Skip to main content

The LifeTime Offer

Vodafone India ₹ 499 LifeTime Offer

Today, as I was having lunch, I received a call. The caller identified me by name. Then proceeded to explain she was calling to offer me a great ‘postpaid’ plan. From Vodafone. Why? I was already on a Vodafone pre paid. No Answer. But I figured. A few months earlier, I had figured that the bill being charged to me was too much for the services I was availing. So I did what a right minded Gujju would. Switched to pre-paid. Now mind you, I have been on post paid for over a decade before the switch.

 Back to the call. 

 She: I am suggestiing a Rs. 499/- “lifetime” plan which would include some 700 minutes of local talk time, 500 SMS and 2 GB of 3G data.
Me (Thinking) : Now that is a pretty decent plan for someone with my kind of usage. My curiosity is piqued.
Me: How long is “lifetime”
Her (irritated voice) : lifetime means lifetime.
Me: What if Vodafone shuts down this plan.
Her: Kya Sir, aisa kabhi hota hai kya. Vodafone will never do it.
Me: Madam, already happened twice to me.
Her: Not possible only Sir.
Me: Madam, couple of months back Vodafone suddenly stopped my per second billing on this number.
Her: Sir, this is a pre paid number.
Me: Madam, I was on a Rs.150/- per month billing plan. Suddenly 1 fine day, Vodafone just sent me a sms saying that plan was shut and I was moved to a different plan, few years back.
Her: Kya Sir, Wo to Rs. 150/- wala plan tha.
Me: Madam, kya aap guarantee denge ye plan lifetime chalega ?
Her: Anyway sir, aap ko kabhi ye billing plan chahiye to ye number pe call kar dijiye.

Epilogue: For the longest of time Vodafone was marketing a system which would recommend the best plan for you. I understand well that Vodafone is a business. But why would you makes your customers expect you to recommend what’s best for them. Do you expect your customers to never find better plans listed in plain sight on your website.
And btw, it is nice to see you work hard for customers with the new competition. It may not last long, I know, but meanwhile, All the best.

 Absit Invidia
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Mumbai will never be free from traffic

2004 : Regular commute on the western express highway (which was barely a total of 3-4 lanes) all the way to Seepz, sometimes via Aarey Colony/JVLR. Chai pe discussions (borrowed phrase) over why are they bothering to build a highway in the middle of the city..why we just cant have a metro from  Ghodbundar / Kashimira  to atleast Bandra , since we were anyways building the commercial district of Bandra Kurla Complex  and the  Bandra  Terminus. Anyways Delhi had a metro since the 1990's, and we being the hip and happening Mumbai deserved our own. That, we all know did not happen. And, in the meanwhile, atleast I now have good understanding of why something like that or similar will have opposing forces : Lost Fare - Such a move would render thousands of auto fares/taxi fares needless. Think about Rs. 1 to 2 crore lost on a daily basis. In this context, think of the cycle of increasing taxi-auto fares -> increasing taxi/auto permits -> increasing fa...
1 comment
Read more

Creating Systems

We are an organisation, within another organsition within another organisation, and so it goes. And we love to create oranisations...maybe we are in the image of the One, maybe we were created in HIS likeness (excuse me ladies ..).   But we have definitely not evolved as much as the one whose likeness we inherited. The fundamental difference is he created evolving, selg organising systems and let them run.   We, humans still focus on creating elements of the system, and try to evolve it.   A plane difference, that is what it is.
Post a Comment
Read more

Yennovation, Monopoly

I have been wondering, and Yes, I do know that I do that a lot !! Wondering, about Dominant Design. An alternative name for a Monopoly !!  No, not a monopoly in the orthodox sense of an enterprise, but the monopoly of a particular dominant design. Why do we have only electricity and no other 'city' after that. A random google search (what else ) tells me humanity has known electricity for over 2500 years, analyzed and have been capable of generating it for almost 300 years. But isn't someone trying to discover an alternate form of powering us up instead of just alternate forms of electricity generation methods !! Dont we loose a lot in transformation ?? What about wheels. Sure it maybe 1 of the most important discoveries / inventions ever, but doesnt anyone think of changing the fundamentals of transport. Arent we advanced enough to stop having wheels as the dominant design. What about planes that jump up like a frog, instead of the runway, before t...
Post a Comment
Read more