Customer trapped!!

To put it straight--> I detest wearing headphones while watching a movie or listening to a song. The itchy sweat that piles up around the ears never fails to irk me. The awareness of health issues combined with the interlocking wires they come attached with didn’t help me love them a bit. But I was forced to do exactly that when my laptop’s speakers went dumb. The acerbic feeling of sporting a rebarbative on the ears made me take a decision against my stingy nature, after enough rumination though. I decided it was time to buy an accessory pair of speakers. There embarked a journey which gave me a lot of insight into mindsets of people and how businessmen deal/ need to deal with their customers.

I am never quite fussy when it comes to buying things. I keep it simple. I check the cheapest first and if impressed go with it. I never want branded or most sought after items. All I want is to get hold of things which satisfy my need. So here I went to an electronics shop one early morning (read 11am) which is out of way from my office. And quickly I enquired the prices of speaker units they had. The first learning came here. Shopkeepers generally describe and show the most sophisticated and costlier units first. Blankly, I asked for the most inexpensive one. He showed me one for Rs300. Zebronics brand. Having seen products of this brand before (probably there are many like-minded people around me!), I was impressed immediately. But 300 was a bit high on first thought. So I left the shop thinking I could check out other places.

After some enquires with people in office, I realized that 300 could be the lowest reliable speaker unit. I made up my mind reminding myself how much I earn and 300 seemed a pittance. And maybe I will be successful in negotiating the price further down. So I reentered the shop in the evening and the shopkeeper seemed to recognize me. I took the unit from the shelf and told him I wanted it. The second learning: he said it cost Rs350 much to the shock of the jolted me. I had to argue and remind him that it was quoted as 300 some hours back and finally he agreed. No more negotiation. He had won it. I was mildly happy when I came home and ripped off the headphone from the computer pin. The ‘joy’ was curiously short lived.

One of the speakers didn’t work properly! Damn! I immediately rushed to the shop only to find it closed. Knowing that it wouldn’t be open during the weekend, I had to wait till Monday. It easily spoiled my plans of watching one or two movies. It’s more frustrating to pay for it and not enjoy. Lesson three: always test your purchase especially electronic products. Monday arrived and I went to the shop early morning as usual. The shopkeeper was very accommodative of the fact that it didn’t work (maybe its normal!) and immediately replaced another. I insisted that it needs to be tested and we found that, for a change, both the speakers not working! He gave me an embarrassed look and requested me to come in the evening to collect a working one. I was relieved that he agreed to change it at least.

I couldn’t go back to the shop for the next 3 days thanks to my hectic workplace. But when I finally did, there was a smile in the shopkeeper’s face as he ushered me to the shelf to take a new piece. While he opened the speaker box for testing, some chaiwala came with cups of chai. The shopkeeper asked me to sit, relax and have chai. I thought it was a formality so I said its fine and stood there. But he insisted me to do the same and said he will test and give a good piece. The first piece that he tested was working fine I thought so I stood up and went to collect it. But he asked me to wait since he could sense something shaking inside one speaker and he went to take another piece for testing. Lesson four: even shopkeepers want to ensure quality. Finally he gave me a piece that worked fine and while giving, with an honest face he said ‘sorry sir’. I was totally moved. He needn’t have taken all efforts to ensure I was happy. I wasn’t a regular or a major customer. Probably he earned 20 bucks from me. Upon enquiring, he said he will return all defective pieces back to the manufacturer. I came home happy and satisfied. Being a person who always looks at the management side of things, I realized that things can go wrong. The strength lies in how you accept it and repair the image. That’s the biggest learning I got. He got his customer trapped in the end. Emotionally. Trapped forever…