Wednesday 13 May 2015

5 Things you didn’t know about Voltas AC Customer Service


1. They have installed Artificial Intelligence in their customer service.

Whatever your complaint is, you will always get the same consistent reply. Days after days, weeks after weeks.. I am sure no human can do it.




2. Their service resolution time is 3 days flat.

Whatever the fault in your AC, they will always and always tell you that it will be corrected and delivered to you in 3 days. You may call again after 3 days and it will still be 3 days. Amazing, isn’t it!



3. Everyone at Voltas Customer Service is eager to know what’s happening!

Be rest assured that you will keep getting calls from them and on every call they will ask you the same question- So, What’s the issue? Again consistency you see! (Can’t you fucking check the log before dialing my number?)



4. Their motto is- Treat everyone equal.

No matter what race, color, ethnicity and location you are from, they will fuck with you all.



5. They have the highest Market Share in India. No kidding!

So it is really up to them to choose between being a snob or really caring about their customers.


In the end, as customers we all have option of going to the consumer court, it’s just that the lack of time makes think twice. But you have pushed us to the limits. 

Wednesday 22 April 2015

Hey Voltas! Can you replace my AC with an air-cooler please?



So of course I am super frustrated right now and I want people from Voltas AC team to read this and realize how laid back customer service has fucked up my AC.

I was a proud owner of a Voltas Windows AC that was bought in 2013. It all started last summer when I realized that the AC was not cooling properly (after 2 summers of amazing performance). So I called up Voltas customer care and they came to visit me after 2 days. They took another 3 days to repair the AC during the peak of Delhi summer. Anyway, they said that there was a gas leak and they have fixed it up. Right after a month, it stopped cooling again. I again called them up and they said that because of high traffic they will take 3-4 days to send the technician to check on the AC. I was like WTF, how can one survive for 3-4 days without an AC in Delhi summer. Then I decided to call someone local technician (the biggest mistake I made). He came and said that the gas has leaked again and it will keep on leaking till the time we change the coil to a heavier guage. I got convinced, I thought that even if it takes like a lot of money to change the entire coil at least it will get sorted in one go. But that decision turned out to be the biggest mistake. Since that time the AC just doesn’t cool enough. It has just been throwing somewhat cold air like an Air cooler. And because it doesn’t cool that much it never goes for autocut. So it keeps on running continuously. My last month electricity bill was may be around Rs 4,000. I have invested enough money on getting the AC repaired now and I cant spend any more.


So I now know that because it was my fault to go with a local technician, can Voltas at least replace the  AC with an Air cooler so that at least I can pay lesser electricity bill?

Tuesday 12 August 2014

Another step towards Leh

Getting ready for Leh (Ladakh)- A pre trip video

Right before the trip we thought that it would be really cool if we record the entire journey not only for us but also for the people who are crazy like us (for Ladakh).

So, here we are taking the first step and doing our first amateur video… Share it with people you think will be really interested.

Saturday 2 August 2014

Checklist for your Ladakh Trip

Things you must carry for your trip to Leh, Ladakh

Its the trip of a lifetime but it needs proper planning. A little careful look at the things you're carrying can make the trip far more enjoyable. The list of items provided below is for a summer trip during the month of July- August for 9-10 days. This is the best I could gather so if you think that there is something critical missing in the list you can write about it in the comments section.

Clothes
1.       Thermal/Inner- Top and Pajama
2.       Jacket- Air Proof
3.       Wind Cheater
4.       Shoes (x2)
5.       Gloves- Water/Air Proof
6.       Sweat Shirts (x2)
7.       T Shirts (X6)
8.       Underwear- (x6)
9.       Socks- (x6)
10.     Vest- (x6) – Optional
11.     Jeans (x2)
12.     Shorts (x2)
13.     Muffler/Cap- Optional
14.    Handkerchief
15.    Towel

Accessory
1.       Backpack Bag (which can be carried on the bike)
2.       UV Sunglasses
3.       Toilet Paper Roll
4.       Car Charger
5.       Aux Cable (optional)
6.       Camera & Charger
7.       Mobile Phone Charger

Personal Care
1.       Tooth Brush & Paste
2.       Deodorant
3.       Comb
4.       Lip Balm
5.       Sunscreen Lotion SPF 30
6.       Mustard Oil
7.       Moisturizer & Face Cream
8.       Paper Soap, Normal Soap & Shampoo
9.       Face wash
10.     Hair Oil/Gel- Optional
11.     Shaving Kit- Optional
12.     Talcom Powder – Optional

To be purchased from Ladakh
1.       Water Bottles/Gallons
2.       Petrol Gallon
3.       Steel Glass

Medicine-
13.   Acute Mountain Syndrome- Diamox 250mg
14.   Digestion- Diegene
15.   Headache- Disprin
16.   Small Injury- Dettol, Bandaid, Bandages, Soframycin/Betadin & Sterile Alcohal Wipes
17.   Bodyache/Fever- Paracetamol
18.   Dehydration- ORS and Glucon-D 500gm
19.   Cold and Cough- Banadryl
20.   Vomiting-

Documents to carry
1.       Passport (Original & 4-5 Photocopy)
2.       Driving License (Original & 4-5 Photocopy)
3.       Bus & Air Tickets 

Thank you Abhinav and Varun for their valuable time in making this exhaustive list. :)

Friday 14 March 2014

No Child Brides- A campaign with a cause. Will you support?

We  need your support to spread the word. Join our Facebook page and show your care.


Read more about the campaign-

At "No Child Brides", they want to make 'No Child Marriages' your cause.

No Child Brides- White Bindi
Jacqueline Fernandez supporting White Bindi at LFW

Child Marriage is a pandemic reality that India lives with. Approximately, 24 million young indian girls have been forced into marriage, accounting for 40% of the total child brides in the world. Some reports suggest that 1 in every 2 Indian brides is less than 18. These are no small numbers, and the trajectory is not changing anytime soon.


"No Child Brides" is an initiative to highlight the issue of child marriage which still looms over our society. Through the initiative they would like to create widespread awareness of the cause and hope the country acts on the UN resolution by committing to it - like many other countries across the globe.

They are using white bindis to propagate our cause. Traditionally, a bindi is believed to protect a woman from demons. But in this case, the biggest demon of them all is the government's complete apathy towards this social evil. They want the white bindi to become a symbol of protest against child marriage. They want the community to rise up and support the cause, by simply sporting a white bindi as a mark of protest against the government's perennial inaction on this grave issue.

To propagate this, they took the white bindi movement to the stage - literally! Tarun Tahliani graciously supported our cause. His entire crew, staff and all the models wore white bindis during the Lakme Fashion Week. It caught the media’s attention, made them curious and most importantly, made them aware of the gravity of the issue.




They consider this little step in generating widespread support for the cause. Taking the cause further, they are creating an interactive travelling art installation that starkly elucidates the problem to its viewer. They did a few on-ground activation at the Kala GodhaFestival, Mumbai and Cyber Hub, Gurgaon. And the response has been very positive. They hope to continue and create a movement. The vision is to turn the white bindi into a fashion statement with a cause. The plan is to start selling these white bindis and donate all the money collected, to their NGO partner, Child Survival India.With all the funds raised, CSI will conduct community workshops and tailor-made programs in 160 villages where child marriages are at its worst.

Your support, at an individual capacity or as a leader of your organisation is welcome. REACH OUT TO US: nochildbrides@gmail.com
FOLLOW OUR CAMPAIGN: Facebook or Twitter


Read more blogs around the campaign- Click here

Tuesday 25 June 2013

5 Steps to a Successful Social Media Campaign


This might be a little early for me to give ‘gyan’ on creating a successful online campaign, so consider this an opinion without being judgmental on right or wrong. 
So what’s new about this article? The internet is overflowing with information on creating kick ass campaigns. All you have to do is follow basics.  In fact, while working on this blog I came across a lot of articles on creating super campaigns but they all looked good on paper. However, the operational side of the story gives you a slightly different picture. So I am only going to share what I’ve had learned in the past couple of years while executing and monitoring several campaigns.

Digital media is a lot like an on-ground activation.

One thing that I always keep on saying is that digital is nothing but like an on-ground activation. Unlike traditional ways of communication like TV, print and radio, people come here with their own set of pre-defined objectives. Like in the case of on-ground activation, you usually have your mind already made up for shopping or just trolling around with friends when you are going out to a mall or a market. That activation corner in the mall will be the last thing on your mind, unless it is really awesome.
Same goes with digital. People are online usually on a look out for something or to catch up with their buddies (not to forget stalking). You don’t go online thinking that today you will participate in some campaign which appears on your FB timeline.

People are generally lazy.

Even if something is really interesting, people WILL NOT WASTE their time and energy understanding what you have to offer. That brings us down to the following parameters that you should always take care of while deciding a campaign.



Five steps towards a successful campaign

1. Content- the difference maker

If you want to make your mark on social media, first and foremost you should provide quality content. Whosoever said that was absolutely right. However, my advice here will be understand your TG and then think of an idea. At times it does happen that you come out with great content but miss out on the consumer connect. Do a simple research on your TG’s activeness and then think of an idea which they can relate with. That’s it! It’s that simple. Otherwise you may find yourself wasting time and money on something that isn’t producing results, when you could be allocating those resources toward something that is.

2. Design/Looks- face of your campaign

This is an absolute necessity. This is what people will look at before getting into reading content. There is nothing better than an uncluttered and clean design. The theme of your design should be in sync with the theme of your campaign. This will help you communicate at least half the story through the imagery.

3. Simplicity- ease of use

I am a firm believer of the fact that how so ever big the idea is, it should translate into a simple words for the users. As mentioned earlier, people will not invest their time in understanding the great idea you have to offer. It should be as simple as 1,2 and 3….. Confusing or layered communication should be avoided all the time.

4. User Journey- the intuitive factor

All of us have been using internet for a long time now. We know that whenever we take our mouse over a clickable area, it turns into a hand. We know that the brand icon will always take us to the home page. Well all I am trying to say that we have got accustomed to some signs. Don’t try to challenge that unless you are from apple. Another point, make sure that it’s a smooth flow in terms of user journey. Each page/button/link/CTRs of your campaign has to be consistent.


5. Gratification- the game changer

Last but not the least, the gratification. Simple rule- the bigger the gratification, higher the interaction. But what I have experienced is that nothing works like a quick gratification. Generally a campaign with gratification should not be more than 30 days. If your campaign is longer than that then you should make sure that there are sub winners throughout the period to sustain the interest.


Basic Hygiene

Promotion

Make sure that you make the best use of all the platforms available to promote your campaign. A few users who participated in one of the campaigns that I worked on came up to me saying that they got to know about it much later and that’s why din get the perfect score even if they tried hard.

Viral-friendly

Even if you know that your campaign is not going to be huge viral you should never miss out on the option of making it viral friendly. Make sure that you have social plug-ins inserted on your campaign wherever possible. Remember- you can never plan a viral (unless of course you blast it with media money)

Happy Campaigning!

Monday 17 June 2013

Its a camera..Its a phone...Its Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom

Okay, so you have a good phone and a good camera...but this is what happens when you mix the two. The question is will you buy something priced at Rs. 41,000 which looks like this...

Okay so the word is out that Samsung will be coming out with its flagship product- Galaxy S4 Zoom with 10x Optical zoom and a 16 MP camera. This phone slash camera is all set to hit Indian market in Q3 and is already creating buzz all over the online media.

No doubt that with the display specifications like 4.3-inch super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with 16M colors (256 PPI- slightly disappointing) and camera features like 1/2.33'' sensor size, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, 10x optical zoom (24-240mm), optical image stabilization, HDR, panorama- its set to storm the market but did they miss out on the design part? Well I think yes...Completely!

   

It does not look hand friendly at all. Its big, bulky and badly designed. I believe that Samsung has abandoned its design R&D department after the launch of its galaxy series.

Well the good news is that there are 2 other devices lined up for the release this year and they look extremely promising. Sony- Honami and Nokia EOS. With great lenses and amazing camera technology, they are all set to change the imaging game.....and yes their design looks promising.

I believe that its actually worth the wait.. and yes it will be extremely interesting to see the comparison....

Sony Honami
Nokia EOS