comprehension even after submitting updated documents for my connection on the 3rd of June 2015 at the Sector 18 Noida Vodafone office. Vodafone specialised care team gave false feedback to cover their carelessness.

I have evidence to prove my statement in the court of law. Back then I did not go to Court but this time I may have to.

Now once again Vodafone specialised  customer services team is threatening to disrupt my services when I have already submitted documents in June this year.

Vodafone has no right to continuously threaten me every three to four months. This is pure discrimination ! I have reminded them so many times already that I visited Vodafone Store in June 2015 with updated documents. But they just don't listen !
I will have to consider taking them to Court if they suspend my account again.

Vodafone First investigate the case on the same subject thoroughly and fix responsibility on your specialised care team for giving you wrong feedback to hide their carelessness and then only can we discuss my submitting the documents for the second time this year. FIRST DO YOUR JOB PROPERLY & then I shall co-operate again !



Thursday, October 1, 2015

FIXED DEPOSITS WITH HDFC AT RISK !


Here is yet another complaint against HDFC's way of handling our FDs. I could really relate to it as our family has faced the same problem. This is absolutely not fair that Banks are allowed to play with the principal amount of our FDs in the name of deducting tax.
Please visit a very well written article on this on Money Life -

http://www.moneylife.in/article/now-even-your-fixed-deposit-principal-may-be-at-risk/4540.html