60 years of Independence & we have miles to go

Will our standards always remain 'Indian Standards"? All foreigners who have dealt with Indian companies are prepared for the worst. I have close Israeli friends who say nothing works better than greasing palms in India & Indian Standards mean 3 month delays & yet the world wants to do business with India because we are a rising economic power & no-one wants to miss the bus. But sadly, our "chalta-hai" attitude is so deeply ingrained into our system that sometimes I feel that we are genetically imprinted to be inferior than the western genome:(
Today, let me take you through my travails with a multinational that spends lakhs on advertsing and is a Citibank owned company-You Telecom that was known as Iquara Broadband. Let me tell you that whenever the service is 'working" it is above par & flawless, but they have a huge "down-time" and seem accountable to none of their customers. I sent them two letters which are reproduced as under but no one bothered to send an official reply - although today 15th August 2007, I finally got my internet connection in my office to work! Jai Hind!
Letter 1
You Telecom India Pvt Ltd
Ground Floor, No 1-C, Nirlon Complex
Off Western Express Highway
Goregaon (E), Mumbai 400063

Login: allah_g

Sir,
Let me introduce myself. I am a gynecologist practicing in Mumbai for the past 17 years. I have never faced such bad after-sales service from any service industry as I have experienced with You Telecom.

This is in regards to my connection (user id :allah_g) that we needed to transfer from our Flat in Diamond Apt (Mount Mary Road, Bandra) to our Flat at Kalpak Gulistan, Perry Cross Road Bandra(W). I approached your helpdesk initially in the first week of June 2007 with this request. There was no response at all for over a week. I next approached your Bandra office (Went there personally!). I was assured by some men sitting there that your representative would come and collect the Rs 500 transfer fee the next day. Nothing happened for another month.

My driver/peon/secretary all followed up in turns at your help-desk as well as in person at the Lucky buiding office. As of now, we keep calling up your helpdesk which has a standard answer saying "it is under process".

We have paid the transfer fee of Rs.500/- receipt no. 213629, and the name of the sales executive was Snehal; the payment was collected on 04/07/07 upon our insistence and was paid in cash. I am attaching herewith the receipt.

We have been calling your customer service line practically everyday and have spoken to your agents Amol/Pinal who repeatedly assured me that it will be done within the next 24 hours. However upon contacting them the next day all I heard was that the transfer was under process. I have prepaid for a year and have lost out on 2 months of my prepayment.

We have even sent our office boy to your office at Bandra but again no one has bothered to come and install the line. We have even brought the modem from the Diamond flat to theKalpak flat. All you need to do it send someone and install the line. Is it too much to ask for a service that has been already paid for?

Please ensure that my connection is transferred ASAP. I would also like your company to extend my plan by 60 days to compensate for the negligence on part of your team's indifference. I am shocked that this is a private player (and a multinational!).

I look forward to some responsible team leader sorting out my mess & weeding out the rot from your own organization.

I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely yours,
Gautam Allahbadia MD,DNB,FNAMS

Letter 2
14.08.2007
Dear Sir,
This is just a follow-up to my previous letter regards the terrible after sales service being meted out to YouTelecom customers such as myself. After nearly 70 days & my letter of complaint to you, some one from your office called me last Friday & assured me that my connection which was pre-paid for the entire year in March 2007 would finally start working on Saturday. On Saturday morning, your linesmen came in and laid down the cable for the net conection. The gentleman assured me he would send some engineer to start the net connection in the next hour since my line was already activated. Till date, I am still awaiting your engineer?
This speaks volumes for the control the senior team has on their staff in your organization! Pathetic! i plan to highlight the workings of YouTelecom from a customers viewpoint by Letters to the Editors of various dailies & on my own blog. Please find time to read: http://www.therotundaramblings.blogspot.com
Hoping against hope that someone will wake up-get my internet connection to work & compensate me for the time I have lost on your account.
Sincerely,
Gautam Allahbadia MD,DNB,FNAMS

I finally got the engineer to come in today & start the net in my clinic. Hopefully, You Telecom will compensate me for the 70 days of lost pre-paid service. Keep reading. It is not about the compensation that I am writing this blog! It is about our moral fibre & whether we will ever be humane , transparent & conscientious as the West.

My gut feeling is that the Rang De Basanti generation will change this country- Will change the mindset & hopefully throw out the corrupt old guard ruining our Nation!

Jai Maharashtra! Jai Hind!