Category: Personal

Day of Coffees


The day started with loads of appointments. But to my surprise all the appointments were cancelled and had nothing to do. Then I & Balaji had long pending shopping to do. So Balaji made some shopping in Mega Mart and then we left to iStore in to buy Laptop bag for my new Mac book.

Then we thought of having coffee at 36 Degrees Coffee & Juice Shop near Foreshore estate. We picked up two more friends and went to the coffee shop. To start off with things were not smooth as Balaji got irritated that there were no coffee’s in a coffee shop. So we settled for Sandwiches & Shakes. But Balaji got carried away with The Ambience and with the quality of food and drink… Also the price was very nominal and Balaji was finally happy.

When we entered 360 degrees there was a curious looking Birthday girl named Cathy dressed like an angel was sitting in the entrance expecting her friends for her birthday party. When we are half way having our grub slowly Cathy’s friends and their parents started dropping in with gifts.

You can imagine how the place would have become with a bunch of kids between the age group of 4 – 6 years. Kids were playing with balloons. Then Cathy’s parents arranged for magic show and the Magician really presented well in front of kids… I realized how smart these kids were when the magician was asking for colors, remembering the counts, remembering the name of cards and also finding out the trick played by him. It was absolute chaos. But watching tiny tots enjoying was real fun. Initially we though we have to vacate the place thinking we might be a hindrance for their privacy. But the magician involved other guest like us and got us connected with the party.

Then we walked out with absolute satisfaction. Then from there we didn’t know what to do. So I thought of visiting Amethyst Coffee Shop as we have not been there… Again a wonder place when it comes to crowd and ambience. I was not that impressed with Food & Drink when compared to 36 Degrees Coffee Shop and also prices were on the higher end. Again I was angry on myself that I didn’t carry my camera to shoot snaps at these wonderful places. Anyways there were no complaints as these places are in Chennai and we can make it anytime again.

Then I had an appointment to meet an entrepreneur friend of mine at 8 PM which was scheduled in Café Coffee Day located inside Mega Mart where we started the day. We dropped two friends at their home and drive to meeting and shared our latest experiences and we packed our bags. But what was interesting things for the day was; 

  • We started and ended the day in the same place.
  • We visited three different coffee shops.

Over all I was not regretting for cancelled appointments as the day was more fulfilling and I enjoyed the weekend in a different style.

Nice Picture


Person behind the smoke must really be smart… This is a real nice one… Can anyone find out who is behind the scene???

mocha

September Schedule


I’ve had many busy and hectic months but the difference is I’ve noticed them only after the end of the month. But this September I’ve a packed schedule and for the first time I’m planning my diary. So these are schedule for this month. 

  • Everything starts with office warming of Cogzidel Consultancy Services new office…
  • Then it is Vicky’s marriage and we have planned for a 2 day leave and have a get-together.
  • Then there we a weekend trip to Ramesharam.
  • Then there is a whole week of performance review & appraisal.
  • Then there it is the first anniversary of Cogzidel and we are planning to make it a memorable event.
  • Then my there is a 4 days holiday for my sister and we are planning for a family outing to Kodaikanal & Kuttralam. It’s been more than a decade since we went our as a family. Waiting to cherish the moment. 
  • In spite of all these I’ve to schedule meeting with potential investors and must fix a target for this month and achieve it, new office setup etc.

Most of this months schedule will be special & emotional like best friends marriage, new office setup, family outing, visiting new destination like Rameshwaram & Kuttralam. Hope events turn up as expected… Will keep you posted on overall experience by end of September.

ICICI Credit Card Issue Settled


Finally ICICI Bank Credit Card Irony which started 4 years got settled. Starting with poor customer service to disturbance from collection agents to rejection of loan request getting rejected to settling of dues without (which arose because of irresponsible act of an ICICI employee for presenting Cheque late where in late payment charges were attached to me) to attaching  lien on my account and taking funds for second time. Finally went to nodal officer and got my funds back and cleared my name from CIBIL.

This is the confirmation I received from ICICI Nodal office.

Dear Mr. Nataraj,

We refer to your e-mail of August 7, 2009 addressed to Nodal Officer regarding your ICICI Bank Credit Card account number 4477 xxxx xxxx 4003.

We have zeroised your Credit Card account number 4477 xxxx xxxx 4003. As on August 26, 2009 there is no out standing on your Credit Card account.

We have made necessary changes in the Credit Information Bureau India Limited (CIBIL) report from ” written of ” to ” settled “.

Attempts were made to contact you on your mobile number 09841430004. However, there was no response.

We request you to  kindly click on the link below to share your experience. 

Please click on  http://www.hansaresearch.com/icicibank/hsq/cc.asp?HSQ=35066703  to tell us.

Sincerely,
Sri.Venkateshwara
Office Of Head Service Quality

Let me take this opportunity to thank Mr.Venkateshara & the Nodal office team for getting the issue sorted.

Deteriorating Service Levels


In India government organizations are known for their poor Service Standards.  Problem with Indians is acceptance of service offered. We must keep it in mind that Government staff’s are paid salary from our tax money and even for Government Sectors which generates revenue they have the luxury of getting a government bailout from our tax money when they fall sick.

Imagine if our Government servants improve their service standards how profitable they can become and even with profit making units profit margin can be improved. Yesterday I was discussing with my friend how BSNL was functioning under Dhayanidhi Maran when he was the IT & Communication minister. Service Levels shot up and new initiatives took shape quickly. I’m not sure about the controversies he pulled with Tata’s and with his granduncle M.Karunanidhi but to general public he showed great progress. I really saw how things progressed under him and how it is going back to dogs under the current minister.

Another sad part is the Service Standards getting down with Private Institutions too. I had really tough time with ICICI bank after getting their credit card. Finally I went to nodal officer and got things clarified. But even there I get annoyed as I keep getting an email from the nodal officer where he sends this particular line on each and every mail

Attempts were made to contact you on your mobile number 09841430004. However, there was no response.

I’ve informed him about the change in mobile number and we have even exchanged conversation. But I’m not sure why he keeps sending those lines along with the update he sends to me.

Other thing is the Service standards with Private Omni busses and I’ve written a blog about how their services were 15 years back. Today they are on par with government busses when it comes to service standards. Yesterday when i was returning to Chennai from Madurai a passenger fell down because of a big hole in the bus which was covered by carpet. When the passenger said they must have taken steps to cover it with some solid material or must have kept a sign board. That passenger & I got annoyed with drivers response, he said “Even many passengers are getting slipped because of that hole as asked if they are complaining? He asked the customer to sit without conveying an apology”.

When I wanted to sue ICICI bank for falsely adding my name in defaulters list even after making settlement. My advocate said I’ll get a max settlement of 30K – 50K if I go to consumer court. Considering the amount of legal work which I had to do along with my attorney and after paying attorneys service charges I end up getting nothing in my hand. So I backed off from filing a case against the bank. There are many people who would have stayed back for the same reason. If our legal system offers more stringent damages to the affected customers like in US or European countries we can end up getting better services.

I know there is no use in complaining rather than acting. This is the max I cat do at the moment and let me prey some nice hearted person taking up this issue and get us respite from poor service standards from public and private institutions.

Vicky’s Birthday Celebration


It was overall a fun night… We decided to give a surprise visit to Vicky’s house and wish him Happy Birthday at 12 o clock. It all happened after a telecom with Kuruvi and we decided that we are going to make this… So, Kuruvi informed Vicky’s Mother and Sister-in-law and also got consent from his mom for a harsh Birthday Bum…

Telecom between me and Vicky happened when I was in Mayajaal and Balaji said returning to Downtown Chennai and buying cake would waste time and energy and we decided to order it in Taj Fisherman’s Cove and went to movie and collected the cake after the movie was over.

Lakshmi's Gift
Lakshmi's Gift
Entering Vicky's house
Entering Vicky's house

Then we rushed back home to pick the gift I got for Vicky and my camera. Then we picked Kuruvi from home and Sudhir reached Vicky’s house too… To our surprise folks sent by Lakshmi (Vicky’s fiancée) reached his house ahead of us with Rose and were waiting the clock to tick 12.

But we rushed inside the house before those folks wished Vicky and only then we allowed then to hand over Lakshmi’s gift. After all we know this is the last birthday we can disturb him at this time as we will be denied entry next year :d. 

DSC01435DSC01470This is the cake which we got it for Vicky. Also there were cakes sent by Lakshmi along with the Rose & his sister-in-law has already got one. So it was 3 cakes and after cake cutting it was time to decorate Vicky’s face with cake cream. Vicky wearing the birthday gift.

After this we had to leave his house quickly as his fiancée was waiting to talk to him and we knew we have to make a decent way out and we shook hands and signed off…

DSC01464Special Thanks: I’ve to thank Balaji for taking the mantle of cameraman and for driving me to buy cake and pick gift from my house. Regarding the camera work he is not seen in any of the snaps and his work is appreciated. Also I love this particular picture from Mr.Sudhir where the cake flies when Vicky tried to grab a cake from me :d.

The Don – Dream Unfulfilled


Right from my childhood I was inspired by watching lot of Don based movies and when I reached my teens my dream was to become a DON. But parent’s compulsions had changed my focus and still I feel for that…

My first desire to become a don started when I watched the movie Nayagan starring Kamal Hassan. Then subsequently watching Basha starring Rajini Kanth cemented the desire… Then came Ram Gopal Verma’s Satya, After watching Shar Rukh starrer Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa I got tempted seeing how a don could change marks and that aggravated my desire to be one…

In my teens I tried my hands on some rowdyism within my school and within my county. Most of the time I convinced nerds and kids that I was a Don in the making. But real Goons or Rowdy’s have always over shadowed me and I immediately strike an alliance with them by getting them gifts and I call myself as Small Don.

DSC00889DSC00890Then as time passes my priorities changed and I passed over those dreams. Now I envy looking back those days. After the release of the movie Billa & DON kindly my past and I wanted to take a snap with my friends Rottweiler unfortunately that was very ferocious and I settled with these two snaps… Please let me know if I’ve the looks of a DON…

No help from ICICI Banks Nodal Officers too


forbesindia-cover_29th-julyI got this reply from Office Of Head Service Quality on Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 12:27 PM for the complaint sent to Nodal officer on Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 2:37 AM. Though they promptly skipped the damages point they promised to get back on or before August 3, 2009 and till date now one has contacted me. This month of Fobes India’s cover page says How CHANDHA KOCHHAR is remaking ICICI and I think she really has to do a lot of things.

Nodal office is the final hope for any customer and if that is inefficient only God must save this bank which boasts a lot about it. Now I’m left with no option other than to take them legally or escalate to Ms.Kochhar itself.

Dear Mr. Nataraj,

We acknowledge receipt of your e-mail of July 28, 2009 addressed to Nodal Officer regarding  your ICICI Bank Credit Card account number 4477 xxxx xxxx 4003.

The same has been registered vide Service Request SR113863258.

We understand that you have the following issue :

a. Reversal of the amount of Rs 7366.05 which is debited from your saving account. 

b.  Necessary correction in the Credit Information Bureau India Limited (CIBIL) status.

We are looking into the issue and will revert to you on or before by August 3, 2009.

Sincerely,

Sri.Venkateshwara
Office Of Head Service Quality

I’m back again…


I was forced out of blogging for almost 5 days & Courtesy to the mess created by our web server. I was not even given an opportunity to say the famous Terminator punch line I’ll be Back. Initially I was upset with the web server and after investigation we came to know a part of mistake is because of us. Most of Cogzidel’s website were down and were restored quickly and anandnataraj.com was the last to get fixed. Anyway I’m happy it is up and running and thanks to Kannan & Bala Krishnan for their efforts to bring it back.

So it has been like living in a hell without expressing my thoughts and after making blogging as habit you can imagine how it frustrates. There were lots to blog like; 

  • How ICICI and agony continues….
  • Visit to Balaji’s village in Mahabalipuram.
  • My new one sided love story.
  • Review of LUCK.

Now let me take some rest and start posting them one by one from tomorrow.

Bankers think they are over smart


This is the email I sent to Nodal Officer for Lien on my accounts. I got an acknowledgement from them which don’t have reference to damages for the agony caused.

Dear Nodal Officer,

This is to bring to your notice about the irresponsible act on the part of ICICI Bank which has brought tremendous amount of monitory, time and productivity loss which lead to great mental agony.

All my agony started 6 years back when I bought ICICI bank credit card without knowing then that it is going to make my life miserable. I’d like you to go through this blog to know what has happened initially.

http://www.anandnataraj.com/me-icici-cibil

Even I was not happy in making the settlement on 2nd March 2007, I thought my irony is over but it is not. I still had your collection agents coming and disturbing. When I showed them the settlement letter they conveyed an apology. On 22nd July 2009 I got a letter from ICICI bank on Lien attached to my account. I don’t know why it took one week to send me the letter. By the time I received the courier the money was taken from my account.

I can’t understand why it took 4 years for ICICI to take action and don’t know if you don’t even have a process to segregate customers who have made the settlement.

Now your bank has not taken my name from CIBIL, they have taken my money twice which has lead to tremendous mental agony and I don’t know if you can help me out. I’d definitely want the bank to refund my money and pay damages for the trouble it caused me.

I’ve also sent an email to Banking Ombudsman and also I’m taking legal opinion to goto consumer forum.

As a blogger I’ll also take all steps to spread this irresponsible act of the bank.

Also in the last line of Lien of account letter they have sent the phone number without STD code.

Attached scanned copy of Lien on accounts letter, Settlement letter, Payment Receipt.

Thank you for your time.

Regards,
—
——-
S.Anand Nataraj

This is the reply I got from them

Dear Mr. Nataraj,

We acknowledge receipt of your e-mail of July 28, 2009 addressed to Nodal Officer regarding  your ICICI Bank Credit Card account number 4477 xxxx xxxx 4003.

The same has been registered vide Service Request SR113863258.

We understand that you have the following issue :

a. Reversal of the amount of Rs 7366.05 which is debited from your saving account. 

b. Necessary correction in the Credit Information Bureau India Limited (CIBIL) status.

We are looking into the issue and will revert to you on or before by August 3, 2009.

Sincerely,

Sri.Venkateshwara

Office Of Head Service Quality

It is nice to get their acknowledgement and a commitment on time but I don’t know how these bankers try to over smart us… I requested for Reversal, Removal of name from CIBIL and Pay damages for agony caused which they cleverly left it. You can check this paragraph in my email to nodal officer.

Now your bank has not taken my name from CIBIL, they have taken my money twice which has lead to tremendous mental agony and I don’t know if you can help me out. I’d definitely want the bank to refund my money and pay damages for the trouble it caused me.