This Sunday, when petrol dealers decided to stay at
home leaving vehicle owners high and dry along the highways, we (I, wife, kids
and a cousin brother) were among
many who were calling up to the heavens to help our cars push a few miles more
before the fuel tank ran dry.
The Civil Supplies Corp-operated fuel pumps had also exhausted
stock by afternoon, and for the first time since I started driving, we just
hoped to see at least a Reliance fuel station somewhere on our way (someone had
told me that they aren’t part of the Sunday Shut Down). But that was not to
be, as the last one (as per the World Wide Web) on our way was somewhere in Alappuzha
and we had rode past it already. (Hope Mr Ambani realises he has a good
business opportunity on Kerala’s highways! Go for the kill, dude.)
And then, suddenly, the yellow indicator screamed out to me
that I was on reserve fuel. Tension started building up and we were making
plans to check into a hotel en route and resume journey the next morning.
But then, as cousin bro suggested, we quickly dialled the Maruti Customer Care
to know how far the remaining fuel would take us.
Excerpts (not verbatim, though) from the conversation
that followed:
Us: Hello, Is this Maruti Customer Care?
Them: Yes sir, how can I help you?
Us: Okay, we just wanted to know what distance would an Ertiga
petrol vehicle travel on reserve fuel after the low fuel indicator lights up?
Them: Oh SORRY, we won’t be able to tell you that as it
depends on each city.
Us: We just need an approximate number. You may give us an
approx. distance as it’s a must that we know from you.
Them: Sorry, I’m afraid we won’t be able to help you. We don’t
have the figures to tell you.
Don’t have the figures even after so many years of ruling
the Indian road? Just a question included in your umpteen feedback calls to new
Maruti Suzuki car owners would have given you the numbers for each road and
highway! One driver’s feedback could be another driver’s bible, at least in
times of a crisis. And, after all we asked you for only the approx. numbers, didn’t
we?
Convinced that the Customer Care is manned by aliens from another
world, we continued to drive on. In the meantime, wifey looked up the Net to
know what other Ertiga owners thought about the reserve distance that the vehicle
would run. The answer was of course there. User reviews on the Net had provided
the info. We were glad to find the Ertiga would easily run 39 to 40 km on reserve
fuel (petrol, in this case). And we drove on.
Lady Luck and the local deity Parabrahmam seemed to
have conspired to get things right for us and soon we spotted a petrol station along
the Ochira-Kollam highway awaiting us. The vehicle had its fill and we drove
home in gay abandon, with the air conditioner and music player switched on.
The hilariously silly add on to the above narrated story
happened the very next morning. As the customer care was contacted from the
cousin brother’s phone, he started getting calls right from the next morning.
Maruti dealers from umpteen spots in south Kerala have been
making it a point to call him, offering him a good deal on the new Ciaz awaiting
buyers in showrooms. He had to keep on explaining to them that the call made
the previous day was related to an urgent fuel enquiry, and not because he was
planning to buy a new car. But then, they never wanted to give up.
The calls continue to land on his phone! He just called me
to say he has gone mad and tired of responding to Ciaz sellers!
Hey Maruti Suzuki Guys, if you are somewhere out there and
sane, stop offering carrots when someone asks you for a sip of water, and that
too, after 24 hours have run past you!
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