Vikram Hazra

... a life of shibumi

  • Home
  • Meet my band
  • Blog
  • Contact Me

Connect with me

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Powered by Genesis

You are here: Home / Uncategorized / Soft scamming

Soft scamming

April 22, 2009 by Vikram Hazra 13 Comments

One hears no end of talk about scams — from finance to fodder —

and always presumes that its something that happens to other people and involves humongous sums of money. But of late I have become interested, as a consumer and concerned citizen, about a myriad of innocuous schemes that are probably not illegal, but they sure feel unethical and uncomfortable to me. Thought I would share a couple of recent experiences. Last evening we had just bought groceries from Spencers (a popular chain here) and as I wheeled my trolley out a smiling young man informed me that Spencers had a special offer where you could enrol and receive Rs 100 off for every Rs 500 spent. He also indicated that if I spent a few minutes providing my credit card details and filling out a form, we could complete the enrolment right there.

It was only later that he started asking for more and more

particulars — my driving license, a paid bill where I had swiped that particular credit card, a myriad signatures — mind you, if I had not happened to have all these on me, then the whole process would have had to wait till an executive came over to my house to collect the same. And then he says that it will take another 21 working days to process and send me the membership! I was like — Hey you told me this was to be done instantaneously! I understand
that processing a card takes time, but I sure wish he had mentioned that at the outset. Moreover, he wasnt from Spencers at all, but from HSBC, and they were trying to inveigle me into signing up for an HSBC card. The boy’s name, for the record, is Mainul Chaudhury,
and his immediate superior, Karan Tambe, was right there and not even marginally apologetic at this non-disclosure of key information. Of course I tore up the forms right there and refused
to sign up, but at the end of the day I would have liked the facility offered, I just had to forego it because their principles of operation seem unfair to me. I would rather take my custom elsewhere.

A similar drama unfolded last week while trying to sign Tina up for a demat account for online trading. An ICICI bank salesperson named Ranjit Singh from their Thakur Village branch immediately initiated the process of setting up an account etc. We were about to leave for Singapore, and were keen that the account be up and running, so that we could act on some tips and invest. Amazingly, this guy would call back every day with some or the other requirement that he had forgotten to mention to us, which kept delaying the process!! This document, that original etc etc. And of course his goal was only to claim a commission on starting a new account before 31st March! Needless to say we never heard from him since, despite promises that he would courier the documents to us, “Even if you are in America, sir!” It was only yesterday, a full 22 days later, that the account was activated; meanwhile, that tip we had — the shares rose 50%, which means that we cd have doubled our money! In all fairness, I must say that the ICICI Direct representative who ran us through the activation process, Lalit Sharma, was as efficient as he was courteous, and did much to repair the damage that the inept before him had caused.

I feel that we lack in the training department. For instance, in a country like South Africa, there is so much emphasis in the corporate sector to constantly upgrade the skills of workers at this level; not to mention countries like Japan and Singapore, where the entire consumer experience is made so pleasant and addictive that one becomes a loyal customer for life. In India its still as though the salesperson is doing you a favour by serving you, and is not bothered to learn the basics of his/her job. Also, more than consumer redressal, I feel that consumer education is the need of the day.

I don’t want this blog to turn into a repository of rants against “the system” but I do feel that we could share tips which could help all of us be smarter consumers. What do you say?

Filed Under: Uncategorized

About Vikram Hazra

As Program Director of the International Art of Living Foundation, I travel, teach, sing, smile and serve, and strive to excel as an instrument of His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, whose goal is to put the smile back on every face on this planet.

Comments

  1. Anand Jage says

    April 23, 2009 at 5:23 pm

    Keep writing Bhaiyaa.. Make us smart consumers 🙂

    Reply
  2. AB says

    April 23, 2009 at 5:54 pm

    Hey
    ICICI Direct is one of the most expensive online broking sites!! You cd try shrekhan or reliance money

    Reply
  3. Anshika says

    April 23, 2009 at 7:39 pm

    Thats actually the need of the hour ! To BE Smart consumers 🙂

    Reply
  4. Anonymous says

    April 24, 2009 at 1:10 am

    Are you aware of insider trading? You cd be convicted and remanded to serve time… Make sure the “tips” are safe to act upon 🙂

    Reply
  5. Love,Swapnil :-) says

    April 24, 2009 at 1:11 am

    Change in Yourself..I believe a change in ourself and a more detailed study before buying anything or taking avail of any service will help us become smarter consumers….
    I think Bhaiya if we are exploring a field for any purpose( for example Banking for having a demat account.)a proper study frm people who already have undergone the procedure may help us to identify what things to do or not to do and may help infact surely will help to become good consumers.This doesnt mean necessarily u nd to approach for all matters but for a cause which is involving major expenses or leading to transactions of major expenses…
    Hmmm…thats what we need to do…
    Love,Jai Gurudeva 🙂
    Swapnil 🙂

    Reply
  6. artoflivingdharmveer says

    April 24, 2009 at 9:03 am

    Thanx dada for sharing such things and am very happy, how v in real life can implement the knowledge points, great,
    I remain.

    Reply
  7. artoflivingdharmveer says

    April 24, 2009 at 9:11 am

    Thanx dada for posting such an information and sahi mein this is how v should implement the knowledge points.
    I remain.

    Reply
  8. Vikram Hazra says

    April 24, 2009 at 5:55 pm

    Dear “Anonymous”
    For a moment there i felt like Charlie Sheen in Wall Street!
    heheheheheh i wish! perhaps you wd be more comfortable reading “tips” as “sage advice from experienced well-wishers and siblings”?

    Reply
  9. Floyd says

    April 25, 2009 at 10:34 pm

    People do many unethical things to earn money … you talk abt proper training .. I think if a person has the simple will to serve another human being , in this case a customer , then they wont resort to all this.

    Reply
  10. Deepak says

    April 30, 2009 at 11:53 am

    Very true bhaya .. education for consumers has to be imparted

    Reply
  11. Abhilash says

    May 6, 2009 at 3:13 pm

    Hey Vikram,
    Having been a broker myself I know that it isn’t easy opening accounts. That Ranjeet fellow must’ve been new and that is why he bungled up the acct opening process. God knows how many times I’ve had to meet up with clients during my first 2 months to get this document and that form and also get a dirty look from them as a freebie.
    Also from past experience please do not keep your shares with your broker. A lot of companies insist that they will be your DP and that you cannot keep your shares elsewhere(lots of scope for malpractice). Open up a depository acct with a reputable co like HDFC and ENSURE that your broker transfers the shares to your acct after they have been purchased.

    Reply
  12. Bidisha Guha says

    May 29, 2009 at 5:21 pm

    I am glad to see this post. I feel that a lot of this has to do with the attitude with which people approach “jobs that they to for others just to earn money”. I feel there is a lack of ownership of the job. Which normally come with enjoying and loving your work. When this attitude shifts I believe the whole customer experience will go through a tremendous shift. Hope that made sense 🙂

    Reply
  13. options trading says

    April 11, 2011 at 6:53 pm

    I really appreciate your post and you explain each and every point very well.Thanks for sharing this information.And I’ll love to read your next post too.
    regards
    options trading

    Reply

Leave a Reply to Abhilash Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.