(details of controling the macchar of unsolicited calls is given at the end of this post)"Duniya main do tarah ka macchar hota hai.. ek khoon peene wala..... aur ek insurance bechne wala"
Here is a story of two brands... one that behaved like a pest... and another that proved to be a repellant.
All of us, tormented captives of our mobile phones have learnt it through the nagging calls of various insurance companies and DSAs. Today was my turn courtesy ICICI Prudential life insurance.
Time: 9.59AM as per the reliance phone
Date: March 1, 2010
Phone number of the caller: +91 022 42560500
The lady on the other side said that she is calling from ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. I asked her where she got my phone number from, to which was an auto-response - "Sir we get it from our online system". I politely remarked - "madam my phone is registered on NDNC, you can be penalized upto Rs. 200 per minute for placing this call. And i can complaint about you if you repeatedly call me". I was travelling by bus then, and my daily morning friends applauded me for shudh hindi and a line that sounded like a govt. approved family planning ad copy... that usually ends with "nazdeeki swasthyakendra main muft payeeye". It was that polite and straight faced.
Her response was a sure winner for Ekktaa Kkapurr (hope i got her nummerrologie right, since i love this lady from the right auricle of my heart).. She responded with emotion " Sir please go ahead and complaint... we get the number from an online system.. you complaint.. but still you will continue to get our call".
I wanted to give her 9.9 marks, but did not have a score card, the types of which our virtual reality show hosts display on TV with their polymerized smiles, thrills and chills.. and hey she couldn't have seen it, since it wasn't a video call.
Back to the lady.. her words hit me like the relentless bites of mosquitoes, which refuse to cease inspite of my attacks with my favorite electric chinese racquet... "You will continue to get calls" sounded like "We will continue to bite and suck blood, kindly bear or bare with us".
I held back my emotions and smiled, because i was pretty sure that a company like ICICI Prudential Life Insurance may perhaps not cover its own telecallers, or that of their DSAs, for verbal assault and emotional outbreaks.
I did something better... and so can you..
As per TRAI guidelines, i called up my telco for raising a complaint - Reliance customer care. Thanks to their new dedicated customer care for post-paid customers, my complaint got registered in 5 minutes flat. I even got an SMS with the name of the person who attended my call, with another SMS requesting a tollfree feedback about the service.. It was a perfect ten here.
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance proved itself to be a brand with which i cannot trust my money, since it depends on stolen data to make unsolicited calls (their so called online system). Further they are a party to offending the law of the land.. the NDNC Rule.. I can imagine what they will do with my money.
Reliance, inspite of its negative perception among many, gave exceptional service.. I remember the name of the Customer rep-Atul ( i dunno why i called him Abdul till i got the SMS from Reliance)..Atul even had records of the exact date when my phone was registered for NDNC on the TRAI list. Though they have yet to prove their worth by finally sending my complaint to TRAI. But i know Papa (of papa ka sapna fame) wont let me down.
In any which way, i am happy that i did my bit by reporting an offence.
More details on NDNC registry and ways to stop nagging calls are available on the NDNC website: http://ndncregistry.gov.in/
Registering for NDNC is simple... send an sms with text START DND to 1909 ..toll free.. Yah seva bilkul muft hai (there i go on a govt ad tone!)
