[S.T.D.]

Phishing on IOC website?

Recently I registered on the IOC website for my LPG gas cylinder account online, to enable online
booking of gas cylinders, and got my registration approved. I noticed that there was a service feature
called “preferred time delivery”. When I clicked on it, there was no indication as to whether this service
was free or required payment of extra charges. Absent such info, I assumed that it was offered as a
consumer-friendly ‘free’ service. By the way, the cylinder delivery is free in general, not to speak of
the baksheesh ( the so-called ‘tip’) that the delivery man extracts from you, in spite of the fact that
the delivery challan so loudly proclaims ‘no tips’. Moreover, the quantum of the tip often depends
upon how threatening the delivery man looks like, how docile you are, and combinations thereof !

.I thought "wow! this is great!", went ahead and chose a preferred delivery-time window, and got it
activated. Then, I booked a cylinder online and logged off. After some hours, I decided to check the
booking details to confirm the effectiveness of the online booking. When I logged back in, I stumbled
into a section of the website that said that there is a service charge of Rs.25 or Rs.50 depending on
the time chosen for the preferred delivery service!

I could not help blurting out “ @#$&” !! Why did they not give a hint or present a visually striking
logo about the service charges for this facility, while registering or booking for a cylinder? I would
not have activated this facility, had I known that I would be charged extra for this service. I wanted
to deactivate this service, but there was no way I could do it. If anyone in the forum knows of a
way to deactivate this option, please help.

Just curious - Should we not call this a ‘bait and switch’ or phishing operation? By a public
sector organization? With gas prices already at record levels, does the poor consumer – most often
a harried housewife from a low-income family, or a senior citizen on meager pension – need to be
robbed of their precious income thus? Why can’t these guys be more honest and open? At least
indicate a simple way to opt out? This kind of manipulative exploitative practices are so common
in the corporate sector of the greedy materialistic West. But here, in India ? Or are we no different?

Ramani

[pirinosa]

Hi Ramani Sir,

you are not alone Sir, here is another corporate thief Ryan Air.
http://www.ihateryanair.org/ryanair-...eir-customers/

They cancelled my flight to London and back from Düsseldorf during the volcanic ash problem last year, refused to reschedule or refund money I paid.

rajpriya