Why do these big international brands populate their customer service department with human beings? It may be cheaper to simply use robots or computers!
A buddy needs us to ship some Eco Corner products to him in Kolkata urgently. We ship the consignment by standard overnight on Wednesday. Spend the whole of today tracking it. The FedEx India website confirms overnight delivery and delivery scheduled for today. But something was wrong with the route indicated on their website. We connect with the call center.
“Oops! There’s been a mistake. The consignment is on a truck and will reach by Monday.”
The buddy is leaving for his international trip on Saturday.
“What is the solution?”
“Can you pull it off the truck at the next city halt and put it on a plane to Kolkata?”
“No”
“Are you sure?”
“Sir we cannot do anything. Please write a complaint to this email”
Its 7:30pm.
“Can we send another consignment tonight to ensure it reaches him tomorrow?”
“Sorry sir you have missed the cut-off timing for today. It can only leave Mumbai tomorrow!”
“But your pick-up guy was in our office 10 minutes ago to collect another overnight parcel!”
“Sorry there’s nothing we can do!”
I errupt.
“Please speak properly sir. There is nothing I can do to help you!”
“Speak properly? Did I use foul language or say anything wrong or inappropriate?”
“No sir. But why are you raising your voice? There’s nothing we can do to help you”
I errupt some more.
“Let me see what I can do”
“Sir if you drop the package to our office by 9pm, we can make this happen!”
Moral of the story: Speak. Explain. Request. Convince. If all else fails, errupt!! It helps open some doors in India that remain jarred by incompetance and stupidity.