Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Why do they do this?

We've come a long way regarding online transactions. Initially, most were not user friendly, in that, there used to be glitches galore, giving one the impression that impediments were being purposely put in and the common ones were:-

      (a) the page/site took eons to open or never opened at all.
      (b) the page opens but hangs midway as one gets close to completing the transaction.
      (c) what is to be inputted is vaguely put and hence doubts linger.

It's much better now but I'm going to let you into a difficulty that I'd undergone over the past few days. I'd got my telephone bill, for the BSNL landline that we have, by the first week of Sep and it was followed by a message on the cellphone, too. It said that I was to pay the bill by the 26th of this month. From about ten days back, I've been religiously going into the BSNL site to pay the amount, online, but the message that I got was, "The telephone you have entered is either invalid or there are no bills available at the moment. Please contact BSNL Customer support number(Toll Free Number 1500) for more details or write mail at pgsupport@billdesk.com"

A couple of days back, since I found that I was getting periliously close to the last date after which a fine of Rs.100/- I think, would automatically get slapped in, I'd called up on the toll free number. Getting an operator on the line is a Herculean task but after a few attempts, I was able to get one on the line. When I told him about my dilemma, he said that the window would open at the appropriate time since the last date of payment was 26 Sep!

I realised that he'd given me a wishy washy answer because the window didn't open even this morning and I hate missing the deadline for payment. I immediately sent a mail as instructed hoping like mad that it would elicit a reply, pronto. Sadly, that seemed to be wishful thinking! So, around 12, I'd gone across to pay the bills - of the landline here, at Guruvayur and the one at my parents' house at Thalavoor - at the BSNL Centre, which had recently been shifted near to the Rajah Hospital. The job was duly accomplished. Phew!

And we rue the fact as to how the government owned BSNL has been netting losses over the years. How can an organisation that's not responsive to its customers' needs ever hope to thrive and make profits? It's the same old story. Sad!

Why shouldn't the bill payment window open immediately after your bill has been delivered? Or is it the way you can get the penalty of Rs.100/- from every customer of yours, to rake in profits?


Tailpiece.

Will be off to Palakkad tomorrow to celebrate my nephew, Achu's birthday. Shall return by the day after morning. 

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