VOC - Lost and buried

I have believed for quite some time now that the voice of the customer, the pivot on which most companies survive, is dead.  In their greed to accumulate customers, VOC has taken a complete back-seat.  As a result, all means for customer acquisition are considered fair; no means for customer satisfaction are considered necessary.

Here are some examples of what the rules say, and what the companies do:

1. TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) has come out with recent guidelines which specify that no advertisements should last for more than 12 minutes to the hour, that there should be no overlapping advertisements/commercials while a program is being viewed, that the volume of the advertisement should not increase more than the volume of the program, etc.  All these rules are being routinely violated with impunity by all channels that are being aired.
2. IRDA (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority) has set standards that mandate that a  grievance must be addressed within 3 days from the date of registration.  I have attempted to register a grievance with one Insurance agency whose policy I was unwittingly made to subscribe to.  The insurance agency refused to take a complaint, stating that a) it was not the correct office, and b) that they had no means of recording the grievance.  Needless to mention, I had to redirect my grievance to Mumbai and their response (which in any case was negative) came way after the prescribed 3 days.  Incidentally, a follow up mail to IRDA elicited no response. Interestingly, IRDA has redressed a total of an insignificant 31 complaints in the last 5 years of its existence! Given the number of false claims being made by practically all insurance agencies, as is commonly known, something is certainly not correct. 
3. In the month of April 2012, DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) registered only 890 complaints from all airlines.  Surprisingly, Kingfisher Airlines, which has possibly had the worst performance in the last few months, has registered the least number of complaints at 1.1 for every 10,000 passengers. So, the irate passengers that we saw talking on TV were not complaining?

While companies have cared less about their customers, I have started believing that the consumer does not care either. Criticism by consumers of services of companies is fairly rampant, but consumer activism is completely missing.  I hope that with increasing pressure on companies to perform, and decreasing propensity of consumers to spend money indiscreetly, this trend will change in the coming few years. Flogging consumers for their money without caring for them will eventually lead to their demise.

Unfortunately, the government departments (such as the ones mentioned above) are neither, nor interested in ensuring that the Voice of the Customer is heard and that he is cared for.  Even Government run programs such as 'Jago Grahak Jago' has failed in its objectives and is only sporadic in its activities.  I have tried the National Consumer Helpline number (toll free) 1800-11-4000, and have received a message that the number does not exist!! If anyone has been able to reach them, please let them know that their number does not work.

Unless this mantle is taken over by a set of strongly motivated individuals, it is unlikely to make any meaningful dent to the way consumers get routinely trashed in India. 

Reading the fine print

Nothing ain't perfect! We all know that, and in India, many of us are also resigned to that fact.  With the vast imbalances in what a customer expects, and what is available, delivery itself is seen as a boon. It is only of late that some discerning Customers have started demanding services from their service providers.
Customer activism has been the cause of death of many brands, but unfortunately in India, companies still get away with only providing lip service in the name of Customer Care.
The Government too has come out with a national helpline http://www.nationalconsumerhelpline.in.  But then, beware, quite a few of the links do not work, the phone number does not work (1-800-11-4000); or at least it did not work when I called. In any case, how can one expect the Government to be a better service provider than the service providers themselves? Even the Annual Report for 2010 (http://www.nationalconsumerhelpline.in/DataFiles/ANNUAL%20REPORT-2009-10.pdf)  shows a total of only 70 thousand complaints.  And, finally, there is no mention of how many of the complaints were resolved. Given the amount of publicity, and the possible number of unsatisfied consumers, this is probably a cruel joke!  
Here are a a few recent examples from my experiences with some of the large service providers/companies in India.  I am deliberately leaving in the names of these reputed companies because it is necessary for others to also relate with these stories, and ensure you raise your voices.  
1. I have been using a reliance broadband card which was given to me on the promise of unlimited high speed access to data all across the country.  I have had the following issues, which I dutifully raised to Reliance:
a) It does not provide the 3.1 MBPS speed that is promised in Metros.
b) It frequently breaks down in the middle of usage.
c) It stops functioning precisely at 10:00 p.m. at night and then restarts.  So if you are in the middle of any activity, beware!
On complaining, the Sales person of reliance came posing as the Customer Service agent, and guess what! He informs me that the connection I have taken is a very old one, and that I should upgrade.  So, will an upgrade guarantee better service? No way! I am told that once I exceed the limit (BTW, I was sold an 'unlimited' use package), the speeds will automatically drop.
2. A few days ago, I received a funny call on my mobile (BTW, I am on the DND, but that is another story altogether) from someone claiming to be from ICICI. And he asks if I have ever purchased a ICICI Prudential Insurance.  Yes, I did, and why was he asking?  Well, was I informed by the 'agent' (which, incidentally, was ICICI bank) that they would charge a commission?  No, I was not.  Oh! In that case, the commission of Rs.45,000 (on an insurance premium of Rs.1,50,000) would be refunded to me. For this, I would need to confirm on another call which would be made soon to me, and then keep it confidential - not even talking to my bank, ICICI Bank about it.  I could claim this amount then, in either of two methods - include it back in my policy amount, or guess what? take another ICICI Insurance scheme!!
3. Axis Bank account routinely changes its access policies (as I am sure other banks also do).  They keep positing an enhanced security feature on their website. I have sincerely complied with their requirements of forms to be filled up and submitted.  And in spite of all of this, the website blocks me, only because internally someone within Axis Bank forgot to update the contents.  The last time I faced a similar pain, I complained directly to Ms. Shikha Sharma, and surprisingly the entire issue was resolved within 24 hours! I guess that is what it takes to get things corrected.
4. My mobile service provider is Airtel. I hate getting unsolicited messages or phone calls on my mobile, and there can be nothing more irritating especially when one is in a meeting.  I had set up my DND and have probably complained about this at least 30 plus times.  And yet, I keep receiving unsolicited phone calls.  When you complain, you are asked for the date and exact time of the call/message, and you are informed that the complaint will be resolved in 7 working days.  And at the end of this time, you will invariably receive another message saying that this complain pertains to another service provider and therefore no further action can be taken!
5. Finally, the Government.  It has now been made mandatory to do most transactions online. So, you need to pay taxes online, to submit returns online, and so on.  That is, of course, provided that your online bank account works, your internet works, and the website itself works at the time that you want to log on!

We all desire the best of services, and while India appears to be hurtling towards the future at a stupendous growth rate, which is debateably anywhere between 7% to 9% depending upon who is talking, the gaps between what is required and what is available keeps ever widening.  The only remedies that I can see are that we create collective furore as paying consumers, and build pressure on the service providers to deliver.  It is best to start a collective boycott of those companies which do not deliver consistently.  Spread the word, and let only the most deserving companies survive!

Companies, beware! As you grow your customer bases, be aware that we consumers will define which of you deserves to continue to benefit you and which do not. Providers: start reading the fine print.  Do not take us for granted.