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This experience is about Xiaomi - The current number one smartphone brand in India and how their mobile service centers cheat customers.A lot of people were overwhelmed when Xiaomi launched the POCO F-1 . It seemed to be an incredible phone at a very affordable price.Image Source: Poco F1 price, specifications, features, comparisonOne of my friends bought this phone in September 2018 and was quite happy using it until one day in December, it slipped from his hands and its screen cracked.Fortunately, he had availed mobile insurance from Airtel Secure[1] and the policy covered screen replacement. My friend, like any other customer, raised a claim with Airtel Secure describing the damage details. He also had to send a photo of the damaged phone along with the IMEI numbers. This is what the phone looked like after falling. Kindly take a note of the IMEI numbers as we will come back to this later.Source: My friend. Personally identifiable information was blurred by me. The photo was taken before sending the device to the service center.After doing all the diligence and submitting the Claim, Airtel decided to proceed with the claim. They also offer a pickup and drop service with their policy. Sounds very convenient, isn’t it? So the phone was picked up by Airtel and delivered to the Xiaomi service center as expected.After 2–3 days, to my friend’s horror, he received a text from Airtel stating that the device was a beyond economic repair(BER) case and since it was insured for a sum of ₹18k, he would be credited with ₹16200 (10% of insured amount being processing fee) and device kept by them to salvage parts. He then asked them to mail the service record of the device just to see the break up of the repair costs.Now if you look at the service record shared by Xiaomi, it says Device Restart, Auto Restart problem and they have also added a 6GB + 128 GB Motherboard to the bill, meaning that the motherboard was replaced.First of all, there was no restart problem in the device and the motherboard was working just fine. Okay, let’s go with the story that just like any other service center, Xiaomi too was trying to overcharge their customer by adding something which was unnecessary. Airtel was paying ₹16200 out of the total ₹18000 incurred, but my friend still would have to pay ₹1800 for no reason. Being an engineer and a pro-Android user he was pretty sure that there was nothing wrong with his motherboard. He wanted to take his phone elsewhere to see how the motherboard got damaged. So my friend did not go for the claim and asked Airtel to return his handset without any repair.After another 2–3 days, he did receive his phone and it didn’t even boot up. He was very disturbed as the phone did boot up earlier and now it was like a dead brick. Since he had denied the repair offered by Airtel, the only option left was to spend 18k out of his own pocket and get the phone fixed all over again. The POCO F1 lied dead almost for 3–4 months until he visited Delhi recently and decided to get it checked at another Xiaomi service center. After getting it repaired from a third party store he was dumbstruck post booting the phone and seeing this...Imagine turning on your phone and seeing someone else’s photo as wallpaper. At first, he thought that his phone might have got exchanged. But if you look at the cracks in the screen, they match exactly with the one above, also the body hadn’t changed at all.Source: My friend. This photo was taken after the device was received from Airtel finally repaired at another third party SC. Notice the IMEI numbers have changed.Ideally, the previous service center should have returned the phone as is without changing anything as the customer denied their service. However, to his surprise, they changed the motherboard as evident in the above photo. The IMEI [2]number is stored in the motherboard and clearly, the first service center had fiddled with his motherboard and replaced it with a faulty motherboard and was offering to repair this faulty board and charge him for it.Thankfully, the technicians at the new service center were very helpful and hepled him retrieve the service history. After seeing the service record, things started to get clearer as in how the previous service center had cheated him.This motherboard is his phone was 6GB+64 GB. How crazy is that? They put a faulty 64GB motherboard in a 128GB phone. He was also able to get the name and contact of the person to whom it originally belonged to. Not only that, just imagine him having all the personal data, contacts, Google account, etc. of the person to which the motherboard originally belonged. Looks like Xiaomi’s service center takes data security very lightly and they might fit your motherboard into someone else’s handset not realizing that motherboard also contains your phone’s storage and will eventually put all of your data at risk.This faulty 64 GB motherboard had come to the same service center, a week prior to my friend’s phone. The Xiaomi guys kept that part with them, stole my friend’s original motherboard and replaced it with the stranger’s faulty motherboard they had received earlier. Evidently, they might have been pissed at him not going for the repair seeing the unnecessary mainboard replacement in the claim.The above documents, service records, and screenshots are enough to prove that the Xiaomi Service center did a horrible thing and most probably cheated two customers. Post all this drama, when my friend got his phone checked at a non-Xiaomi service center, they started using it as an excuse to dodge the bullet and said they cannot fix his phone since it was opened elsewhere.Also, their customer service is of no use and they keep replying like a dumb, poorly coded chatbot.Any sensible person would figure it out in no time, seeing all the proofs but Xiaomi staff is consistently in denial and not willing to accept their mistake. As a result of it, my friend went through so much trouble and disgust and ended up with someone else’s faulty motherboard. He could have easily gone for a screen replacement in ₹4–5k from a third party service center or a service provider like ScreenPro[3].Xiaomi might be the number one mobile phone brand in India, but the way their customer service and after sales treated my friend and handled his phone, they surely have lost two genuine customers(including me).Who is to be blamed for all this? Maybe some greedy guys at their service center who don’t give a shit about the brand and are there to make a quick buck.What did they put at stake? A stranger’s reputation, personal information, photos, chats, everything, and most importantly Xiaomi’s reputation. Imagine the motherboard getting into the hands of a criminal or a wrong person, he could have blackmailed the other guy as he would have access to all of their data.What is Xiaomi’s fault in this? Not listening to their customers, not tending to their problems and not firing the service center employees who indulge in such thievery. Most importantly, not accepting their mistake and offering to fix it.What is our lesson from this experience?Always take a photo of your phone with the IMEI number before submitting it for service.Do not leave the service center without cross-checking your IMEI number and matching it with the old one.Also, try to go to the service center in person and do not rely on pick-up/drop. The service center guys are well aware that it's a third-person picking up the device and they are bound to do shady stuff.Another important thing is, make sure to get your phone wiped even if it is fully damaged before submitting it to any service center. They might not go through the pain of wiping your data, before replacing your motherboard and this could prove to be fatal for you.This is how Xiaomi lost two of its customers. I was gonna throw away my Mi and about to buy a OnePlus anyway. Learning about this experience only made my will stronger.Update: There is no resolution even after trying to reach Xiaomi through multiple channels and tagging Manu Jain, they didn't even go through the details already shared with them and are still asking us to contact their support/fill out forms. My friend decided to raise this issue in the Consumer Forum and the case has been registered. Will keep everyone posted with any new developments. Thanks to all for the support.Final Update: After filling a complain in Consumer Forum, Xiaomi’s state head contacted my friend and enquired about the problem. We directed him to this answer and thankfully, he was able to understand it. Xiaomi had some kind of setup with OneAssist (the company providing mobile Insurance on behalf of Airtel). There was some internal communication between these stakeholders and finally OneAssist decided to repair the phone again. My friend received the repaired phone yesterday and everything looks good now. It has a new motherboard and display. We are really thankful to everyone for sharing and upvoting this answer. Seeing the number of views and upvotes would have certainly alarmed Xiaomi as they wouldn't have wanted to lose so many customers. Until now our complaints were falling on deaf years but this answer changed it all.Footnotes[1] India's leading provider of Prepaid & Postpaid Mobile Services in India - Airtel.in[2] International Mobile Equipment Identity - Wikipedia[3] Mobile Phone Screen Repair: Doorstep Touch Screen Repair Service

I have a Premium Credit card which has a TSA credit allowance of 100$ for every 4 years. So I decided to apply for global entry and Here’s my experience.Jan 2019:I filled in the global entry application on Trusted travelers Program website(Official Trusted Traveler Program Website) and Paid the 100$ Fee using my credit card.I have got a credit for 100$ used on TTP website automatically within a week.I have a trip to India coming up soon and I registered on the http://www.passportindia.gov.in website and signed up for Background verification for GEP program.(Follow the instructions here, How to Apply for Passport)Feb 2019:I paid 500 rupees(I think) as fees and Scheduled an appointment(slots were almost immediately available in Visakhapatnam passport seva kendram, Andhra pradesh). Carry your passport and Address proofs and you should be all set within an Hour. Then your GEP verification will give you a conditional approval with a police verification due soon. In my case the police arrived to my home address(as on passport and declaration) and verified.Here’s the List of accepted Documents:Old passport in original with self-attested photocopy of its first two and last two pages including ECR/Non-ECR page and page of observation (if any). Proof of Present Address List of Acceptable Documents: (i) Water Bill/Telephone (landline or post paid mobile bill)/Electricity bill (ii) Photo passbook of running Bank Account (Scheduled Public Sector Banks, Scheduled Private Sector Indian Banks and Regional Rural Banks only)/Income Tax Assessment Order/Election Commission Photo ID card/Proof of Gas Connection (iii) Certificate from Employer of reputed companies on letter head (Only public limited companies can give address proof on company letter head along with seal. Computerized print-outs shall not be entertained.) (iv) Parent's passport copy, in case of minors(First and last page) (v) Applicant's Aadhaar card (vi) Rent Agreement Note: 1. This document is applicable only if applicant's present address is different from that in the existing passport 2. Applicants are required to submit the proof of address of the present address only, irrespective of the date from which he/she has been residing at the given address. 3. Aadhaar letter/card or the e-Aadhaar (an electronically generated letter from the website of UIDAI), as the case may be, will be accepted as Proof of Address (POA) and Proof of Photo-Identity (POI) for availing passport related services. Acceptance of Aadhaar as PoA and PoI would be subject to successful validation with Aadhaar database. 4. Any of the remaining documents containing address Out of 12 documents listed under Tatkaal application, could also be accepted as proof of residence if such documents have the same present residential address as given by the applicant in the Passport Application Form.There was no update what-so-ever, complete silence for the next few months. Application. The GEP Application Status on the Passport Seva, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India was as follows:GEP verification Process has been initiated on your application. Once inputs from all the concerned government authorities are received, the report will be shared with US customs and boarder protection (CBP). No queries would be entertained in relation to your GEP Application status at the passport offices and PSP call center. you may contact CBP for further updates on the processing of your GEP ApplicationJune 2019:My US Visa stamping has expired meanwhile(the Visa info i used for this application). I have an extension filed for Change of status and approved. But I haven’t gone to stamping until oct 2019.August 2019:I tried to contact PSP call center, emailed the passport seva kendra and also contacted the CBP customer service regarding the status of my application. there was no response what so ever. I assumed this is a flop process and forgot about this after.Sept 2019:Had to go on an international trip and went stamping. got approved.Oct 2019:I flew into the united states and I was going through the customs at the port of entry. After conversation and regular customs stuff with the CBP/DHS officer, The officer informed me that my Global Entry program application is now partially approved and the officer asked me to take a visit to the Nexus/GEP/Sentri Enrollment Center. I’m quiet surprised almost forgot about this.I’m assuming because my visa(Visa information used for initial application) has expired my GEP application was stuck and as soon as my new visa information was linked onto my profile by the CBP/DHS officer, I think my GEP application was conditionally approved.I scheduled an interview at Blaine Enrollment Center, WA. (slots were available with a week) and had an interview.Interview:Take all the necessary documents(usual customs stuff) and be there for appointment. The conversation with the CBP interviewer was, He asked me a few question to verify my identity and questions like any updates to your personal information since you entered your details on the application in Jan 2019?I had a change of address, reported that. Change in visa status reported that, Change in job title reported that.. etc.He asked me usual stuff like if I ever was involved in a crime? If I ever got detained at a customs boarder check? etc..the interview was quick and general conversation lasted for about 5 to 10 mins.The CBP officer gave me a Known Traveler Number. I got a Approval notice(on the ttp portal) for GEP within 48 hours from my appointment at Blaine Enrollment Center). I was also given the TSA pre benefit and this is valid for 5 years effective immediately(even though I haven’t received my Global Entry Card).I am yet to, but I was told I would receive my GEP card with a couple of weeks at my home address.In my case the whole process took about 10 months. Maybe because I had an expired visa for a few months but I think this could be quicker if you have a valid visa.Edit:5/18/20: I was told I would receive a Global Entry card via mail during my Interview. I never received such card so far(been over 6 months). I think they were wrong about the card. All you’ll have is a KTN(Known Traveler Number) and that’s it. It will be liked to your credentials (i’m assuming) they’ll be able to verify you using your identification and the KTN.Make sure you update your airline profile with your KTN. They won’t know unless you tell them and you should provide your KTN when you book your ticket to have the TSA Pre on your boarding pass. if your boarding pass doesn’t say TSA Pre, you cant use TSA PRE and there’s no way for you to get that added right before the flight.

With businesses and companies becoming more and more competitive by the day, the modern sales and marketing teams would need more than a single tool to carry out targets and daily tasks. Several product software need to be in place to improve productivity, efficiency, decision-making, and coordination. There is also that challenge of automating tasks which are repetitive in nature.Say hello to your tech stack.It is important to understand that in building a stack, not all processes are the same; not all organizations were created equal. Therefore, your tech stack should include only those that address the requirements of your processes. What may be effective to Company A may not even be needed by Company B.I put together a list of some sales and marketing apps popular among businesses, including SaaS, so I hope they can be helpful to you, too.Customer Relationship Management - central to most sales and marketing processes — of any company for that matter — is usually the CRM. While Salesforce remains to be the industry standard, there are other (free) products available like the Hubspot CRM.Lead Generation - While manual lead generation may still be good for certain industries, a lot of companies are switching to automation for their lead-gen requirements. Some notable software would be Aeroleads and Datanyze.Prospecting - Prospecting is probably the most crucial part of the sales process. Building a targeted list increases the possibility of finding clients who are ‘in the look’ for the right products at the right time. Products/Platforms such as LinkedIn, eGrabber, Ninja Outreach, or Crunchbase may be very helpful.Email Search Tools - Your contact list would mean nothing without contact info. There are other apps designed to specifically scour the net for this data. These are the following: SellHack, Email Hunter, and LeadFuze which works really well with LinkedIn.Product Presentation - When phone calls and social media messages can no longer meet your discussion or presentation requirements, there is Join.Me to ease demos and pitches.Proposal and Electronic Signature - Docusign’s website clearly says it: Get to “yes” faster. For faster sending, viewing and signing of contract, make sure to have apps like Docusign and HelloSign.Social Media Management - whether you are with sales or with marketing, you will be needing the power of social media to work your magic. And to ease your use of different platforms, Hootsuite and Buffer help you track all your social updates, notifications, mentions and comments in a single form — you don’t need to log separately.SEO/Content Marketing - SEO is not the be-all of content marketing. It is equally important to see the movement and performance of content in all avenues of the internet. Buzzsumo can help analyze content by domain or topic and lets you find out which content is shared more frequently.I’d like to leave you with a quote from Bill Gates which stresses the value of the whole operation before you can identify the apps and tools an organization requires. He said, “The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.”