Why not to shop online yet

While everyone around is very much excited about the success of online shopping and the convenience of doing so, I still prefer to go to physical stores and buy products. I say this, even though I am an IT professional and definitely not new to buying various kinds of products and frequently do banking and stock trading online

I recently purchased a tab, a laptop and a smartphone from two different online shopping portals. Although these sites are widely known for their products and services, I have had some experiences because of which I started to rethink whether I should really go for shopping online, especially for expensive products.

Listing my experiences (rather frustration) in order: 

1. Tab: A good piece, except for the fact that the device does not support installation of Google Play app... I got frustrated with the device for many days. What??? Yes, it is never ever mentioned anywhere (although it is not even expected to be mentioned anywhere).

When I got the device and tried to install Google Play, I could not do so... Could not find any helpful guide anywhere. When I called up the seller's Tech Support desk, the technician informed me that I should take the device to the company's authorized service center and get some config changes done and get Google Play installed. I called up the service center immediately. But the laughable part is that the service center person refused to provide support as the company does not clear their bills..

2. Laptop: I placed an order for a laptop and paid the amount to the online store. My credit card was also charged to this amount. Then the next day... got a prompt mail saying that the order is delayed as the seller does not have stock of the laptop model. I called up the call center and asked how could they take the order without checking for availability of stock. Somehow, I got it in the next couple of days.

And when I got the laptop, there were no device drivers... :( I called the online store's tech support team again and they suggested me to check for drivers in the manufacturer's website. I could not find them there also :(

3. Smartphone: After receiving the phone I noticed that there were some memory management related issues. I could only resolve them partially after a lot of reading and struggle. By now, I lost the patience to even call up the seller's call center and complain or write a mail. So, I am just managing with the partial resolution as of now :)

After all these experiences, I feel that there is no serious point in buying online if I have to spend so many hours troubleshooting the products

Points in favor and against shopping online: 

1. Accountability: For physical stores, there is always an accountability factor (esp. if you buy in well reputed stores). There will be many sales and technical staff members to assist and the store managers to handle the issue. In the case of online stores, it will always be on the buyer to follow up with the seller... with very little support from others
2. Wide choice and presentation: The greatest advantage of buying online... Wide choice. In my opinion, sometimes having many choices also confuses a person. With online shopping, it is not just the choice of products but the presentation of the products makes it confusing.
3. Feel the product: Physical stores have an edge over online stores that you can always try the products before buying them, which is certainly not possible in online mode, unless you have seen someone use the products and and tried them 
4. Convenience:  You need to go around brick n mortar stores and do research, which is a little stressful. But assuming the buyer's value of time is hundred rupees per hour, doing research on dozens of online stores and thereby saving a thousand rupees also is not a great saving as I would have already spent so many hours in researching the products. However, online mode of transaction execution has immense benefits in areas such as banking, stock trading etc., and I admit that online mode has helped me a lot.
5. Delivery delays: Assuming the seller has stock of the product ordered, delivery of products usually takes 2-3 days. Due to this, in some cases, the utility value of the product may not be recognizable in time (esp for business critical products) apart from stretching the buying process
6. Difficulty returning the goods: In case the buyer is not very happy with the product, it cannot be returned immediately. Buyer must call the seller's call center and arrange for a return... resulting in delays and frustration apart from not realizing the value from the purchase immediately. 

Considering my experiences and my thoughts above, online model is still evolving (at least in India) and online stores, their policies and procedures must be well defined and audited by authorized Government agencies. I also think that online stores should restructure themselves in order to address the cons of shopping online.

Till then I would prefer to go with traditional model of shopping by visiting the store, over online model, especially for products that are either expensive and / or need more support from the seller's side. For relatively inexpensive items and / or items that do not require much support from the seller, online may be considered.

I hope this article echoes some of the experiences even you've had. I would feel glad to hear from you also. Please share your views and opinions and any good or bad experiences you must have had.

Troubled by impolite tele callers

I would like to humbly submit an issue I faced with HDFC bank today.

I received a call at 4.31PM today from +911409600159 from a person named Ranadheer, on my cell phone 784 249 6197. I was quite busy at work at that time today.

The caller told me that it was a service call for my credit card. Though I knew that it was a marketing call, wanted to listen to him and did not want to discourage him and also, with the intention that he might offer something of interest to me too.

Then after the first 10 sec he got into direct marketing.. saying that he has an investment plan linked to my credit card and started explaining right away without any regard for my time.

At this point, I asked him to send me a brochure so that I can tell him in case I am interested. So, he insisted on calling again instead of honouring my request.

Then I again asked him to send me the brochure so that I can decide, to which he asked “Sir, are you interested or not?” which irritated me and I said “No”, and he immediately said “why not say like that?” and put off the phone without even saying anything.

In the light of this instance, I would like to ask you

- Is this the way you treat people? Leave customers!!

- Why should someone call me for marketing in the name of service call?

- What is your policy for sharing customers phone numbers with 3rd party tele callers?

- Can you and will you take any action on this issue?

This isn't the case with HDFC Bank alone. People from many organizations do the same.
When asked, usually organizations shrug it off with a simple apology. I do not mean to say that you should not call customers for marketing. But, it should be a win-win proposition for both and in case the customer is not interested in continuing the call/doing business at that point of time, it does not mean that you should put off the phone so disgracefully. After all, every person needs to be treated with respect even if they do not give you immediate business. Rather, you may get referral business or future business!!

Hyderabad Traffic Police - Bringing a positive change!! - I'm loving it!!

Have you noticed the developments taking place around for the past couple of months? I did. And I am really happy the way one department in Hyderabad is moving in. That's none other than our very own Hyderabad Traffic Police department. I was living out of Hyderabad for some time in the recent past (though I used to visit Hyderabad frequently) and relocated to Hyderabad in the last September. Ever since then, I started noticing that the road traffic system is improving for better.

Firstly, traffic (most, if not all) started obeying traffic laws such as stopping on Red signal and waiting till it changes to Green. And for those who crawled past the Stop line, traffic policemen began counselling right away, calling and asking them to move behind the Stop line, instead of being indifferent as earlier / "challan"ing as usual

And most recently, Hyderabad Traffic Police implemented the "Free Left" rule, which is definitely another major step in the right direction.

The entire department has been putting in a lot of hard work in identifying problems, developing solutions, providing the required infrastructure and implementing the solutions. My hearty congratulations to everyone and believe that every section of the society will be happy with these reforms.

Similarly, there are other initiatives that need to be taken up in order for our city to be well developed and in doing so, the Govt and various departments should invite public participation. This will help people appreciate the value of the initiative and be more accountable towards the society.

For myself, I pledge to support the authorities in all ways possible and can definitely add value with my suggestions if needed.

Once again, congratulations to Hyderabad Traffic Police, on the way to create a positive change in the society!!

False Commitment + Faulty Service = Airtel?

I am writing this article, after getting frustrated by Airtel's fake claims of internet connectivity with USB device data card and with the hope that Airtel will listen to customers' voice instead of giving fake promises.

I happened to opt for an Airtel USB data card connection at the end of month (April 2012) from the outlet put up by Airtel's sales associate in Accenture, Hyderabad. While there were other service providers such as Reliance and Idea etc., I subscribed to Airtel as I thought Airtel will offer the best service and connectivity.

I selected the package of Rs.500/- for the USB device and a monthly charge of Rs.675/- (for 3 GB limit), delivering a 3G speed of 3.1 Mbps (though the executive brought his claim down to 1 Mbps) for 3 GB per month limit and extra charges as applicable, for the data beyond 3 GB limit

But the moment I got the connection, I experienced extremely bad download speed of hardly 128 kbps. I called up Airtel customer care service and got hopeless help from the customer care executive.

Then I called the marketing executive Madhu, who requested me for a day's time and assured that he will resolve the issues with my device, as it needs to be deactivated and reactivated to get better speeds. Though I was not convinced with his answer, I agreed to cooperate with him and said that I will return the device if he fails to deliver the level of service he promised when I took the connection.

I have been calling up Madhu for the last one week and his phone is either unanswered or busy. He doesn't even call back, as his sales target is met and he is happy!!

I would like to ask Airtel's authorities, is this the kind of service they provide? Also, please let me know what to do now. As far as I am concerned, I can do one of the following -

- File a complaint with the Consumer Forum - Make people aware of Airtel's faulty service - Complain to the corporate services at my company

Madhu's contact number is +91 995 944 2661, just in case anyone from Airtel wants to help me in this regard. In case Airtel is interested in resolving these service issues, they can always contact me on my cell phone # +91 784 249 6197

I will definitely update here, in case there is any progress on this complaint

Names of consumer protection organizations and related websites

http://consumer.org.in http://www.merishikayat.com http://icrpc.org   Gopinatha Rao Yareeda

Never use Yahoo for registering domains

I am posting this write up to help folks like me from being trapped by companies like Yahoo.

I registered a couple of domain names using Yahoo's domain name registration service. The attractive fact is that the interface is very simple with only a few screens to click on.

But the unfortunate facts are:

• THEY ARE NOT DOMAIN REGISTRARS BY THEMSELVES. The domain that you register through them goes through another company called MELBOURNE IT, LTD. Yahoo just acts as an interface in this entire business.



• DO NOT GET MISGUIDED by their claim that domains are cheap. This is only a trick to get business. You will be charged an exorbitant amount of around 35 USD from the next year onwards, which is almost 5 times the rate charged by others (even the smallest company in this business offers a much better rate).



• The account will be setup as "auto-renewal account" by default. There is no way for you to set it as "manual renewal". So, your credit card information is automatically stored on their site and they have every right to charge you any amount.



• Once your domain is automatically renewed, there is no way for you to get a refund in case you do not agree. If you ask the Customer Support Executive, they will humbly say "Sorry Sir/Madam. This charge cannot be refunded". They will also say that you have already signed their agreement while registering the domain and hence, YOU WILL HAVE TO ACCEPT THEIR CHARGES. However, I could get a refund once from Yahoo when they auto renewed my domains. But in my recent experience, they did not refund and gave an immediate reason that I already accepted their agreement while registering my domains with them.



• Their services are not as full fledged as the competition, such as GoDaddy. They just offer domain registration and other closely related services and not all required ones



• Limited Customer Service availability. If you want to speak to the Customer Service Executive to get your issues resolved, you will have to call only between their limited service timings on weekdays from morning to evening (I think they work from 9AM to 5PM Eastern Time in the US) and not on weekends or weekdays after 5PM EST. On the contrary, GoDaddy's executives are available 24X7 and can be reached within a couple of minutes. Folks are always helpful, professional and fast!! Yahoo's executives are helpful but cannot be reached



• Long wait time to talk to the Customer Support Executive - Be prepared to wait on the line for atleast 20 minutes before getting onto a Customer Service Executive. GoDaddy does this within 2/3 min and occassionally more than that.

In the light of all these factors, I would suggest -

In the US, go with GoDaddy, as

• This is one of the best companies for domain name registration that I have seen in the US. Their interface seems cumbersome and very confusing if you are new to them but over a period of time, becomes manageable once you get acquainted with their design. I would still suggest them to make the site more simpler.



• No issues as mentioned about Yahoo. Customer Support Executive can be reached within a couple of minutes



• Reasonable charges for domains and any other services



• Even if your account is renewed automatically, you can atleast reach the customer support to get your issue resolved. Otherwise also, the charges are very reasonable. I can go with them.


In India, go with Netlynx, as

• This is one of the best companies for domain name registration that I have seen in India. This is not as robust as GoDaddy, but their interface is good and the customer support teams can be reached, atleast on chat

I have had problems in service with many service providers including Yahoo and Rediff, and finally moving to GoDaddy and NetLynx.

I thought this would act as a helpful reference in case anyone plans to register domains and looking for the best service provider.

Names of consumer protection organizations and related websites

http://consumer.org.in http://www.merishikayat.com http://icrpc.org   Gopinatha Rao Yareeda