“Retail Menaces” – 11 Nov 2008 – Gets Heard!

Case 3 – Posted On: 11 November 2009

Retailer: Krunal Stationers and Xerox, 6, Corporate House, Opp. Pakvan-2 , Judges Bungalow Road. Name: Shaileshbhai Shah (40027042/9428580125)

I have mentioned more details because I think everyone should know who the person is and should we really buy anything from him.

As I said, I am trying to buy an ink-pot and it hasn’t happened yet ideally. I sent my office help Vipul to get me this ink-pot. He got me this 60ml ink-pot and he paid Rs. 15. As you can see in the images, the MRP is covered with black marker and hand written price appears on the top (Rs. 15/-). I went back to the shop and asked why it is so? “Etla j laie chhie, amne posatu nathi!” That’s what Shaileshbhai had to say about this. So what is the need of putting an MRP on any product?

It was just a matter of 3 odd rupees, but it doesn’t end there. You would definitely think, what is the fuss about just a few coins? There is a lot of fuss about it, because it begins only there. There was a young guy working in the same shop and presumably he was the son of Mr. Shah. He would follow and may use better tricks than his father. I could have paid 3 rupees more and got my ink-pot but I asked for the refund and did not buy it! It is up to you to decide how much you want to allow these people to do whatever they want. There might be more serious cases but I hope this was exemplary to understand such situations.

“JAAGO GRAHAK JAAGO!”

Comment from a customer!

hi,

who r u? and what u want i not matter it.

But don’t make people fool. Because i bought a ink pot from krunal stationers after reading your post .shailesh bhai say me its price is 12 and i give him 100 rs note.So he return me 90rs and say when ever u come next time give 2 rs because i not have changes.

So for your private purpose and easy publicity don’t try to make people fool.So, Remove this post as soon as possible because its totally wrong

Avinash Patel

My response to it – 24 SEPTEMBER 2009

As an update I am republishing this as a new post as well! One of the customers bought the same ink pot from Krunal Stationers and mentioned that he did not have any trouble buying there and also the store keeper has been kind to him. No one would be more glad than me about this as, my purpose was to have the customers to be more aware and awake! And also the retailers follow the standard practices.

While re-reading my own post, I did sound a bit agitated and aggressive but that is what I felt at the time I had this experience! Wrong things do provoke me, and I thank God for that!

Thank You Avinash for letting me know that I got heard!

Online Communities – Trends and Threats!

Facebook is looking very slow these days! It could be a slight downfall as human interests change frequently! If something’s thrown quickly against FB it might click!

One more reason: Compared to Indian visitors (4,063,300) there are far more users in western countries like US (83,558,820) and UK (20,247,300). And all these majority users are busier during August to Pre-December! Approaching deadlines of projects before Christmas… And hence, may get less time for hanky dolly! I have seen significant fall in status updates, useless messages like “I m cleaning my room today!” etc. Facebook is on rank 31 in best 50 sites of 2009! Guess who is on top… Flickr.com.

Facebook is looking very slow these days! It could be a slight downfall as human interests change frequently! If something’s thrown quickly against FB it might click to the users and can go places!

One more reason is that compared to Indian visitors (4,063,300) there are far more users in western countries like US (83,558,820) and UK (20,247,300). And all these majority users are busier during August to Pre-December! Approaching deadlines of projects before Christmas… And hence, may get less time for hanky dolly! I have seen significant fall in status updates, useless messages like “I m cleaning my room today!” etc. Facebook is on rank 31 in best 50 sites of 2009! Guess who is on top?… Flickr.com. Twitter is way on top in this ranking compared to Facebook.

Facebook activities also are more of an imitation of friends or contacts. Well, it is all about following each other and forming a community! But still a thin line is surfacing between imitation and following. Offline (a new word for the “real world”) friends have got new place to meet and share things, Facebook! Friends, people in relation, husband & wife, mom-dad, siblings – all these relations are getting a new dimension through this online world of sharing and caring! Unknowingly, a lot is happening around those tangible comments, pictures and connections! A new sense of jealousy, rivalry, imitation and unhealthy competition is spreading. Some are competing for more friends on the list, some are jealous of their friend’s ability to exploit FB apps to show new creations and there are some who just follow the activities because their friends are doing it!

We still are not aware of the time bomb we are sitting on! These micro and macro level oscillations of emotions, rivalry and imitations are becoming the strength of the online world. The amount of information in various forms they hold, the accumulation will create a dangerous diagram of our lifestyles. Being with Google, they have your emails through GMail, your documents through Google Docs, your location and map activities through Google Maps, your schedules through Google Calendar, your sites through Google Site and many more. A common user may not realize this fact but going ahead with all these community sites and live update of your lives will take a certain level of control on your activities!

It will be a bit early to say anything more, and rather we just keep this thought in mind while embracing anything online!

More on me @ www.snehism.com

Old Job, New Job!

This article was for fun!!! And has been removed by the author as it may have hurt some sensitive nerves! Please contact the author on info@snehism.com for inquiries.