Guilty as Charged

Here is the reply I got from the Mr. B Krishnamoorthy Bajaj Regional Manager, Bangalore about my complaint (previous blog).

Dear Mr Manu,
Noted the contents of your mail and we sincerely apologise for the experience which you had with our service centre.

Your feedbacks are very valid and would help the dealer to improve on customer service
We are taking up the feedback with the concerned dlr and we assure you better experience during your future visits.
For any future service assistance pl contact me or my colleague Mr Manoj Manoharan, from our Bangalore Regional office.
Assuring our best services.
Regards,

B Krishnamoorthy
Regional Manager-Service
Bajaj auto ltd
Bangalore

Atleast I got the satisfaction that I had done something to resist customer exploitation. After I got this mail, I got a call from another guy (forgot his name) on behalf of Mr. B Krishnamoorty apologizing for the incident. He said it’s good that I submitted the feedback, so that they can improve customer service. He also assured me that there had been some internal action taken and the corresponding person from Amba Bajaj will call me. As expected, Mr. Hithranjan Kumar from Amba Bajaj called me and we ‘discussed’ about the incident for some 15-20 minutes. Finally he concluded that, its their mistake and he apologized for that and he assured me that I can contact him anytime for any assistance. He also wanted me to reply to the regional manager’s mail about our discussion. Anyway, I now feel that there is some customer service after all, and some one will reply to the complaints of a customer, if you complain at the right place.

Thanks to Amba Bajaj

This is the mail I had to send to customerservice@bajajauto.co.in (and to the regional heads) today. Thanks to Amba Bajaj.

From,

Manu Ignatius

To Whom It May Concern:

Bajaj Customer Service

Bajaj Auto India Ltd.

Subject: Feedback about customer service

Sir,

I own a Bajaj Pulsar 180cc, 2006 model bike (vehicle no). And I love it and I take care of it really well. But I am loosing faith on your customer service and dealers. I bought my bike on <date>. During that time, I had some issues and I had to mail to this same email id and I got the bike after a long time.

I gave my bike for 4^th free service yesterday (October 14, 2008) to Amba Bajaj service centre in Hongasandra. (Bill attached). I could not go there to collect my bike yesterday due to some personal reasons. I called them by around 7pm, and they said, bike is ready, but I can collect it today (October 15^th) morning. You can clearly see from the bill that I collected on Oct 15^th. When I went there to collect my bike, it was not ready. After I paid the bill, they started cleaning my bike. Then I noticed that, the bike was not at all clean. There was mud all over the engine, the silencer and the central stand. I was on my way to office and I wanted the bike fast. But, I told them this issue and they said they will do washing again. I had to wait there for 30 mins. I missed a very serious meeting in my office. But it was ok for me, as long as my bike is good. Even after 30mins, when I couldn’t see anyone responsible for the bike, I went inside the service centre and the guy who washed it said its ready and I can take it. The bike was washed, but it was totally wet. I asked them how long will it take to dry it. He said, its ready, and he is not going to dry it. I felt thoroughly cheated, and it was like he slapped in my face. I wanted to complain this to some one, but I couldn’t find anyone who is responsible there. I felt like, no one is accountable for any work in that service centre. I trusted your company and service centers. But if this is the case, where will I go for service?

I saw a label there about your goals. It said, 100% customer satisfaction – in my case its 0% + loss of time + mental agony. Also I saw another goal which says, no repeat works – if I had checked it again, I would have to tell them to wash my bike again. Because it was not clean as I wanted. By these incidents, I am loosing all the faith in your service centers. The bike is a great one, but I don’t know how long I can take this kind of customer treatment from your service centers.

Yours truly,

Manu Ignatius

ps: I have posted an online complaint also regarding this same issue.

What the hell?

I tried to ‘love’ Bangalore. But here is something I would like to share with you. Can any one please explain these traffic signals?? Especially my ‘I love Bangalore’ friends. I am confused about all these. I took these photos from Madiwala, near the Hanuman temple.

1. All the signals are red and all the vehicles are moving. Why?

2. Ok, the previous one may have been the drivers’ error. May be they saw the road deserted and went ahead. But what about this one?? If you look at this picture, you can see all the green signals are there. They tell the drivers, it’s ok to go wherever you want to go, left, right or straight. The road is all yours. [In fact, you cannot take a left turn here].

3. Can somebody help me out here, please? Which one do I choose? The red one or the green one? [Yes the green light shows ‘go straight’ not ‘go right’, zoom it, you’ll see. And I don’t think there is a left turn there, if that’s what the red indicates]
Don’t think this is a faulty traffic light post, its like this every time. I checked it many times. Fortunately I don’t have to use my bike in this road so often.

4. This time its my fault, I didn’t see the sign post [No Parking] [This photo, I took from across the mall, Forum] I’m not blaming anyone here, just that I want you to know this is a ‘no parking’ space and if you park here, there is a chance that the police will impound your vehicle [Look close, you can see the ‘no parking’ sign, near the transformer, where 2 bikes are parked]. Last day, after a movie at Forum, when I came back, I couldn’t find my bike. I saw people stacking some bikes into a carriage truck. I enquired and they said, come to Madiwala Police Station. Finally I ‘released’ my bike for Rs 300/-.

5. What can you say about this? Ofcourse this is not a main road[Maruthinagar], but obviously one with really heavy traffic. And during a Saturday evening [hope you know the traffic rush of weekends], they have set up a stage right in the middle of the road.

These are a few things I came across over a period of 2 days, about Bangalore. If I start writing about all the things, I don't think this blog will be enough. So much for the great Bangalore.