The Unlucky Lucky

As our industry matures in terms of IT deployment and usage, so do stories and instances of problems that end users face everydaywhether it is technical or billing related support required for a mobile phone user or a credit card holder. I am sure there are lots of other areas where these nightmare tales exist.

I got a call a few years ago from one of Indias top nationalized banks with a credit card offer. I accepted and soon got a letter that I am their lucky and privileged member and will soon receive my card. I waited for a few days but there was no sign of the credit card. Then another few days later I got a `10,000 bank draft from the bank saying here is some money to get you going with your new card. I politely sent the money back saying I just need the card, please send it to me urgently.

There was no news of the card but I started getting statements from the bank saying this much money was due. My letters and phone calls (to their call center I guess) did not help, and I continued to get their monthly statements where the amount I had to pay kept building up. Then I received a letter, which also had the tone of a legal notice, threatening me to pay up. To cut a long story story short, I then wrote a very strong letter to their boss, explaining the whole situation. Thankfully the bank stopped sending the statements...and I also forgot about it.

The provocation for writing this piece was a fresh letter (without any officers name as usual) from the bank just a few days back once again demanded that I pay up some `10,000. I am now wondering who to reach out to.

I am sure the CIOs, many of who are the architects of this new technology based service to reach out to customers and then support them, are aware of these problems. I was told by a CIO that these problems are in such small numbers that they get ignored or sidelined. This is very difficult to believe because I am yet to come across anybody who does not have a bad experience to share. My belief is that these banks and telecom operators know that there is hardly anything that customers can do. Bad experience is what customers will have everywhere, so why bother.

My limited understanding is that this is not a problem that cannot be solved as there is no dearth of technology and people in our country. The question is what is being done to resolve this problem at a broad level. And this is where leadership will count. Those CIOs who believe that every customer is valuable and counts, must stand up and tell their CEO that customer service is top priority. Is there any bank or telecom operator that will take the lead? Let us see.