HP failed an unsatisfied customer

 HP unable to deliver what it professes

The true face of HP is ruthless. However, they cover it with ample useless and kind words like ‘you are our valued customer’, ‘we are at your service’, and many such redundant words that never get applied when they are required to be delivered, at least in my case, it had not been.

A full-time writer, I pushed myself into retirement; like most others belonging to my day and age, I take pleasure in communicating with the virtual world; I am connected to some international websites that encourage people to write and express their experiences and concerns on pressing social, political, and personal issues. Since I stay alone in Kolkata, my family in Hyderabad, I thought it would be great if I could buy a laptop so I could connect with my daughter and her mother on a regular basis. But unfortunately, I couldn’t’. I am not so much of a technical guy so I entirely missed that I wasn’t able to use any audio facilities on my machine. No Skype, no Hangout meet, no camera, no video, nothing. The only connection with them was through WhatsApp. Unfortunately, it took me one whole year to look at the ordinates of HP support pasted on my laptop. My mistake agreed.

HP hiding behind their words

When I approached them on their WhatsApp support number yesterday (Monday 8 February 2021) at, +1 786 482 6615 I got a prompt reply from their technical support specialist. I gave him all the details of the problems that I was facing. All he wanted to know was my HP device serial number. When I gave him the number, he said that my warranty had expired and directed me to a service center near my location. The nearest location was miles away from where I stay but that’s not the issue here; the issue here was money; that I have to pay for the things that were not delivered to me in the first place! Today, I chatted with Rishabh, then with Mandeep Singh; well, they all spoke the same language; polite and eager to close the case with a statement like this: ‘Thank you for contacting HP WhatsApp support. You are our valued customer, and for a seamless service, you may also reach us through Virtual Agent and ….” then in the end, “In order to provide you with an invaluable service, we are continuously upgrading our existing system and processes. Thank you.”

Creating an irate customer

In between, I connected to their service center in Kolkata through WhatsApp who asked me to call in between 9 am to 6 pm. He said I have to pay Rs. 1770 for their service engineer to visit my place, if it is within 40 km. I said it could hardly be 10 km to which he said the charge would be the same even if it were 2 or 4 km away. Moreover, if the engineer found out defects in any parts I would have to pay something extra. When I told him (Mr. Mukul Ghosh) if I could visit their center, he discouraged me saying that there would be a huge rush beyond 10.30!

Escalation

I told each one of them that I felt wronged and deceived and that I didn’t even know if the problem existed or was it because of some technical issues I wasn’t able to solve, and because of this I would escalate it. They didn’t address the issue at all, they were constantly highlighting where I was wrong, they were not in the least worried about my concern.

The disproportionate price structures

First of all, I don’t understand how they decide on the price? Who lets them decide that just to visit and look into the machine, they will charge something as exorbitant as Rs.1770? And do words mean anything to them? “Valued customer? Continuously upgrading our existing system and process.” They are penalizing me for the things they haven’t delivered in the first place, why? It is because I missed out on their ordinates within the stipulated time? They are looking at my mistake, their valued customer’s, but are overlooking the fact that they gave me a defective machine?

Is this how learning organizations such as HP operate?

The objective of sharing this is to let the management of HP know how their ideals that are put in words in the vision, and mission are applied in ways that question the integrity of the company. Sad.

It is also for several valued customers and prospect customers out there to know how valued you really are when it comes to delivering what the company claims.

Conclusion

Every day, ordinary mortals like us have to face issues and challenges, some get solved, some forgotten. My issue remains unaddressed. Don’t know if the HP management that had groomed their workforce into dealing with unsatisfied customers would speak any differently. Paying the price for something that was beyond my scope is certainly not acceptable.

rambling on human rights and tolerance

Can someone tell me what’s going on,
where are we still going wrong?

You? You are talking about human rights? Are you serious, my friend? Okay, first tell me who is a human.... according to you, who fits the definition of a human? Someone who looks like you? Who talks, eats, behaves like you? If you looked back, you would see that your race had violated human rights the most. You called people names, niggers, chicken roasts, watermelons, and so on… tried to either baptize or civilize chunks of populations, and, in so doing, had destroyed, stolen histories, wealth, and stories of races who were different from you, those whom you thought were not even humans:

‘To wait in heavy harness
On fluttered fold and wild -- 
Your new-caught, sullen peoples, 
Half devil and half child.’

Did you include them too when you talk about human rights? Of all the races in the world, you were the most intolerant. You had offended the whole world. South America comprises Mexico, the Caribbean and most of Central and South America. In these places, residents speak mostly Spanish and Portuguese. These two languages are classified as Romance languages, which are derived from Latin, and that’s why you call South America Latin America? You have completely erased the indigenous languages, haven’t you? Then why don’t you call it continental euro-America?

Let’s not open the pandora’s box, but even today you have not changed. Not one bit. 

Why should we have to dress like you in our own lands? What do you mean by professional grooming and etiquette? It’s your own style of grooming that you regard as professional, don’t you? What do you mean by dining etiquette? It’s your style of dining, isn’t it? Why do we have to hold a fork and a knife to eat? Why do we have to talk like you, in your language, why should we neutralize our accent to project ourselves as an effective speaker? What do you mean by professionals? They are people who look like you, don’t they?

And why do our children have to do night shifts, why wouldn’t you allow them to sleep at night? And after all this, you are talking about human rights? I know that some of you also do night shifts for essential services in your part of the world, but even those who do night shifts, most of them are immigrants. In our part of the world, in every sector nightshift are creeping in like the insomniac virus that’s adversely affecting the health and hygiene levels here! Why do you compel our organizations to work in night shifts if you are so sensitive about human rights?

 From the way we dress, talk, eat, look, you are telling us that we are not okay, that we have to be like you to be civilized, to look like a professional, and you are talking about tolerance and human rights! Imagine this…in our own land, on days we wear our dresses, we call it ethnic wear day!

 You are still using our part of the world as your dumping ground. Why so! Why can’t you manage your own waste? Why don’t you allow us to cultivate crops in our own lands? The same rule still seems to be the ground rule, isn’t it? First learn to accept humans who look, talk, eat, dress differently, as humans; if you walk the talk well enough, you won’t need to talk much about human rights and tolerance.

Driving home a message

Driving home a message

As a long-distance walker, I get to experience many good and not-so-good incidents. But today, I have decided to share one of the sad experiences that I encounter on a daily basis; reckless driving by school bus drivers. The other day, with the help of a traffic police, I managed to stop a school bus which was speeding at more than 100 kilometers an hour in a narrow lane of Chetla, one of the busiest places in South Kolkata. To my surprise I found the children requesting me to please let the driver go. Friendly interrogation helped me find out that the children were encouraging their heroic driver uncle to speed up, to overtake the passing cars; they were also clapping and singing to celebrate the success of their driver uncle.

Is this the reason why school bus accidents are on the rise in India, I wonder. No, there are other reasons too. I also found out that the driver was in his early twenties driving toddlers to their homes. It is very sad to note that we react (by blaming, ransacking, etc.) when the accidents happen but do nothing to see how they can be prevented by some effective training methods; by policing or more aptly by parenting the process. When I was in Hyderabad, I found reckless driving by school buses of very famous international schools.

Here are my observations:

HR of every school needs to train the drivers, not to speed up, come what may. Punctuality is important but if the delay happens because of uncontrollable circumstances, then that needs to be allowed. Drivers also have the pressure to maintain their respective SLAs and speed up because of it. We need to remember it is better to reach than never to reach.

Teachers need to train the students NOT to ask the drivers to speed up and overtake, with the help of very effective and affectionate role plays. Why are all school buses of a certain color – this has to be driven in the minds of all the stakeholders. In this context, may I suggest a uniform color for all school bus drivers and helpers. If it is yellow for all school buses, it could be green.

Guardians also have a key role in grooming their children the evils of overtaking, with interesting stories and anecdotes.

Recruiting drivers of buses owned by the school as well as private school buses needs to be governed by the school authorities because drivers with more experience are less likely to be gullible.

I am sure there are other variables that need to be factored, but these are the very vital preventive measures that I could think of at the moment.

I did not disclose the name of the school because the purpose is not to blame, and snatching away the driver’s job or defaming the name of the school will certainly not help. I would sincerely like every guardian and all other stakeholders to take notice of this so they can have a robust, a foolproof system to ensure safety and security to the children who commute on school buses.

Watch your thoughts

For quite some time, I have been tuning in to a channel called Peace of Mind (PoM) run by the Brahmakumaris (BKs). Most of the things they say make a lot of sense. In fact, everything they say does. However, I am no one to judge or evaluate the speakers, I‘d rather want you to tune in and listen. Since 2012, I have been listening to Sister Shivani, Suresh Oberoi and Kanupriya regularly in the Aastha Channel, but having access to Peace of Mind has brought me much closer to many BKs, like Sister Jayanti, Dadi Janki and Dadi Gulzar. Programmes like Samadhan by BK Suraj Bhai Ji, Zindagi Bane Asan by Dr. Prem Masand are really worth listening to. It is relevant for everyone, for achievers as well as for losers and those poor black sheep or those outcasts whom society has rejected.

In this article, I will try to share why thoughts are important for every individual. My aim objective though would be to encourage more and more listeners tune in to Peace of Mind so that they can also join the BKs, emotionally and spiritually to restore peace into this beautiful world.

Why thoughts are important
It is important because thoughts create our destiny. It was heartening to know that we have the power to choose our thoughts regardless of the magnitude of any situation. It took me a little while to accept that in every situation, I choose my thought, even if a person facing me is hurling abuses, I have the power to choose how to respond to the situation or to the person. But that is not the objective of this article, so let me not deviate. Would urge interested readers to plug in to PoM and discover it themselves.

How is thought creating our destiny
Every thought gives rise to feelings. Feelings prompt us into actions. Actions repeated in time become our attitude. Our attitude becomes our habits which in turn become our personality; and personality becomes our destiny. In the discussions with Suresh Oberoi and Kanupriya, Sister Shivani gives zillion examples to convincingly clarify how this happens.
Sister Shivani says that every day we think around 45 to 50k thoughts. She asks us to imagine ourselves as the CEO of this factory that produces 45 to 50k thoughts a day, and because of being the CEO, to check on the quality of thoughts. If these 45 to 50k words were to be looked upon as a product, say fan, then we’d want the fans to be of a certain quality. With this in mind, please read on.

Four types of thoughts
Broadly speaking, there are four types of thoughts, viz. pure, powerful, positive thoughts, negative thoughts, neutral thoughts and waste thoughts.
1. Pure / powerful / positive thoughts: I am a soul, I am a powerful soul, I am a powerful being, I accept every person/situation as s/he/it is. Factory produces best quality of product.
2. Negative thoughts: Anger is natural, I am angry because of this situation/person, etc. Hatred is natural. Factory produces bad quality of product.
3. Neutral thoughts: I have to get up early in the morning, reach office on time, go to the market to buy such and such product, etc. Factory produces good quality of product.
4. Waste thoughts: Thinking about past and future, good or bad Factory produces damaging products.

Now you can check for yourself what is it that your factory, which is otherwise a factory of love, producing. I was also taken aback to know that not only do we think about 45 to 50k words a day, more than 95% of our thoughts are yesterday’s.
Since thoughts create our destiny, it makes business sense to watch our thoughts, and trust me, it is possible. Very engaging; nothing in the world, no alcoholism, no drugs, no smoking, no dating, no partying is as interesting as watching our thoughts…ha ha ha….it is so fascinating dear friends.
I was able to finally leave smoking for good. It stayed with me for 32 years and I couldn't ever imagine myself without fuming. Now, it's over and free of cost. If I gave the credit to Sister Shivani, I know what she'd say... you did not quit smoking because of me or the BKs, you quit because you exercised your power to choose. If any of my friend (most my ex-colleagues) would read this, I am sure they'd be happy to know that I could finally make it. I consider this as one of my greatest achievements.
So keep watching your thoughts, it's a 24/7 fascinating engagement. You may fail again and again, but keep on trying...
"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better." Samuel Beckett