After a dry June, Mumbai has been witnessing a very, very wet July. It began raining ever since my cousins arrived ( 29 June) and stopped just around 1pm IST on 21 July. And a lot has happened in the world around me even though I was cooped up at home :

For instance, during this time there was a landslide at the bottom of the hill and a huge pothole reappeared at the bottom of the road which leads me to believe that the whole road, indeed the entire hill, is slowly being washed away from beneath its tarred surface! I’m not really surprised at this because, for the past several years, many of the elegant bungalows dotting the hill have been torn down and given way to huge skyscrapers that continue to remain unoccupied! I wonder why this area is being re-developed in this way because each new building means excavating the hill at least 40 feet deep. And I’m quite sure it won’t be long before the entire hill is hollowed out leaving the buildings staying up only because of their deep-rooted foundations.

Seasonal woes

But that is happening outside my world. In my house, the typical monsoon challenges like damp clothes and pesky flies have a new rival: a sketchy television reception. Considering the fact that TV signals are now transmitted through fiber optic technology, one would have thought that snowy images and static were things of the past. But sadly, they aren’t.

And my mother-in-law who depends on the TV for company is greatly inconvenienced. Within days of the weather turning damp, she begins to complain about sticky remote keys, blurry images, breaking audio and of course the irritating crackle of static in the background.

Immediately I have to call the cable operators to complain and as always, they show up grudgingly having had to weather the bad weather. Alas! In a matter of days, the TV goes back to its errant ways, especially after the next heavy shower.

This year, my own Television decided to join my ma-in-law’s TV. Since Hubby Dear is an avid News watcher and Ms Papaya is a dedicated 2-hour TV watcher for 3 days a week, this was nothing short of a DISASTER. It had to be fixed and NOW!

Hell! I’ve been scammed

So I immediately googled the Sony repair service and got a URL that said

http://sonyservicecentre.co/

I promptly contacted the number mentioned on the site and was told to WhatsApp my name, address and model number to a given number.

I got a message back informing me that a technician would come home for a charge of Rs. 2500. I was quite shocked at this astronomical amount and wanted to know the rationale behind this fee. I was told that the fee was high because the product was out of Warranty and that the cost of the parts replaced would be adjusted against this.

By this time I was beginning to sense something was amiss and when I saw the huge, unprofessional-looking slob walk into my house, I was sure he wasn’t genuine. I asked to see some identification or paper and he brushed it off saying that he wouldn’t have known my TV had a problem unless I had contacted the Service Center.

Well, it did seem logical so grudgingly I allowed him to see the TV. He yanked it off the wall and pointed accusingly at the dust bunnies clinging to the back.

“These should be regularly blown away!” he admonished and fiddled around on a gadget that looked like a mobile phone and some information appeared on the screen which had hitherto just crackled and snowed.

Putting away the gizmo, he opined that the Motherboard was faulty and needed to be replaced. And since it was my lucky day, he had a spare with him and could replace it right away!

When I asked him the price, he gave me two options.

If I did it officially I would have to pay Rs. 14000 and if I did it unofficially, it would be Rs.8000.

I immediately told him I’d rather buy a new TV as it had originally cost me Rs. 29,000, two years ago and if the company’s warranty didn’t hold beyond 2 years, I would be foolish trust his ‘dubious’ authentic Motherboard.

He then started pleading to let him change the board for Rs. 6000 and would give me a personal guarantee for a year. I told him that I’d think about it and asked him for his mobile number so that I could contact him if I so wanted.

By now I just wanted him out of the house and handed him his fee and asked for a receipt. He pocketed the money and told me that the official receipt would come by email from Sony.

Oftentimes receipts are sent by email so I didn’t really doubt that I would get an official receipt.

After he left, I again WhatsApped the “Service Center” and by this time, I was convinced I’d be scammed. So I made an official complaint to SONY and am in touch with them.

Getting a new Television

Getting a new television was of paramount importance as the weekend was approaching and Hubby Dear and Ms Papaya would have been restless at the thought of doing without. However, before embarking on a tedious Internet search for the perfect TV, I decided to switch it on for one last time. A N D ………..wonder of wonders, it actually worked !!!!!

Beware of websites that mimic the original. And do not get bullied by aggressive salespersons.

So that was a very expensive lesson learned. We Senior citizens are quite gullible and ignorant of copycat websites. I, who considers herself savvier than her peers was actually taken in.

But I am still curious as to why my Television didn’t work in the first place and how it started after the scamster had a look at it.

Ciao