Finally I'm Connected

My Broadband is finally up and running, thanks to quick and prompt service from airtel broadband, lets hope the connection works well, as my sify connection worked without probs for 2 years but they spoiled my association with them in the last 2 months as i bid their connection adeiu, those freaks were asking me to pay 1500 bucks as i wanted to exhaust my renewal which was in pipeline of Rs 1100.

I was bearing their delay in giving me the connection since last 3 months and they just blew my lid off by asking me to shell out rs 1500 for cabling and installation.

The speed of airtel BB connection is quite impressive, i have not yet tested out the download speeds.

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Punching Bags…

These days BPO & ITES jobs are paving way for more and more graduates to start earning good pay packages, a lots being joked about the BPO industry, I have many times found parents of gen next kids being apprehensive of their kids joining the BPO industry… it starts as if the family members who do not know much of the BPO industry beyond taking calls, start advising the teenagers to take up some meaningful career.

Above that the Indian consumer has forgotten those old days when they had to beg and plead government firms in the name of customer service to come and attend their problem, today’s consumer has more power, options and a PUNCHING BAG, the call center where I have encountered many customers who crib like a child, throw off attitude just because they hold some corporate account, or they work for some influential person or just because they are stinking rich.

Companies across the world value customers and try best to match up to their expectations; however it is not possible for a company to keep all its customers happy. I myself have had bad experiences with the companies I have dealt with and since I myself belong to the call center industry I know its no point blasting the poor chap on the other line, I take the alternative route of sending across mails or reaching out to someone personally, in spite of that if somebody feels that his complaint his not attended bloody go and sue the company, blasting call center executives is no brave way to display your powers.

I have encountered cases of customers threatening to remove agents off his job, I have send college kids calling up call centers to just display their smartness in front of their peer group, harassing girls especially, asking absurd and stupid questions, then the whole group has a hearty laugh.

I have a friend in Mumbai, and while I was working with orange customer care I notice this guy had some network related issues with the reliance mobile, this guy used to complain me everyday that reliance network service is too bad and all that stuff and whenever on a given day if he was dealing himself with irate customers I used to accompany him on breaks and this friend of mine James used to blast up the executives on the reliance helpline left right left, which made me observe that just because he was having tough time dealing with his tough customers he was making life tougher for the call center executive on the phone.

How many times have we done this way, is it fair enough to aggravate our frustration on call center executives using them as a punching bag, remember the person whom you are talking to is a human being and he is trained to be polite with customers, still he or she has tall human emotions like you as a customer calling would have.

If you try getting hard on a call center executive you may notice that after some point he would express his helplessness or frustration on the call to you, what you do ? you would either abuse the executive or ask for his supervisor or bang the phone down for some time and catch hold of some other call center executive blast him again.

I don’t say that don’t vent out your anger or frustration, its even your right as a customer as you pay the company and its employee the salary they earn, however don’t cross limits of frustration and wow to make life a living hell for the call center executives, my message to people reading this is that the call centers are here to support customers and a part of service chain, do not treat them as punching bags.

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Broadband Dream

Mr Dayanidhi Maran is riding high on BSNL’s dream to provide 2MBPS connection@ Rs 250 a month that’s something revolutionary in field of telecomunnication.

But Mr. Maran going aggressive on increasing broadband connections is not easy, its tough road ahead, also involves risk of deteriorate already overburdened ISP service providers struggling to provide the desired speeds and customer service that’s left much to be desired.

I recently had a bad and infact a really bad experience with sify for shifting my broadband connection it was almost for two months I kept calling their call center ( it’s in Chennai, god save me can’t bear people with heavy, infact very heavy accent)

I finally thought of writing to sify’s topmost head in customer service, and to my surprise I found her email address on sify’s customer care website. I thought my mail would just go in the thrash can just like other customers keep mailing the customer care, I got a call from the access manager of sify the very next day promising me of getting my connection installed, I was not happy of what happened with me in last months in my association with sify, but the follow up and the personal attention which I got from them, makes me think they are difficult to be hated.

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UP UP and Still going up…

I still do not understand what is RBI upto in increasing interest rates, I mean indirectly as they do it by asking banks to increase CRR with RBI. Banks themselves are going aggressive on loan disimbursements in the economy.

Banks are clever enough to pass on maximum damage to existing customers still offering attractive rates of interest on both floating and fixed interest rate options to new customers.

Our FM is thinking to increase sales tax from current 12.24 to 14%, promising some useless tax deduction in unnecessary sectors. i heard last that its going to be a point hike

I feel that the current government that we have is managed by a hardcore economist and our FM Mr. Chidambaram would get full support from our PM to implement any hard to digest financial decision leaving aside few raised eyebrows in the left front come blocking in between.

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Someone go slap Andre Nel and ICC board members…

Off late I am getting very much irritated with the SA cricketer Andre Nel, I feel like going on the ground and slapping that childish sportsman, Sunil gavaskar lightly describes this player during commentary as a child who makes faces when he does not get something which he demands.

ICC also continues to fine Asian sportsmen for showing dissent on the ground, are they blind and they do not see these white players abusing and throwing angry gestures on Indian players.

We should stop playing this game for a while to shift focus to other sports let ICC realize how much revenue will it earn in cricket broadcasts in other countries ….

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