Mar 18, 2016 12:33 AM
3122 Views
When you say you are giving away something for free, people sit up and take notice. What they don't understand is nothing in life comes free. Take this company, Priority International for example.
It all started with an innocent phone call claiming I had "won" a free trip from a lottery taken at Seasons mall, Pune. They kept on saying I had free gifts, packed and awaiting to be taken. All I had to do was, come collect them. Nobody said anything about Priority International; they kept on saying Seasons Mall Pune. When I asked why the free coupons, they replied “Due to Seasons mall being voted the best mall in Pune".
Ok, Fine even if it was fake and there were strings attached, I had made up my mind to go and check it out first hand. Mentally I was prepared to raise a big ruckus if the free gift wasn't provided as they had claimed time and again on call, there was no strings attached and this wasn't a marketing stunt.
They invite me. Get me in a big room where they have other people around round tables with smartly dressed guys. Strictly no mobiles they say and I keep mine in silent. Well, after a brief introduction to the gifts which I will be getting they were going to start the presentation(Note that 30 min was already done in introductions).
Something ticked me off from the moment I entered the room. I don’t know what but I excused myself for washroom, got out of the room. Quickly googled “Priority International” went through reviews on mouthshut, consumer forums, complaint boards and suddenly it all made sense; the extravaganza, the free gift, the elaborately dressed people. It was all a show for the final countdown of making u a member and taking u for a ride. Still, just to be sure I called up a few people who are experts in the travel industry and got their opinions too.
Went back inside told them straight up that I am not interested in any membership plans. I am a poor guy with no money to spend, can’t even afford EMIs:P .You should have seen the expression of the woman’s face(Divya). She looked livid and I was fighting not to laugh. I told her all I wanted was my free gift which I came for. She said it would take an hour or 2 more and I said “No problem ma’am I came for the gift, I will take it and leave” .
Now, came the interesting part. The guy they left me with started a conversation with me trying hard to get me interested. I flatly told him that I am a seasoned traveler and an avid biker and I couldn’t give two shits about the membership plan. Also if you think consumers are fools, please google “Priority International” and check the review customers have put in. I gave him a lesson on customer satisfaction and working for a company with ethics. He kept on growing more uncomfortable and looked really ashamed and finally couldn’t say anything after a point. Then another guy came in, told me to get up, wave and smile and announced in a jolly voice “Mr and Mrs Nayak, Ladies and Gentlemen”. I think it was done as to put on a show to others that I had become a member. They tried very very hard to wear me down, but at the end I prevailed, frustrated them and got my damn gifts and got out.
Please note that all gifts are useless and the total worth of the gifts doesn’t even amount to Rs.100. So I wasted 2.5hrs of my Thursday evening and re-learnt an important lesson of life: “Nothing is free”. Please find the attached images of the "gifts".
