Mar
19
Mr. Vijay Mallya, owner of Kingfisher Airlines, in the centre
I hate flying. I know I am a travel writer, but I have consciously chosen my car as the vehicle to take me around for the purpose. Flights and I don’t endorse each other’s company.
What I do endorse is, when flying is an absolute necessity, is one fly Indigo in India. It is a low cost airline, but it is always on time. At least that is my experience on both occasions when I flown Indigo. But all the three times I have flown the stylish Kingfisher has only got me a delayed flight. Read more
Feb
23
I went to the Reliance Communications store in Green Park in New Delhi to buy a datacard sometime back. It was a couple of days before I went on a long road trip, and I needed this card to stay connected when on the move. Here are my five reasons why I almost cried during the purchase process and later too: Click here to read a sob story
Feb
13
Here is one way ABN AMRO bank in India tries to act smart with its credit card holders. And take you on an ‘air’ ride, literally.
I got a call from the bank for a very tempting offer. This is the deal I was entitled to as a credit card holder issued by the bank:
- For a sum of Rs. 4,000 I would be entitled to four one way air tickets on Indian Airlines (now merged with Air India) to be used within India only. Taxes, surcharges and airport charges would be extra.
- These could be used on any sectors where this airlines flies.
- The vouchers would be valid for one year.
Since this was sounding too good to be true, I asked more than one salesperson of the bank if this was exactly what it was. And I was told yes. When I asked for it in writing, they said they cannot do that but there is no ambiguity here. All right, if you say so.
And when I opened the vouchers today to redeem them, what do I see? I had been totally misled by the bank’s representative. Read on to know how
Sep
4
“I promise to drive my customer nutsâ€: Do companies care?
Filed Under Consumer Matters | 10 Comments
Unless I am jinxed, I have a mountain of problems with companies whose products and services I have bought. And there seems to be no end in sight.
In this day and age, with so much competitive pressure, one would think companies would want to provide the best of services to their customers. No Sir, it looks they have decided to drive them nuts knowing fully well few will bother about chasing them in consumer courts and just resign themselves to their fate. Read more
Aug
7
The welcome message on board Kingfisher Airlines has the company’s boss Vijay Mallya assuring you his staff has been trained to treat passengers like they are guests at his home. Perhaps they should be a bit more careful before doing things like: Read on to know what the issues are
Aug
5
Coffee bars not a place to shake a leg
Filed Under Consumer Matters | 8 Comments
Even as coffee bars have become an ubiquitous part of most urban landscapes in India, we need to get the atmosphere right before we can truly claim to have adopted the Starbucks or Costa culture in the country. The spoiler is the loud music played at most of these places. Read more
