Jun 10, 2008 12:06 PM
5976 Views
Orange woods came up with an offer that a very few people could resist. I was amongst one of them. After, giving a lot of thought, I decided to go with the product. Looking at the rush, and the amount of footfalls that their campaign had created, I was very sure that the products will not be delivered at the right time. Even if it does, It would not be a very good quality.
I had factored all of these, and booked my furniture on 6th May'2008. Considering that the order will not be delivered in 15 days, as expected, I expected the product to be delivered at least by 6th June'2008. I had relatives coming over, in the 1st week of June, and had to buy furnitures in any way - so I thought the deal is worth it.
Within ten days of our booking the sofa, we got a letter about the process that Orange is following to ensure that their products are of high quality, and they are doing their best to deliver world class products to us etc... I was impressed, and I thought that these guys are here for business, and they are thorough professionals.
Well, the Ordeal(Mark the bold) started when I recd. a call from Orange woods about the delivery of my product - The gentleman on the phone said that my product will be delivered only by 15th June'08. I was scandalized, because I had put the money considering that the furniture will be there when my guests are around. I went to their showroom and met Mr Shaji there(He claimed to be the head of operations there), and at the onset, he refused to give me anything. When I asked for a refund, he said that he is not the one who has taken money, and I should ask for refund from MG road office. This made me furious. How can a senior representative of Orange woods make a statement like that? Anyways, after a heated argument, he understood my situation, and promised that he will give me the furniture by 2nd June'08, and if he is unable to deliver my products, he will give me a standby furniture, so that my guests do not have to suffer. I asked for a written proof, and as expected was not given anything except the assurance. By this time, I was already feeling as if I was being held for a ramsom - When they did not compromise in taking the full money at the time of the booking, why do they expect their customers to wait infinitely for the products?
Anyways, this did not stop here, I follwed up on 2nd June'08, and made about 5-6 calls to their call center, and recd. no response. I again tried on 3rd June'08, and this time I got through a gentleman, who at least sounded very nice and was understandting my problem - He called me back witha resolution, and said that thet Sofa will be there with me in about 24 Hrs.
The next day I got a call from their factory, and this time this was a gentleman called Deepak. He confirmed that the furniture will be delivered - The furniture finally came on 4th June'08. However, when I looked at the Sofa, the product and the colour of the fabric was not the same as the display colour - I insisted that I needed the same sofa as the displayed one, and I had mentioned this during the time of booking as well. The sofa was sent back, and Deepak recommended that I should visit their factory, choose thefabric myself, and he will deliver the sofa within 24 hours.
I visited the factory on 5th June _ all this while I was having a backache, and was not in a position to drive 70 KMS (up and down .. thir factory is somewhere in Peenya) , but I had no choice, so I did that. After I reached the factory, I meet another gentleman named Bhushan. He was another considerate person, and I was feeling that at least these guys are doing thier best. When I reached the factory, I was impressed with the infrastucture, and the way the work was progressing. I found the same fabric and same color sofa that I had seen in the showroom, and I told Bhushan to send me that very sofa( Model PNM 001). I was sceptical that those specific sofa and fabric might go oput of stock again, so I insisted that the sofa should be sent at that time only. Since it was already about 09:00 PM, Bhushan expressed his inability to send that sofa to me at that time, and promised(Remember, the promise) that that sofa can be delivered the first thing in the morning. Since I was not in the town on the 6th, 7th and 8th June, I suggested that he sends the same colour, same fabric sofa to me on Monday, 9th June'08. I was also slighltly upset because I found the same sofa that I was looking for, in the showroom, and I should not have driven down 70 KMs to make a choice that I had already made. I came back, feeling happy, and a repeated assurance that I will get the sofa that I had choosen on Monday, June 9th, 2008.
The sofa came, and since I was not at house, my wife recd, the sofa. When I got back home, I found it was the same sofa that I had returned on 4th June'08 , and had visited the factory and repeatedly asked not to send the sofa that does not match the one that was not displayed in the showroom.
I lost my temper, called Bhushan, and this time he refused to recognize me ... said that he receives about 1000 calls in a day, and is unable to keep track of all the customers - This was the limit - I drove down 70 KMs, just to see the same sofa, that I had chosen, in abundance, spoke to him for about a good 20-25 mins, repeatedly told him my choice, and he refused to even recognize me.
If you are a serious buyer, and are interested in good product and service, I would recommed not to get involved with anything that has an Orange name associated with it. My guests have arrived, and I am still not having my sofa, and I don't know if there is One person in Orange Woods who is ready to take Ownership:
Shaji
Binay
Deepak
Bhushan
At least none of the four people mentioned seem to have taken ownership of the product.
I am an MBA myself, and a marketing manager with a very reputed Organization. Let me tell you, if this is that way the Orange continues to work, they will not stay in the market for a long time.
A good customer brings "Three" new customers
A bad customer Detracts "Seven" new customers
The choice is your's Orange.... do you want to bring more customers, or detract the existing as well as the new customers.
If anyone of you wants speak to me, send me an email at alok.kumar06@gmail.com
