Utility Of Customer Help Center

I have lodged complaints to BSNL for rectification and repair of defect in internet broadband services or for disturbance in phone. But the response from BSNL is very much casual and ineffective.

Though there is provision of “Customer Grievance Redressal Cell” or ‘Customer Help Center’ or, ‘Feedback’ or boards displaying the attractive terms like ‘contact us’ , “ We solicit your valued suggestions and complains ‘ etc in almost all offices of not only BSNL but also in other departments and Ministry associated with all services. But the bitter truth is that these so called help center are non-functional. They exist only for existence.

Hundreds and thousands of young staff work at these call centers. Officers are posted in all offices who are supposed to look after customer grievances and for quick resolution of problems. But the persons who are posted there are more often than not dishonest and ineffective and they enjoy their job without taking any care of customer grievance. They do not even lift the phone. They keep it busy by putting off wire or by applying some other mechanism. They put so many ads before customer can talk of officer. Even if they lift the phone their response is totally casual and ineffective. This is why call after call is made by consumer and lastly get frustrated with government offices like BSNL.

There are only a few centers where if a complaint is not resolved in specified time or repeated complaints are booked by same client, the matter escalates to higher offices for quicker resolution of the issue. Unfortunately higher officers are in many cases birds of same feather and they also sleep on issues for days and months. Most of employees or officers who man Help center and who are supposed to look into customer’s problems blame consumers or some invisible and unacceptable reasons for delay in solving the issue. It is also true that all problems are solved easily if one is ready to pay costly gifts and tips in cash or in kind. I do no need to explain it , every Indian knows it very well.

In India boards, hoarding, slogans, songs, and various other methods are used to portray good image of government departments but in face the ground reality is totally reverse. Most of offices use false compliance certificates to keep their record better and unblemished.

Not only in BSNL, it happens in all offices, banks and insurance companies all public sector undertakings. People make complain after complain and finally leave the attachment with government services and seek services from private service providers like Airtel or Reliance. If you talk of bank, same culture persists in majority of banks and this is why people are seeking services from private banks even if their service charges are more in some cases. Bad debts are on rise in government banks but not in private banks. Public sector companies like BSNL, Indian Airlines or PSBs are incurring loss or facing capital erosion quarter after quarter whereas Bharti Airtel or Reliance Telecom or ICICI and HDFC banks are earning profit in thousands of crores of rupees under similar circumstances.

Even if a customer writes to higher offices, to CEOs or to Prime Minister’s office or to President of India, there is none to listen customer’s problems, there is none to solve the problems faced by common men and there is none to award real justice to them who are using and who have to depend on services of government departments. Wherever alternatives are available, people discard government departments.

Banks, Insurance companies, post offices, income tax departments, sales tax department, Land registration offices, courts, Insurance companies, Indian Airlines, Public sector undertakings etc all are victim of corrupt culture where bribery and source are important tools which make the department active and effective for a certain class of people only. Officers from a bottom level office to that in the office of President of India have totally failed to serve the common men. In fact they are slaves of money and power centers and they dance only when they are under pressure of higher bosses or when they get attractive gifts in lieu of services they extend.

Common men in general are facing problems from offices run by government directly or indirectly. Under UPA rule, there was no hope for change or improvement. Inactive PM MMS damaged the work culture and added fuel to fire existing in all government offices. Culture of flattery and bribery flourished for years together under the leadership of MMS.

Even the office of President of India has a mechanism of calling public problems and for resolving them, but unfortunately it is also for name sake. All are birds of same feather and hence complains remains unresolved for unreasonably long period in all cases and in all offices.

Let us hope some improvement under Modi Sarkar.

I have cited the indifferent attitude of BSNL employees just to illustrate what I mean to say. Condition prevalent in all departments is almost same. Staffs responsible for redressing consumer’s complains in various offices are either corrupt or inefficient or they do not possess adequate knowledge and skill to deal with the situation they are supposed to handle. More often than not, staffs recruited to help consumers are either rejected lot from general operational desks, or they are kith and kin of powerful officers and ministers or recruited after taking bribe without caring about ability of the person. This is why common men prefer services from private service providers if they are available in market even if they have to pay more for services.