Your Order, Madam?
We often hear negative stories of local products and services and of abysmal customer service. However, there are many occasions when things go right. And when they are put right when they do go wrong.
Booking train tickets in India is so easy now – just a few clicks on the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited’s (IRCTC) website https://www.irctc.co.in and you are done. Ever since the Double Decker train has been commissioned for the Madras-Bangalore sectors, with the exception of Sundays, one can practically get a ticket even at the last minute. Recently, I did a quick trip to Bangalore and back, with my daughter, by train – a 5-6 hour journey. As usual, it was a breeze to book the tickets. Completely paperless travel as one can just show the SMS confirmation. Another excellent development is good free wifi at every station on the way – I don’t know if this is the case throughout India, but it definitely worked in this sector.
I decided to try out the e-catering that the ticket confirmation stated was available – https://www.ecatering.irctc.co.in/ With this system, you can pre-book specific menu items from specific restaurants to be delivered to your seat in the train at a specific station. The interface was smooth and very easy to operate. To prevent any confusion, the portal asks for the PNR number – then it shows you all the stations en route and the options available in them – these vary based on the station and the time of day one is travelling. The PNR number gives the vendor the information they need – the date and time of travel, the exact train, the customer’s compartment and seat number.
Returning from Bangalore, we were taking the afternoon train, and elected to get our food at Katpadi – a couple of hours before the train reaches Madras. The only option at Katpadi was Domino’s. I selected a Paneer Makhni pizza, opted for cash on delivery and I was done.
On the train, about ½ hour before the scheduled stop at Katpadi, I got an SMS from Domino’s telling me my order number and that my order would be delivered in ½ hour. The train was running a little late. It had barely stopped at Katpadi when the compartment door opened, a smiling and courteous Domino’s delivery person arrived. As he looked around for my seat number, I told him I was the customer. He asked me whether mine was vegetarian or non-vegetarian. I told him it was vegetarian – the Paneer Makhni. He gave me a piping hot box, I gave him the cash and he left, in a hurry, to deliver another order in the train. The stop at Katpadi is exactly 2 minutes.
No sooner had he disappeared when we discovered that he had given us the non-vegetarian pizza. Instead of Order 66 which was ours, he had left Order 67. Being strict vegetarians, we wouldn’t touch the pizza. There was nothing we could do because we did not know exactly where the delivery person had gone. Plus, the train started moving. I sent out an email to the e-catering section with my order number and photographs of the received item. I was hopeful of a response eventually.
Within an hour, I got an SMS from Domino’s with their standard satisfaction survey. I selected the ‘dissatisfied’ option throughout (except for the delivery person’s behaviour – he was the picture of courtesy). No sooner had I pressed ‘submit’, when I got a call from a Domino’s manager asking what happened. I explained. He apologized profusely. I told him it was a genuine mistake under serious time constraints as the person delivering had even tried to confirm the order. The manager said he would deliver another pizza to me the next day at my home to compensate.
The next morning, the same manager called, took my particulars and sent the pizza home. The following day, I got a call from IRCTC apologizing for the mistake and assuring me that a refund would be provided. I thanked them and informed them that it had all been taken care of.
When studying marketing strategies, we learned that a mistake, if fixed well, could be a public relations coup (the Tylenol poisoning case is often cited). This was definitely an example of that. I will happily continue to use the e-catering feature of the IRCTC because of the all round response. Thanks to the swift and proper redressal by Domino’s, I know that I will not hesitate to order Domino’s in future and can recommend it unreservedly to others. I also thought of what a tremendous luxury it is to be able to order restaurant food of your choice to be delivered on a train – I am not aware of any other countries where it is available. Indian goods and services have come a long way.
My suggestion? If something goes wrong (anywhere – not just to do with trains), which it will, please take it up with the appropriate authority – someone who can actually do something about it. Complaining to all and sundry and bemoaning that nothing will happen will not help. When speaking to the concerned person, be truthful, polite, matter of fact and clear. Take a moment to put yourself in the other’s shoes. Don’t say everything went wrong when it didn’t. There is a redressal system in India too which works most of the time.
