Jitu

To pursue the PhD program in India, a foreign national needs a Research Visa. Usually the visa application form and the passport is sent along with the necessary documents to the Indian embassy in Frankfurt which is responsible for the area I lived in. However two (or so) years back, the service of receiving the forms and sending them back together with consultation has been outsourced to an agency called Indo German Consultancy Services Ltd (IGCS). So I started to apply for the Research Visa through the IGCS and then the odyssey started. Concluding from my experiences with the IGCS seems that not many have the idea to do their PhD in India. Here is a history of events:

August/September 2007:
Started to gather information about Research Visa. Although mentioning the whole background to IGCS and stressing out, that I want to to PhD in India, the IGCS in Frankfurt claimed that a Research Visa either does not exist or that it is the same as the Student Visa.

Even information read from the homepage Ministry of Human Resources and Development and from the Indian embassy in Japan to IGCS people in Frankfurt and Cologne saying that there exists a Research Visa, was answered with one of the well known replies above. Due to that (I mean the IGCS people are supposed to be the professionals regarding visa questions, aren’t they?) I applied for a Student Visa in November 2007.

Then I had a long fight with IGCS and the Academic Deputy Registrar, Mr. S., about Research and Student Visa for the next 2 months. Mr. S. insisted on the Research Visa, whereas the IGCS had obviously difficulties to believe what Mr. S. said, and even more difficulties to check out the existence of the Research Visa by themselves.

27.12./28.12.08:
Mr. T from the IGCS was suddenly aware of a Research Visa after 4 months of quarreling.

January 2008:
I won the scholarship for PhD students of the German Academic Exchange Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst – DAAD). They also will take care of the prospective scholars and sent the application form for the Research Visa. They collected all applications from all scholars and sent it in one single packet to the Indian embassy in Berlin. The Indian embassy in Berlin forwarded the application for visa approval to Delhi. However in the meantime there was a circular from the MHRD (Ministry of Human Resources and Development) that “the power for issuing the visa has been fully delegated to the Indian missions abroad”.

On January 5^th, I moved to the Indian Institute of Science so that I do not loose any more time and started my career as a Project Assistant for which the Student Visa was sufficient.

September 2008:
The duration in which the Research Visa is issued, was said to be between 4 and 8 months. In September the 9^th month started, so I started to check out the current status of the Research Visa application.

October 2008:
It took a month of research to figure out, what has happened to my visa application. I believe it had been thrown away due to the circular letter and due to the following reasons:
Nobody I called up in Delhi was able to tell me anything about the visa as if it does not exist. Mr. P. the section officer of the MHRD responsible for Research Visa never heard anything about my application.

So I reapplied once again, but this time I made sure that the circumstance are set and that the Indian embassy and the IGCS are aware of this application. I sent the complete application set to the IGCS in Hamburg (because they answered the phone [I called all IGCS offices and embassies randomly] and only IGCS Hamburg was very professional and gathered information FIRST, before telling some invented facts such as “Research Visa? Doesn’t exist.”). However they insisted that I gave an address of correspondence in Germany. So I gave the one of my brother who stays in North Rhine-Westphalia. The IGCS figured out that the Indian embassy in Hamburg is not responsible since my brother lives in the wrong state, and therefore forwarded the application form to Frankfurt.

With the people in Hamburg it has also been clarified that for application submission I do not need to be in Germany itself. For collecting the visa, it is compulsory.

November 2008:
A reply by Dr. S. from the IGCS in Frankfurt about the progress of the visa application said, that I have to be in Germany for the paper submission. That is a contradiction to the statement above. A reply to that asking for clarification was without any response till now. More important: Also asking for a status update about the progress was without any reply at all so far.

December 2008:
I lost the DAAD scholarship, because it is in cooperation with the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) in Delhi. Since I did not get the visa for more than 1 year, they canceled my application. So thanks to the IGCS and their inability to verify information, I lost a scholarship of EUR1052 a month for three years. I also would like to mention that for every application the IGCS collected nicely EUR13.50 for their “consultation”.

January 2009:
I got my visa without the “help” of the IGCS, but the scholarship is gone.

August 2009:
I sent another mail to the IGCS and received feedback almost immediately. If it is an automated reply or not, we will see. Mr. S. J. replied that he will look into that matter, but it might require some time.

November 2009:
So far no more word from Mr. S. J. A kindly reminder was also left without a reply.

As you can see, I made a very bad experience with IGCS and I know some others who have the same difficulties. Unfortunately there is not much of an alternative, if you need a visa for visiting India. I recommend to show no patience towards them and to camp in front of their door, if necessary, to get things settled. Do not listen to any information IGCS provides but get the information by yourself through the Internet or friends. Due to some legal reasons I had to blank out the names I had contact with.

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Around 2 weeks ago a representative of Airtel called (I do not know, how they got my number), telling me that they have special broadband packet offers. Since I have already broadband and I am happy with it, I am always interested in offers which either gives me the same product for lesser money or a better packet for the same money. However showing interest in the first place was a big mistake. The representative forwarded my phone number to the “expert” regarding broadband packets and she called the same day in the afternoon. Obediently she read all the packets and their content to me until I stopped her.

I said: “Listen, currently I have a broadband connection that has 2Mbps, 2.5GB traffic per month for free and it costs me around Rs.500. Do you have anything in this category?”
Expert: “Yes, 2Mbps, some limited amount of traffic (I forgot) and the price is Rs.899″.
I: “Eeeehm, you tell me, why I shall pay more for almost the same thing.”
Expert: “So, you are not interested? Maybe you are interested in this packet: Starter for only Rs.399″
I: “So what is the speed? 256kpbs?”
Expert: “Correct.”
I: “???????, so why shall I change? For less than double the monthly amount I get a connection that has 8 times the speed and much more free traffic.”
Expert: “So, you are not interested?”
I: “Not at all.”
Expert: “Ok, sir. Have a nice day.”
I: “You too, bye.”

This is a summary of the whole conversation. Although I made myself clear that no Airtel packet suits me, Airtel seems to be so desperate to get customers. Within 2 weeks they keep calling and calling almost 3 times a day. Whenever I see a telephone number like 0804210XXXX or 0804110XXXX on my display, I immediately know that Airtel is calling. I started to answer a call like this:

Cell phone rings.
I: “Good afternoon, dear Airtel call center. You want to sell me broadband packets, right?”
That causes some surprises at the other end.
I: “See, you already called something like 15 times and I am still not interested. Please delete my records from your databases. Could you do me this favor?”
Expert (very sorry): “Ok, sir. Sorry, sir.”

But the learn effect equals zero. So I tried this:
“The person you are trying to speak to is, currently not available. Please leave a message after the beep.”
Then I take my high pitch sports whistle and blow into the mike. After that, I simply cut the call.

However, even that seems not to work. So I listened to a fax machine recently and I copy the sound:
I: “Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeppp Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Sssshhhhhhhhhhh, beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep”
Expert: “Hello? Hello?”
I: “Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppppp”
Cut

Let’s see, when they learn it. If I get some time, I am going to talk to their supervisor. But as long as I have my fun, I do not see a reason for it. Let me know, if you got an idea what else to try.

[Update 23/04/2010]
Finally the calls stopped for a few days now. The trick was to deny that they talk to the right person. I mean anybody could have given a cell phone number to the promoting boy:

Airtel: “Hello sir. I am calling for Airtel, do I speak to Mr. Alex?”
I: “Alex? Who is that?”
Airtel: “Is this not the number of Mr. Alex?”
I: “Sorry, I do not know anybody by that name. My name is Achmed.”
Airtel: “So, you did not put your contact details into the register stating that you are interested in Broadband connections?”
I: “Listen, I have no clue, what you are talking about. I think, you have the wrong number.”
Airtel: “Ok, sorry for the disturbance.”

>Click<

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A Bullman laptop comes with lots of advantages: high resolution and especially anti-glare screen (that means, you cannot see yourself and the room behind you, when the screen is darker), excellent keyboard and superb support in Linux apart from the very friendly costumer support.

I bought a Bullman laptop around 2.5 years ago and I never had any trouble. It worked right from the start. However recently my graphics adapter started to fail (GT8600M) and I suspect the famous hardware bug that finally shows up. Unfortunately my warranty is over for around 6 months and I shifted to India. However I got in touch with the support of Bullman. A new graphics adapter is available and there is not problem to ship it to a German address so that I can replace it by myself. In that case my brother would forward the adapter further to India.

And this service would have cost me only EUR242 including shipping within Germany! Honestly, who is going to pay that price? EUR242 for a graphics adapter as a spare part for a laptop that is more than 2.5 years old? For your information, when I bought the laptop, I paid around EUR1200 including shipping and bag in total. For that money I can get a completely new machine. I do not know, who is making the prices there, but this is way to much. So currently I am trying to get a graphics card on eBay, but I doubt that it will work. I guess Bullman has locked the BIOS so that this option will not be available. In fact I tried another GT8600M (MXM II interface, same memory, but newer board revision) with the same configuration in my laptop, but nothing came up. Not even the light for the LCD. It seems I have to throw this machine into the garbage and buy a new one. But this time, it will be from a company that offers service worldwide and a long warranty. Actually Bullman offers to provide warranty for a longer period for extra money. I should have done that. If you are interested in a Bullman laptop, then take that offer. Otherwise you might spend too much money, if you need a spare part one fine day. In my opinion, the price politics is a very big minus point for that company despite the many advantages on the other side. But how will I benefit or use these advantages, if it broke down and I have to invest more than 20% of the original buying price for spare parts?

Anyone interested in the remainings of the laptop? Everything apart from graphical output works without a problem. I can SSH into the laptop and start simulations and compilations. But the graphical output on the LCD is not readable.

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My cell phone broke down (not the openmoko, another one from Nokia). It is still in the warranty period and got repaired free of cost. The whole inner life got exchanged, so that I found some new interesting options when I received it. Now fully integrated in the phone is Vyke and Gizmo5. Gizmo5 has just been acquired by Google and does not allow new members. However Vyke sounded also interesting. For around EUR0.03 per hour I can talk to a landline in Germany from India through my WLAN connection. A record breaking price.
However after registration I received something like 10 SMS from Vyke that I shall download their software and telling me my user name and password for the Vyke account. At the same time they sent an email to the registered email ID to validate it. Unfortunately the spam filter of my provider filtered it out and mentioned that in its daily report. Next day I clicked on the provided link to validate my email ID. And then the problem started. They simply suspended the account for “security reasons” (Ehm, who just send user name AND password via SMS around the world? And then they come up with security reasons just because an email did not get validated ). I guess, I did not validate the email in time, but in the evening of the previous day I already charge my Vyke account with EUR10 to use it for outgoing calls.

However the web page itself says that I have to get in touch with the support team. So I went to the form, filled everything out and wanted to send it. But the form validation process told me that my email ID is not valid. So I gave the email ID of my working place which allowed the form to be sent to the support.

The support contacted me and told me that I need to validate my email ID.

Dear customer,
Thank you for contacting Vyke Support.

Date: 26/Jan/10 07:57 AM
Please be informed that we are not received any email from your registered email : XXX@gmx.de

For verification purpose, please copy and paste all reply from Vyke Support to XXX@gmx.de, and send to support@vyke.com with title VSUP-87182

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need further assistance.
Kind Regards,
Vyke Support Team

That is exactly the way I received the mail (including the struck through part). So I asked them, how shall I validate it, if their web site does not accept it. In addition I send their mail along with my reply to the support through the email ID that needs to be validated. Just now another email has arrived, telling exactly the same once again, but this time the sender name has changed from Mr. I. C. to Mrs. or Mr. N. D. (I think, I must not mention their name due to legal reasons.)

I do not know, if the people working for the support of Vyke are simply unable to read or too reluctant even to try to understand the problem. I will see what happens till tomorrow. Anyway I already made clear that I will cancel my account, if there is any further delay. And the already paid money? Fortunately I am able to cancel any transaction within 14 days of payment and that too very comfortable online. And that method ALWAYS works

[Update 28/01/2010]
The support finally understood the problem. They are sorry for the inconvenience caused. However they proved to be unable to read. In the last mail, I wrote:

I am currently considering to cancel my whole Vyke account again (after having it for record breaking one day). Unfortunately I charged my account with EUR10 already and I would expect you to transfer this money back to my account.

Their reply:

As the last payment you made on 26/01/2010 01:00 credit card number XYZ 10.00EUR have been canceled. Your credit is reverted back to your credit card account. Please refer to your corespondent bank for more information. Please purchase again to continue Vyke services.

We will see, if I purchase anything from them again. Maybe the manager of Vyke should spend some amount to provide dictionaries and to explain the word “consider” to their support team. Let us see, if the money comes back at least.

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I already gave tips and tricks, how to send parcels and letters from Germany to India. But what I currently experience is almost unbelievable. Here is the history of events:

On 3^rd of January 2008(!)
I sent 3 parcels from Germany to India through DHL. When I handed them over, each weighed 20kg and was neatly packed in a box. An insurance to cover losses and damages was mandatory. The shipment costs were 80€ for each parcel.

In February 2008
3 blue plastic bags arrived, 1/3 of the content (according to weight) and also the boxes themselves were missing. The parcels were on the way for 2 months. The website and the customer service announced to deliver any packet within 14 working days.

29/02/2008
Complaint has been filed to the postmaster of the IISc post office. According to the previous postmaster supporting documents need to filled once they are requested. The documents are available since then.

08/04/2008
A request about the status of the investigation has been sent to the postmaster.

19/05/2008
A reply came from the superintendent of post office (Bangalore West Division) stating that the issue is currently under investigation and he request me to “kindly await further communication in this regard”.
So far there was no communication anymore at all and I waited till

05/12/2008
A letter has been sent to the superintendent of post office (Bangalore West Division) through the postmaster of IISc post office as a remainder. I mean, so far I did not hear anything for the last 7 months. A copy of the reply by the superintendent from the 19th of May was attached.

17/01/2009
I sent a history of events on request of the post master.

05/06/2009
A complaint to DHL which handled the parcels in Germany was answered with: “Transportschäden und Teilverluste sind umgehend durch Vorlage der gesamten Sendung bei der Post im Empfängerland anzumelden. Dort wird eine Schadensfeststellung aufgenommen. Diese Schadensfeststellung bildet die Grundlage für die Schadensaufnahme und eine eventuelle Ersatzregulierung. Die ausländische Postverwaltung zahlt den Schadensersatz an den Empfänger.” (in short and in English: Damages and tamperings must be reported to the post office in the country of destination immediately. There they will inquest to assess the damage which is the base for any claims. The foreign administration of the post will pay for the value of the damage”).

Since then there was no written communication, but only contact through phone. The responsible clerk who receives the complaints got replaced 3 times so far and every time, the issue needed to be brought up to the new person.

10/06/2009
I received a letter from Senior Superintendent of Post Offices, Bangalore West Division, stating: “This is to bring to your kind notice that despite making detailed investigations, this office has not been able to trace the missing items from the above referred parcels. Inquiries revealed that the parcels haven been routed via sea mail and have passed through various stages including customs, where all parcels are opened, checked and re-closed by Customs Dept. Hence at this point of time this office is not in a position to ascertain exactly, at which stage abstraction/damage of the contents have been taken place. Hence we regret to inform you that no further inquiries can be made by this office. Inconvenience caused to you is deeply regretted.”

A call to the superintendent clarified that this letter was necessary for any insurance claims. So a letter has been sent back to the post office asking for the form for insurance claims.

15/01/2010
Another letter came stating: “As per Foreign Post Manual, clause No 159 Para(2) & (3), If a Foreign Parcel received for delivery in India, is found damaged or tampered with, the question must be taken up with the country of origin and even if responsibility is established, no compensation is payable for loss or damage to the contents by the country of destination. Hence any claims for compensation from the sender to the addressee cannot be accepted. The said case is treated as closed by this office.”

So as you can see, the customer are treated like shit by DHL and the Indian Post. They push him around so long till he is too tired and simply closes the case in his mind. And 2 years is already a very long time… Let’s see, what will happen next. Stay tuned!

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