Savoy Suites, Noida and Wifi/ Networking hassles

I've already blogged about the travelguru / Savoy room reservation fiasco.

Another interesting (it didn't feel that way then) was the wi-fi access.

I was in room/suite 302 (don't take this room if you go to this place, and want wi-fi ). This one is tucked away at the corner of the building. Getting into the room - which is very nice by the way, I saw a placard displaying rates for a wifi access with 256 kbps downstream internet access speed.

It was something like Rs. 400 (about $8) for 12 hrs of usage. I called up reception, and he readily created an id for me, and asked me to logon to an ISP's (BharatNet.net) website, and enter my username/password.

That sounded fine - but my laptop wasn't seeing that wireless network. It was seeing a couple of password protected networks in the neighbouring buildings, but no Bharat net. I told this to the reception. By the time all this happened, it was around 12:00 am. He hooked me upto the tech guy, and the guy asked me the usual troubleshooting questions.

Finally, he said I could use a cable and use the port in the ante room of the suite. I wasn't too inclined to sit anywhere other than the bedroom where I was comfortably watching TV. The ante room too, has a TV. But I figured out quickly it was for display only. It wasn't hooked upto anything. :)

The tech guy says "I'll call you back in 10 minutes sir" . This was around 12:15 am.

I waited and finally went to sleep around 1 am.

The next night, the same story went on from about 10pm to 12:00 am. Then I relented and asked the guy to send me a cable, and that I'd sit in the other room and surf. I really needed to check mails at the office, in case any fires were on.

The network cable came, and I was connected. I went to the ISP's portal and logged in. It logged me in, welcomed me. But even after 15 min.. no access to the internet. I was thinking it will probably enable the required gateways to give me access.. but no. So I call back the front desk and he says 'oh sir, power outage.. even we've lost the internet connection. If you wait for 10 -15 min more, it should be on'. You'll probably guess what happened next - again I waited till 1 am and went to sleep.

The third night.. I briefly tried to see if something was on. It wasn't. So, I just called up the reception, and told him I finally didn't get any connection. That the wireless access points probably didn't have the range to reach this room. He was again sorry, and apologized for the inconvenience, etc. I also reminded him that since I didn't have even 1 minute of internet access, he definitely shouldn't be charging me for it.

He almost sounded hurt that I should even bother to make that suggestion. Something to the effect of "Of course not, Sir. We're very sorry for the inconvenience caused, and we definitely wouldn't be charging you for this!" came loud and clear through the phone.

Next morning, I checked out and was presented the bill at the front desk. They had charged me for the wi-fi internet access.

A deep breath later, I spoke .. and pretty calmly. There again were a lot of 'of course sir' , "we're sorry sir's .. and a new checkout statement was generated without the charges.

I bid them goodbye and walked out to haggle with the autorickshaw guys.

Travel Guru.. Savoy Suites Noida, and high tech..

On the same trip that I had my wonderful MakeMyTrip.com experience, I booked my hotel through TravelGuru.com. I was impressed that I could indicate that I'd pay with cash. They would send somebody home to collect the cash. True enough, somebody came in a couple of days and picked up the Rs. 22,664 ($480) for 3 nights at the Savoy Suites in sector 16 at Noida.

The hotel was nice and all, but just before I set out to my room, the chap at the counter says 'Sir, you're checking out on the 17th ? '.

I almost nod and walk off (like I usually do), but for some unfathomable reason my brain works on that right away, and issues me a warning.

"No, I'm supposed to be checking out on the 18th.... so I'm staying 17th night too.." I say.

"No, Sir, we don't have any vacancies for the 17th" says he with a smile.

"Well, you've taken money from me for 3 days and here's the booking.. " I return the smile while handing over the document. "Why don't you call the TravelGuru guys and sort this out? They have this in their system ? "

He looks at it .. " Ok, Sir. We'll find out about this and let you know by tomorrow about this". Again with a smile. Charmed by that, I nod and trod away to the room.

As you may have guessed, this exchange of smiles continues the next morning, evening, and the morning following that. Each guy repeating the same things. I'm now feeling like I'm in Groundhog day. And its becoming real hard to keep up the Bill Murray charm.

The second night - when I'm being asked to vacate the next morning for sure, I think its time to probe this a little more. Clearly, " please call Travelguru and sort this out" wasn't working.

I ask, "Can you please show me your transaction from Travelguru that says this reservation is for 2 days, instead of 3 days like I see it? "

"No transaction sir.. " the kid at the desk says "..Gurmeet" .

I almost walked away from desk right there. You see I have a history with guys named Gurmeet - they all seem to be intent on wrecking my life. More about it sometime later.

But walking around the next night in stinky Noida looking for a "Sir ke oopar ek chuth (a roof on my head)" wasn't exactly looking like a fun thing either.

So, I will myself to go on : " Gurmeet? What about Gurmeet? "

He shows me a piece of paper "Gurmeet, sir. He took down your reservation as 2 nights, checking out on 17th"

Now I realize I deserve a slap from Edward De Bono to be carrying my assumptions for so long. "Wait a minute. You mean TravelGuru.com just calls you and you guys write down the reservation on a piece of paper? "

"Yes sir" he says with an eyebrow raised that seemed to say "What else? Use the computer?"

"You mean they have no clue about your vacancies? Your systems have no hookup/linkup? "

"No sir" the smile comes back on his face. The accompanying thought may have been "Where is this duffer from?"

"You don't even have an SMS or anything from them about the booking?"

"No sir" the smile is still there, as he tries to help me "but you don't worry sir. We'll take care of you"

My feeble brain starts to get confused as to which train of thought to follow up on. But I falter on

" But your Gurmeet could have just taken it down wrong. I'm sure Travelguru has this on their systems. Look at the printout... "

He nods understandingly "I understand, sir. But we have no vacancies right now. If one opens up tomorrow, you're the highest priority sir" .

".. And don't worry sir, we'll take care of you" he adds.

I finally take the bait " What do you mean by that? If you say you have no vacancies, do you mean you'll hook me up with some other hotel nearby?"

"No sir" he shakes his head "..but you are our guest, and we'll make sure you are fine"

Flattered but still as flustered, I struggle deciding which direction I should go now. He helps me out. "You see, a lady is checking out tomorrow. But she wants to check out in the evening by 7 only. I will ask her if she can checkout on time"

He calls her. "Ma'am, since we have other guests who need the room, I will have to charge you a full day's rent for the room..." There's more squawking from the other side.. and finally he says " Sir, I will get back to you later. She'll let me know in 10 min "

I say "You see this can't wait any longer. I need to know now if I need to start hunting around for another hotel"

His smile continues as he repeats how he 'understands' the situation. And also repeats the 'take care of you' line. That damn Garnier ad, I'm thinking.

I say "I'll come back after an hour. You figure out by then whats the situation".

He nods.

When I walk upto him later on, he's again smiling the 'I understand sir' smile.

"Sir, the lady is angry with me. She says she won't come to this hotel again if I charge her for overstaying. And she doesn't want to vacate before 7 or 8 pm"

This is a problem I could solve. I say "Thats ok. I come back after 9pm. So, I'm perfectly ok with her staying that late, so long as you'll give me the room by the time I come "

His smile widens "Ok sir. Then we can manage this. It will take us only 15 minutes to clean the room"

I ask "So, what will be the room number tomorrow?"

He says " No problem, sir. You can stay in your room. We'll manage"

That confused me, but I just nodded my understanding at his understanding, and walked to my room.

Sure enough the next day I remained in my room, and my problem was mysteriously solved. So, clearly the lady leaving the room late wasn't an issue independent of me.

So, what really was the problem?

MakeMyTrip.com - part 2

I'd previously talked about my Makemytrip.com experience for domestic travel booking. I was just thinking that their system wasn't showing my bookings coz it wasn't updated right - as it was saying it had charged my card.

The truth was far more interesting. I finally got a person on the phone the next day. It turns out, the message was wrong. My tickets weren't booked at all !

So, I ask about why the message was the opposite. I also mentioned that I was using an international card. She says ' Sir, we now have a new option for an international card when you pick the card type. You can't pick 'visa/mastercard' though it maybe that. Please re-do your booking with the international card option'.

True enough, I went online and chose that option and the booking went through. I was able to see my booking, and even print the e-tickets.

And to my relief, at the airport counter the agent did let me into the airplane - both the to and fro journeys. :)

So, makeMyTrip, thanks for a weekend trip filled with phone calls and unresolved fears, with a Rs. 22,000 hotel booking in place but no airtickets to match that.

MakeMyTrip.com experience

I previously have booked international flights once through MakeMyTrip.com, and the experience was real nice. I got somebody on the phone, she got me a better deal for Lufthansa than the one at the Lufthansa website, the booking was done, the phone service was prompt, and I had no hitches throughout.

Booking a domestic trip to Delhi was a different experience altogether.

Calling them, they say 'for domestic travel, press 1' . And when I do, they say 'please book online at makemytrip.com' and hang up on you. Without a word of apology/explanation or anything.

Well, I thought..and went online. Unlike travelguru, these guys atleast take credit cards that are of international origin.

At the last page of booking after evading the travel insurance potholes, I see the option to sign in, or go without it. I say to myself ' I'll probably be doing this again, so let me create an account'. I look for a link to create an account and continue with my transaction. None.

Then I think 'ok, they expect desis to be smarter ', and started a different browser, created an account, and tried to sign on.

Maybe I was too slow creating an account, but they throw up a 'session expired' message and throw me back to the homepage.

Ok, I login and start the booking all over again. They take my mobile phone number, credit card .. and take me to the final page.

The final page doesn't even say 'your booking was successful'. Instead, the first message I see is

"You have previously attempted to make a booking with similar details. To avoid making a duplicate booking, kindly call our Customer Support team at 1-800-11 8747 (MTNL & BSNL) or 1-800 102 8747 (All Major Operators) and quote your MakeMyTrip Booking ID : FLTXXXXXXXX. Thank you."

I was thinking .. "you guys expired the session on me, don't you know that ? Or can't you know that? "

I go ahead and call them and get through after N tries.

There, I'm asked to enter the last 4 digits of my booking id. I do.

Then the voice says 'you're calling from a different phone than the number you've given us. For security reasons, we must have the number you gave us'.

I take a deep breath, but think 'ok .. security reasons.. good'. And enter my mobile number. The voice says 'sorry ..invalid number, please try again'. I try with the '91' prefix. No use - same error. It even repeats back to me my mobile number I entered (which was correct). In fact, the webpage also shows me the number I entered - correctly.

After N tries, and saying 'does not match', it says connecting to an operator.

This was really trying. But I want to make sure my booking is correct/valid. So I wait. While I wait .. I start keying this blog. This entry has come to an end after 30 minutes. The music on the phone is still on.

I go back to the 'error' page. I read on more.. and it turns out it may not be an error page after all.

I see "You will be able to view the details of your E-Ticket online in your account in the next 30 minutes."

I also see "The amount of Rs. 11468 has been charged to , Bangalore . Mobile number: <> ."

Hm.. I think. Maybe I can hang up after all .. or should I make sure?

The music is still on the phone - Kenny G is repeating the first 2 lines of Breathless - playing with a passion he's never before played. He stops at random points and restarts .. I don't mind that. But I do need to hang up if I don't want to have Kenny G nightmares. So, Makemytrip - you win, you have defeated me.

Part of me is really curious. Maybe I can keep this on speaker phone and really see if they ever answer my call. How long will it be ? 1 hr ? 2 hrs ? 5 hrs ? That would be a cool number to put on the blog. And probably a world record to be on the phone support line of any company.

But I finally hang up.. while the sax is screeching on a particularly passionate high note. Hopefully Kenny G hasn't done any lasting damage to my surviving few grey cells.

Final thoughts:

This is India's top travel portal. They're raking in a lot of money owing to the marketing, and probably good prices.

But can't anybody with deep pockets and a little more customer orientation do a much better job than these jokers? If they did, make my trip would probably pick a more suitable profession like 'make my kabab' or 'make my bread' or something.

Update: The matter didn't end here. Click for part 2

Pakistan enters the WT20 finals..

This is just great. First .. Indian press write about how India gave Pak a drubbing in the opening warmup match.

Then India lose to England (!! ) after just beating them N-0 in their own country a few months ago.

The final thing to brighten my day - the guys that have career choices between jehadi & cricketer enter the finals.

I don't know whether to admire that team, or spit at the highly paid, omnipresent-on-TV Indian team.

Azharuddin gets elected..

Here I was watching this video of Prannoy Roy interviewing Azharuddin. The guy that was most clearly at the forefront of the matchfixing money making scheme, and barred for life from first class cricket. 

First, its another question why he isn't behind bars for his offence of milking crores taking advantage of public trust. But now, here is Prannoy Roy being pally with him, wish him a hearty  'best of luck' for his political future. 

  

The final icing on the cake is that the guy got elected! 

The guy that initially claimed religious discrimination when the scandal came into the fore. Not long after when he was getting the adulation of the entire country the majority of whom were not the same religion as him. 

The press also joins in getting him elected by showing him going to the mosque with all fellow muslims..and bang! he's elected!! 

How dumb are we, as a public ? 

Mr. Prannoy Roy, why didn't you bring up one word about the utter dishonesty he displayed while colluding with the underworld and match fixing elements? 

 

Maybe we fully deserve whats happening to us in this country?  

McMaster vs BuckMaster

I wonder why no news media outlets used such an inviting, rhyming title for their articles about Craigslist's CEO Jim Buckmaster vs South Carolina's AG McMaster.

In fact, the only reason I'm even commenting on this issue is because I wanted to use this headline. :)
I really have no opinions on this other than that the funny observation on how South Carolina's McMaster is declaring 'victory' like the iraqis did after losing to the US in 2003.



They say he's priming for the governor race. Clearly, he has the most important characteristic - having demonstrated a distinct lack of character.

Garnier And 'Take Care'

What's with Garnier Fructis ads ending in 'take care' ? 

Anybody know? 

Take for example this hair fall fighting shampoo ad. 

It ends with this beautiful girl walking towards you .. and you're thinking

 'oh here she comes..'

 'she is coming here .. '   

*turn and look behind you* 

 'she is coming to ME ..! '  

'Uh Oh..' 

She stands in front of you and raises her chin.. and you're heart and brain( if it can be called that)  are racing ..

 

'is she going to kiss me ?.. ' 

'do I kiss back ..? ' 

 'should I kiss first?..'  

' is my mouth fresh ? ' 

 'WHERE'S THE DAMN GUM?!' .. 

and she says 'Take care' in a sultry sexy voice. 

Now tell me ..what the hell does that mean ? 

Maybe I'm a stupid optimist.. but it gets me everytime. These garnier people are a mean bunch... but hey, what has  shampoo got to do with a girl that almost kisses you? 

 

New training for journalists and politicians

In the light of the shoe throwing incident with Mr. Chidambaram - our venerable home minister who just pronounced Mr. Tytler even more venerable than him - both the govt. and journalism schools seem to have learnt some important lessons. And they are graciously ready to impart this wisdom to the deserving. 

The Paduka school of Journalism today announced an additional course titled 'Effective Shoe Throwing' . 

Mr. B Aata, the Dean of the school said 

"Contrary to popular belief, neither pounding on the keyboard nor writing pages of rubbish contribute to developing your arm muscles. Hence, journalists' throwing skills are typically pretty poor. "

"However, it still doesn't excuse both famous shoe throwing incidents missing the targets entirely.  In the Iraqi case, the credit probably goes to the physical fitness of Mr. George 'cowboy' Bush. Nevertheless, we journalists have become a laughing stock of the world. 

It is a proud day for Indians. Our course is the first of its kind in the world. We are already getting queries from students all over the world especially, the middle east. "

About the course, he said 

"We will have course material on wind dynamics on shoe projectiles. Students will be able to compare and contrast the projectiles of Nikes vs Reeboks vs Cheap chinese makes. They also will be able to predict the projectiles of other desi jhoothas.  

We not only prepare the students in throwing shoes, but we also prepare them to be mentally prepared and not get nervous before the act. 

Focussing equally on practise as on theory, we will invite several eminent 'Guest lecturers' from the political establishment to *wink wink* 'lecture' to our students. "

Mr. Chidambaram's office has not yet returned our calls. They have instead sent us an 'I forgive you'  letter "

He also added 

"For a very nominal fee, we also offer to train the mothers of students in writing the most effective thank you letters. "

Not to be outdone, the Defense Ministry has sent a circular.  They have announced a new chapter to their 'How to not get killed by terrorists or honest citizens' training course they impart to politicians. The chapter - the military influence is obvious here- is titled "Avoiding non-lethal sub-sonic projectiles" . 

Speaking to the press, Mr. J Chaat Urvedi, the director of R&AW said  

"The course is free for all politicians - not just those part of government. To enroll, you just need to have the following prerequisites. 

* Be a public figure that has stalled traffic in atleast 1 major city while bussing audiences to your rally. 

* Have atleast 1 allegation of bribery, nepotism with money amounting to atleast Rs. 50 crore

* Have atleast 1 pending case in the court against you. You will receive priority if the case is criminal in nature. Murder or rape gets even higher priority. " 

He also added  

"This is a fine example of inter-departmental cooperation. The course uses bending and evading tactics that we teach bobcat commandoes. These highly trained personnel are used by our bureaucrats & politicians for household chores & sometimes security. Angry babus and their expensive Italian shoes have caused some personnel downtime in the past" 

To the titter of the press present at the event, he added 

"The course has been customized for politicians who have larger bellies and posteriors, but still need to be agile in these situations"   

Ending the conference he lamented

"It is sad that such eminent and honorable politicians are on the receiving end of shoes, especially the cheap desi/chinese makes worn by these penniless journalists. I did not think I would live to see this day". He was speaking from his 'safe house' apartment in Noida.

 

- Reporting from Bangalore by Very Pagal Patrakar inspired by faking news

Sydney & Canberra

Sydney & Canberra

(Episode 4 of our Ozzie trip) 
The famed Bondi beach at Sydney is very clean. Since we got there at noon, it wasn't exactly fun to prance around the sand. 

The sights around Sydney were good.. the tower from which we got to see the entire city landscape is a must visit. 

The opera house is also another must. 

Canberra

was mildly interesting.. the parliament house was good, and the visit there included an introduction to Australian govt., and how they're organized. The war memorial, and the embassies of various countries are interesting to look at. 

Cairns

(Episode 3 of our Ozzie trip) Cairns is where the great barrier reef is. We did a submersible trip, spent a lot of time getting burnt snorkelling, saw a bunch of salties ( Australian monster crocs ) and huge turtles. The coral reefs are out of the world. I thought I'd seen enough in Lakshadweep, but this was something else. Fishes, huge starfish, all kinds of whacked looking corals are out there.	From Australia-Sep-2008
We also visited the Kuranda rain forest. The forest is so thick you traverse it from the top using a cable car. A very memorable ride. The native aboriginals called the Tjapugais put up a show for us. It was pretty interesting listening to their songs, see them make fire, blow the didgeridoo..etc.	From Australia-Sep-2008
They also had a boomerang throwing session - but they cheated us there. It was supposed to be 3 tries a person, but seeing our group size, they cut it down to one throw a person. It was ridiculous, but it was still interesting to see them throw the boomerang.  Next: Sydney & Canberra

Brisbane/ Gold coast

Brisbane / GoldCoast (Episode 2 of our Ozzie trip)  This is the equivalent of the LA / Vegas circuit in the US. Lots of beaches, amusement parks, water activity.. generally lots of entertainment stuff. We visited the amusement parks mainly.. Movie world and Seaworld. If you've been to the ones in the US.. there's not much you'll gain here. But the kids will have fun for sure.  Next: Cairns (The great barrier reef)

From Australia-Sep-2008

Melbourne / apostles / penguins

Melbourne (The initial days of our Ozzie trip)  Melbourne city was nice, but probably remarkable only to those who've never seen a city in a developed country. Day 1 : Only time to visit the crown casino after dinner. Its the biggest casino in Australia, but its just filled with slot machines/gambling tables with no sense of beauty. Surely don't expect Las Vegas when you enter here. Though they don't allow kids into the casino, there's a different kids area with lots of video games and other activities in the building. Your guide may not know about it.. but just ask the guys at the door. Day 2 : Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) was the highlight of the day apart from the city tour. The city tour was lame, but MCG was something else. Did you know that they use a mix of two kinds of grass on the ground ? Cooch & Rye, the guide said. One is better for summer, and the other for winter.  Phillip island was awesome. You wait for a while, everybody gets a little restless with the nippy air... and then you see the penguins. Just the sight of those things changes the entire atmosphere. :) They keep trying to build up the courage to cross the beach into the hills. They come on to the beach, waddle a few steps, and then go back into the water with the next wave. They also swim to different points in the beach picking the right point. You'd think they're at Dunkirk. As more join the group, their courage grows. Finally they waddle across in a big hurry. They probably think they're doing the 100m sprint, but you get plenty of time to watch them. Next, they climb the hill slowly in a line. Often in pairs/twosomes or more. Then you have the bunch of them yelling at each other, claiming territory and generally being very busy. :) Too bad we couldn't take some pictures and scare them with our camera flashes. :)	Painted glass in St. Patricks Cathedral :From Australia-Sep-2008 Melbourne war memorial: From Australia-Sep-2008
Day 3: This was a long & well worth drive to see the 12 Apostles ( 8.5, really ). The helicopter ride is a must. On our own, we'd probably have skimped on the helicopter ride seeing the 100+ dollars/ person tag; glad it was already paid for. Next: Brisbane/Gold coast	From Australia-Sep-2008