The Great American Customer Service and UP Bhaiyyas
Back home in India, I was constantly bombarded by the stories of how customer service sucks in India and how, things are so professional and great in America. This continuos programming coupled with the usual tendency to blame anything bad on our Indian-ness made me really believe that the customer service would be great in the land of the free trade, a perfectly capitalistic economy where if you don't treat your customers well, there is always another guy to acquire them.
I believed in American customer service; but then, I also believed in genies, and Santa Clause and snow fairies once..
The experiences yours truly had in the last three odd months range from having to call the MD of the cab company to complain against rude drivers and customer service agents to cancelling my online order for electronics due to irresponsible order handling, intrusive hard sell and outright discourteous behavior.
In the beginning, I was dismissive, "Probably that's the exception, probably, they are the bad fish". However, when the experiences repeated with alarming consistency, I had to reset my views.
The point is not leftist anti-America rhetoric. The point is that level of professionalism, like so many other things, is also individual. A person in Chinchpokli may be more responsible and professional than a person in Cincinatti - its got to do with the person - not the country.
The parallel is discomforting:
a) When the seller says you will receive the delivery in 3-5 working days, it means nothing - you will receive it when you will - this 3-5 working days is just a place holder - something that just looks good without any meaning. For that matter, they would take 4 working days to just ship the order.
Similarly, in India too, if an online seller said they'll deliver in 3-5 days, I'll know that it means the delivery will happen only when the Gods want it. He is just being polite when he says 3-5 days.
b) When the cab company says the cab will reach in 5-15 minutes, it actually means 15-35 minutes.
I believe credibility of a cab guy in India would be slightly more than this.
c) When you call customer service, be prepared to tour through 10 minutes of audio menus, make 13 selections, listen to weird music for a good 15 minutes and then hung upon. Try again and if you are lucky, you'll get to talk to a live person in the third try.
I have certainly had much better experiences with call centers in India.
d) I will not be able to breath easy if I order something worth Rs 50,000 in India over the internet till the time I actually receive it in decent condition - the same is happening with me in the US - despite my efforts to not let it happen.
There is no difference. There are thieves in India, there are thieves in the US. Everybody is not a thief in India, everybody is not a thief in the US.
We North Indians (esp UP-ites) have an interesting instinct built in us - we are always on our guard - the basic assumption is that everybody around is after your money and your belongings. Some sort of battle readiness always exists and one is always ready to face some unscrupulous guy who'd run away with your bag or someone who'll try to sneak out your wallet.
I always thought there would be some place on the earth, where I will be able to completely shed this constant state of red alert. There could have been no place better than America - the land of the free, the home of the brave, open markets, professionalism, integrity and what not.
But it doesn't seem to be happening. Integrity and professionalism and bravery are individual virtues having nothing to do with country. If there are people after your money in the badlands of UP, there are people after your money in the vast lands of California. No difference.
As a true blue UP bhaiyya, these days I am again all set to face anybody who would even try to go after my hard earned money - be it Gupta Ji of Kumar General Stores in Sitapur or Michael of B&H Photo Video in New York.
I believed in American customer service; but then, I also believed in genies, and Santa Clause and snow fairies once..
The experiences yours truly had in the last three odd months range from having to call the MD of the cab company to complain against rude drivers and customer service agents to cancelling my online order for electronics due to irresponsible order handling, intrusive hard sell and outright discourteous behavior.
In the beginning, I was dismissive, "Probably that's the exception, probably, they are the bad fish". However, when the experiences repeated with alarming consistency, I had to reset my views.
The point is not leftist anti-America rhetoric. The point is that level of professionalism, like so many other things, is also individual. A person in Chinchpokli may be more responsible and professional than a person in Cincinatti - its got to do with the person - not the country.
The parallel is discomforting:
a) When the seller says you will receive the delivery in 3-5 working days, it means nothing - you will receive it when you will - this 3-5 working days is just a place holder - something that just looks good without any meaning. For that matter, they would take 4 working days to just ship the order.
Similarly, in India too, if an online seller said they'll deliver in 3-5 days, I'll know that it means the delivery will happen only when the Gods want it. He is just being polite when he says 3-5 days.
b) When the cab company says the cab will reach in 5-15 minutes, it actually means 15-35 minutes.
I believe credibility of a cab guy in India would be slightly more than this.
c) When you call customer service, be prepared to tour through 10 minutes of audio menus, make 13 selections, listen to weird music for a good 15 minutes and then hung upon. Try again and if you are lucky, you'll get to talk to a live person in the third try.
I have certainly had much better experiences with call centers in India.
d) I will not be able to breath easy if I order something worth Rs 50,000 in India over the internet till the time I actually receive it in decent condition - the same is happening with me in the US - despite my efforts to not let it happen.
There is no difference. There are thieves in India, there are thieves in the US. Everybody is not a thief in India, everybody is not a thief in the US.
We North Indians (esp UP-ites) have an interesting instinct built in us - we are always on our guard - the basic assumption is that everybody around is after your money and your belongings. Some sort of battle readiness always exists and one is always ready to face some unscrupulous guy who'd run away with your bag or someone who'll try to sneak out your wallet.
I always thought there would be some place on the earth, where I will be able to completely shed this constant state of red alert. There could have been no place better than America - the land of the free, the home of the brave, open markets, professionalism, integrity and what not.
But it doesn't seem to be happening. Integrity and professionalism and bravery are individual virtues having nothing to do with country. If there are people after your money in the badlands of UP, there are people after your money in the vast lands of California. No difference.
As a true blue UP bhaiyya, these days I am again all set to face anybody who would even try to go after my hard earned money - be it Gupta Ji of Kumar General Stores in Sitapur or Michael of B&H Photo Video in New York.
posted by Prashant @ 11:58 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home