Gati puts Snail Mail to shame

“Any man can make mistakes, but only an idiot persists in his error”
-      Marcus Tullius Cicero

Debkumar Bhadra |        Musings of an Islander    |        South Andaman

There are countless individual tales of India Post (also referred to as Snail Mail) failing to deliver postal articles to its customers within the time frame stipulated none other than by itself. However, when it comes to remote localities such as my location (South Andaman – 744107), India Post has largely been doing a better job compared to private courier agencies, who not only charge hefty fees, but fail to deliver the service for which it charges such hefty fees. Let me quote an incident wherein a private courier company namely Gati-Kwe though it’s extremely slow delivery has put Snail Mail to shame.
It was on 24 February, 2016 that I found a particular product in an e-commerce website suiting the need of my better half and decided to order for the same. In a bid to qualify for free shipping, I added another item and completed the formalities of placing the order online. Following day, received a couple of emails from the ecommerce site through which I understood that the order has been dispatched as two separate consignments. One of the item was dispatched by Speed Post and the other one, intended for my better half, was dispatched by Gati with tracking number 530971286.

As soon as I came to know that Gati-Kwe has been selected as the courier, bitter memories of an earlier experience with the particular courier flashed before me. I therefore thought it worth informing the e-commerce site that since Gati-Kwe has been selected as the courier, delivery of the instant order is highly uncertain. The customer care department responded saying “feedback has been forwarded to concerned shipping department” and went on to assure me that the product would be delivered on priority shortly. The customer care department also requested me to wait till 9th of March, the deadline for delivery. I had no option but to wait, with my fingers crossed and breathe put on hold.

In the meantime, portion of the order shipped by India Post was delivered at my doorstep, well within the stipulated deadline. Whereas the parcel shipped by Gati, there has been no sign of delivery even after lapse of more than a month. When I shared my unpleasant experience among peers, it was interesting to find I was not the only one sailing in rough seas; there are a good number of customers who have had similar experience with Gati-Kwe.
I therefore concluded it is a case fit for escalation at higher levels. I wrote to the customer care department sharing details of an earlier order wherein Gati returned the parcel without making any effort to deliver it to my address. I also shared an email received from Gati customer care which read “… shipment is still in transit… Assured delivery date is 09-May-2016” Which means the shipment picked up on 26 Feb, would reach me after 74 days! This was highly disappointing since the ecommerce site mentioned 9th March as the estimated delivery date.

“…We try our level best to provide convenient and stress free shopping to our customers but in this case we haven’t met the standard” read an email from Member of Leadership team of the concerned ecommerce site. To make up with the unpleasant experience the ecommerce site added a Gift Card to my account (106% of the order value) as a promotional/goodwill gesture. Further keeping in terms with its reputation of giving customers a satisfying shopping experience, the e-commerce site created a replacement treating the earlier shipment as lost in transit. Such proactive and customer friendly approach of the e-commerce site did calmed the frustration, but given to understand that the replacement packet has once again been shipped by Gati under track ID 561210052, I feel action of the shipping department has undone the rapport the e-commerce site has built over time.

It is no surprise that after waiting for more than a month since the packet was picked up by Gati, whereabouts of the original as well as the replacement parcels remained unknown to everyone including the e-commerce site.

I tried and tested every option, including phone calls and repeated emails, but nothing could bring the sloth (read Gati-Kwe) to activity. While Gati customer care responded to my email stating Assured delivery date is 9 May, customer care executive from Chennai said over phone that they do not deliver to my address. Meanwhile the consignment which remained untraceable for over a month was received at Port Blair Hub on 31 March. After keeping the consignment on hold for two weeks at Port Blair Hub, a lady over phone said they will not deliver to my address and insisted pickup from Port Blair Hub. Such is the kind of service that Gati-Kwe is delivering to its customers.

Question is if Gati does not deliver to my address, why did it accept the consignment? Why did it mention Assured delivery date as 9 May in response to email query? It is a clear case of misleading customers amounting to unfair trade practice.

It is obvious that answers to my questions will never come, but I believe sharing my unpleasant experience would serve a “Stern Warning” for fellow customers and e-commerce sites, specifically @amazonIN to be cautious of @GATIKWEIndia, lest run the risk of being called friend of an “idiot” who persists in his error.

Post script : No snail has been or intended to be hurt or harmed while putting together this piece.
This article has been carried in the Port Blair edition of Echo of India dated April 7, 2016

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