Sunday, October 16, 2011

Customer Service at "Time" magazine

The following inconclusive and perhaps never-ending correspondence speaks for itself:

Ofcourse, readers subscribe to Time for its content and not for the gift. Yet, Time's response to complaint regarding non-receipt of gift is interesting. Reminders are invariably profusely thanked, best services are always promised and remedial action assured. Cooperation is requested. {I wonder what is meant by cooperation. Does it mean "please do not again remind us"?)  I am also asked to please get back to them for further assistance/clarification. Is this Marketing all about?


Dear Mr.Nigar,

I have not yet received the gift.
Regards,
K.R.Srivarahan

--- On Wed, 10/5/11, Time Care wrote:

From: Time Care

Subject: RE: Time Subscription no. 12674511

To: "K.R.Srivarahan"

Date: Wednesday, October 5, 2011, 10:50 AM

Dear Mr. Srivarahan,
This is with reference to your e-mail in regards to the non receipt of gift.
We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to you due to the non receipt of the gift. Your details have already been sent to the department concerned to look into the matter and resolve it at the earliest. As per the status received from them, we would like to inform you that we are keeping a follow up for this case with the postal authorities to resolve the matter and in the meanwhile, we are once again arranging to send you the gift from our end. The dispatch date for shall be 13/10/2011, we shell also secure a proof of delivery for the same, we request you for your kind understanding and cooperation.
Please feel free to get back to us for further assistance/clarifications.
Assuring you for the best possible services; always.
Regards
Nigar
(Customer Care) Executive
Please quote your Subscription Number 12674511 in all future correspondence.

From: K.R.Srivarahan [mailto:srivarahan@yahoo.com]

Sent: Sunday, October 02, 2011 4:41 PM

To: Time Care

Subject: RE: Time Subscription no. 12674511Dear Sirs,

Eleven months have passed since I started following up with you. How many more months should I wait?
Regards,
K.R.Srivarahan

--- On Fri, 7/22/11, Time Care wrote:From: Time Care

Subject: RE: Time Subscription no. 12674511

To: "K.R.Srivarahan"

Date: Friday, July 22, 2011, 3:12 PM

Dear Mr. Srivarahan,

This is in reference to your e-mail in regards to non receipt of gift.

We are sorry that you had to contact to us repeatedly due to non receipt of gift. We do understand you have every reason to be vexed with us .We could not dispatch the gift earlier to you due to some unavoidable circumstances. However, we assure you that this time the gift shall be delivered to you with in 10-12 working days.

We request for your kind understanding & cooperation.

Please feel free to get back to us for further assistance/clarifications.

Assuring you for the best possible services; always.

Regards
Jyoti
Executive (Customer Care)
Please quote your Subscription Number: 12674511 in all future correspondence.



From: K.R.Srivarahan [mailto:srivarahan@yahoo.com]

Sent: Monday, July 18, 2011 6:34 PM

To: Time Care

Cc: customer_service_1107_2@netedm.com

Subject: RE: Time Subscription no. 12674511
Dear Mr.Richard Evans and others,

I have been following up from 11th Nov. 2010. Your assurances lack credibility. Please have a look at the spate of emails which are reproduced here.
Regards,
K.R.Srivarahan


--- On Tue, 6/14/11, Time Care wrote:

From: Time Care

Subject: RE: Time Subscription no. 12674511

To: "'K.R.Srivarahan'"

Date: Tuesday, June 14, 2011, 11:17 AM

Dear Mr. Srivarahan,

This is in reference to your e-mail in regards to non receipt of gift.

We are sorry that you had to contact to us repeatedly due to non receipt of gift. We do understand you have every reason to be vexed with us. However, we regret to inform you that the shipment which was due on 25th May’ 2011 was withheld due to certain reasons. We are now expecting the same in next 8-10 working days and accordingly we have forwarded your subscription details to the department concerned and have instructed them to dispatch the gift on priority basis. We assure you that the gift would be delivered to you within next 10-12 working days. Kindly confirm the receipt of the same.

We would appreciate if you could kindly co-operate with us.
Please feel free to get back to us for further assistance/clarifications. Assuring you for the best possible services; always. Regards
Jyoti
Executive (Customer Care)

Please quote your Subscription Number: 12674511 in all future correspondence.


From: K.R.Srivarahan [mailto:srivarahan@yahoo.com]

Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2011 8:04 PM

To: Time Care

Subject: RE: Time Subscription no. 12674511

I have lost count of the number of reminders I have sent to you. Do you really mean what you write?

Srivarahan

--- On Wed, 4/27/11, Time Care wrote:

From: Time Care

Subject: RE: Time Subscription no. 12674511

To: "K.R.Srivarahan"

Date: Wednesday, April 27, 2011, 1:39 PM

Dear Mr. Srivarahan,

This is in reference to your e-mail in regards to non reciept of gift.

We thank you for contacting us regarding the Time Subscription.

We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused to you regard gift. Due to some unavoidable circumstances we could not dispatch the gift earlier to you. We assure you that this time the gift shall be delivered to you within 15-20 working days time.
Hope you would understand our limitations and co-operate with us.Please feel free to get back to us for further assistance/clarifications.
Assuring you for the best possible services; always.
Regards
Nigar
Customer Care) Executive

Please quote your Subscription Number 12674511 in all future correspondence.

From: K.R.Srivarahan [mailto:srivarahan@yahoo.com]

Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2011 7:09 PM

To: Time Care

Subject: RE: Time Subscription no. 12674511
I have NOT YET received the gift.

K.R.Srivarahan

--- On Wed, 3/16/11, Time Care wrote:
From: Time Care

Subject: RE: Time Subscription no. 12674511

To: "K.R.Srivarahan"

Date: Wednesday, March 16, 2011, 2:46 PM
Dear Mr. Srivarahan,
This is in reference to your e-mail.
We thank you for contacting us regarding the Time Subscription.

We would like to clarify that earlier your subscription gift was sent through "Express Parcel Post", since you have not received the same, we had forwarded your details to the department concerned to look into the matter and resolve it at the earliest. As per the status received from them, we would like to inform you that we are taking the necessary actions against the the postal authorities to look into the matter and in the meanwhile, we have already arranged to send you the replacement gift.

Please feel free to get back to us for further assistance/clarifications.
Assuring you for the best possible services; always.

Regards
Nigar
(Customer Care) Executive
Please quote your Subscription Number 12674511 in all future correspondence.

From: K.R.Srivarahan [mailto:srivarahan@yahoo.com]

Sent: Saturday, March 12, 2011 3:26 PM

To: Time Care

Subject: RE: Time Subscription no. 12674511
I have checked up with the local post office ; I was informed that no such parcel has been received.



Regards,
K.R.Srivarahan
--- On Wed, 3/9/11, Time Care wrote:


From: Time Care

Subject: RE: Time Subscription no. 12674511

To: "'K.R.Srivarahan'"

Date: Wednesday, March 9, 2011, 4:40 PM
Dear Mr. Srivarahan,

This is in reference to your e-mail.

We thank you for contacting us regarding the Time Subscription.
We are extremely sorry for all the inconvenience caused to you due to the non receipt of the gift. As per the status received from the department concerned, we would like to inform you that your subscription gift has been dispatched from our end, through "Express Parcel Post" vide EPP number 435. We request you to kindly check with the local post office and confirm the receipt of the same.
Please feel free to get back to us for further assistance/clarifications.
Assuring you for the best possible services; always.
Regards
Nigar
(Customer Care) Executive
Please quote your Subscription Number 12674511 in all future correspondence.


From: K.R.Srivarahan [mailto:srivarahan@yahoo.com]

Sent: Monday, March 07, 2011 7:19 PM

To: Time Care

Subject: RE: Time Subscription no. 12674511
We have been corresponding from November 2010 totally in vain.

K.R.Srivarahan
--- On Thu, 1/27/11, Time Care wrote:
From: Time Care
Subject: RE: Time Subscription no. 12674511

To: "'K.R.Srivarahan'"
Date: Thursday, January 27, 2011, 1:01 PM
Dear Mr. Srivarahan,
This is in reference to your e-mail.
We thank you for contacting us regarding the Time Subscription.

We are sorry that you had to contact to us repeatedly. We do understand you have every reason to be vexed with us. As per the latest revert received from the department concerned we would like to inform you that the dispatches of the gift of “Time 04 Piece Bag Set” is expected by 31/01/2011. Hope you shall bear with us in the interim. Hope you would understand our limitations and co-operate with us.
We request you to consider this incident in isolation & not as being a representative of our services. We appreciate your feedback which enables us to improve our services and also help us in our endeavor to achieve service excellence.

Please feel free to get back to us for further assistance/clarifications.
Assuring you for the best possible services; always.
Regards
Nigar
(Customer Care) Executive
Please quote your Subscription Number 12674511 in all future correspondence.


From: K.R.Srivarahan [mailto:srivarahan@yahoo.com]

Sent: Monday, January 24, 2011 7:03 PM

To: Time Care

Subject: RE: Time Subscription no. 12674511
I am yet to receive the gift !!

K.R.Srivarahan
--- On Tue, 12/21/10, Time Care wrote:

From: Time Care

Subject: RE: Time Subscription no. 12674511

To: "'K.R.Srivarahan'"

Date: Tuesday, December 21, 2010, 1:23 PM

Dear Subscriber,
This is in reference to your e-mail.
We thank you for contacting us regarding the Time Subscription.

We are extremely sorry for all the inconvenience caused to you due to the non receipt of the gift. We would like to inform you that the shipment which was due on 30th nov’ 2010 was withheld due to certain reasons. We are now expecting the same in next 1—2 weeks and accordingly we have forwarded your subscription details to the department concerned and have instructed them to dispatch the gift on priority basis. We assure you that the gift would be delivered to you within next 3-4 weeks. Kindly confirm the receipt of the same.We would appreciate if you could kindly co-operate with us.

Please feel free to get back to us for further assistance/clarifications.

Assuring you for the best possible services; always.
Regards
Anand
Executive (Customer Care)
Please quote your Subscription Number 12674511 in all future correspondence.




From: K.R.Srivarahan [mailto:srivarahan@yahoo.com]

Sent: Sunday, December 19, 2010 6:25 PM

To: Time Care

Subject: RE: Time Subscription no. 12674511
I am yet to receive the gift.
K.R.Srivarahan--- On Mon, 11/15/10, Time Care wrote:


From: Time Care

Subject: RE: Time

To: "'K.R.Srivarahan'"

Date: Monday, November 15, 2010, 4:34 PM

Dear Mr. Srivarahan ,
This is in reference to your e-mail.
We thank you for contacting us regarding the Time Subscription.

We are sorry to hear from you, about the non receipt of the gift. We are taking up the matter with the concerned department to expedite the delivery of the gift and the same shall be delivered to you within next 3-4 weeks. Hope you shall bear with us in the interim and we promise you that the gift will be delivered to you this time within the given time frame.

Please feel free to get back to us for further assistance/clarifications.

Assuring you for the best possible services; always.

Regards
Nigar
(Customer Care) Executive

Please quote your Subscription Number 12674511 in all future correspondence.

From: K.R.Srivarahan [mailto:srivarahan@yahoo.com]

Sent: Friday, November 12, 2010 3:33 PM

To: Time Care

Subject: Re: Time
Please refer to the covering letter of my cheque wherein I had clearly mentioned the details of offered gift. I do not have the offer letter with me now. I remember I had opted for travel bags.

Regards,
K.R.Srivarahan

--- On Fri, 11/12/10, Time Care wrote:

From: Time Care

Subject: Time

To: "'K.R.Srivarahan'"

Date: Friday, November 12, 2010, 11:00 AM

Dear Mr. SRIVARAHAN ,
This is in reference to your e-mail.
We thank you for contacting us regarding the Time Subscription.

Further, we request you to kindly confirm the gift offer which you received at the time of subscribing to the Time Magazine, as our system reflects “No Gift” against your subscription.

Please feel free to get back to us for further assistance/clarifications.
Assuring you for the best possible services; always.
Regards
Nigar
(Customer Care) Executive
Please quote your Subscription Number 12674511 in all future correspondence.



From: K.R.Srivarahan [mailto:srivarahan@yahoo.com]

Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2010 8:04 PM

To: Time Care

Subject: NON-RECEIPT OF FREE GIFTS CUSTOMER NO. 012674511
I recently renewed my subscription for 3 years. I am yet to receive the promised gifts includng travel bags.
K.R.Srivarahan


Update on 7th Nov 2011: The subscription gift was received today.















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Saturday, October 15, 2011

Money moves mountains

Faith may move mountains elsewhere, but in India money alone does miracles. Anna Hazare is an exception. He is able to arouse people's emotion against corruption. Advani's yatra against corruption is obviously a political gimmick. The main political parties, the Congress and BJP, trading bribery charges against each other is a fraudulent spectacle. We have lived with this tamasha for a long time and we may continue to tolerate this idiocy for some more time. But what is worrying is that even balanced persons have started making ridiculous statements in public with a show of righteous indignation. Salman Khurshid argues that if corporate honchos are jailed, economic development will suffer. We can extend the argument and say that if politicians are arrested, politics will get stymied. If erring cops are punished, criminal system will fail. So, spare the criminals and the corrupt and let a thousand flowers bloom.

Saturday, October 08, 2011

Steve Jobs

The untimely death of Steven Paul Jobs was not unexpected. Combination of diseased pancreas and foreign liver is an invitation to early death. Heightened perception of mortality pushed Jobs to be more creative. While delivering the Commencement Address to graduating students at Stanford University in June 2005, he hoped that diagnosis of pancreatic cancer in the year 2004 was the closest he got to a near-death experience FOR A FEW MORE DECADES. This was one of the very few unprophetic utterances we can ever attribute to the co-founder of Apple. If he had had a say in the design of his physiology he would have lived longer.

He was as fascinated with death as he was with the products designed by him. To him Death was very likely the single best invention of Life. He combined the philosophical and the practical when he exhorted the Stanford students, "Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." A legend is no more.

Added on 9th October:

Name any handicap or obstacle to progress, Steve Jobs faced it and yet succeeded. He was an illegitimate child, an adopted son, a college drop out, a struggling entrepreneur, an ousted manager, living with a transplanted liver and dying from a rare type of painful pancreatic cancer.

Tuesday, October 04, 2011

N R Narayana Murthy on IIT students

It is not surprising that whatever NRN says is heard with respect. Addressing a gathering of IIT alumni in New York, the software czar commented adversely on what he called "the lower and lower quality of students entering IITs". This is what the news agencies report:

Poor quality of students entering IITs: Narayana Murthy



Press Trust of India, Updated: October 03, 2011 13:51 IST


New York: Voicing his displeasure over the quality of engineers that pass out of the IITs, Infosys chairman emeritus N R Narayana Murthy has said there is a need to overhaul the selection criteria for students seeking admission to the prestigious technology institutions.


Addressing a gathering of hundreds of former IITians at a 'Pan IIT' summit here, Murthy said the quality of students entering Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) has deteriorated over the years due to the coaching classes that prepare engineering aspirants.


He said the majority of the students fare poorly at jobs and global institutions of higher education. "Thanks to the coaching classes today, the quality of students entering IITs has gone lower and lower," Murthy said, receiving a thundering applause from his audience.


He said apart from the top 20 per cent of students who crack the tough IIT entrance examination and can "stand among the best anywhere in the world," quality of the remaining 80 per cent of students leave much to be desired. Coaching classes teach aspirants limited sets of problems, out of which a few are asked in the examinations.


"They somehow get through the joint entrance examination. But their performance in IITs, at jobs or when they come for higher education in institutes in the US is not as good as it used to be.


"This has to be corrected. A new method of selection of students to IITs has to be arrived at."


It is to be expected that NRN has formed his views analytically from his experience. There are two caveats though.

First, he was addressing those who had passed out of IITs. Alumni of any institution are generally pleased to hear that they were more diligent than the succeeding generations of students. Therefore, the applause that NRN received from the audience should not prejudice our mind . In other words, the applause was not objective approval.

Secondly, why blame the coaching institutions? After all they are only teaching the students. If they are able to sharpen the minds, what is wrong? There are many ways in which students learn. Coaching is perhaps the most focused way. One may even argue that if IITs are able to teach their students as well as the coaching institutions do, perhaps the quality of IIT students would be better ! (I am not saying that teaching quality in IITs is bad. I am only reminded of what Jairam Ramesh controversially said sometime in May this year: "The faculty in IIT is not world class. It is the students in IITs who are world class".)

There is thus a huge divergence between the views of NRN and JR. I believe neither is wholly correct.

According to news reports, NRN also observed that examinations should test independent thinking of students rather than their ability to solve problems. What is the utility of one without the other? Can these two qualities be delinked?