Week 2

Entries by Vidya Pramod ( B06120)

Bala Dosa

Bala prepares and serves dosa’s right near the entrance to the campus. I had dosa on the 3^rd of October at 7.45 PM.

Expected Service:- Good and hot dosas for a reasonable price. The service should also be prompt.

Experienced Service

Reliability:- 6

Most of the times Bala tells how long it would take for my dosa to be ready and most of the times he is correct. Some times I get my dosa earlier than promised. The last time when I went there it took around 15 mins for my dosa to be prepared and this was in sync with the time that Bala suggested.

Responsiveness:- 7

As I can speak Tamil, I chitchat with Bala. He also wishes when ever I pass by. He is also prompt in taking the order and acknowledges it by repeating the order so that there is no confusion. Some times when the ingredients are less ( for example if the chutney is less and by the time I get my order the chutney could be over ), he would tell it at the time of order itself. The last time when I went there I wanted fired idly. There were a couple of idlies but someone else has already ordered fried idly so Bala told me this and I changed my order.

Empathy:- 7

I am always given individual care at Bala’s. When I order my Dosa, if I tell him I am in mood to eat spicy food, he adds additional “podi” ( powder used as a substitute for chutney ) in the dosa itself.

Assurance: - 7

Bala is highly knowledgeable about the product. He prepares variety of dosa’s and one can ask him to make modifications based on the taste and he does it( most of the times with a smile). It has always been a enjoyable experience eating at Bala’s.

Tangibles:- 3

The only thing that is not upto standards is the cleaning of plates and utensils. The plates are not properly washed ie the washing is done right behind the Dosa counter and one can see the whole process. Sometimes soap is not used but the plates come out “looking” clean. A couple of people who have seen the cleaning process now get their Dosa’s parceled and have them in their rooms. But considering the price of the Dosa’s served, one cannot expect more from such a small place.

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Entries by Yashaswi ( B06122)

CAFETERIA

The cafeteria has just changed hands and the proprietor of the GH1 mess has been made in-charge of it.

Expected: - I don’t have much expectations left from the xlri cafeteria. Still I hoped against hope that it might have good snacks and good tea.

Experience: - Well, no surprises here! The tea was same as that of the mess. I think the decision to hand over the reins of the cafeteria to the mess incharge is utterly wrong, since now they have a chance to put the remaining tea and coffee for sale. Though they have promised to make special tea, I doubt if they would keep up with the promise when the sales increase. The snacks was OK – could have been better…..much better. And they took a hell lot of time for delivery. There is immense scope for improvement….or even this new owner might not be able to run the cafeteria successfully because he has a very shrewd competitor (Dadu’s) who keeps varying his product mix in order to keep the customers interested.

SERVIQUAL ANALYSIS POST ENCOUNTER

	PERCEPTIONS (Rating)	EXPECTATIONS (Rating)
RELIABILITY	1. 2 2.3 3.2 4.2 5.1	1.3 2.4 3.2 4.3 5.2
RESPONSIVENESS	1.1 2.2 3.1 4.1 5.2	1.3 2.3 3.2 4.2 5.2
ASSURANCE	1.2 2.1 3.3 4.2 5.2	1.3 2.2 3.3 4.2 5.2
EMPATHY	1.2 2.1 3.2 4.2 5.1	1.4 2.3 3.4 4.3 5.2
TANGIBLES	1.1 2.2 3.4 4.5 5.5	1.5 2.5 3.5 4.4 5.5

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Entries by Sonali Ahuja ( B06113)

The services encountered are listed below table-wise. The Perceptions column gives the rating of the service experience on the various SERVIQUAL parameters, post-encounter. The Expectations column gives ratings for level of service expected from excellent companies in that sector, on the same parameters.

For measuring expectations, the Matching Expectations format has been used.

The reasons substantiate the ratings based factual information, feelings, prior expectations and whether or not they were met.

Encounter – Cellar, XLRI Jamshedpur Date – 1^st Oct 2007

Cellar	PERCEPTIONS (Rating) Cellar, XLRI	EXPECTATIONS (Rating) Cellar at Housing Society, Pune	REASONS
RELIABILITY	1) 1	1)6	I had placed an order for a Reliance recharge voucher (which he didn’t have in stock) on 1st Oct morning and told that it would be there by evening. After repeated reminders, he still didn’t bring it until today evening(4th Oct). This has happened on earlier occasions too.
	2)5	2)7	I had to send a document by courier urgently and couldn’t go myself as I had class. The person at the cellar posted the document for me from a courier service outlet at Bistupur.
	3)5	3)6	Although there was a delay in him bringing what I ordered for, he brought the right product. There was (and normally never is) no mistake in understanding on his part.
	4)1	4)6	More often than not there is a delay in getting anything that is not stocked and ordered for
	5)3	5)5	Promises are made about getting things at a certain time, so the information bit it duly provided (although hardly adhered to)
Total Reliability Score	15	30	Difference = 15
RESPONSIVENESS	1)4	1)6	Whenever the goods ordered for are in stock, they are promptly fetched from the store and given. If however you order for something to be brought from the market, there is an inevitable delay.
	2)5	2)6	The person at the cellar does take the effort of procuring the goods not stocked, from the market, even if it is a single piece of a low value product.
	3)5	3)5	Even if there are many people at the cellar, he doesn’t ignore any customer. He may politely ask you to wait for a while or also allows you to fetch your stuff yourself.
Total Responsiveness Score	14	17	Difference = 3
ASSURANCE	1)1	1)6	There’s very little at the cellar that instills confidence in me. There are certain things that the owner knows are always in demand, and still not stocked. Although I can be sure that he will bring whatever I order, if it doesn’t come up to a certain point, its quite useless.
	2)5	3)6	I feel safe in the sense that I know he doesn’t cheat. He even lets you take goods on credit in case you don’t happen to have cash on you at the time of purchase.
	3)4	3)6	The person at the cellar is mostly pleasant-tempered and willing to cater to your requests.
	4)5	4)5	There was a problem with recharging my phone with the voucher I purchased, and the person was able to resolve it. He also generally has knowledge about promotional offers on products etc.
Total Assurance Score	15	23	Difference=8
EMPATHY	1)4	1)6	The person at the cellar caters well to you even when there is a crowd and is willing to let you walk to the shelves and see the products for yourself.
	2)4	2)6	The person at the cellar caters well to you even when there is a crowd and is willing to let you walk to the shelves and see the products for yourself.
	3)2	3)6	I wouldn’t say it has the customers’ best interests at heart because it would otherwise have lived up to its promises of providing ordered goods on time, knowing that they are important to the customer.
	4)5	4)5	There is never a communication gap or misunderstanding on the part of the person at the cellar. So he does understand customers’ needs well.
Total Empathy Score	15	23	Difference = 8
TANGIBLES	1)3	1)5	The racks and containers are not the kinds you see in modern stores. They are slightly old and outdated.
	2)3	2)6	The shelves, counters, furniture etc. at the cellar are quite old, rusty and primitive looking.
	3)4	3)6	The people at the cellar appear fairly neat and well-kempt, although they do not wear any uniforms.
	4)5	4)5	The posters, danglers, streamers etc. about new products are all there and visibly hung to attract attention.
	5)5	5)6	Although it doesn’t open very early in the morning, it is open until 2130 hrs, which is quite convenient.
Total Tangibles Score	20	28	Difference = 8