Lighted out!

Our erstwhile water purifier was a non-RO purifier and it was a long pending item on our list to buy a RO compliant one. (For the uninitiated, RO purifier is one that filters hard water/ borewell water). After much research we decided on “Kent” which is the most popular in Bangalore houses. It has the unique feature of being able to filter both kinds of water-soft and hard. Ok, now before you guys start to think I am a marketing agent for Kent and trying to sell this product to fellow bloggers, let me come to the point.

After some initial confusion about the billing part and a wait of over a week, we got the technician to install the machine. The after-sales service in Bangalore needs some help. Seriously. Anyway, I digress again. So, this technician dismounted our old one, fixed the new one, added and tweaked some fittings, jotted down some things in his book, all this with a precision and speed of a veteran.

I performed the balancing act of supervising him and keeping my curious toddler away from the scene of activity with panache. After the installation, the technician gave me some instructions about throwing away the first set of water before the first use. I asked him some relevant intelligent questions before he signed off. Now, there is a water-level indicator on the side panel of the water purifier. For some reasons, I came to believe that there are supposed to be indicator lights for the “empty” and “full” levels. I even remembered (imagined?) seeing the lights functioning at my friend’s place.

As is the wont with “Murphy’s law”, such doubts or rather revelations arise only AFTER the technician is safely out of your complex. So, after some frantic phone calls to the dealer, who in turn promptly directed me to the local customer service, I put my concerns across to the lady who answered. She heard me through the complaint just to say, “Ma’m, please call tomorrow, as we are closing for the day.”

Well, next day, I made a fresh call and was happy to get my complaint registered without any problem. I was told that the technician would arrive within a day or two. Now, in the meantime, I spoke to my friend (who also happens to own the same model) and updated her of the happenings. She lent a sympathetic ear and agreed to my raves and rants of the sales service. Not a word about the indicator lights, though.

Now, to the climax of the story: The technician arrived the next day and after I told him of the fault, he replied coolly, “ma’m, lekin lights toh hote hi nahin hain!” (There aren’t supposed to be any indicator lights in the first place, madam)
I was like,”$%^?????...(with indignity and apparent embarrassment) lekin, mere friend ke yahan toh lights aate hain??” (But, these lights appear in the machine at my friend’s place.) I mentioned about having seen the lights, remember?

I proceeded to cross-verify on the internet. I could also hide away that way you see.
I left my husband to deal with him. The hapless guy (both of them hapless, in this case) repeated the same thing to him and when he saw that I wasn’t about to come out of my cross-check mode, gave the parting punch line to my husband,

“Main paanch saal se kaam kar raha hoon. Abhi tak aisa model nahin dekha jisme lights ho!”
(I have been working since 5 years and am yet to see a model (means a machine here) with lights.)

I spent the rest of the evening smarting under bruised ego and wondering how come none of the people (ones who took down my complaint) I spoke to over the phone could enlighten me at that point itself? How come even my friend failed to mention the non-existence of the lights (except the ones in my mind)?

Talk about the universe conspiring against you!

10 comments:

  1. Tough Luck..seems like in this case you will get to listen this tale for a long time to come..

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  2. though hilarious for others, I can totally empathize... customer service! Hopefully u weren't charged for the visit? They never give u the correct information when u ask through phone. and yes, all great ideas and doubts strike us ONLY when they are outta sight!

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  3. Perception: hmm..if u mean from by better half, then I dont think so. He knows better than to do that..;-)

    Purnima: in hindsight I can laugh now..:-) thankfully, I wasnt charged for the visit..hehe.

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  4. LOL!!! Yeah blame it on customer service ;-)

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  5. Divs: yeah, could manage a laugh later..:-) thanks for hopping over!..:-)

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  6. LOL Uma, I could just imagine myself in this situation. You can see the funny side only a while after it's over..

    All to do with reducing listening skills - whether customer service or otherwise ;).

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  7. Aparna: LoL!!..seriously..also talk about perceived notions and imagination..but tht apart, customer service too needs a overhaul..:-)

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  8. @ Aparna: btw, read ur comment in Rohini's blog..have a fun trip..hope to read about the trip when u are back.

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  9. haha...hilarious.. :D but its definitely not ur fault.. its the cust care...they don know their own product... sigh...

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  10. Namratha: yeah! Probably no one cares to give an overview of the products to the tele-sales person so that he or she can serve better.

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