In India, departmental stores set up by big companies, attract customers by offering discount and loyalty cards. However, initially, they only issue temporary cards and tell the customer that the permanent card would be issued only if a certain number of points are accumulated.
Interestingly, many customers go in for impulsive buying to accumulate more points to qualify for a permanent card and many ``discount schemes or gifts'' (which are given when the shopping bill is of a huge amount). This is OK, but the customers complain that the temporary cards are not scanned properly by the salesperson; the proper points are not added to the account; the permanent cards are not sent for months together and sometimes the stuff sold at these stores turns out to be ``outdated, stale and defective.''
A customer who recently protested against such malpractices went from pillar to post and even sent email to the company's headquarters but there was no response. Now, disgusted, he has started buying from the neighbourhood grocery store sans the `discount card'. At least now he gets good service.
Interestingly, many customers go in for impulsive buying to accumulate more points to qualify for a permanent card and many ``discount schemes or gifts'' (which are given when the shopping bill is of a huge amount). This is OK, but the customers complain that the temporary cards are not scanned properly by the salesperson; the proper points are not added to the account; the permanent cards are not sent for months together and sometimes the stuff sold at these stores turns out to be ``outdated, stale and defective.''
A customer who recently protested against such malpractices went from pillar to post and even sent email to the company's headquarters but there was no response. Now, disgusted, he has started buying from the neighbourhood grocery store sans the `discount card'. At least now he gets good service.
