Café Coffee Day rips off its loyal customer

Sadly, last Sunday (15 Nov), my lunch at Café Coffee Day (CCD) at Mumbai Domestic Airport Terminal 1 lounge turned sour. It started off as a happy lunch with fish and chips – not offered in most CCDs but a rather substantial and tasty offering I might add – and a portion of toasted garlic bread (not mentioned on their menu but served on request) on the side.

I relished my meal and, although the air conditioning wasn’t working effectively at the CCD lounge, I decided on a cup of hot coffee to pass the time... before clearing ‘security’ on the way to board my flight. So, I placed my usual CCD order of a cup of strong cappuccino and a walnut brownie with the young lady in a short navy blue skirt and a white blouse with a navy blue scarf (not the usual CCD service attire).

The young lady asked if I wanted a sizzling brownie or a plain one. I replied, “No, not sizzling, a plain one will do.” She then asked if I wanted the brownie as it is, or did I want the brownie warmed up. I suggested that if the brownie was cold, then could she warm it up for me in a microwave. She accepted my order and, not too long after, my strong cappuccino and my plain warm brownie were served.

Needless to say, I enjoyed this part of the meal as well. But, when I asked for my bill, I noticed that it contained a charge for a sizzling brownie for Rs.167/-. I drew this to the attention of the young lady who had taken my order and suggested that there was an error in my bill. That, a plain brownie at CCD doesn’t cost that much. The young lady, however, said that there was no error at all and that I had been billed correctly.

Now, I’m a regular at CCD outlets and I know that a plain brownie costs Rs.45/-. And, this plain walnut brownie looked no different from the ones I normally have. In fact, I had my usual CCD order of a cup of strong cappuccino and a walnut brownie at the CCD outlet inside Crossword Bookstore at Nirmal Lifestyle in Mulund, Mumbai, just the day before (Saturday, 14 Nov evening) and my bill was within Rs.100/-.

To the young lady, I pointed out my loyalty to CCD and our earlier conversation when placing my order for a plain brownie, warmed up, and not a sizzling one. The young lady, nevertheless, said that a heated brownie, which was what I had ordered for, was the same as a sizzling brownie – and that I should now pay my bill.

I was aghast. This was CCD ripping off its loyal customer. Since I didn’t want any unpleasantness at the airport lounge, I cleared my bill in cash, suggesting that their brownie at the airport lounge was overpriced and should be noted. Of course, these words fell on deaf ears, and the entire experience left a sour taste in my mouth.

I wondered about the customer-client transparency levels and the service levels that I had just experienced at CCD at the Mumbai Domestic airport lounge. I wondered how, in this day and age of customer consciousness and customer delight, when customer service is a key driver of a brand’s reputation, a well-known brand like Café Coffee Day could treat its customers so shoddily. This was against all principles of marketing.

And then I wondered if Café Coffee Day even cared for such things.

A romance on illegal immigrants

In his 2002 film Dirty Pretty Things, British film director Stephen Frears paints a wonderful colourful picture of survival for a small group of illegal immigrants in London.

In the lead is Okwe (played superbly by Chiwetel Ejiofor), a Nigerian with a past. His story unfolds slowly over the entire film, but right from the beginning we realise that Okwe is a man of honesty and integrity... and education. Although a doctor by profession, he makes a living as a part-time taxi driver and as a night receptionist at a mid-level hotel, The Baltic.

In fact, it is The Baltic on which Dirty Pretty Things is centred. The hotel also offers work to Senay (played by the lovely Audrey Tautou), a young and somewhat naive Turkish woman who dreams of going to America to join her cousin’s restaurant there. As a member of The Baltic’s housekeeping staff on the morning shift, Senay rents out her couch in her tiny flat to Okwe during the day.

For company, Okwe and Senay have a colourful menagerie of characters on the side: Juan – the hotel’s supervisor (played by Sergi López), appropriately called ‘Sneaky’ for his suspicious dealings; Ivan – an opportunist East European doorman (played by Zlatko Buric); Juliette – a prostitute with a heart of gold (played by Sophie Okonedo); and Guo Yi – a philosophical Chinese morgue attendant (played by Benedict Wong) who is Okwe’s friend.

But, when British immigration officers raid Senay’s flat and attempt to catch her working without a work permit, life becomes difficult for both Senay and Okwe.

Matters are further complicated when Okwe uncovers a racket in the sale of kidneys run within The Baltic by his supervisor, Sneaky, in exchange for false passports for illegal immigrants. In turn, Sneaky finds out about Okwe’s Nigerian past (Okwe being a doctor and being charged with his wife’s murder) and blackmails Okwe into performing kidney operations for his personal gains.

This is where Dirty Pretty Things moves away from ordinary human drama and into the realm of a crime thriller... climaxing with Senay taking up Sneaky’s offer in exchange for her passport to America.

With Dirty Pretty Things, director Frears works on a tight script by writer Steven Knight. The dialogues are minimal, but within those words, the story is told rather well. Together, Frears and Knight present a London most of us know very little about. Beneath the bright lights of the big city is a life lived by people who would be best described as marginal: people who have little going for them except their instinct for survival and their hope for a better life.

And, Frears delivers on that promise. Dirty Pretty Things, Stephen Frear’s romance on illegal immigrants of London, is a film crafted to perfection. It shows us why life is still worth living no matter how adversely our immediate circumstances overwhelm us.

Why penalise the workforce?

The Indian economy is not doing badly. It may have slowed down after its exemplary performance in the last couple of years, but with a growth pegged at 6% or so in the current fiscal year, it is way ahead of the economies of the leading Western countries. If this be true, why are Indian corporate organisations and businesses, following their Western counterparts, adopting austerity measures which are affecting the Indian workforce negatively?

From retrenchment of workforce to delayed appraisals to delayed/non-payment of salaries to non-payment of performance bonuses for previous year’s excellent performance to cutbacks in salaries to cutbacks on perks promised... (the list is long)... Indian businesses, big and small, are trying to reduce costs in order to bring their businesses back on track. By which, they mean bringing up their businesses to previous levels of profitability.

Although there is a big question whether previous levels of profitability were/are sustainable over longer periods, I am more concerned about the negative effect these austerity measures have on the Indian workforce. The biggest negative effect is, of course, a disenchanted and disgruntled workforce. More so, because the workforce – at least, comprising of those who have retained their jobs – continues to work in the same dedicated manner that had brought in the revenues and profits in the previous years of growth and profitability.

If this be true, why are Indian corporate organisations and businesses penalising the workforce?

The human need to be social

There’s a lot of talk of social media – about social media marketing, social networking, viral marketing, tweeting, tagging, cloud sourcing, etc. The talk usually hovers around the Internet and mobilephones, and how technology makes everything possible. More so, because the technology that makes this possible is now in the hands of millions of people.

With this technology – actually it’s a collection and convergence of various technologies – people are talking, connecting, creating, commenting, blogging, tweeting, messaging, emailing, uploading and downloading files... sharing everything from professional information to political points of view to personal interests and experiences.

Although technology has centre-stage at the moment, I wonder if it is being given importance far beyond what it deserves. After all, though technology is making it all happen (and I do give it due credit), technology still needs to make use of, sit on and act upon the solid bedrock of human relationships that makes up our world.

For, it is the human need for relationships and togetherness that seeks out opportunities, methods, resources, time and technology to bring people together. Social media simply complements and completes this need, bringing joy to millions of people around the world. It is this human need to be social that’s driving this phenomenon we call social media.

Immortality gained

I know he is with God. He always has been.

Anyone who has met Rameshji, been to his satsangs, read his books or watched video recordings of his talks would tell you how gladly he shared his wisdom, and the ease with which he explained the most difficult of concepts to seekers like me.

His daughter, Jaya, would often tell me: “My father simplified things.”

After reading many of Rameshji’s books, having listened to some of his discourses, and helping to edit several of his books through his publisher and disciple Yogesh Sharma (of Zen Publications), who had introduced me to Rameshji almost eight years ago, I agree wholeheartedly.

Rameshji was fond of saying, “Consciousness is all there is.” And, so it is.

Ramesh S Balsekar – beloved ‘Rameshji’, Advaita guru and friend to all – left for his heavenly abode this morning. He will be fondly remembered by us all.

Far from the West

Contrary to trends in the West, particularly in the United States, where print is being replaced by online media, and power is shifting away from corporate-owned media to individual journalists and bloggers, the Indian news and media industry, steered by large private business houses, is confidently maintaining its leadership through print and TV, and growing robustly.

In India, neither individual journalists or bloggers, nor the online media, is able to claim a substantial share of voice in the industry. At least, not yet. Traditional news organisations are continuing to play a critical role in keeping the Indian public informed.

Wisdom of crowds?

Yesterday, Jeff Jarvis, American journalism professor, on Twitter, had been imploring the contributors of Wikipedia to correct his date of birth on the Wikipedia entry on him. Finally, he says, someone did.

This made me wonder about the ‘wisdom of crowds’ belief that Wikipedia is supposed to epitomise in today’s world of information and the Internet. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not challenging Wikipedia as a source of inaccurate information (I had done that before and had to correct myself). After all, I have been told that Encyclopaedia Britannica, apparently, contains as many errors as Wikipedia does.

I’m merely contemplating if many people contributing to, and creating, news and information (as it is on the Internet today) is really better than news and information created by a single source (such as a traditional encyclopaedia or the traditional newspaper/TV). Does more and more people contributing to, and creating, news and information necessarily lead to more accurate news and information?