It is said that it is easier to deal with problems in a calmand composed way rather than losing your temper to meet with unpleasantconsequences. In some cases, this might turn out to be true but in exceptionalcases, when we really feel that justice is on our side, we should use ourflaring temper and our sharp tongue to get what we deserve. Recently, Ihappened to be in such a situation.
For a long time, I wanted to purchase a handbag to take tooffice. The one in hand was not big enough to accommodate my umbrella (forcingme to hold my umbrella in hand when I did not require using it) and besides, Ihad started feeling bored of using it for almost 1.5 years. When I saw mycolleague’s bag, I really liked it and asked her the details as to from whereshe purchased it, the price, the quality and how long it lasted. It turned outthat she had purchased it from a shop that is very reputed here in Cochin fortheir bags and other leather items. I decided to pay a visit to the same placeand one day went there, accompanied by my mom. Before visiting this particularshop, we tried numerous other shops as well but none of them provided me with thekind that I had in mind. Also, the prices were not at all reasonable.
In this particular shop, I came across lots of pieces but Idid not really like any of them. If the price was reasonable, the bag did notsatisfy my requirements and if my requirements were satisfied, the price wouldnot be within my budget. After a lot of search my mom came across one that bothof us liked almost instantaneously. It looked very pretty and feminine with awonderful shape and small key-chain like hangings attached to the zip and the straps.It was also large enough to hold all my office-going stuff including myumbrella and the price was also worth it even though it was a tad above mybudget. The shopkeeper also gave a six-month guarantee and promised that theywould do any repairs provided we came back with the bill any time during thesix month period. I was very happy to have finally got one and could not waitto take it to office the coming week.
Finally, the day arrived and I transferred all the items inmy old bag to the new bag. I also kept the bill safe in one of the smallerpouches of my new bag. As usual I went to office and proudly showed off mynewest possession to my friends. They all liked it and I had a lot of pleasurein talking about the details of it. The day passed pleasantly and in theevening, I was waiting to board my cab. Suddenly, I heard a clicking noise asif something had snapped and to my dismay and horror I saw that one of thestraps had come off dropping the key-chain attached to it to the ground. Onchecking, I found that the strap could be put back by attaching the metallichinge at the end of the strap into another hinge that was attached to the bag.I quickly put the key-chain back and then bound the strap and bag together.
After that, I boarded my cab and was on my way home. Theentire time, in the cab, I could not help thinking that this kind of thing washappening to something that I had barely used for a day. I kind of felt cheatedand angry but then; I felt that since I was able to repair it myself, it mightbe fine.
Usually, my office cab drops me off at a bus stop and I haveto catch a bus from there to go to the stop near my home. That day, the bus wasunusually crowded and I had to hang on to the hand-grip on the roof of the bus tosupport myself. I reached my stop and I stated walking on my way home. Justthen, I realized that something was hanging from my bag and was getting draggedon the ground as I walked. I stopped and realized that the bag strap hadsnapped off again. What more, the key-chain attached to it was missing. I feltmy temper rising thinking about the money I paid at the damn shop for a goodfor nothing bag that was just in the first day of usage. I decided to returnthe bag to the shop and get my money back at any cost even though it had beenmentioned in the bill that “Goods once sold, will not be returned”.
On reaching home, the first thing that I wanted to do was totransfer all my belongings back to the old bag. To make matters worse, when Iopened the zip it came off and it was in my hand. Can you imagine this muchdamage to any item you have used for barely a day and that too when you paid agood sum of money for it?
That weekend, I went to the shop with the bill and the bag,this time accompanied by my dad. I told them my complaint politely but sternlyand demanded that they give my money back and take the bag. The sales clerktold us that we could take any other bag in exchange for this one that is worththe same amount of money and that they did not have a ‘money return’ policy.“What if I don’t like any of the other pieces you show me or what if that alsogets damaged within a day?” I asked. My temper had started to flare and I wasin no mood to get fooled by them again. I made up my mind that I will go backhome only with my money in hand. After a lot of argument, they did not budgefrom their stand. Then, my dad intervened. He said that either they return themoney or else, we file a complaint against them at the Consumer’s Court. Atthis, the sales clerk had to agree and finally, I got back my cash and the bagwas returned to them. From this incident, I understood that at times, we haveto fret, lose our temper and make our tongue sharp enough to escape fromsituations like these where justice is on our side. Otherwise, the other partyis likely to get away with it. Behaving saintly in such situations never paysoff and we will end up with a huge loss.
I am happy to say that I purchased a better bag later onfrom a less ‘popular’ shop at a lesser price and it has been going strong forthe past one month. :-)