Paying for Customer Care - Indian Telco's New Route to Revenue ethical?

If you have noticed, Airtel, a top Telco in India, has started charging its Customers for Customer care calls at the rate of 50p/3 minutes, a service which used to be free of charge.

Although this will definitely generate a lot of revenue (given that Airtel has significantly more than 110M subscribers) is it really ethical for a Telco to charge its Consumers. It may be perfectly legal but would it be ethical?


One may say that its perfectly ok to do say just like we purchase a product and we pay if it gets faulty.

To understand the question we need to understand the differentiation between a Product purchase and a Service purchase.

When you buy a product, you purchase the product accepting that it being a physical entity, will deteriorate in functionality and eventually need servicing or repair. Customer accepts the
liability that the amount he is paying to purchase is the price of the product.

Now consider that you buy a Guaranteed/Warranted Product for say 5 years. In this case you are buying the product and also a invisible service that, all damages (covered in the warranty) will be replaced or fixed at no cost to the customer. Do you pay for warranted products that get defective under its warranty? No.


Similar to the above, Telcos are predominantly service sellers. When you purchase a Billing Plan for example to make calls, it becomes a liability of Provider to allow you to make calls at all times. In simple terms, the Service Provider is liable for the availability of the service where as a Consumer is only liable to pay for the consumption of such a service. (unless there is a contractual maintenance charge)

It is very unethical and perhaps should be illegal to charge your customers to report issues arising due to failure of the Service provider to make a service available.


I shall share a simple experience I had that led me to writing this post.

I am an avid GPRS user, and when I saw that airtel is providing 2GB internet bandwidth for a measly rental of Rs. 99 per month, I immediately wanted to activate the service.

The website was very elaborate on providing information on how to activate the service. I did all the steps, recieved a confirmation SMS twice that the service is now active.

I then started to use my GPRS leisurely thinking that I will only be charged 99 for under 2GB bandwidth which is a lot for a mobile phone. I was only shocked to notice that in my bill that followed for that month, there was no rental applied of 99 and was actually charged the precise usage of bandwidth.

Confused i called up the 'Chargeable' customer support, who informed me (after first wasting time probably to get the minutes rolling) that the service is not active at all. I told her the dates on which i recieved the confirmation but the lady said that the service is just not active. Eventually i asked her to activate it and she said it will be done so (i hope).

This entire experience may have cost me Re. 1 and may be a few hundered rupees extra that i may have paid for my leisurely use of GPRS under my understanding that the service is active.


There are 2 Seperate issues here.

I may to a certain extent agree that due to some system issue it service may not have got activated and it is acceptable to me as a consumer (obviously it will leave a bad experience in my head with Airtel)

However, charging me to let them know that they have committed a mistake or their system has erroneously done something is bad, unethical and to me illegal as well.


Re. 1 as an individual does not look much. But think about the volume the Telcos is earning. Even if you assume that an Operator with 100+ million subscribers, has 1% people (which is very low assumption) that have issues regularly and may need customer support.

Also assume to a pessimistic value that your call will indeed be over in 6 minutes or Re. 1. (we all know how long it takes working with the Call Center Executives for Telecom Operators trying to make you wait for ages)

The calculation is

1 Million Consumers(1,000,000) X Re. 1 = 1 Million Rupees per day.

Thats a Massive Revenue of Rs. 30,000,000 (Rs. 30 Million) per month and
Staggering Rs. 360,000,000 (Rs. 360 Million or more than Quarter of a Billion) an year.

Think about it.

All this revenue from a user who only wants to highlight that he is not getting the service he paid for!

PDF to word Document

Heres a neat lil web site that u just load ur pdf to and it will give u a word document out of it.


http://convertpdftoword.net/

Get yourself some Free Google Stickers

I really love to give my readers all the info about freebies around. ;)

Well heres something that I am sure all of u would absolutely need.
Google is giving away free Google Stickers to one and all.

So what do u need to do?

just send a self addressed envelope at

Address to send your request:
Send me some Gmail stickers already
P.O. Box 391420
Mountain View, CA 94039-1420

and they will take care of the rest ;)

Here is how the stickers look like

The C++ and The Watever

I came around this weird article on the internet which is about an interview "proclaimed" arguably given by Stroustrup (Inventor of C++). Must Read

I cannot comment if its genuine but its fun to read.

http://artlung.com/smorgasborg/Invention_of_Cplusplus.shtml

The Web 4.0 and onwards!

I have been off the blogging scene with respect to technology for a while. However, I have tried to keep my radar on the web industry.

With all the hue and cry of Web 3.0 opening up out of its cocoon, and is expected to make a huge entry into the web there are too many people out there that are making serious assumptions on the Web 4.0 and onwards which I highly disregard.

To have a background on the issue, lets start with Web 2.0, this came as a cultural shift from how the internet is perceived and used. For what once used to be a publisher to user channel, now became a collaboration between the two. Users now had the power to publish with publishers merely become a means of presenting that information.

Once there were news websites that people read news from, now there are blogs that people write news into to share information.

Once there were encyclopedia websites, now there are "wikis" that allow you to collaboratively add information on topics.

There are many more such examples but the fact is that the focus and power of the Internet was changing hands. For websites that did not interact or collaborate with its users were thrown out. Collaboration is the key to survival in this scenario. Google who has been an excellent example in doing so now becomes the new king of the web. Web 2.0 became a very good means to allow Google to create its supremacy over the web.

In short, such a massive paradigm shift can be very well accepted as "Upgrade of the Internet" and the Web 2.0 term thus justifies.

Web 3.0 now is making rounds in the industry where applications and browsers aim to be more intelligent and adaptive. They will learn as we interact. Once again an acceptable upgrade.

However, anything beyond web 4.0 and onwards would only be a hypothesis based on no facts whatsover.

Web Portals and Companies trying to create an opportunity by marketting themselves as promoters and "innovators" for web 4.0 would only give me a big laugh.


Any innovation on the web cannot be termed as an upgrade to the web. Also the web scene in the world is so rapidly changing. It would be an idiotic act to drive the future upgrades on the basis of assumptions.

It is evident that all the web upgrades till now (2.0 and 3.0) have brought a paradigm shift to the web bringing in new players. They all originated by a gradual process that progressed on an ongoing basis and not a well planned strategy. Also, such things can never be a outcome of a planned strategy.


Concluding, the web is a vast expanse, and it has grown by its own and shown opportunities at the right time. For all those who are claiming to bring a big change in Web 10.0, please dont bother the world!

Your Google Map

I was wandering around the web (the usual me that is), and I was looking for a place somewhere in the United States. I need a map for the very same reason and what better could it be than Google maps. However, I tried to search a little bit more and I found this interesting website.

The website is called yourgmap.
What is really interesting about this map is, that it is personalized specifically to you.

Lets say one day you wanna mark all the places in the world to which ur somehow associated.
All you do is go to yourgmap, register, mark all the places on the map where u are related, say your college, your home, your school,etc and then publish your map.

People can view your personal map and get to noe a lot more about u and the places ur associated with. Well it does server a purpose i say


Ragatech Ratings : 3.5 (The 0.5 for the concept)

Wordpress Themes

For all you wordpress bloggers out there, these may come as a reiteration.

Now that word press is widget ready, its quite easy to mess you template up if ur trying to change your layout. However there are these widget ready templates already available to which u can easily tweak.

Enjoy free and premium widget ready wordpress themes at

http://www.widgetready.org/free-wordpress-themes.php

Quick Order

Assume You are a coffee addict. On a really taxing day when you needed that cup of coffee desperately, you find that there is a huge queue at the cafe.

How does it sound if I told you, you can now order coffee by you cell phone, to jump that queue, so that nothing comes between you and your darling coffee.

You would say I am kidding, and does it even sit fit as a business opportunity.
Well we would not have to wait for the answer.

iPhone/iPod Touch "Quick Order" application allows users to order their favorite StartBucks Drink without having to go through the hassles of waiting in the queue.
If this wasnt enough for you, you can also pay for it using the application from your phone.

Now thats what I call Sleeeeeek!




Image Courtesy : http://www.genoco.com

Google Patents

These days I am working on a concept for the Retail Industry. Although the concept is still far ahead of its time and currently not acceptable wrt to the funding and infrastructure it needs. However, was trying to make a presentation on it and was to make a patent application for the same once the concept matured.

However, I did not know about the patents already registered associated in the periphery of my concept, as the concept assumed a lot of things.
This is where Google Patents helped me a lot.
I was not only able to find the exact assumed patents I needed for my Citations but also it gave me a lot more information about the patents and their respective authors.

I would definitely want to recommend this for a try and u will love it for sure

Live Documents

Finally a review i had been longing to write

Its 2 months since Sabeer Bhatia, announced live documents as the future of office, and 2 months since i have been waiting for my request for an account to be approved :(

You can learn about LiveDocuments at www.live-documents.com

Amazingly, he has come up with another application that is a gem and addictive if you are a person on the move and use google docs extensively.

Their efforts to replicate the Office 2007 is quite commendable and they seem to have done more than justice to this baby.

With bandwith not a every man's luxury as yet, it can be quite taxing for the dialup buddies but if have the bandwith, this is one thing u should definitely get the hang of.

Well, responding to Sabeer's claims of getting the better of google docs, he does the the weapon, but we will have to wait to see if does anydamage to a well established and an all integrated solution.

He aims to cross a Billion users soon enough, All the best buddy! With a concept like this, he sure has got the wheels moving

Picture courtesy : http://live-documents.com

Canadian Software Lets You Turn One Computer Into Two, Completely Free

clipped from www.digitaljournal.com Using software created by an Alberta company, you can get a second computer in your house this holiday season free. In fact, the software is capable of splitting your PC into 10, saving you money and saving the environment at the same time. Digital Journal -- Canadian company Userful is now giving away its Desktop Multiplier software to anyone who wants an extra PC free. The software turns one computer into many, allowing a single computer box to support multiple users at the same time. All you need to do is connect an extra monitor, USB keyboard and mouse to your run-of-the-mill computer box, and the Desktop Multiplier software will make it possible for two people to work on the same PC at the same time. The reason Userful is giving away its software is to prove an environmental point and show just how much "un-tapped value lies hidden in today's desktop PCs," as their company press release reads.

Miro - free open source internet TV

Right at the time when it seemed that joost is gonna get ppl hooked to the internet tv addiction, there comes a new entrant which seems promising enough to offer you more.

Miro, an Open Source Application, promises to deliver better content (including HD, YO MAN!!!), with around 2500+ unrestricted channels as compared to Joost's 250 channels (DRM), it sure looks a good meal in the platter.

go check it out your self and decide...

click here

PipeBytes

PipeBytes is a simple service which allows you to send
a file to a friend.The unique benefits of this service are:

*	No software to install.
*	All you need is web browser.
*	Send files of any size!
*	Your buddy could start downloading file as you upload it. (That makes the file exchange process up to two times faster than other web-based file exhange services!)
*	It's private unlike BitTorrent or other P2P techologies. The file is not shared on Internet - it is sent directly to your recepient.
*	You can watch YouTube videos while file is being transferred!

Here is something really intersting i picked up at some website

Getting Creative with Post-it notes

We all know them. The small yellow pieces of stationary, with the re-adherable strip of adhesive on the back. For some they’re called lifesavers, for others they are just Post-its. Oftenly used to attach notes on boring stuff like computer displays and documents, here’s 17 creative uses of everyone’s friend, the Post-it:

The complete Post-It Portrait of Chris. It took 3 people about 4.5 hours and 1120 Post-It Notes to complete this.

What we did to Walt’s Jaguar on Friday.

This design was made entirely out of post-its. To increase the resolution of the drawing, I ended up cutting the post-its in 16 pieces. Putting everything up on the wall took about 11 hours.

two of my co-workers designed and built this mosaic of the king out of post it notes over the memorial day weekend.

It took 3 days, so we had to post this at night to keep the cleaning crew from undoing our work

A picture of Sonic I made out of Post-It notes on my window at work. This is six stories up and apparently quite visible from the outside.

Spaceinvaders.

Link.

Russel’s room. Amazing!

Post-it lamp

Five Marios

Over 1000 post it notes covering a 2002 blue saturn.

Source: http://www.justkeepthechange.com/getting-creative-with-post-it-notes

An interesting Post

I was just checking my emails when I recd one from my friend. He passed a link which apparently was a blog post, written on how the authors site was hacked and eventually used for promoting the hackers portals.

He realised it when his site was put off google's index and he tried to enquire about the reason for the same.

A good informative post for newbie bloggers out there.

http://justinsomnia.org/2007/08/search-engine-marketeers-are-the-new-script-kiddies/

File Swap

This is by far the most interesting website that I have put on my Blog.

Not just because it beats you on curiosity, but also on its purpose of existence.

www.file-swap.com, is a website that lets you upload a file and give you a random file in return.
These files are legitimate, spamfree, virusfree files.
Its nothing but an adventurous way of sharing files.

" On this web site you can download things like nature photos, photos of people,
wallpapers, audio files, animated icons,
videos or even pdf and text files.
Just upload one of your files and see what you get!"

This is wat the website quotes on its homepage.

So try your luck.

Myntra Custom T-Shirts

This is for the ones in India especially.
If you are a customized t-shirt crazy geek, www.myntra.com, is the place for you.

Its all select, click and buy, cant get ny simpler than that.
If you are interested in bulk orders then contact me and I can get you a good deal struck ;)

Enjoy!

Finally Back

Hey all my dear readers have been extremely sorry for a large gap for which this blog had been idle. Many a things had kept me tied up but here it is back once again. So keep enjoying the stuff and i hope your gonna enjoy it just like you did before.

Ragatech's Milestone of 100 Posts

This marks the success of Ragatech, which completes today its 100 Posts, attributed to Technology.

On this auspicious day, Ragatech can not but only promise you of more informative posts to come and helping enlighten ourselves in the world of oblivious!

Go Ragatech Go!
Hip hip Hurraahh!!
Hip hip Hurrahhh!!!
Hip hip Hurrahhh!!!!

The OpenLaszlo Regime

OpenLaszlo is an open source platform for creating zero-install web applications with the user interface capabilities of desktop client software.

OpenLaszlo programs are written in XML and JavaScript and transparently compiled to Flash and, with OpenLaszlo 4, DHTML. The OpenLaszlo APIs provide animation, layout, data binding, server communication, and declarative UI. An OpenLaszlo application can be as short as a single source file, or factored into multiple files that define reusable classes and libraries.

OpenLaszlo is "write once, run everywhere." An OpenLaszlo application developed on one machine will run on all leading Web browsers on all leading desktop operating systems.

visit here