Shopclues clueless with clues

My wife is a big fan of this website, and so I was just casually browsing it today..as they have this flea market on sundays..then this thing caught my attention..

Offer Pack of 3 vests for 93/- felt was really cheap....and as there were quite a good num of reviews i took a sec to take a look at it.. then understood where the real clues were..

Someone got really hurt!
..
..
and then..comes a slightly angry fella...

..
now a better one..

..
lastly the best ...

Wonder what his expression would have been...receiving it..

Snapdeal - snaps money through deals

What happened?

Almost a month back I had placed an order with Snapdeal for a pair of sunglasses, which on the looks of it seemed a very good deal but only to realise that it was not so when I got it delivered.

 

It looked really cheap, the sun-glasses sold by road side hawkers are better than these. I returned it immediately, and they returned me the money in the form of Snapdeal cash (Basically once you transact with them you have no choice but to part off with your money with them)

You may click this to reach the deal.

 

At the same time I placed another order for a watch (Brand: Breo). Thankfully the brand has a website, so seemed to be a genuine one.

Below was the watch for which I placed the order. I placed the order on 8th April and was expecting it to get delivered atleast in a week's time.

 

If you notice the below screenshot there are three things which I want to highlight

 

1) Delivery

2) Price

3) Refund

 

Delivery

Now if you see they claim to deliver the product in 3 business days, so expecting it get delivered in a week time is not asking too much.

 

 

I placed the order on 8th April

 

On 11th April I got the below SMS

 

On 16th April again I got another SMS

 

I dont know if I should be irritated for the continuous delays or be glad about being intimated promptly about it.

 

On 25th April I called them again to know status of my order and then they tell this sweet news that the order was cancelled. I told them that I havent received any sms stating so, to which he said that they dont send sms when an order gets cancelled.

 

Now,

-> When an order is placed you get an sms

-> When it gets delayed you get an sms again and again and again (dont know when it ends..may be with cancelling only I believe)

-> When the order gets cancelled you are not told anything because you are no more a concern for them

 

The reason they state for cancelling is the vendor is not able to deliver the product so they have cancelled and they were suggesting me to place an order for something else.

 

Now if the reason was to be believed why is the deal still listed on the website, is it some gimmick to cheat more customers?

 

The deal still exists. You may click the link to reach it.

 

Price

Coming to the second most important aspect any customer would be interested in.

They say the actual price is 2699/- and they are offering it at a price of 1619/- which is like 40% percent discount. Sounds like snapdeal is only for charity.

 

Below is the original listing on the brand's website

 

It costs $31 and with shipping charges of another $13 it comes to $44 so if you convert it into INR at 54/- it works out to be 2376/-. This is the price I will have to pay if I have to order as an individual. Also I am assuming it to be from UK, while Breo has HongKong also as center.

Overall I dont think the deal is any great.

 

Refund

Finally refunds.

I was very disappointed about the cancelling of the order. I was eagerly waiting for the watch as I wanted to give it as a suprise gift but SNAPDEAL spoiled it all. Also my previous order for the sunglasses was also delivered late. With this experience I told them to return the cash which was in their account. To which they say that they dont have any policy to return money to customers, instead they suggest me to buy something else.

This Trustpay is also another reason to get fooled.

 

When I know the product quality is bad, the delivery is going to test your nerves and there is no refund policy why should/will I buy anything from Snapdeal. When I demanded them to return my money multiple times, because I dont want to deal anything with them, the executive escalated(upon insisting) it to his senior, who told that the request has been taken and closed the call. I was pleased that it was happening but again the next day they tell me that it is not possible and suggested me to buy another product.

 

Hmm.. now all I can do is just write about it.

 

If I were to be the CEO of the snapdeal, I will definitely implement the refund policy. This shows how much confidence I have on the products I am listing. Also, a customer who is duly refunded an amount might even come back to make more purchases because he knows his money is secure.

 

My suggestion to all my readers. Think before you transact. These days everyone is coming up with an ecommerce venture.

Snapdeal started with just a deals website copying groupon and now I feel it has lost it's focus and is copying ebay. No wonder if they copy facebook also creating a social networking platform also.

 

Below is my rating on Snapdeal.

 

Delivery : Worst of All (Takes more than 10 days to deliver any product) (Flipkart is better)

Service  : Pathetic (Takes minimum 3 calls to reach an agent)

Quality  : Dont get fooled by looks of the product (Groupon is better on this aspect)

Price : Its no big deal.

Apple iPhone vs Samsung S3

Samsung S3 vs Apple iPhone

Before I get into the comparison..
The prologue..
I have had an iPhone 3GS model for almost 3 years and I was very happy using it till that unfortunate day when it went dead all of a sudden..It took me sometime to come out of the depression :P..ok I know it is an exaggeration.. but yea..I really missed it..as it became an integral part of me for almost 3 years...so is the reason for the sentiments.....as I had no other phone but to resort to my defunct HTC mobile ..
Then came my wife's birthday.. i gifted her a Samsung S3[..was a suprise gift] ..She was so elated that she gave away the S3 to me..telling that I needed it more than her..actually to gain more sympathy ;) I used to meddle with that silly phone infront of her only.. My wife was so moved at me struggling to make my htc work that she insisted me to take the S3..thats how I ended up owning the S3..

 

Present..

But this happiness didnt last longer for me.. It's not even 3 months and already I feel like I have had enough... I want to go back to my good old iPhone3Gs. As a matter of fact the 3Gs is 2 generations older to the contemporary model of S3, that is iPhone 5, and is much better than S3 when compared to its performance.

 

My woes: The screen goes blank many times, even when the battery is fully charged the mobile goes dead...It is dead slow and at times takes more than a minute to open up a contact to dial up..The camera also freezes many times..the swipe-right to pick up a call doesn't work sometimes..

The touch is so sensitive that..once it called up my boss all of a sudden.. and adding to my agony..it got stuck at that moment only.. I had to pull off the battery to cut the call :O..So you see what all I had to go through with this phone..

I did a simple weighted average analysis to compare Samsung and Apple and below is the analysis for all you people

Clearly Apple stands out when compared to Samsung, though on looks point of view it's somewhat closer to Samung..but on performance and utility it rocks...

 

This is not a techie review but is an honest submission from an end user.

I was so irritated with the mobile...below were my experiments with the voice recoginition application....which also opened up unintentionally.. was a discovery for me..

I said "I Love you"

 

 I said "I Hate you"...which I actually meant..
 

 

Finally that is how I ended it

 

 

Naayak - A Boring flick

Naayak - Review
Rating :  2.5/5

 

Director: V. V. Vinayak
Produced by: D.V.V Danayya
Starring : Ram Charan Teja, Kajal Aggarwal, Amala Paul
Music by : Thaman

Watched this movie on Sankranthi day at Kadapa.
A much hyped movie but only to anyone's disappointment I should say. The story lacked novelty. I feel it's a mix( read kichdi) of all blockbuster hits like Adurs, Businessman, Gabbar Singh.

Story : Not a gripping one, It gets boring somewhere in the middle as it is slightly dragging and very predictable
Music : The music is very good and Thaman did a great job. Charmee's item song was surprise.
Characters : RamCharan, Cherry, did a fair job. NTR would have been a better choice for this role. As the role demands having a funny bone, which I feel Cherry lacks compared to NTR. Kajal and Amala were fillers.
Rahul Dev's role is a shortlived one, and he hardly spoke anything throughout the movie. Pradeep Rawat as usual an agressive villain did his part ok.

Similarities to Other Movies

I wonder if I am the only one to feel that the movie has many starking similarities to the movie "Adhurs" directed by VV Vinayak himself.
Below are some of my observations
1) Hero Double Role
2) One of the character being a highly aggressive one
3) Kolkata background
4) Bramhi doing the similar comedian role
5) The location, where the climax fight sequence was shot was the same location where a similar fight sequence was shot in the movie Adurs.
6) The title song being the last song of the movie.
7) Ashish Vidyarthi playing the similar role

Businessman
1) The partnership with all goons
2) The song "Madam madam" somewhat goes in line with "Sir Osthara"







Gabbar Singh

1) The funny sequence where all goons are treated by Cherry's folks..is similar to the one in the Gabbar Singh.




Overall I feel it is not a worth watching in multiplex atleast..Wait till Ugadhi to watch it on TV, it's worth that:)

Updated:
Anonymous said :
"just a mix of VV's earlier movies. the hooligans reporting to brother of heroine seeing him on ride with heroine is kinda BUNNY. and hero praising villain is kinda KRISHNA and also the PEDANANNA of villain is same actor. even brahmi as uncle of hero is from KRISHNA..... such a vegetated makers n watchers. god bless .... flipping n moving forward ....passing off songs etc. unbearable to watch in a theater n the NAYAKs madam madam seems no match for bussinessmans sir osthara.."

Read more: http://404phylenotfound.blogspot.com/2013/01/sir-followed-by-madam.html#ixzz2IdCfmUSs

Thuppakki hits bulls eye

My Rating  - 4/5
Watched this movie yesterday.

A gripping action thriller starring Vijay, Vidyut, Kajal and direction by Murugadoss.
This is best of the movies I watched in recent times after Eega.  Murugudoss ensured that the viewers are well engaged with the scenes all throughout the movie with the mind games between two lead roles keeping you guessing all the while. At no point of time you get bored of the movie even the scenes with absolute silence.

 

 

Characters: Vijay &Vidyut[villain] get thumbs up for their performance. Vidyut with his rugged looks was awesome. Kajal added to the glamour part for the songs, which were not that catchy though from lyrics/tune point of view. The comedy part was situational and not overloaded. Overall the movie is a must watch and worth watching in theatre.

  Official Trailer - HD

Dhaaaaam-rukam

Watched this movie last evening @ cinemax...

Movie: It's a socio-fantasy movie starring  Nag, Anushka.
I felt the story was dull. It couldnt make any impact after the much created hype on the graphics. A movie like this which is so predictable needs a lot of efforts on direction and screenplay front to make it still an interesting flick [ex: Eega]. It is cliched to say that the movie lacked logic, and it so feels like the director was in a hurry to finish the movie.

Characters : Nag seemed quite incongruous for a socio-fantasy flick. The villain of the movie was not so effective. Nothing much to say about Anushka. The item song with Charmme and the comedy track with all seniors were forceably inserted. Charmme is so fat and her dance moves were provocative[may be that is the definition of item song]. Prakash Raj played the role of Lord Shiva,which I felt was a wrong choice. He had put on lots of weight with a double chin and I feel it is so odd for the role of Shiva. Among all GODs, Shiva is a character which sports the macho look but it was not so in this movie. .


Conclusion: At no point of time was there any amount of suspense nor the graphics were breath taking , making the movie an absolute dud.

"Wait till Sankranthi to watch it on TV!"

weekend movies

Shor in the city : Rating (3/5)

for a change Tushar kapoor is watchable in this one..the editing of the movie was really good...the story starts with unrelated characters and finally culminates by connecting each of them with a common link..it's a time pass movie..The character 'mandook' is a highlight in this movie..it was played by Pitobash Tripathi- the one in pink shirt in the above pic


 Fast five (fast & furious 5) : Rating (2/5)

full masala.....in terms of story it's no different to any bollywood movie..I didn't like it much.. there was lil comedy.. the car chases werent that interesting...I liked the first car chase in the movie.. where the car dives into a river..breathtaking it was..
but otherwise ..overall the movie was so-so..not worth watching it in a multiplex..

Surprisecube...surprise assured!

Surprisecube http://surprisecube.com/ an online gifting website..be prepared for loads of suprises...

I had placed an order for a magic mug,well..it was definitely a surprise rather shock  to me when I saw what I got...to top it all..I was the one, who was blamed for that.. Yes it was my mistake I should have chosen someone else..

At that point of time when I placed the order I was not sure on what to write or what picture to put...now if I were to do business I would have suggested some ideas to my customers..or shown some typical messages/templates etc.. which didn't happen.. later i did some googling and mailed them the pic and quote which i wanted...to which after my continuous followups i was confirmed about the order..

what does someone expect from a customer?
The person should have ideally asked me..the position,color combination,font type and font size..none did that.. I sent a second mail to them suggesting them the font i wanted..which was on the same day..

now how can someone expect a customer to think everything the machine needs as an input..when you are operating you should ask the customer the various specifications needed and be as detailed enough so that you don't miss out anything..or keep the customer next to you so that he gets what he wants

just before I was about to collect..I called up and wanted to confirm if the font change happened.. to which the person was not sure about..and when i further questioned..he says.. he can show me the mail print as proof that he has sent it to the technical team..now what kind of professionalism is this?.. you are working in a team..you are not sure about your internal communication..and who are you trying to blame by showing the printout?..It really gave a very bad impression about the team to me.. hehe this attitude is not healthy for any business...

When I went to check the mug in person..I told the person also.that.I want to check if it's same as what I expected.. the person smartly came down to the station itself..and handed over the mug.. Actually I wanted to check how it works..which they have very smartly averted..
when I saw the mug..I was shocked..I said the font color is not same as the mug..to which I got multiple explanations..he says..no it is always like that..it cant be same color..and another explanation being..you should have told the color before....
as a matter of fact ..I've bought a magic mug previously from some other vendor who gave me wide varieties of choices..and also helped me in selecting quotes..and actually showed me while printing also..so that I get what I exactly wanted..here these people say they don't let anyone to their labs...

now you are taking an order online..
neither you are showing a sample of what you are going to deliver...
nor you are competent enough to ask appropriate questions to your customers...
nor you are ready to correct your mistake..but very competent in blaming everyone else in the world..

Now the worst thing anyone would want to listen is..to be blamed back for whatever happened...
I couldnt feel in them, even an iota of passion to deliver value to customers..I am sure they would have been very happy to have made their money...

I bought this mug for 550/- and the previous mug I bought from another vendor I got it for 350/- I was ready to pay 200 more intentionally cos it was in a short notice...but now I will never make this mistake again..


People who are in the similar lines of business should learn one thing.. your core competency should be your customer service.. because that itself will have something unique of what you are..rest all are easily imitable..a 100% strike rate in good word of mouth is what you should be aiming at...

The mug I got, I have chosen not to gift it also..I am using it to keep my tooth brush and toilet stuff
God bless surprisecube
good luck!

Dhobighat - my take

"whats so mumbai about it..it could have been any other place in India"
That's my first expression..after the movie ended......
"why is it called dhobighat?" ...except to one of the main actors being a dhobi..doesnt really talk about lives of dhobis..somehow for me the title doesnt seem to be an apt one..



Coming to the characters...

Painter:- Played by Aamir Khan..should really apreciate one fact that being a mega star he took a modest share of the limelight...and acted just like anyother supporting actor..unlike many other stars of his level you see..no comments on his acting..he is the best in whatever he does..

Photographer:- ..wondering what an "investment banking" "consultant"..daughter of filthy realtor is upto.. she says she is on a sabbatical..and got some research grant..studying on south east economies..it was not clear on why she was so interested on the painter and the dhobi..or may be i missed something..her role was not at all a convincing one for me..the most confused role..

Dhobi:- this dhobi's role could have been anything else also..a rickshaw puller or a chai wala..I dont  think the 'dhobi' part has done enough justice to the title of the movie...Apart from that the guy acted well.

Woman on video:- This woman's story seemed to be one complete and convincing one for me..I think she acted well..for whatever little her portion was..

Its a different movie...a 90min movie..without any dance/song nor interval..
It ended in a typical hollywood style..abruptly:)...but anyways we've had enough of happy-ever-after kind of movies..so this is a welcome change..I would rate it 2.99 on 5..

Yes!

After a long pause comes this post just to assure everyone of my existence.
Oflate I've been quite busy both personally and professionally, hence couldnt catch up with my mates in blogosphere.

When I was in Hyderabad I watched this telugu movie Khaleja, and I so wanted to write a review on that one.  Not that it was an interesting flick but I wanted to enlighten the ignorant crowd that it is a movie inspired by a book.




Khaleja (Telugu)     Rating: 1.5/5

It's an okayish movie and as expected a typical commercial telugu movie with all aspects of entertainment like comedy,action,over-action, skin show etc. Mahesh babu and Anushka both added to the glamor quotient of the movie.The songs were pathetic except to the one which I liked, "Sada Siva"..If someone had asked me to rate the movie..I would have rated it 3/5 but since it is a copied concept and there is no reference to the original idea I downgrade it to 1.5/5.


 I really wonder if anyone who watched the movie has also read this book "The immortals of Meluha" and not found anything similar. I felt the main theme of the movie and the book were almost same.
Last week I got this opportunity to meet Amish Tripathi, the author of the book, who was surprised that a movie has already come out with his concept. I made this point when he was discussing about his plans to make a movie based on the book.

I've listed out the similarities and have mailed it to Amish, which are as follows.

Book	Movie
The people of Meluha wait desperately for a savior	The people of the mysterious village wait desperately for a savior, whom they call as GOD
Throat turning blue is an indication of Lord	Here they don’t have the neelakanta concept but there exists a plot by which the Lord will be discovered
Shiva is considered as GOD, and he hates being called that because he thinks he is a normal human being like anyone	Mahesh Babu is considered as GOD, and even he hates being called
Later part of the book Shiva, internalises the belief that he is Lord	ditto
Nandi always accompanies Shiva	In this movie there is this character(played by Shafi) who always sticks to him wherever he goes..and who is also from the mysterious village
Bhadra is a good friend of Shiva	In this one, he doesn’t have a childhood friend but a person (played by Ali) becomes his good friend and sticks around with him

There is one scene in which Mahesh and Ali booze and then talk about the heroine (played by Anushka), it just resembles the scene when Shiva and Bhadra have marijuana and talk about Sati
The movie has a song "Sada Siva", praising Lord Shiva..which shows that the director of the movie has used the image and character of Lord Shiva to portray the character of the protagonist.

The 150! .. a long journey

I was once called the Rahul Dravid of blogging[click to see the comment]..considering the pace at which I post on my blog. The current post is my 150th post and it took me 6 years to achieve this feat. To commemorate the 150th post, I would like to introduce some of my blogger pals to my readers.[most of you would be knowing them]
Here we go...

Sh@s : A special blogging friend :). She speaks from heart, and that reflects on her blog. The number of comments and followers clearly shows that she is quite famous among other bloggers. Her blog caption says random thoughts and she puts those thoughts in the form of poems. I am generally not very fond of poems but this blog is different, and I keep peeping into this blog often to check for any updates.

Suraj : A very talented person he is. For all those people, who love hi-quality pictures and icons stuff, should definitely check out his blog. I've personally downloaded many wallpapers from his blog. I was honored by letting me write a guest post on his blog. You may check the post.

Gayathri aka G3 aka Guru: I should say that she is the most notorious person in the blogosphere,for more information do check her blogger profile and blog caption.After reading that you will also believe with my claim.These days she is seen spamming people with her fb statuses and google buzzes and has almost abandoned her blog. I sincerely hope FB bans her and soon she makes a comeback here.




Now comes my most favorite blogger. This person is very knowledgeable and I love every post of hers, not that I agree to every point she makes, but every point she makes apparently is very sensible and none cant fully refute with those also.

WiseDon: She calls herself as wise donkey[an oxymoron] but I call her WiseDon. Right now she is on a long leave hence no recent updates, but all my readers this blog is a must read. There have been a many wow moments when I read this blog. I am sure even you would feel the same.





There are many more blogs which I read and comment regularly, but owing to the space constraint[which has been a constant complaint by people about me] I have picked just four bloggers.