Zoom again. Review on Zoomin

I am one of those sentimental people who loves receiving as well as giving gifts (I am not talking virtual gifts here). And anyone who has to give gifts would know how insanely difficult it is to give just the ''right'' gift for the occasion. Despite being labelled as ‘gifted gifter’, I am always short of ideas when it comes to ‘what next’ in gifts.

How simple it is to just walk into a big showroom of clothes, pick up something and get it gift wrapped. Yet, it is seldom the answer to my problems as I always long for my gifts to be as unique, as awe-inspiring and as exquisite as possible.

This December, I came upon an advertisement of a site ‘Zoomin’on a social networking site. Upon further investigation, I found that it claimed to upload your snaps and convert them into calendars, coffee mugs, T-shirts, collages, posters, greeting cards etc. and get it delivered at your doorstep. The moment I registered (which was free) on that site, I was hooked. The interface was easy and user-friendly – within minutes I was able to upload all my snaps on it and classify them into albums.

My main objective was to make a calender and a set of greeting cards which could showcase some technical photographs generated in my lab, so that I could give them to my boss (whom I am always trying to impress – often quite successfully). The idea was to send these calendars and greeting cards to our collaborators and funders, so that our results could be graphically displayed, while wishing them a happy new year.

After uploading the photographs, the rest of the procedure was very simple, including the payment, which I did using my credit card (shakily - because I am always shaky when I make an online payment with my credit card).

The following days were scary – I kept imagining several scenerios, none of them were pleasant. In one and the most often one, I imagined that the shipment never arrived at all, while my credit card bill arrived dot on time.

In another equally scary one, I imagined that the shipment did arrive but all the greeting cards and the calendars were mutilated, and the credit card bill arrived soon after, un-mutilated.

In the third scenario, I saw myself looking at the ‘just arrived’ calendars which had very low-quality, hazy pics. The scene shifted to me looking at my credit card bill, which was of course, clear and crisp.

The reality was different from all the three imagined scenerios. My shipment did arrive, right on time. And voila ! the calendars were beautiful ! The greeting cards were lovely ! They arrived in a neat package, with care and consideration written all over it. Right after opening my package full of goodies, I was dancing up and down the room with happiness.

The customer care of Zoom-in had me terribly impressed. Right after my placing the order, I got mails as well as smses informing me when they have received my order, when it was shipped and again, when I had received the order.

Now I know exactly where to zoom off, whenever I wish to give a unique ’gift to anyone. The possibilities are endless – you could make a coffee mug for someone, a collage of their pictures for someone, and the best would be to just make a beautiful calendar with all your favourite pics of your family members.

So zoom into Zoom in. Happy Gifting ! And here's the price list (since everyone wants to know) :

-Calender : (In 3 sizes) : Rs. 595, 295, 125 respectively

-Photo mug : Rs. 250

-Greeting cards (set of 12) : Rs. 250

-T-shirts : Rs. 395

-Collage posters (3 sizes) : Rs. 80, 125, 200, 250 respectively

-Photo Book : Rs. 350

-Photo prints (9 sizes) : Rs. 4 - Rs. 650 (depending on the size)

Gosh ! Why does this review remind me of my project work :P (Suddenly feeling like a very responsible consumer on a consumer review site) :)