Consumer Plight - Sometimes Annoyed

I have had different experiences in the field of Consumer Marketing in India. From communicating absolutely ridiculous promises(of course the false ones) to feeling satisfied in buying and using a product - you name it.
Usually, for a populous country we do really good in maintaining the expectations of the consumers. But definitely there are so many places where we simply lag behind. In an attempt to blog continuously, I'll try to share my experiences.

New Car Selection:
I have a world record of 'starting from a scratch' as far as my career is concerned. In trying to find the right 'field' for myself, I have tried totally new jobs at least 6 times and I am just 32. I am sure I can receive some honour from the President for my achievements in this field by the time I retire. In one of such attempts when I started(again) on a new job, I had to buy a car to commute to the office. Which car - of course the cheapest. Which brand - to hell with brands - I wanted the cheapest car in the market.

So I started on a nomadic journey of visiting car showrooms in Chennai, India. I would take the liberty of mentioning car brands and names here. First I went to Tata and Fiat Motors dealer 'Concorde Motors'. There were so many people outside the showroom itself, I thought some film shooting was going on. On entering the showroom with an effort, I was immediately attended to by one of the salesmen(alarmingly good). But as soon as I asked him to show their most economical model(cheap does sound cheap-so economical is the polished version), there was a frown on his face - his expressions shouted - heres another freak on a holiday mission who thought going to car showroom was much better and cheaper than going to a beach or a mall. He didnt even bother to give that artificial smile and in a way that was good. Instead of heading for some cars which were on display, he just took out a price list and handed over to me. I tried to ask some technical questions. Let me tell you, I didnt want to know about the innovative engineering details, just simple knowledge on bhp, mileage, etc. He could'nt answer nine out of ten. I didnt even bother to find another salesman as this man wore a batch of 'star salesman' on his shirt.

I thought of moving to the next stop. I went to ABT motors(Guindy) which is a Maruti showroom. I have had 4 cars in the past, all Maruti-Suzuki models. I have had no complains with the car and a reasonably good customer service. Obviously, my anticipations were high on entering the showroom after a disastrous start earlier. Well almost. Even before entering the premises, my taxi was HALTED by the watchman and almost thrown out. No no - no reason whatsoever. People who came to the showroom to inquire obviously didnt have any car to commute(according to ABT) so even if they have an empty parking to accommodate a 100 cars we had to park outside on the main road and invite the tow trucks!! I motivated myself by thinking about Maruti and entered the showroom eventually. There were a thousand salesmen each looking at one another. The finally some good hearted gentleman took pity on me and came forward. Well, due to the bad response earlier, i started differently. I am looking for something in EFC(Entry Family Car) segment. Somehow, I was amazed to see the exactly same expression on the salesman's face as in the case of Tata Motors. I wanted to shout to the world - I really want to buy a car folks. This man simply pointed out to a car in the corner and said - that is the cheapest car(for a cheap person like you). I managed to check the interiors myself and thought of inquiring for another model. The salesman was now extremely busy in talking to his friend about evening get-together. I decided not to disturb him but at least meet the manager. There was no receptionist but I went to the reception table and waited for a while before a really sad girl walked and asked ' whats your problem sir' and not ' how can i help you sir'. I just wanted to meet the manager, I said. After asking some questions to me she finally called someone who in turn caught hold of a person who was extremely busy running here and there. The manager did apologize but really didnt seem to have any interest in my buying a car.

Further, I went to Hyundai Motors and GM Motors showroom. To my pleasant surprise, I had excellent reception on both occasions. Hyundai was better than GM. I saw the 'here again is a cheap guy on holiday' expression in the case of GM. Infact I even overhear one of the fellow salesman commenting, I'll give you five thousand if this guy buys. :(((((( But the salesman who attended me was much better.

Buying a car in India has got much easier. But still a car costs a lot in accordance to the salary we get. Small car, Sedan or whatever it is, we have to spend through our nose to be able to own one. Its really frustrating when there is such bias when we are buying a small car. Its even more frustrating to guarantee the salesman to promise - I will buy from you - in order to get more information on the product.