Sunday, June 22, 2008

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.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I totally agree. It's not about the 700 bucks. Its about the attitude these companies have that they can sell any crappy product and get away with it. Do let us know how it turns up and "Do not give up!"

Muthu said...

Kudos man. This incident inspires me a lot and I suppose proper justice will be served (else you won't give-up ;) )