Paddy's Pod: Customer Disservice

It's nothing new that in this country, there's some serious shortage of decent customer service. I mean, we treat our guests like gods but when it comes to someone walking into our store potentially bringing food to our table, our noses just get so thick we can't see beyond ourselves. It's almost like reverse capitalism, the customer is always trite.
                                                                          

iStore iCrossed iMe iOne iDay
Last November, my sisters and I all chipped in to buy our mother an iPod for her birthday and we went to a Reliance iStore. And because there are so many freaking colour options, we chose using the 'eenie meenie miney mo' choice selector to decide on the colour. When the mother opened the gift, she scrunched her nose a bit before lashing out the appreciation smile. So we thought we'd make it perfect by asking her which colour she wanted. Now, this was 15 days after we actually bought the present (yes, we buy our gifts early to work around work life).

When we take the iPod back to the iStore, in its original unopened packaging, simply to exchange it, not even wanting a refund obviously, we were told, "Sorry ma'am, we have a 14 day return policy". And they just would not relent. First of all, having a 14 day return policy is slightly nauseating, however this is also Apple's return policy so you can't blame iStore. But in the past, I've had to exchange an iPod in the Apple store in the United States a few days after the 14'th day and they were totally cool about it. So what was up with the stick in iStore's you-know-what?

Vodafone Believes Human Customer Service is for the Priveleged
First of all, I hate IVRs because they're totally inefficient and never have the options I need. Recently, I tried to call Vodafone to stop some ads coming in and to block calls from certain numbers because they were mind-numbing prank callers. Now, I get through the IVR and they don't have the options I need so I have to hold for a customer representative. Get this, while I'm on hold, a voice tells me, "If you would like to speak to a customer service representative, the charge is 50 paise for 3 minutes". Ok, it's cheap but come on, it's about the principle. Why do I have to pay to talk to a human being? And then the human that I'm paying for had to consult three different managers to tell me that in order to block the prank callers, I'd have to file a police report which she couldn't help me with, effectively adding Rs. 6 to my bill. Fine man! I've heard Airtel does this too.

Add to this the numerous call center employees I've had to deal with while calling on non-office hours when living in the States. The Apple hotline in particular was a NIGHTMARE. Thank the high heavens they've shut down their call centers in India, at least for foreign calls. But to be fair, I should also mention two examples of remarkable customer service from tech companies here. 

I bought a portable external hard drive from Croma and I took it back after 4 days (4 days is their return policy) because I wanted to switch to higher memory and go for a brand that I knew for a fact would support Apple and Windows simultaneously (I've been a bit behind on my HDD knowledge, sorry guys). They not only showed me how I could use the same brand to format to both systems but also gave me the option of sticking to the brand or going for another and accepting the exchange even though the return policy date was past. I totally felt like a welcome guest in their store even if it was over a measly device. 

Another awesome experience I had was with Staples. In an emergency, I had to print something and not knowing what better to do, I ran into Staples telling them I will pay them to allow me to print a document. After a little hesitation, they said it's all good and took care of me. After that experience, I've stayed faithful to them, if anything, just for stationary.

Now if any of these phone companies could advertise good customer service instead of showing images of people in rural India smiling on cell phones, I'd be a happier person. Feel free to list any customer service problems or plus points you've experienced in the comments section.