Customer is King... Really??

“Customer is king”… Sounds so powerful right? We hear this all around us. But do we really experience the ‘majesty’ of being a customer? More importantly do the companies that serve us make us feel like we are the kings? At the end of the day what kind of customer service do we receive from the companies we choose to do business with?

Having experienced the quality of customer services in US and back in India, I can say for sure that Indian companies need to learn a lesson or two from their US counterparts. Let me give you some examples of this. Ironically I received all three services within a span of fifteen days and hence I can clearly differentiate between the qualities of the service offered.

Example one:

I and my friend were on our regular coffee break. Since our office has different vending machines that vend coffee, we decided to try a new one this time. Oblivious of the fact that the good ol’ penny is no longer accepted by the machine, I put in 40 cents in the machine which included five 1 cent coins. The pennies were rejected upfront and the machine held my 35 cents. Since the minimum charge for a coffee is 40 cents, I decided to take my money back. Well to my disbelief the machine gave me back 30 cents. The machine attendant was standing nearby and I said to him that the machine devoured my 5 cents. I wasn’t concerned too much about those 5 cents but wanted to let him know that there was some problem with the machine. To my amazement the machine attendant opened the machine, twisted some knobs inside and said to me “Take whatever you want from the machine, it’s free”. I was pleasantly surprised at his gesture of accepting the problem and compensating me. I thanked him and made sure that I told about his customer service to everyone in my team. I sure felt like a ‘King’ in this case.

Example two:

I happen to be a customer of India’s 2^nd largest bank. Yes I am talking about ICICI bank. Frankly enough I am not too happy with the customer service that they have offered me through the years but unfortunately I continue to bank with them. I had a little ‘war of words’ with them recently when they decided to charge the online money transfer (NEFT) facility. When I questioned them about this move, they responded back saying that the fee has been levied based on RBI guidelines (it’s their usual rhetoric). I was not too convinced with this answer and asked for a concrete proof (like a webpage link to this new guideline or the copy of the guideline itself). Mails flew back and forth and the ICICI customer representative persisted that the move was done according to the RBI guidelines but never shared any credible proof. I escalated the matter and continued to probe for a proof. After 15 days of dillydallying, I finally received a copy of the RBI circular from ICICI bank which mentions about the fees to be levied for online money transfer facility. What could have been done differently in this case? ICICI bank could have shared this proof with all of its customers to begin with and there hardly would have been any questions. Now since they decided to take their own sweet time and ‘frustrate’ me, I doubted the authenticity of their decision to charge NEFT transactions and now would think twice before recommending ICICI bank to anyone. Is this a good customer service? Absolutely not. Did I feel like a ‘King’? Are you kidding?

Example three:

Few days ago I received a free coupon from the Blackberry online application store so I decided to do some purchase online. During the check out process I didn’t find the ‘free coupon’ option and used my credit card instead. The charges were billed to my credit card. Since I wanted to use the coupon for this purchase and not my credit card, I wrote to the customer support citing this problem. The customer service person was quick to respond and after looking into the problem, he decided to send me another (higher value) free coupon since they didn’t want to lose me as their customer. On the other hand, the customer service person could have easily refuted my claim and would have chosen not to respond or would have delayed the response. But instead, he went ahead and made the customer feel like a ‘King’.

There have been a number of occasions where I have received wonderful customer service. One such instance has been recorded my earlier blog http://abloggernamedjohn.blogspot.com/2009/08/swine-flu-scare.html

I hope the quality of customer service improves in India in the days to come.

Did you have similar experiences with customer service? Send in your comments.

The Swine Flu scare

‘Swine Flu’ is the most dreaded word these days. It’s all over the news and the reports paint a grim picture. No wonder so many people are panicked and most of them are clueless about the disease. These days any flu is feared to be swine flu and misinformation compounds the problem.

I had a similar scare last week. I had been to the St. Louis Zoo over the weekend. It was a hot day and we were out walking almost the entire afternoon. Expectedly we were fatigued at the end of the day. A warm water bath and a good night of sleep helped alleviate the aches and pains the next day. It was a usual day at office but things started to get bad as evening approached. I started feeling uneasy and felt like my body temperature going up. I went home from work and relaxed but things didn’t seem to improve.

My body temperature went up steadily through the night and I couldn't sleep a bit. By the morning I was sleepy and had a temperature around 100°F. I was worried. Different type of thoughts started occupying my mind. I had been to the zoo and now I have a fever. Can this be swine flu? I decided to go to the doctor’s office. I did some research over the Internet and here is what I found for swine flu:

The typical symptoms are:

• a sudden fever (a high body temperature of 38°C/100.4°F or above), and
• a sudden cough.

Other symptoms may include:

• headache,
• tiredness,
• chills,
• aching muscles,
• limb or joint pain,
• diarrhea or stomach upset,
• sore throat,
• runny nose,
• sneezing, or
• loss of appetite.

I had the above checklist in front of me and started analyzing it. I had a sudden fever but no cough. I had tiredness but no headache or chills. I had aching muscles but no sore throat or sneezing. Now I was royally confused and was getting more worried. Finally I decided to let the medical professionals decide what my flu meant.

A visit to the doctor’s office revealed that I didn’t have swine flu and this came as a much needed relief to me. The doctor prescribed some fever reducing medicines (Tylenol OTC) and that worked great for me. By the next morning my fever was gone and I was feeling much better. I was happy that I didn’t delay seeking medical advice and that my flu was gone soon.

Here are some of the precautions that you can take to combat swine flu:

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
• Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
• If you are sick with flu-like illness, it is recommended that you stay home for at least 24 hours after your fever is gone except to get medical care or for other necessities. (Your fever should be gone without the use of a fever-reducing medicine.) Keep away from others as much as possible to keep from making others sick.

As always, when in doubt don’t hesitate to take medical help as early as possible.

How are you keeping off swine flu? Participate in this weeks poll on the left side of this page.

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Just an update regarding my last blog http://abloggernamedjohn.blogspot.com/2009/08/you-are-in-wrong-lane-stupid-lady.html. I got another comment from Justin S. as follows:

Hello!

Below is my email address. If you could please send me your membership number. Thank you!

Justin S.

I wrote to Justin and a AAA customer service person responded seeking apology for the discomfort I had to face. I was also sent a copy of 2009 AAA North American Atlas by AAA. I am also promised of a better service next time. Hopefully this incident helps AAA improve upon their quality of road service. By the way I am impressed by their customer service off-road ;)

You are in the wrong lane, stupid

The lady yelled at me. “I know and I am sorry”, I replied. That was the best I could come up with in that situation with my mind blank and thoughts haywire. While I sat there on the road on a wrong lane with cars blaring their horns and flashing their headlights; I thought there was no way out. It was 10’ o clock at night and the scant lights didn’t help me much in my situation.

Let’s go back 12 hours. It was a bright and beautiful day for a Chicago visit. We reached bright and early and avoided the big queue for ticket at the John G Shedd aquarium near Lake Michigan. My parents were excited to see a variety of fishes at the aquarium and the show at the Amphitheatre was amazing. It was fun to watch the dolphins and beluga whales obeying their instructors with pin point accuracy. They did put up a splendid show. The variety of exhibits at the aquarium opened our eyes to some of the smallest, largest and beautiful creatures of this world. The aquarium visit was worth the time spent. We then went to the Adler Planetarium. The ‘Night Sky Live’ was one of the most informative shows that I visited in years. I could learn more about star patterns and also learnt about determining directions by just gazing at a star studded sky. I would still need a GPS though for my driving directions. ;)

After a sumptuous dinner at Indian Garden and some magnificent views of Chicago city at night from the 96^th floor of John Hancock observatory, we started for our hotel which was 15 miles away. As we drove towards the hotel through the hustle bustle of the never sleeping interstate, we were discussing the day and getting ready for a comfortable night. We were in for a rude shock when we finally reached the hotel.

The front desk receptionist at the Holiday Inn, Elmhurst sank our heart when she said that their hotel was overbooked and our reservation couldn’t be honored. The reason for overbooking was because some guests extended their stay and there was no room available for us. Before I could break my silence, she told me that an alternate arrangement was made for us in the nearby Country Inn at Bensenville. This place was 3 miles further from Holiday Inn. She apologized for this inconvenience and promised us a complete refund of our booking charges. That was the only silver lining in this whole situation.

Understandably I and my parents were upset. It was 10 in the night and it was a new place. What happens if Country Inn couldn’t accommodate us? Where do we go? How do we spend our night? Should we drive 125 miles back home? We were inundated by all these questions with no answers in sight. I fed the address of the new hotel into my GPS and started our journey.

It was a quiet place and the lights were low. “Turn left” said my GPS. As a vigilant driver, I looked around for any vehicle and didn’t find any. So I turned left and suddenly realized that there was a small divider in between the road. “Oh god, what is this?” I thought to myself. My mind started thinking of alternatives to cross the road and what do I see. A bunch of lights coming from the opposite direction. Yes those were cars speeding towards a hapless me who was sitting there in the wrong lane. I thought it was over for me and my parents. Their first trip US trip would be their last, thanks to me. I stopped my car on the road awaiting my fate. My mind was blank not knowing what my next step would be. Amidst all this, a car had already stopped in front of me honking fervently and flashing its lights. The driver thought that I was not in my senses and pulled besides me and yelled “You are in the wrong lane stupid”.

Suddenly I realized that if I took a chance, I could cross the divider. Anyways it was the only option that I had. So with a prayer in my heart and courage in my mind, I stepped up the gas and went over the divider to cross onto the correct lane. God is so wonderful and with His help this attempt was successful. I couldn't even believe what had happened since everything seemed like a dream to me. I thanked God for keeping us alive and proceeded towards our hotel. My mind was filled with gratitude towards my Lord. This incident kept haunting me through the night but it was a relief that everything just went fine.

The trip was wonderful and truly a memorable one which taught me a lesson. There is always a way out from life’s most difficult situations if God is with you. You just have to believe in his power. It’s not over until He thinks it’s over!!!

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Just an update regarding my last blog http://abloggernamedjohn.blogspot.com/2009/07/60-miles-for-set-of-tires.html. I got a comment from Justin S. as follows:

I am from AAA National Member Relations. I apologize for negative experience you had. We strive to provide premium roadside assistance service, but obviously your experience was not representative of that goal. If you would allow me the opportunity to lodge a formal complaint with the AAA Club, I would very much appreciate the chance to restore your faith and trust in AAA. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Justin

Thanks Justin but till date I haven’t heard back from you. So if you are reading this then I do want to lodge a formal complaint with the AAA club.

60 miles for a set of tires?

Not really. This wasn’t the plan when I along with my parents started for our trip to Springfield last weekend. We started at 8 a.m. and were cruising our way to New Salem to visit Lincoln’s village which is a historic site. While driving I did feel some noise and a little imbalance here and there but I thought it must be the strong winds. As we reached mile marker 116 on I-55S, we heard the noise grow big and there I realized that my right rear tire had gone kaput. Oh gosh! I slowly pulled over to the shoulder and took out my cell phone to call AAA. My dad suggested that we change the tire ourselves but I being a AAA ‘Plus’ customer decided to give them a chance. So I called them and the customer service lady took down my details and promised me service in the next half hour. I looked at my watch and it was 9 a.m.

While we waited on the shoulder with our hazard lights on, we saw number of trucks whizzing by shaking our car with their might. We were thankful to God that it was a pleasant day. We continued to chat among ourselves and dad would suggest in between that we should go ahead and change the tire ourselves but I would not relent. Finally half an hour was over and we were getting impatient. I called up AAA again and the operator apologized to me for the delay and promised me service at the earliest. This brought into my mind my horrible experience with AAA a few years ago.

I was on my way back from church on a sweltering July afternoon. The time was around 12:30 p.m. and I95S was jam packed. I and my 2000 Honda Civic were traveling on a snail’s pace when I realized that the heat indicator on the dashboard suddenly started going up. I was a bit worried but continued to operate the car. After a little while the driving became uncomfortable and I exited out of the interstate and stopped my car under a bridge. I tried restarting the car but it wouldn’t and the gear had jammed up too. I realized that the car had overheated and decided to cool off a bit. Meanwhile I called AAA who promised me that they would send me a tow truck at the earliest. I waited, waited and waited but the tow truck never arrived. I called them up multiple times but nothing worked. Finally after two hours I stared my car again and found that it had cooled off pretty much. I drove it back home and took it to the mechanic the next day. Even though I didn’t receive any service from AAA that day, I did receive a letter of apology from them for not being able to service me.

Will I be stood up by AAA this time again? I thought. It was an hour now. I called up AAA again and conveyed my displeasure about their service. The operator said that the towing truck operator was backed up due to lots of calls and he would be with us soon. My dad again gave me his sage advice but… While all this happened we were visited by state troopers more than one time asking us if we needed any help. Finally the tow truck arrived and it was as if we found an oasis in the middle of the desert. The mechanic quickly replaced our flat tire with the spare we had with us. He suggested us not to drive far on the spare tire and told us about a nearby Walmart where we could get new tires.

We reached Walmart with the aid of some modern technology (read GPS) and waited for 2 hours to get the rear tires replaced and rotated. We got a free tire upgrade since they didn’t have the tires that were promised to us. This was something to cheer about in the day so far. Finally we started our trip (which we were to start 5 hours earlier) and toured Lincoln’s house and the Presidential Library at Springfield. We had to cancel our trip to New Salem and Lincoln’s tomb because of this unexpected turn of events.

This taught me a very good lesson. We may have a long list of plans for our life but ultimately it’s all up to the Lord how He wants these to be executed. We may face some curve balls in the journey called life but in the end it’s our faith in our God and determination that sees us through and everything turns out just right.

60 miles for a set of tires… yeah that we did and some more. So what’s next… 120 miles for a walk in the park? Who knows…? Stay tuned…

East Coast Tour

My parents are visiting me in the US this year and I wanted to show them some important tourist places here. So I was exploring my options. Even though I didn’t have much time off from office, I wanted to cover as many places as possible. I wanted the travel to be stress free and easy on pocket. With all these criteria in mind I started my search and came across www.GotoBus.com. I saw many vacations packages in there which looked exciting. I wanted to visit my uncle in Philadelphia during this east coast visit and hence opted for a 5 day east coast tour that started from Philadelphia. After having my airline tickets (from Chicago to Philadelphia) booked with Southwest Airlines, I booked the 5 day east coast tour with GotoBus.com. Here is the package that I opted for:

http://www.gotobus.com/cs/c128/vacationpackages/philadelphia/usaeastcoast5_daytourpackage_fromphiladelphia_.html

We reached Philadelphia on the 3^rd of July and started my 5 day trip on the 6^th of July. Here is the day wise breakup of the 5 day tour.

Day 1

The tour company had asked us to reach at the parking lot of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia by 9:45 a.m. We reached there on time but didn’t find the bus. I contacted the tour guide and he said that they would be reaching the parking lot shortly. We waited there for a while before the bus finally arrived. Afterwards I realized that the bus that we were supposed to take was coming from New York and it already had a bunch of people who had started their tour from Boston, New York etc and we were just joining them. So it was day 1 for us but for some it was already day 3. We were supposed to see the Independence Hall and Liberty Bell in Philadelphia but missed that since we could catch the bus after these attractions were already covered. I was a bit disappointed. Finally we started our tour at 10:00 am and the first place we visited was the US Mint in Philadelphia. It was a half an hour tour of the facility. We saw various coins and documents related to their history. It was informational but not that exciting. We saw some old buildings in Philadelphia city and started our journey towards Washington DC. At around 12 pm we stopped for lunch at a Chinese buffet. The food at Kings Buffet (Newark, DE) was ok. Since my parents are not used to Chinese food they didn’t like it much. Then we continued our onward journey to DC.

We reached DC at around 2:30 pm and started our sight-seeing right away. We started with a photo session at the Capitol. Then we saw the ‘Indian’ museum. We then proceeded towards the ‘White House’. After a photo session there, we moved on to see the Jefferson memorial and then the Lincoln memorial. We also saw the Vietnam and the Korean memorials. We had loads of photo sessions in between. On our way back to Maryland, we stopped at Tyson Buffet and restaurant for our dinner. It was again a Chinese buffet but with more variety than what we had for lunch. The pricing was $15 per person as against $10 at Kings Buffet. After dinner we checked into the nearby Hilton hotel in Maryland. The hotel was good and it had free WiFi too. Overall it was an exciting and tiring day so we crashed into bed once we checked in.

Day 2

Our bus left the hotel at 7:30 a.m. and we headed straight to the ‘Sweetest place on earth’. We reached there around 9:30 a.m. and we took the Hershey’s chocolate factory tour. The small trolleys took us around the entire process of chocolate making. It was fun and exciting. We tasted some ‘Hershey’s Kisses’ as we left the tour. We did some shopping at the gift shop. Our next stop was for lunch. We went to McDonalds for a quick bite. My parents enjoyed the ‘Fries’ there and it became one of their favorite foods for the next few days. After that we visited the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY. We watched the ‘Hot Glass Show’. The person gave us a live demo by preparing a vase from molten glass. The process was articulate and exciting. Again we shopped for some memorabilia in the gift shop. Next it was time for a 3 hour drive to Niagara. We watched some movies and TV series (with Chinese subtitles) in the bus during our long rides. We reached Niagara by 8 p.m. and we enjoyed the evening scenes there. The ‘American’ side of the falls was looking beautiful. We couldn’t see the entire light show due to time constraints. We took some photographs and collected some more gifts. We then checked into ‘Holiday Inn’ at Buffalo, NY and spent our night there.

Day 3

We started from the hotel at 8:15 am. As we continued our Niagara tour, we first experienced the ‘Niagara’ movie. It showed us the history and the magic of Niagara. After that we took the ‘Maid of the Mist’ boat tour. It was a thrilling experience to feel the power of nature up close. I had my disposable camera ready for some pictures aboard the ‘Maid of the Mist’. We had Indian food at the nearby food court and started our journey towards Boston at 12 p.m. It was an 8 hour drive with breaks in between. So we did a lot of road journey on day 3. By the evening we reached Boston. We saw the Boston downtown, took some pictures and checked into Sheraton Hotel for the night. One important thing I realized was that I should have had more cash on hand for this tour. Only the bus ride and lodging is included. We need to pay for the entry tickets and tour guide tips. The tour guide had our tickets ready for various attractions and he requested us to pay him in cash for the tickets and for his tips. Since I didn’t have much cash with me, I had to withdraw the same from an ATM at a rest area. Since it was not an ATM recognized by my bank, I had to pay the ATM fees plus my bank fees for the amount that I withdrew. Also at Niagara the temperatures dropped and I wasn’t prepared for that. I checked one of the ‘Target’ stores at a rest area for some warm clothes but it was out of stock. Fortunately at Niagara I was able to buy some warm clothes at the ‘Cave of the Wind’ gift shop. I have AAA membership which I used to receive discounts at various attractions. I gave my card to the tour guide who was able to get the discounts for my tickets.

Day 4

The day started very early on day 4. Our bus was out of the hotel by 6:30 a.m. We visited Harvard University at Cambridge first. Took some pictures and our tour guide gave us some information regarding the university and its history. We then made our stop at MIT for more pictures and information. We visited the 150 year old Trinity Church at Boston. We then took the Boston Harbor Cruise. The Boston skyline was amazing and the weather was beautiful. We then we made a stop at the Quincy market. We found an Indian food counter there and had our lunch. After that we started off for NY. After taking couple of breaks we reached Brooklyn. We experienced the sights and sounds of NY City and were involved in some traffic jams before we made our way to the ‘Fairfield Inn’ at NJ. We checked in at 6:00 pm in the hotel. Some of our tour members finished their tour on day 4 and were dropped off at JFK and EWR airports. Since we checked in early we had more time to take rest at the hotel. Our tour guide and the bus driver also ended their tours today and they left after checking us into the hotel.

Day 5

The day started at 7:00 am. We were only 16 people left in the tour party for the last day. We had a new tour guide, a new driver and a new vehicle (an eighteen seater instead of a bus) for the last day. We were taken to China town in NYC where they added a couple of people to our group. The first attraction that we visited was Wall Street. We saw the NYSE and the ‘Federal Hall National Memorial’. After that we saw the ‘Bronze Charging Bull’ and took some pictures. We then visited the ‘Trinity Church’ followed by ‘Ground Zero’. We then were taken to Pier 17 for the ‘Circle Line Cruise’ aboard the ‘Zephyr’. It was a one hour cruise that showed us the ‘Brooklyn Bridge’, ‘Manhattan Bridge’, ‘Statue of Liberty’, ‘Ellis Island’ and the New York City skyline. One of the crew members on ‘Zephyr’ helped us with taking pictures and the narrator told us interesting things about New York during the cruise. Our next stop was the ‘Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum’ in the Hudson River. Intrepid was the battle ship that had participated in the World War II. It has a bright history which we learnt about in the 10 minute film; ‘Story of Intrepid’. Aboard the ‘Intrepid’ we also saw the ‘British Airways Concorde’ which is the fastest commercial jet liner in the world. We did the routine photo sessions here too. After having our lunch here, we proceeded to ‘Times Square’. Our next stop was the ‘Top of the Rock Observatory’ near the Rockefeller center. The elevator took us to the 67^th floor of the observatory in about a minute. The view from the top was amazing and we took some pictures with Empire State and Chrysler buildings in the background. We then went to the 69^th level of the observatory. Cabs looked like small toys and the panoramic view of NYC was exhilarating. We visited the Rockefeller center next. Our last stop in NYC was the United Nations building. The exhibits at the UN told us the story of things that are happening around our world. We couldn’t take a guided tour because of time constraints. Our tour guide had given us a package containing the tickets for the ‘Circle Line Cruise’, ‘Intrepid Museum’ and ‘Top of the Rock observatory’. It also had a complimentary lunch. We had to pay for the tickets and the tour guide tips in advance and the cash that I had withdrawn on day 3 came handy here. The UN was the last stop on our tour and we ended our 5 day tour at around 5:00 pm on day 5. We were dropped off at China Town NYC by our driver. The tour guide transferred us to another bus that operated between NYC and Philadelphia. We paid for the tickets from NYC to Philadelphia. The bus from NYC to Philadelphia was shabby and the restroom in the bus was stinky. We reached Philadelphia City at around 7:30 pm where my uncle received us thus ending our 5 day tour.

Conclusion

The 5 day east coast trip was informational and exciting. At the same time it had its dull moments too. Some of the learning’s and observations at this trip were:

1) It was well planned so we didn’t have to worry about the places to visit, tickets, accommodation etc. We could sit back, relax and enjoy the tour.

2) About 90% of the participants in this tour were Chinese nationals. Hence the tour guide had to explain things both in Chinese and English. Frankly his English and the way he pronounced the words were funny and entertaining. One of his famous quote was “Philadelphia is one of the ming cities in US" which means “Philadelphia is one of the main city in the US”. He had a habit of making everything as plural as possible. E.g. “The Smithsonian’s donated a lot of monies and hence we have a lot of free museums at Washington DC”. Having said that, the tour guide was friendly and helpful. We had a tour party which was punctual and as a result we reached all the attractions on time and covered almost everything mentioned in the tour brochure.

3) Carry enough cash was one thing that I learnt on the tour. You never know when the cash will come in handy.

4) My AAA card came in handy at some attractions and I could save some money as a result of that. The tour guide helped me get the discounts. I couldn’t get similar discounts at NY City since the tickets were already booked by the tour guide who claimed that the group discounts were more than the AAA discounts. Anyways it’s a good idea to check with the tour guide for such discounts.

5) There were some instances that we had to leave from a particular attraction early due to time constraints. One of the examples being the light show during night at Niagara. This is one of the compromises that come with such group tours.

6) There is a chance that some alternate attractions may be visited instead of the original one. We were originally scheduled to visit the ‘Empire State’ building and ‘Madam Tussauds’ Museum at NYC but it was changed to ‘Top of the Rock Observatory’ and ‘Intrepid Sea, Air and Space’ Museum. We came to know about this only on the day that we took the NYC tour.

7) Since majority of the tour participants are Chinese nationals, there are chances that you will be dining at Chinese restaurants many a times. We were given an option of ‘Lobster dinner’ at Boston which we didn’t take since we never had lobsters anytime. Since we had other options, we preferred McDonalds instead.

And Finally

Bus tour and accommodation for three persons: $777

Tickets to attractions and tour guide tips ($6 per day per person, $18 per day in our case): $500 (approx)

Food and memorabilia: $500 (approx)

Air tickets to Philadelphia and back: $600

Comfort on the tour and parents’ satisfaction: Priceless

http://picasaweb.google.com/kjohnv/EastCoastTour#

Get your Green Cap

Last weekend I had been to my car dealer for the regular oil change routine. While I was discussing the services to be done on my vehicle that day, the technician suggested me to ‘Nitrogenate’ my vehicle tires. I looked at him surprised didn’t knowing what to answer. Understanding my inquisitiveness, he explained me the process.

Nitrogen is all around us. We take Nitrogen with every breath. Inflating tires with Nitrogen is becoming one of the trends recently. Nitrogen molecules are larger in size than Oxygen hence tires inflated with Nitrogen don’t lose air pressure as frequently as the ones inflated with ‘regular air’. When our vehicle tires are inflated with Nitrogen, improvements can be noted in the vehicle’s handling, fuel efficiency and tire life through better tire pressure retention, improved fuel economy and cooler running tire temperatures. The best part is, filling our vehicle tires with nitrogen helps protect our environment by fewer toxic emissions into our atmosphere.

I was impressed by the explanation and decided to give it a shot. My car dealer told me that that the process would cost a onetime fee of $30 and the next time I took my car for servicing, the tire pressure would be checked and nitrogen will be refilled (if necessary) at no extra cost. To sweeten the deal he told me that if I decided to replace to my tires anytime, ‘Nitrogenation’ would be done on the new tires for free. After hearing all the benefits and the deal, I agreed to get my tires inflated with Nitrogen.

So after an hour, when my car was returned to me, I noticed green tire pressure caps on my vehicle tires. I realized that it was a sign showing that my car is ‘Nitrogenated’ and that I am doing something for the environment. When I checked my bill, I had received a dealer discount of $20 for this process. Cool, isn’t it?

So when are you getting your ‘Green Cap’?

Check out more about the ‘Nitrogenation’ process at http://www.getnitrogen.org/index.php

Learnings from the Holy Week

The Holy Week comprising of Palm Sunday, Passover Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday has a great significance in the life of a Christian believer. This is the week that symbolizes the virtues of the Christian religion and demonstrates how Christ lived these qualities as a role model for his believers to follow. Here are some of my interpretations of these four events during the Holy Week.

Palm Sunday

For the Jews, Jesus was a ray of hope and was considered a redeemer to free them from the oppression of the Roman rule. His teachings were powerful and He spoke with authority. Palm Sunday is the day when Christ was honored and hailed as a ‘Messiah’ (savior) on the streets of Jerusalem. He was given an ovation of a king and people sang ‘Hosannas’ to the Messiah. The atmosphere was of joy and merriment because people believed that it was just a matter of time before Jesus fought against the Romans to free the Jews from oppression. People didn’t realize that God had a different plan and the plan was about to unfold during this week. Palm Sunday is a good reminder to honoring God and making our needs known to Him.

Passover Thursday

Then we move on to the Passover Thursday (also called Maundy Thursday). Before His death on the cross on Good Friday, Jesus called his disciples together for a last supper on Thursday. During the supper He washed the disciples’ feet and made them realize that they should be good servants in this world to become great leaders. He became a role model for them and showed them what is expected of them as followers of Jesus. On this day, He also initiated the Holy sacrament of communion. This is the sacrament that the believers partake in every Holy Mass. By becoming a part of the flesh and blood of Christ, we remember His sacrifices towards the human race.  Passover Thursday teaches us humility and compassion towards each others in our society, how as Christians we should be extremely down to earth and always willing to serve.

Good Friday

Good Friday (also called ‘Sad Friday’ in many parts of the world) is the day when Christ was nailed to the cross for our sins. This is the day when He suffered in flesh even though He was God. This is the day when He took all the insults and mockery offered by this world upon Him and didn’t complain even a word. He was obedient until death. He could have freed himself from the judgment of Pilates; He could have saved himself from the brutality and cruel death. But instead he decided to go all the way. He was obedient to His father and didn’t say no. He also asked His father to forgive all those who made Him suffer. Good Friday is a good way to learn how a Christian should be. Obedient to God unto death, suffering in this world but holding steadfast to the faith and promise that God has given us, forgiving ones enemies and praying for them and finally laying our lives for others. 

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday is the day when our Lord was resurrected from the dead. When all hopes were gone and people started doubting His teachings and way of life, Jesus rose from the dead only to prove his distracters wrong and all the prophets and scriptures right. It was a victory for His poor and the staunch believers but shame and surprise for His opponents. A new era had begun. Hope was triumphant and He was vindicated. Easter reminds us of a new beginning in life. It’s a promise that after all the sufferings and pain, there is still hope in this world.

We may have a lot of sinful baggages in our life but the Lenten season gives us the chance to once again introspect ourselves, turn to God, follow his footsteps, confess and repent on our sins and be a new creation on the Easter day.

God Bless You!!!

US Visitor Visa

US Visitor Visa - One of the intriguing visas that you would like to apply for. If you play your cards right, you are through but as always luck plays an important factor in the final outcome. 

I started the process skeptically when I decided to bring my parents over for a visit to the US. It is one of their cherished dreams and based on my current situation in life, it’s a now or never opportunity for them.

So one fine day I made the call. I asked my parents to get their passports ready so that I could take the visa processing to the next step. They responded to my call and got their passports ready. Now it was my turn to apply for their visas.

I took guidance from my friends and from the ‘search wonder of our times’ (Google). I came across some very good sites that helped me immensely.

As per my experience I have categorized the documents into two sets. Documents needed from your (sponsors) side and documents needed from the person who has been sponsored. It’s better to have a checklist created to track these.

A quick glance at the documents needed from your side:

Your financial documents:

1)     I-134 Affidavit of Support – this document shows the summary of your financial strength and a proof that you will be supporting the people that you are sponsoring. This document need not be notarized

2)    Employment Verification Letter – letter from your employer showing your designation, salary, tenure with the organization etc. This is the proof that you have a stable job and will be able to provide necessary support to the people you are sponsoring

3)    Pay stubs – pay stubs for the past 6 months supporting the employment verification letter

4)    W2’s and 1040 documents- tax documents for the past 3 years showing that you have been diligent with filing taxes

5)    Letter from your bank – showing that you have a healthy bank balance for supporting the people you are sponsoring. Even though there isnt a specific amount that is considered healthy but a good history of your accounts with the bank and a sufficient balance (like $5000 per sponsored person) should help.

6)    Statements from the bank – 6 months statements from the bank to support the letter from bank

Letters and other documents:

7)     Letter to consulate – letter to the US consulate requesting visitor visa to the sponsored person

8)    Invitation letter – letter to the sponsored person inviting them to visit the US

9)    Birth certificate – showing your relation with the sponsored persons (parents in this case)

Documents needed from sponsored persons side:

Sponsored persons’ financial documents: these are important since the visa officer needs to be convinced that the sponsored person has strong ties back home and the person will come back to his/her home country after visiting the US.

1)    Proof of their financial stability – includes letter from the bank describing their balances, house property papers, fixed deposit papers etc

2)   Bank statements – 6 months bank statements to support the proof of financial stability

3)   Family photographs  (if applicable) – to show family ties back home in India

Other documents:

4)      Passport – valid passport for travel

5)      Visa photograph – visa photograph as per specifications

6)      HDFC bank receipts- you will receive these once you submit the visa fees. Preserve these receipts for passport delivery after stamping.

7)      DS 156 – this document will be filled up while taking the interview appointment with the consulate

8)      DS 157 (if applicable) - this document will be filled up while taking the interview appointment with the consulate

9)      Appointment letter – generated once you book your appointment.

10)   Cover letter- letter from your sponsored persons to the US consulate requesting visa

Once these documents are ready, you need to send your part of the documents to the sponsored persons so that they can take it with them for the interview. Make sure you are sending these documents by some faster and reliable mailing service. The sponsored persons need to appear at the US consulate on the day of the interview. If they are granted visa then their passport will be withheld with the consulate and will be returned after stamping. If their application is rejected then their passport will be returned at the end of the interview itself.

Here are some of my personal experiences:

1)      I sent the documents to my parents through USPS 'Priority' mail since I sent the documents a good 3 weeks before their interview. Unfortunately the documents didn't reach on time and we had a scare. But thank God, things worked out fine with my ‘Plan B’.

2)      My parents had their interview at the Mumbai Consulate on Thursday. They had purchased the vouchers for the VFS facilities (Rs. 250 per person). This was one of the best things that they did. They reached the VFS center on time. They were seated in an AC lounge, given snacks and coffee, they freshened up, kept their belongings (cell phones etc) in the safety locker and reached the consulate calm and composed with the right frame of mind.  They were not required to wait in any line nor did they have any other hassles. It’s always advisable to face your visa officer with energy and enthusiasm. The VFS center was a big help to achieve this.

3)      I had opted for the interview in Hindi. My parents read and write English but I didn't want to take the risk of them facing the interview in English. One of the main problems is the accent that the visa officer might have. I thought that it would be difficult for them to follow the questions and they may become nervous unnecessarily. My choice turned out well since they were confident in their replies and that’s one important thing that the visa officer is looking for.

The Visa Officer was a lady and she asked my dad the following questions. The interpreter did the translation part.

Visa Officer: Who do you have in the US?

Dad: Our son

Visa Officer: Who is sponsoring you?

Dad: Our son

Visa Officer: Which visa does your son have?

Dad: Said the visa type

Visa Officer: How many children do you have?

Dad: Two. A son and a daughter

Visa Officer: Is your son/daughter married?

Dad: No

Visa Officer: What is your daughter doing?

Dad: Studying

Visa Officer: Where do you work?

Dad: Told the work place

Visa Officer: What’s the proof that you will come back to India? (This question was asked twice during the course of the interview)

Dad: I need to arrange for the marriage of my daughter. Also I have property and job back home that I need to take care of.

Visa Officer: You are granted visa and you will receive your passport in a couple of days.

My mom wasn't asked anything at all and none of the papers were checked. They received their passports on Friday at home. The visa on their passport said, ‘10 years multiple entry’.

In the end all our efforts bore fruit. As mentioned earlier, it was a skeptical start but finally when they had their visa in their hands, it was a great feeling. Gods grace sure did play an important factor in all this.

http://www.immihelp.com/visas/visitor/ and http://www.path2usa.com/immigration/visitorvisa/visitor_visa.htm are the recommended sites for complete details about the paper work, dos and don’ts, possible interview questions, experiences etc. I gathered all the documents as per these websites and it was of great help.

Guess what they received in mail on Saturday? Well it was those supporting documents that I sent them through USPS 3 weeks back. Now that’s called a ‘Priority’ service :)

The Great Lent

We are in the Lent season. Last Monday marked the beginning of the ‘Great Lent’ for Orthodox Christians.

What is the Great Lent?

The Great Lent commemorates the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert following his baptism and prior to his beginning his official ministry. For Catholics it’s a 40 day Lent (it begins on Ash Wednesday) while for the Orthodox Christians the duration of Lent is 50 days. Palm Sunday and Good Friday are part of the Lenten season. The Lent ends on Easter Sunday with the celebrations of Jesus’ resurrection.

What is the significance of Lent?

Lent is a period of self denial. It’s a span of time where you give up something you like and try to live without it. It’s not always the easiest thing to do. Many people fast, people abstain from meat, fish, milk etc. But these are just the physical side of Lent. It’s a period of time when you try to be closer to God through prayers, abstinence and charitable deeds. Apart from these, one is supposed to reconcile with ones enemies, confess the sins and become a new being by the end of this Holy period.

What are the other aspects of Lent?

Lenten season gives us an opportunity to introspect ourselves, our relationship with others and our relationship with God. It’s not only about giving up your food but also about saving that money for charitable purposes. It’s not only about experiencing hunger but also about thinking for the millions without food and basic necessities. It’s not about showing others how pious you are but about strengthening your personal relationship with God. It’s all about submitting ourselves to God, taking a stock of our lives and transforming our lives for the better.  

Have a blessed Lent!!!

Persistence pays off

How far should you go to claim your rebate? How patient and careful should you be while submitting the forms and proofs for a rebate? How alert should you be about tracking your rebate? Do all of these things guarantee that you receive your rebate on time and that too in full? These questions surfaced in my mind when I had an unpleasant experience with T-Mobile regarding one of the rebates.

All these started a few months back when I decided to upgrade my 2 year old phone with a new Blackberry Pearl 8120. I was excited to see the features of the new phone on the T-Mobile website and decided to go for a 1 year contract with them. I called up T-Mobile customer service and they told me that the mail-in rebate on this phone was $100. I placed my order and received the phone in a week or so. I am a person who is very diligent when it comes to rebates. So the very next day I sent out the filled up rebate form along with the necessary proofs.

Weeks passed and I received a shocking letter in my mailbox saying that my rebate was disqualified since the submitted proof didn't contain a valid T-Mobile product SKU#. I was upset since I had read the rebate submission requirements in detail and was sure that I hadn't missed anything. I called up the rebate status center and explained them about the letter I received. The customer service person did some research on his end and told me that the rebate was valid and I had submitted all the proofs correctly. I felt vindicated. He gave me a tracking number and I religiously tracked my rebate.

Another few weeks passed by and I received a mail from T-Mobile. That mail contained a Visa Prepaid card worth $50. This was my rebate ‘check’ but only in the form of a Visa debit card. Well did you notice something wrong here? The amount was $50 but I was promised a rebate of $100. I was furious and called up T-Mobile. They confirmed that the rebate amount promised was $100 and they were not sure where the other $50 went. I was then connected to the ‘Rebate Center’. After holding the phone for 10 minutes, I could speak with a customer representative. I explained the whole story to her and she did some research on her end. She found out that my rebate was processed for some other promotion and that’s the reason I got only $50. She was not apologetic about it and she told me that she will put in a request to reprocess my rebate. I was curious to know when I would receive my rebate but she had no clue. I asked her to expedite the process since it was their fault; she told me that she couldn't do anything about it. Finally I received a tracking number from her and the onus was on me to check the status of the rebate periodically.

Some more weeks passed and my patience was wearing out. Finally I received another Visa Prepaid card worth $50. I heaved a sigh of relief. Even though I had sent all the necessary rebate documents well on time, it took me around 3 months to receive the rebate. Another amazing fact is that, if I had not enquired about the other $50 then I would have lost my money for no fault of mine. This is not the kind of service the customers expect from a company like T-Mobile. My question is why do you want to promise a rebate when you are not very keen in honoring its terms and conditions? I believe that patience, follow up and good luck are the important elements for receiving your rebate on time. Among the three, ‘Good Luck’ is the uttermost factor in some exceptional cases :)

Why Raju why???

“In order to preserve your self-respect, it is sometimes necessary to lie and cheat.” said Robert Byrne. This may be one of the reasons you lied and cheated your employees, your shareholders and  your company as a whole.  Why Raju why?? This would be the question many would be asking and that too for a long time.

When you decided to cheat for the first time did it ever cross your mind that it will not only affect you but a chain of people starting from your high profile colleagues to the common software engineer? You may be a genius at manipulating but not at all a visionary. Othewise you would have envisioned the plight of your company and your people when you decided to cook up your balance sheets.

Today your company makes headlines albeit for the wrong reasons. The western media has got a tool to target the Indian IT companies. The anti outsourcing lobby is gaining strength by the day and this has come as a blot to the many honest and sincere Indian software engineers working all over the world.

One of your biggest clients, State Farm, has decided to terminate its contract with Satyam. This will affect around 1000 employees of yours. These employees are upset and understandably so. Their future is uncertain. They have been asked to leave client site at the earliest. Heavy financial losses stare at their face because they need to sell their cars, furnitures and stuff at the earliest. What will your offshore resources in this project do? Where will they go? Can they be assured that there wont be any layoffs because of this? What wrong did they do to suffer like this? Was that their fault that they decided to join Satyam? Not sure if these questions ever surface in your mind but a common man would definitely lose his sleep over this.

I am sure you have created a name for yourselves by indulging in the biggest corporate scam in Indian history and if we go by the records, you will be out of jail soon. You can always go back to your normal life without much struggle since people will forget this incident once the dust settles in a few months. What happens to the employees those who lost their jobs and in some cases those who lost their lives? Many dreams are shattered. Who will mend them? The timing of your confession is one of the worst. Already the economic gloom is taking the sheen out of the sparkling Indian IT bandwagon and this fiasco is adding fuel to the fire. Lets hope that things return to normal in the days to come. Lets hope that your new board takes some good decisions to reassure clients and employees about the strength of the company.  Lets hope your company gains the ground that it has lost. Until that time people will be asking you “Why Raju why???”

Memories of my year end celebrations

I hope each one of you had a fantastic Christmas and New Year celebrations and we sure have greeted the New Year with lots of hopes and aspirations.

Each year when I celebrate these festivities my mind goes back to my past days when I used to celebrate with family and friends. Those were the days!!!

I wish to share with everyone some key things those were the highlights of my Christmas and New Year during those yesteryears.

Holy Mass: Back home in India we have midnight mass for Christmas and New Year. The church would be beautifully decorated and would be full of people both young and old. The mass would end at about midnight. We would then wish each other and cherish the sliced cake that would be distributed by the church on these occasions. Bursting of crackers would herald the onset of the celebrations.

Church Celebrations: Christmas and New Year means a lot of celebrations at the Church. Different weekends would be reserved for celebrations of different kinds. The Sunday school kids, women’s movement, youth movement etc would form one group. There would be another big celebration on the following weekend wherein churches from different denominations would participate. There would be beautiful songs by the choir, sermons, some stage performances etc. The true spirit of Christmas reflects in these celebrations. One of the main attractions, especially with the kids, would be the arrival of Santa Claus. Santa would distribute sweets and the kids would go crazy.

Celebrations at home: Variety of foods, guests, decorations etc would be the highlights of the home celebrations. This is the season for near and dear ones to come together and celebrate together. When the Christmas Carol band would arrive at our home it would create a lot of excitement especially with our non Christian neighbors. All and all it’s a wonderful season to be back home.

Christmas and New Year is the time to be thankful and joyful for all the blessings throughout the year and to be with our near and dear ones. I am looking forward to more such Christmas and New Year celebrations in the future. 

Wishing you and your family a Happy and Prosperous 2009!!!