Twenty- five Seven

How to buy the perfect headache

May 18, 2014

Now why would anyone in their right minds buy a headache? Well you would if you were gifted an iPad.

It all began with my Diwali gift the year before last which was the gift of an iPad. At that time it was the latest technology and I was pleased as punch that finally I was an IT girl with the slimmest ever iPad that would completely take over my life.

Actually I didn’t really see the need for an iPad since I already had a huge big desk top with a key board I could happily bang on, a tiny Canon camera which let me take good photos and a Nokia phone that allowed me to receive and make calls. I didn’t need to download any books or movies or songs because I didn’t really need to – I saw movies in the theatre or on my DVD player, heard music on the radio or again on my music system and as for reading – give me a book whose pages I could turn any day.

But I was happy to get an iPad and loved seeing this little message at the end of an email Sent from my iPad.

I used MTNL‘s Trump/Dolphin or whatever it was called to access the net till I finally found that I was out of network area even though my house was hardly 100 m away from the MTNL building from where the signals were beamed. I suffered two years of horrible network and decided finally to opt for Vodaphone.

That turned out to be a big mistake because for the past 24 hours I haven’t gone beyond the IVR. First I had to get my account verified telephonically after which the service was activated. After the service was activated I found that my iPad was still not connecting to the net.

Then began that wonderful interaction with the IVR that made me press 1, 2 , 3, talk to people who told me to hang up and call another number since I was obviously connected to the wrong person. Five attempts later I finally managed to talk to someone who told me to re-insert the SIM card which I did. Still I didn’t get hooked up. Then I was told to put the SIM card in another instrument and activate it. Unfortunately the card didn’t fit into the iPhone. So I was told to put the SIM in the dongle and connect that to a computer. I followed the instructions faithfully and still found that my iPad remained disconnected from the virtual world.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH

This experience is tedious enough and I don’t want to grumble any more.

All I can say is that if you want to buy yourself a headache buy yourself an iPad and power it with Vodaphone. The only thing you’ll be familiar with is the message which says

Welcome to Vodafone. For information in English press 1
For billing or payment related inquiries press 1……..
And the instructions go on and on and on.
SAMSUNG – Customer Service that really sucks

May 17, 2014

Apart from the utility itself, one of the key reasons for my purchase of a product is the customer service offered by the manufacturer. At one time I was more than satisfied with SAMSUNG and its after sales service especially when it came to my airconditioner which is why when my daughter insisted I upgrade to a smartphone, I didn’t protest when she suggested SAMSUNG.

Sadly this has turned out to be one of the worst experiences of my life. In previous posts I’ve narrated the saga of my Samsung Galaxy Young which has been giving me a lot of trouble these past six months. Earlier this year I approached the shop from where I’d made the purchase and was told to produce the original bill failing which the shop would refuse to entertain any complaints. I was horrified because who in his right mind keeps a bill which incidentally is printed on thermal paper and is close to fading after time? So naturally I went off in a huff but finally when the phone just hung up on me and went completely dead, I had to get it fixed.

This time I sent it to the Service Centre where I was told that unless I produced a bill I wouldn’t get any service!!!! This is really the most shocking part! Surely any manufacturer would recognise all the markings they put on all their gadgets and track it down to verify their authenticity? I would have thought that SAMSUNG would recognise their product irrespective of where I’d got it from – for instance suppose it was gifted to me without a bill? Would that then make it not worthy of being serviced?

I truly think SAMSUNG sucks, its products suck and its after sales and customer service sucks even more!
Their customer redressal system is long winded and requires online registration of the product before you can even get on to an answering machine on a phone!!!!!

I would strongly advise everyone to AVOID all smartphones particularly SAMSUNG.

Why get a phone that can play the radio, download your mails, tell you where you are going via GPS, keep you in touch with all your friends through different applications, take photographs and do everything but fry an egg?

Frankly a phone is a phone is a phone and should only function as a phone.

Bring back the simple phone that worked or at any rate provide a Customer Service that leaves consumers satisfied.
Finally a sweeping change

May 16, 2014

I remember many years ago my father telling me about a Roman Catholic captain of his ship who insisted that on Sunday all men on board spent some time praying to whichever God they called their own. According to him denying one’s religion is like denying one’s parents and pledging allegience to them does not betray any signs of regressiveness or parochialism. On the contrary, he said, acknowledging one’s roots made one a better person.

A quick glance at the BBC’ mid day news had me riled up with its reference to Narendra Modi as a fundamentalist Hindu. Frankly why can’t anyone see beyond his religion? No one voted for Mr. Modi because he was a Hindu. No one voted for the Congress because they were “secular”. Frankly the country is better off having rid themselves of the Congress weed which was just perpetrating the ills that they had sown in our system.

While Mr. Modi is not a miracle man and will obviously have to face many obstacles in implementing change, we can at least be sure that we won’t have a hand asking us for more to be handed over to the millions that they preferred to keep in penury.

The Indian voter has finally shown the maturity to shake off the shackles of feudalism and the fear of the unknown. This truly is not a victory of a single party but a victory of the electorate which proves that Democracy is not merely a question of numbers but also the right to express one’s opinion.

Jai Hind!

How to buy the perfect headache

SAMSUNG – Customer Service that really sucks

Finally a sweeping change