Jul 27, 2009 05:04 PM
15098 Views
On a Sunday evening, one looks forward to visiting a mall and completing one's shopping requirements in the least possible amount of time. Similarly I happened to visit BIG BAZAAR in Tarnaka (Hyderabad) along with my wife purchase a steam iron.
Reaching the "Electronics Section" took barely a minute and having decided on a Philips Steam Iron my wife and I proceeded to the Payment counter, around 20:05 hrs.
What followed is unimaginable at the Ground Flooor (Main Counter)...
ONLY THREE (3) COUNTERS OPEN OUT OF FIVE (5)
HUGE LINES AT EVERY COUNTER
AVERAGE PROCESSING TIME PER PERSON >5 MINUTES
"EXPRESS COUNTER" TOOK ME >40 MINUTES
ARROGANT / RUDE STAFF DO NOT CARE FOR CUSTOMERS
Having stood in line from 8:05PM it was almost 8:45 PM that my turn came to make the payment... Staff blunty inform all that "Credit Cards of some banks are not accepted" - "This is a problem with the bank - we have no problem"
Upon making a payment I was asked to pay Rs 1395 for the PHILIPS STEAM IRON when the same was offered at the Electronics Section for Rs 1290 only... upon asking for an explanation, I was told "The System Is Not Updated With the Price"
SYSTEM UPDATION: After being made to wait for another 10 minutes, the Electronics Person arrived and after what appeared to be a manual programming, charged me Rs 1220 for the steam iron! A far cry from the Rs 1395 (MRP) or Rs 1290 (OFFER PRICE) !
RICE & SUGAR COMBO OFFER; - All across the store (and at the payment counter) were large signs informing of "2KG RICE & 2 KG SUGAR FREE UPON PURCHASE OF RS 1299/above" - after having checked with the Cash Counter I was asked to visit the CUSTOMER SERVICE section and collect the free items.
At the CUSTOMER SERVICE desk, had to wait another 5-10 minutes to reach the person who was painstakingly manually entering all Invoice details into an exercise book... so much for online database inventories!!! He very smartly informed me that the RICE & SUGAR COMBO was not available on "Electronic Items" ...
MANAGER NOT AVAILABLE: - In spite of asking for a manager, none was available - expectable on a SUNDAY EVENING I guess, considering the HUGE TIMELINES FOR PAYMENTS & INCORRECT INFORMATION GIVEN BY THE STAFF.
So what would have taken one FIVE MINUTES to purchase a Philips Steam Iron at any store, turned into 45 MINUTES PAYMENT PROCESSING TIME + 15 MINUTES OF WAITING / ARGUING WITH AN INEFFICNT "CUSTOMER SERVICE" STAFF.
FINAL TAKE - Suggest to all to avoid BIG BAZAAR in TARNAKA, HYDERABAD.
