Consumer fights back!

I always wondered whenever I saw somebody complaining about a product or an item, that he/she had bought and it turned out to be a loss. I always felt what they were thinking when they were buying it? Couldn’t they figure out what it would turn out to be? And then it happened with me (God has his own ways of teaching you a lesson). First thought that came in my mind was, I should not judge others’ perspective with my limited understanding of the situation.

Two weeks back, I bought a T-shirt from Genesis, Basics for 700 INR. I was happy, as usually I become whenever I buy something good and worth my money. I wore it once and then gave it to my maid for washing. When I saw it after one wash, it made me sick. It seemed like it was bleached at different places. The beautiful green color of it turned into dull yellow at several places. It made me furious and I called up the shop manager (I always keep the bill for initial few days). I conveyed to him the whole situation and he asked me to bring it to the shop. Next day, I did the same thing. The shop manager said that he would call me up the very next day with a solution. I waited for his call whole day but he did not give a damn to it so I had to call him up in the evening and inquired about it. He asked me wait for another 2 days, which I was not ready to do. I told him to return my money because few of my friends, with whom I discussed the story, did not have a good experience with this brand. And after dragging the matter for another couple of days, he changed it. This time he gave me same kind of T but with different color, since he did not have the color that I previously bought so I had to adjust with it. I warned him that if this turned out to be in the same way, I would come back to you.

Reluctantly, I wore it once or twice and this time, just to give it extra care, I washed it with my own hands. It doesn’t mean that my maid is not good at washing but I was just being cautious.

When I saw it, I was shocked and much more furious than previous time. Same thing happened to it again. Its chocolate brown color disappeared from certain places and it looked like as if I had been wearing it for ages. I called up the shop manager but he refused helping me. I was really disappointed with his behavior. He said that he had already changed it once and now, he couldn't be able to help me anymore. This was ridiculous, he sounded to me as if it was my fault that I bought from his shop and now, I have to face the consequences. I googled with the brand’s name and found their website. I mailed the whole situation at the address mentioned in it but, as I reckoned, it bounced back (I don’t understand, why they mention an email id when they, actually, don't care about it). Well, I called up at their head-office in Chennai and registered my complaint. After a few minutes, I got a call from the shop manager and sudddenly he started pleading to me to return it to him ASAP (I don’t know what head-office guy told him). He said, he would send it to their head-office and whatever they decide, will be handed over to me.

I have returned it to the shop manager and right now, I am waiting for their so-called verdict, for which I have to wait for another 10 days. But I am more than sure that if it doesn’t fall in my favor, I will again fight back. I will register a complaint in the consumer court because nothing can deter me from fighting for a valid cause.

I know 700 INR is not a big amount but it is not small either. Moreover, when I pay for something, I must get the value worth my money, at least, not less if not more.

Police : Savior or Enemy

India, I think, is one of the very few countries in the world where people refrain from taking police help. What might be the reasons? Well, there are plenty. I, personally, consider them the second most corrupt department (first place goes to politicians). They intend to favor the power (read rich). They harass people and try to keep them scared because this is why, they believe, they are given that Khaki uniform. In fact, people feel reluctant to go to the police for petty crimes (and sometimes for bigger crimes as well) because they know that instead of helping them, policemen will try to make the most out of the situation and they can fall prey for this opportunity for them. They hardly pay for any utilization of public transport (I have witnessed it once). Show them the right amount of money and they are ready to help convert a victim into a criminal and vice-versa. And they can even paralyze your mental stability to such an extent that you are forced to take the extreme step of ending your own life; and this is what I recently read in one of the newspapers (Times of India, June 11, 2008, Page 15).

This is a case of extreme perversion, coercion and negligence by the Chandigarh (Haryana) police. A married woman, Sarita is raped by two police constables. Now, when she goes to register an FIR against those two policemen, they threaten her of extremely bad repercussions. But she is determined to fight for her rights and goes to a person above at hierarchy. Again, policemen try to coerce her against filing an FIR by booking her husband in a motorcycle theft. And after dragging the case for around two months, Sarita (mother of two innocent little girls) finally ends her life by committing suicide, while her husband is still in jail for allegedly stealing a motorcycle.

Now, do you feel proud calling yourself an Indian?? Well, I don’t. Is this what we dream of India to be, where, the department that has to be most trusted, is the most distrusted one, where people feel scared of their own protectors?

Partially, we are also responsible for her death. Why? Because we refrain from raising our voice when a person next door is getting bullied by the police or criminals. And we forget that we can be their next victim.

Wake up people!!