phantom dvd menace, singharas and fish masala.
so we bought this DVD player from a rather famous consumer electronics chain called Viveks. and discovered much to my chagrin and embarassment that it doesnt play US DVDs. this after calling a bunch of people over to watch a rented movie (phantom menace -- and please dont pass judgement on the choice of movie.) and so it transpired that late one sunday evening through driving rain, we took the piece back to Viveks.
after much debating about why it doesnt play, i pointed to a line in the user manual that clearly shows what symbol means what and that it was clearly stated that this would play only "india region" dvds. then why did he sell it to us even after we asked for one that "could play anything," i demanded angrily. "i dont know all this, sir." the manager strode lazily by at the commotion and asked "yaako (why, man), didnt show demo, aa?" "no." manager turns to us... "you should ask for demo, no." the customer service chap adds "when you take it home, you must call technician, always works like that." haan?
and then the last straw. i said to the man that when a customer buys a brand new piece out of your shop, it should at least work! "not my problem sir. no, cannot give refund. cannot exchange also, sir." was i hearing right? i lost it at this point. i yelled in kannada (a HUGE achievement) that their customer service was awful and that we would never come back and moreover no one we knew will come back there, etc. etc. i even threw in a "i work at intel and no one in intel will ever come to your shop!" (imagine that ;))
finally, almost cowering, "wokay, i will call technician. give me one day."
and so the piece is back in the shop. my guests watched a little of the movie on my laptop. and today i "wait for call." hopefully the thing will work and play like it should.
piece of advice, stay away from philips dvd players for region codes play havoc with your plans ;). safe bet, stick to panasonic (believe it or not!) or samsung.
oh, and if you got this far, you'll guess that the KH road (double road) viveks has awful customer service.
on the brighter side, have discovered -- thanks to shalu -- a dvd rental place that delivers! and customer service here is everything to write home about. courteous, willing and very able. coupons and websites all in working order assure a steady supply for your viewing pleasure.
where? who? mothay's on infantry road. good stuff.
oh, and other stuff discovered over the weekend -- the singharas from KC das are finger licking good (i'm targeting a luchi lunch with aloo dum next -- the bengalis make it the best!). walk down on a sunday morning and pack up some hot hot ones to chow while it rains -- yummm. saturday night hung out at koshy's. the fish masala in koshy's was yumm (and the crowd adds to the flavor-- journalists, photographer types, theatre people -- wish they wore name tags tho!) picked up canvases and art stuff -- acrylics -- at commercial street... wished for a JJ school of art-style shop tho.
bangalore is cool... but kabhi kabhi mere dil mein bombay ki yaad aati hai. hum wahan hote to aisa hota, hum yeh karte, hum woh karte... which reminds me... i need to have ganne ka ras! is there an experimental theatre here i can go hang out at? a magazine editor i can go meet?
the education and exploration continues....
after much debating about why it doesnt play, i pointed to a line in the user manual that clearly shows what symbol means what and that it was clearly stated that this would play only "india region" dvds. then why did he sell it to us even after we asked for one that "could play anything," i demanded angrily. "i dont know all this, sir." the manager strode lazily by at the commotion and asked "yaako (why, man), didnt show demo, aa?" "no." manager turns to us... "you should ask for demo, no." the customer service chap adds "when you take it home, you must call technician, always works like that." haan?
and then the last straw. i said to the man that when a customer buys a brand new piece out of your shop, it should at least work! "not my problem sir. no, cannot give refund. cannot exchange also, sir." was i hearing right? i lost it at this point. i yelled in kannada (a HUGE achievement) that their customer service was awful and that we would never come back and moreover no one we knew will come back there, etc. etc. i even threw in a "i work at intel and no one in intel will ever come to your shop!" (imagine that ;))
finally, almost cowering, "wokay, i will call technician. give me one day."
and so the piece is back in the shop. my guests watched a little of the movie on my laptop. and today i "wait for call." hopefully the thing will work and play like it should.
piece of advice, stay away from philips dvd players for region codes play havoc with your plans ;). safe bet, stick to panasonic (believe it or not!) or samsung.
oh, and if you got this far, you'll guess that the KH road (double road) viveks has awful customer service.
on the brighter side, have discovered -- thanks to shalu -- a dvd rental place that delivers! and customer service here is everything to write home about. courteous, willing and very able. coupons and websites all in working order assure a steady supply for your viewing pleasure.
where? who? mothay's on infantry road. good stuff.
oh, and other stuff discovered over the weekend -- the singharas from KC das are finger licking good (i'm targeting a luchi lunch with aloo dum next -- the bengalis make it the best!). walk down on a sunday morning and pack up some hot hot ones to chow while it rains -- yummm. saturday night hung out at koshy's. the fish masala in koshy's was yumm (and the crowd adds to the flavor-- journalists, photographer types, theatre people -- wish they wore name tags tho!) picked up canvases and art stuff -- acrylics -- at commercial street... wished for a JJ school of art-style shop tho.
bangalore is cool... but kabhi kabhi mere dil mein bombay ki yaad aati hai. hum wahan hote to aisa hota, hum yeh karte, hum woh karte... which reminds me... i need to have ganne ka ras! is there an experimental theatre here i can go hang out at? a magazine editor i can go meet?
the education and exploration continues....
posted by ara at 8:30 AM
2 Comments:
Well, mirchi ka salans and singharas are fine and dandy. But what about the lizard situation? Anything I can sink my teeth into?
hey terr -- it's the cockroaches i hate... the lizards are would have been a cool little bite, but are sooo tiny -- about 2 inches long and transparent -- and so far i've seen them about 3 times in 2.5 months...
needless to say, everytime i see a lizard, i think of your mom.
Post a Comment
<< Home