My experiences with various organizations

Samsung - Problems in support services

2010-09-11T23:01:00.000-07:00

22 Sept 2010 2301hrs IST

Today ultimately, the TV has been fixed. The LCD panel has been replaced. Interestingly, LCD cost is the major cost in the TV. Instead of all this cost cutting, if the TV would have been replaced on 3rd of 4th day, it would have saved lot of time in clearing the problem. Let us see now for how long this TV will work without developing any other fault. If LCD is gone just at the end of warranty (another six months to go), then I would'nt get it repaired. Instead, I will buy a new one - non Samsung, as that will be evident of faulty QC in the Samsung manufacturing unit. But there are lot of things for Samsung to learn from this. If they do'nt learn, they are progressing towards complecency and ultimately demise. Readers of this blogs have to make their own judgement as it might be a single isolated incident or there might many such happenning.

21 Sept 2010 2013hrs IST

At last I searched for friends of friends who are in Samsung who could give me the contact number of someone with whom I can talk. Could find MD of customer service (Mr.Zutshi) who listened and told me that he will ask his head of customer service for up east in Lucknow. I got a phone call from Suvitech after an hour. He told that that board has arrived. Amazing now board is there. After sometime, the head of customer service from Lucknow called and asked me if the customer service person from Kanpur has called. I confirmed.

After lot of insistence, the service engineer was sent and he came with the board in the evening. Can you imagine what he found, the board in the TV is not faulty. It is the display panel which has gone faulty. 15 days were wasted for a fault which was not there. Let us see when the panel will be replaced. Anyway I have decided to keep away from Samsung product till I am in Kanpur.

21 Sept 2010

Story further unfolds. 15 days are over, and no sign of any progress. I kept on calling on all the phones given on website, but you will always get a nice sweet voice and you problem is passed onto proper person, but nothing happens.

Four days back, I called up the shop Samsung Plaza, 80 ft. Road, Kanpur and he tells that his job was to sell the TV. If it is not working, I need to talk to customer service. He is no more in the picture. He gives me a mobile of Mr. Ashok Tripathi at Customer Service. I talked to him nothing happened. Again same usual - Sorry sir, we are passing the message to appropriate person. It seems THE APPROPRIATE PERSON has gone on leave.

I again called Suvitech, Kanpur (the authorised service center of Samsung in Kanpur) and someone named Sharad picked up this time, at. He told the part is not available and will be coming from Chennai.

Why the hell, Samsung cannot replace the TV itself instead of making the customer wait for 15 or more days. After all, the TV is in warranty. I have decided to leave this TV with shop from where I purchased it. I will buy a new one (obviously not a Samsung). I also hope none of my friends at IIT Kanpur will be willing to buy anything from Samsung after this incident.

11 September 2010

This time it is Samsung. A good example how big companies take their customers for a ride. I had purchased a LCD TV from Samsung in April 2010. Just after four months and few days, it is dead. No display. So made a complaint to Samsung service over website. The engineer does arrive next day and inspects the TV and says that the main electronics board is gone. The next what he says, is most strange and is not expected from Samsung. He said now wait for 15 days, they will get the replacement board and replace it. Why the hell the spares are not there in Kanpur kind of big city. It seems for Samsung it is just a small village not a city.

Now the problem started in my house. Everyone is habitual of watching serials, one thing or another on TV. Now TV is not working and everybody is shouting at me to get it fixed at the earliest. I thought let us write to Samsung again if they can replace the TV right away or get it repaired on urgent basis. But there is no response. Anyway for them it will be loss making proposition to replace the TV or focuss on repair in warranty.

Now my dilemma is if I should go and buy another TV. If I should it certainly should not be Samsung. When fault happens in warranty, you may have to wait for months before it is taken care of. Also, Samsung TV can go bad even when you keep it in AC environment (This is what the experience suggests). For normal temperature operations, they may not even be suited. My sympathies to Samsung buyers who does not have ACs. Samsung must have a scheme where their TVs are sold with their ACs.

After giving it a thought for few days, I decided that we should live with dead TV. Kids have adjusted and now spending more time on study. No advertisements, so no requests for buying new things. I am happy but the all big companies are at loss. Imagine, if 50% population buys Samsung TV and it conks off. The Samsung makes each one of them wait for 20 days (or for better 1 month), all the big companies who create market by advertising on TV will have reduced market. A good problem for some management guys - to find out how much is the loss incurred. What a loss to economy! But the viewers will be at peace.

But the learning - Big company does not mean a good service. (Naam Bade aur Darshan Chote)

Many other in same boat

2007-09-10T07:47:00.000-07:00

I have got email from my colleagues in IITK, have been told verbally by them about almost same experience with ABN-AMRO. So, three faculty members have told me about similar experience, where they have dropped the cheque in ABN-AMRO drop box, the cheques are lost or debited from bank accounts, but never credited to the credit card account. Thus, resulting in heavy penalty and interest. All of these colleauges are still wasting their time writing to ABN-AMRO for solutions. Probably, I was luckiest of them.

What happened finally? More problems.

2007-08-22T03:41:00.000-07:00

Ultimately, after lot of persuasion and sending the certificate from my bank, ABN AMRO agreed that they have indeed received the amount of Rs.1063.00. They also canceled the card. I took a sigh of relief that my adventure with ABN AMRO credit cards is over.

But to my surprise, I have got another statement charging annual membership fee. It mentioned now another card number. And best of it is that I do not have the card. So ABN AMRO now issues fictitious cards and also charges the so called customers for these fictitous cards. What a nice way of making money.

So, I now leave it to readers to decide what to do? For the time being, pray for me.

ABN AMRO problem

2007-04-21T10:49:00.000-07:00

I ultimately decided to send the certificate that the cheque has been paid by my bank. I got the statement prepared on SBI letter head and sent the scanned copy to ABN AMRO head credit card services.

The credit card person are still adament that they have not received the payment. I got a phone call that the cheque was returned to me. But the cheque was presented by the ABN AMRO credit cards to my bank and it was debited from account on 16 March 2007. It was amazing to see the statements getting changed from the people who are calling me from ABN AMRO bank.

MY SINCERE ADVICE TO ALL OF YOU READING THIS blog - DO NOT TAKE ABN AMRO CREDIT CARD. If you are having one, it is advised, surrender it immediately. They cannot even run their banking system properly and are always asking to provide all the information. Compratively a Govt bank like SBI works much better.

Worst yet to come.

2007-04-15T03:02:00.000-07:00

I thought after the email from head of ABN AMRO that things are settled. But the worst was to come. I got a phone call and then email on 10 April 2007, telling me that payment has not been made. But the cheque deposited with ABN AMRO credit card has already been debited from my back account on 16th March 2007. The communication from ABN AMRO bank is now stating that I have to prove to credit card company that I have paid the amount. Even after I have sent the bank statement, the ABN AMRO credit cards have asked me get in writing from my bank that the cheque has been credited to ABN AMRO credit cards.

There seems to be some serious problem with ABN AMRO cards. God save me.

ABN-AMRO bank experience (contd.)

2007-03-21T00:20:00.000-07:00

I tried to get my voice heard finally by sending an email to head ABN-AMRO cards. Yes, I got the response. The penalty was taken back. All the consequential charges were taken back. But, this should have been done by customer care persons itself. But I have now decided not to use this card untill they provide a drop box in my locality. ABN-AMRO still need to improve their customer care. They should also write clearly on website, that cheques should not be sent by post and should only be dropped in drop boxes.

ABN-AMRO card experience (contd.)

2007-03-17T06:51:00.001-07:00

At last the next bill arrived on 16 March 2007. I was penalised and interest charged at 35% per annum. To my amazement, the cheque sent by me, was also debited to my bank account on 16th March 2007. I cannot digest that a cheque might have taken 20 days to reach Delhi from Kanpur and that to a post bag no. in GPO. It seems ABN-AMRO bank does it intentionally to charge penalty and interest. Upon calling the customer care, the reply from call center executive is, "You have to pay the amount in full." So, I will send the cheque again, and it will again get delayed and so on....

So, you are in vicious circle for no fault of yours. The bank inefficiency need to be paid by customers. Good business sense. I pray for all ABN-AMRO customers.

Misadventure with ABN AMRO credit card

2007-03-09T02:38:00.000-08:00

I happen to see for the first time, how rude and indifferent a credit card company can be, to their customers? I happen to have a credit card from ABN AMRO bank in India, since august 2006. I used it for first time in January of this year. I was very happy to see the way SMSs appeared on my mobile, thanking me for using the card. I got my credit card statement also on 15th Feb 2007, with technical sophestication of encrypted email. I was also prompt to find on ABN-AMRO website http://www.abnamro.co.in/ , the mechanism to pay the dues. I immediately sent a cheque to the postal address given on their website (ABN AMRO does not have drop box in the vicinity of campus of IIT Kanpur, where I live.)

To my dismay, even after 22 days, I have not received confirmation of receipt of cheque. I enquired with their call enter, they told - why I had sent the cheque by post?, it should have been put in drop box. I understood that one should not believe on, what the bank's website says. It is probably made for dumb people like me.

After that I sent three emails to the email id as given on ABN AMRO website. Alas! It happened the way you can guess - There is no response. I do not know, what to do now? I am now waiting for next statement and will do the final settlement as per the suggestion of girl at call center - by dropping the cheque in a drop box some twenty kilometers away. I have now decided not to use the card.

I guess - silently keeping the sent cheque is good idea for the bank to retrieve the heavy interest and penalty from the card users. I pray for other ABN-AMRO card holders in India.