[bblost]

Sometimes we end up with bad products or service.

What did you do?

This thread is for all your true stories.
Not the stories of your friends and neighbors but YOURS.
Do not give in process fights and action.
Give a summary of the problem and your action.

This way even the most passive consumer will understand his/her rights and as a society we will be better off.


I start with 3 experiences:

Subway:
After recieving my subs and paying the amount told to me, I don't get a bill.
Even after repeated requests the bill is not forthcoming.
So I put my foot down. Make it clear that I am not leaving without the bill.
The bill when finally given to me looks like a very temporary reciepts of sorts.
Find that I have been charged for some extra meat.
When I point it out a refund is made.

Action taken:
Sent an email to subway with all the relevant information.
Get an apology email and am asked to collect a free sub anytime I want.
The email had a very sincere tone to it.

Amore:
Get into a discussion with the counter on why Irish Coffee does not mention it contains alcohol.
In the same store the label for Rum and Raisins mentions it.
The guy at the counter refuses to listen to me and does not give me a feedback book.
I was being very polite as my family was with me.

Action taken:
Sent email.
A very sincere email from them apologising about this incident.
They have mentioned that the labeling will be updated across India.


Britannia:
The biscuits in the pack we bought appear half cooked.

Action taken:
Called the toll free helpline.
The packet was replaced at my house.
In addition to an apology recieved some 3 packs extra. Also 2 packs of a new launch product.

[agspins]

Well have few of them...Starting with the oldest

Monte Carlo:
Back in 98, was in high school then, had bought a woolen worth some 1500 bucks.
When asked the salesman claimed that it wont have pilling problem, even the sticker on the woolen suggested that.But within a few weeks pilling on woolen started.

Actions Taken:When contacted store,they suggested to get in touch with company Oswal woolen mills.Initially there was no response to couple of letters, so finally we parceled out the woolen to the company with a letter regarding quality of woolen and stuff like that, Received a new similar woolen less the pilling and a apology letter.

Hindustan Motors:
Again back in 98 my Dad was posted in Bihar,he was sanctioned a new vehicle, obviously the vehicle of choice was Ambassdor.So Finally an Ambassdor classic 1800ISZ was booked with a nearest Dealer, that was in Muzaffarpur.When we (luckily,was there for my vacations with dad) went in for delivery, were taken aback
that vehicle was not having Radials and Tinted glass, as it was supposed to according to specs and quotation.The dealer was rude and ignorant to the issue.We took the delivery quietly without much protest.

Actions Taken:
We immediately contacted HM office in Kolkata,Somehow got in touch with a General Manager and filed a oral complaint followed by a written.Within a very quick time action was taken, dealer was issued a strict warning and Car was replaced with model with radials and tinted glass.

Cafe Coffee Day:
In 05, was in Dehradun having coffee and brownie with my friend.After a nice chat with got hot coffee and yummy brownie till the last bite went in,everything was in thin air....there was a long curly hair in the brownie...yuck.

Actions taken:Without creating a scene i called the manager of the cafe told him bout the incident and showed him the long curly hair coming outta brownie...na.. last bite of brownie.At first he was bit ignorant, but after somehow got the point and offered a coupon for free coffee and snacks and free Brownie( ....again from the same tray).

Reliance Broadband:
This time in Ahmedabad in 07, booked a broadband connection( unlimited flat Fee plan).Executive came within a day for the process and i payed up initial deposit of 500 bucks.After that the they never showed up, was left with couple of replies first one was everybody out for Diwali leave and second was that it is technically difficult to put up a line at place where i was living(it being one of the prominent locations in the city C.G Rd), will take some time.After a month and half i finally got in touch with the person who booked the connection and she was like who cares...

Actions taken:Managed to get the contact the CEO/Director (pardon me cant recall) the Reliance broadband, put up a strong mail regarding the approach of concerned people and also intentionally put up that the advance money should be kept with the company as donation from my side.
And look what 4-5 people come to my place in few days and put up the connection with a new line and with a call from branch manager that if services are not satisfactory, they will refund my money.

Still there are few more with Mobile Companies,Airlines and a Retail Chain.....

[subscrive]

Bought 2 t shirts from adidas. One was xl size while the other was s size. Due to the glare in the showroom and also the fluorescent kinda colour, didnt notice the size difference.
The s size tore within a week.
Went to the showroom for replacement.
Got a no as an answer since I should have checked the things in 1st place.
Mailed to adidas worldwide with 2 points.
1. Adidas provides piece refund - no reasons asked in US, if within 30 days. Why this discrimination in India?
2. The -ve marketing which will happen due to me will be far worst than the 900 INRs that I had spent.

Got the t shirt replace in a week.

[Sowmya]

Hutch Service
My hutch connection is almost 5 yrs old. Its was fine and smooth from the beginning. But when I changed to my new house the connection got worsen. Call get dropped, Not reachable... Basically no network.
Action : Talked few times to the CC eng. Nothing happened. Started mail communication with them. Stopped my ECS. Started paying half the monthly rent. They gave some excuse but I still didn't pay the full amount. it went like this for 3 months. Finally one small receiver has been installed in my house. 3 months 50% rental weived off.

Big Bazar
I bought some plastic spoon (soup drink). Didnt used for 2-3 months. when we tried to use them we found that the sticker was not going at all. I tried to put hot water/soap ... Nothing happen.
Action: Return it to Bigbazar with out any Bill. One spoon was still having sticker. Bought some thing else with that same money.

[mb_jg]

Aitel (Pune)
Mobile phone connection for the last 3yrs, placed several complaints with their customer retention dept when they used to call me to find out if I was facing any problems with the connection.
Action:
Recently received call from their retention dept asking,
1) Why is your usage so low (my monthly bill used to average at 5k earlier). I answered "cause the Airtel network is so pathetic I give up trying over again", & who are you to dictate expenditure terms to me
(2) Do you want to disconnect your current connection

[sam_boy]

Deutsche Bank:

My salary account is there in the Deutsche bank, but I have an EMI which gets deducted from the my other account in HDFC bank. By the SLA the online money transfer across India takes 4 working days. I transffered the money on 28th and my EMI had to be deducted on 5th. But there was a cheque bounce as the transfer did not happen before 5th, so I was charged fine of 330 Rs from HDFC for the bounced cheque and 225 + 300 Rs from ICICI account for the late payment and bounced cheque again. When I called the Deutsche bank Customer care they said it is a problem with RBI which handles the cash transfer with different banks. Hard to belive and laughable. Next time I called they said this is a problem with HDFC bank. Called up HDFC CC and they said they never recieved money. Called the CC @Deutsche bank again,this time they were rude. Got a mail id of some senior guy in Deutsche bank and wrote regarding the payment fee and more importantly the damage to my reputation due to the bounced cheques and I also mentioned, I can go to any level and fight for my case.

After some time got a mail from the bank that the late payment fee has been credited to my account, but there were no apologies. But will definitely remember the RBI joke by the Customer care guy.

[sam_boy]

Originally Posted by Sowmya

Big Bazar
I bought some plastic spoon (soup drink). Didnt used for 2-3 months. when we tried to use them we found that the sticker was not going at all. I tried to put hot water/soap ... Nothing happen.
Action: Return it to Bigbazar with out any Bill. One spoon was still having sticker. Bought some thing else with that same money.

You were lucky. I bought a dining set from Whitefield Big bazaar in Bangalore. The table top glass had a black mark. After the billing I noticed it and asked for another fresh piece. The guy said it is the last piece. I said I wont take it. But he said he will replace it when the new stock comes. I insisted him to write this on paper and he said he will deliver the letter with the furniture. I went home. With the delivery the letter did not come. Called him again then he sent me a letter . Guess the letter is written in a ruled paper very similar to what I used in my std 3 without any Big bazar logo or anything related. . I called them regularly 2-3 weeks for the replacement. Requested ... Shouted no use. After 6 -7 months I got a call for the replacement and he said he will replace the glass. Made me sit the whole sunday @home waiting for him. Never turned up neither picked the phone after 7PM. After a week I called him again and you wont believe the answer he gave me. It was out of the world. His answer was


" Sir, I resigned from Big Bazar.. dont call me again"

Big Bazar ... you are sick .. Never went to Big Bazar after that. My neighbours too stopped going there after this , as I made them laugh a lot after telling the story.


If possible please forward this to the same Email id. Let me see how much they care about customers.

[InControl]

Where

At Mayuri Restaurant , New BEL road, Bangalore

What Happened
It was Ramnavami day and Me and a friend asked for a veg North Indian thali. There was Veg Biryani in it. I asked him twice that please confirm if this veg biryani is not the rice lifted out and skimmed from any Non-Veg Biryani.He replied it is pure veg Biryani.To our horror, my friend got a chicken piece in his veg biryani.

What did i do

We put our foot down and denmanded to see the manager else we will not pay the bill.The Manager came, apologized but wanted us to pay the bill.I demanded to see the guy who sets up the thali.He came and apologized but he told that they dont make veg biryani separately.I blasted all three of them and dint pay the bill for one Veg thali.
They apologized but i really doubt that they have stopped serving 'veg' biryani now in the Thali. I have vowed never to set foot in there again.

[subraiyr]

Similar experience with Airtel

Airtel BB connection disconnected due to cable fault. Called up the contact center and they assured me that this would be rectified within 24 hours. 72 hours later no change to the situation. Called up the call center 4 times in between and the response was that we will call you and update you in 30 minutes. But the update never came

Action taken
Jumped on to linkedin and got the email ids of south head, customer care head and shot of a factual mail (no threats) and within 2 hours 4 technicians land up at home and rectify the problem. The issue was that there was a minor cable fault within the appartment complex while the contact center kept telling me that major cable fault and that road has to be dug. I did search around for a 2 km radius and never found any road digging.

Would suggest always try linkedin and facebook and with new age companies any form of social media to escalate. It works

[extreme_torque]

Pizza Hut

What Happened

Ordered a Pizza at one their outlet. It came after a long wait and was half cooked. It was so bad that I had one triangle and left the rest on the plate.

What did I do

Disgusted I sent a stinker to the customer care. Got a call from them with in 2 hours of sending the email. The customer care executive offered to me a free meal at the same restaurant and apologized. Did not claim my free meal and never went to that outlet ever again.

[akshay380]

Interesting thread. Multiple encounters

1. 2008: Vodafone Goa:
Disconnected my number which was working since BPL mobile days. Vodafone store guys were rude so told them to get lost and found out email id of a senior Vodafone employee. Wrote them everything in detail including experience at store. In a week they called me, apologized for the conduct and asked the store guy to literally say 'sorry' to me.

2. 2009: Famous restaurant in Pune:
Bunch of friends partied hard and just when we were about to finish, found a insect in one dish which I luckily did not ate. Called the manager who initially was rude but we threatened him about creating ruckus in fully packed hotel. Left without paying a single rupee of INR3K+ bill.

3. 2011 Tata Docomo Bangalore
A Rs1000 recharge for 3G did not go through but I was charged for the same. Fighting with CC did not help so contacted one of their's VP who forwarded the request to another guy from customer support. Finally got an apology and 30GB data for three months worth 3K.

[jinojohnt]

1. Sent an email to Louis Philippe about difference in actual waist measurements of trousers purchased from the same store with the same labelled size. Also mentioned about stitches coming out of shirts at the second wash. Got the following prompt reply - "We take pride in our products. This can never happen. In the rarest of rare such occurances, we need to analyse what happened. Please bring the products back to our store at your own cost, so that we can analyse what happened (It's good for you only, you see)". Yet to decide whether I should stop buying their products OR 'aid them in their research about what went wrong in the rarest of rare circumstances'.

2. Complained to Maruti that I was 'penalised' for getting delivery on the same day as per some weird policy of the dealer (no accessories can be given). Got a set of free mudflaps and Footmats within a month.

3. Got a defective product (smart phone) from flipkart. Prompt replacing with a new phone. The new phone was also defective, again promptly replaced with another working piece (no questions asked).

4. Purchased a smart phone from Samsung eStore. Payment transaction successful, but Samsung site showed unsuccessful. Had to send 10 emails and call customer care 7 times to get the money back after 28 days. Now waiting for the cashback to arrive at my account, for the past 4 months. (Multiple mails going back and forth).

[swiftnfurious]

Couple of incidents from my side.

1. 2004 - Java Green, Hyderabad.

Saw a string of hair in a cold coffee, after drinking half of it. Just into a corporate life & exposure, I was NOT sure of what to do. My friend asked the guys to replace my coffee and they immediately did with an apology. First time, I knew about the rights of a customer.

2. Hyderabad Biriyani - Koramangala, Bangalore.

Took a chicken biriyani parcel and put it into a plate after reaching home. Shockingly, see a dead spider in it. Took the whole packet to the restaurant and talked to the guy. Had kept the packet in my car as I didn't want to create a scene at a packed hotel. The bearer looks at me and asks "Where is the packet sir?" and I say it's in my car. Relieved, he sent a waiter and instructs him to carry the packet thru the back door and provide me a new pack.

3. Hyderabad biriyani - Hyderabad.

A bl**dy waiter spills my coco-cola while keeping it on the table. I demanded a new one and he says only a bit has been spilled. I put my foot down for a new one and served so. When the bill comes, I see 2 Cokes been charged. Wanted to pick a fight with the manager, but my friends don't allow me and pays that Rs. 10/-

4. Pizza Hut, Spencer Plaza, Chennai

Saw an offer of unlimited Non-Veg Pizza for 200/- or so and a group of 10 hit the place. The service is extremely slow and we have to wait for 10 mins for a second piece. We waited for close to 1.5 hours and still we have had only 3-4 pieces for Pizza each, and the last 2 of them were half baked. Got so fed up and called the guy who serves and said in a firm but NOT loud voice - "If you don't want to serve us, please ask us to get out"! The guy's face becomes pale and he panics, asks the others to bake quicker.

I asked for the manager and a young guy comes out. I talked to him politely and told him that it's getting late for us to go back to office and also the Pizzas were half baked. He was quite apologetic and told us that he was baking more for us alone and requested us to be a bit more patient. We had one more piece each and wanted to leave. Before that I wanted to talk to the manager once again and the guy profusely apologized for the mistake. He said it was more due to the group size and provided his number for making a call in advance for the next visit.

Add to it, he packed 4 pizzas for us (which was NOT supposed to be happening) + he waived off bill for 2 jugs of soft drinks we had. I was NOT angry NOR shouted at any of them. Was being firm. Was really impressed the way the situation was dealt. I was NOT even thinking of the waiver for the soft drinks.

[Deep Blue]

When I opened an account at Corporation Bank, I had filled in the application for internet banking and was told that the login and password mailer will reach my home in about a week.
When it did not come for a month, I enquired at the bank. The lady brusquely told me " You have not applied for it" without even taking her eyes off from some fat ledger she was poring into. I calmly asked her to show me the application form. To her chagrin, she found the form filled. She apologised and said it will be despatched soon.
That evening, while going through the bank website, I got the Chairman's email and promptly shot off a mail saying that despite the care we take to fill up the form( it is a pain to read the form & instructions in bilingual) ,nobody at the bank even goes through the form. Next day, at the hospital where I work, I had a pleasant shock! The branch manager and an assistant waiting for me in my department! They profusely apologised for the oversight. The manager even gave me his mobile number and asked me to call him for any service. All this, while I was only expecting a reply email from the chairman's PA. I was a not even a privileged customer or HNI account for them, but the top honcho's concern really touched me.

[chinkara]

Maggi:
1998, a six-pack without tastemaker. Mom complained, a whole basket delivered at home with an apology.
Rediff: 1995 or 96 rediff had just started. I had opened my rediff account - there were some access issues. I mailed a complaint - received a bouquet and a box of chocolates for something I had registered for free.

Now some sad stories:
2006: Metro Packers and Movers. When we were shifting from Mumbai to Gurgaon, they lost a brand new carpet. I had insurance with them, so I told them I would deduct the value (12 K) from the amount to be paid. They got rowdy and threatened to break or take my PC if I did not pay the full amount (my first run in with NCR 'culture'). I called up the person who I had interacted with in Mumbai, after the first call he refused to take my calls.
I visited the consumer court here, and was told that I would need to file in Mumbai as that is where the contract was signed. Not true, I learnt later, as you can file a consumer complaint anywhere in India. But by then it was too late.