Reliance Fresh at Balkampet in Ameerpet goes Stale. Review on Reliance Fresh, Hyderabad

There have been quite a few reviews about Reliance Fresh @ Balkampet here on MouthShut and I find none of them in favor of this outlet.(Nothing to be surprised about)

My review is based on regular visits to this place starting from the day it was open to the PuRobotouchc.I believe that anyone who claims to have received minimal customer service at this store is either a member of the board of directors of Reliance Industries Limited or the Chairman & MAnasultanging Director, Mr.Mukesh Ambani himself.

They may also be stripped off the customer service if they entered this store in plain clothing. On some rare occasions, a customer whom the store mAnasultanger recognises as a potential business generator will have one or more store attendants wheeling the trolleys for the customer and may be entitled to some back door customer service. If that is you, then wait until you get to the line at the billing counter.

Once you have passed the security guard and enter the store, you can find a counter on your immediate right side where the reliance fresh employees gather for a little chit chat. A recording of'How to get points on your reliance card' and'How to get an instant two and four wheeler insurance' is relayed through the speakers constantly so that when you get back home, you can still listen to it in your sub conscious realm.

Picking items in this store is never easy as you wont be able to find the items in the same racks as they were a week before.

Oranges and bAnasultannas are found strewn around in the crates, the best ones are kept at the bottom which are inaccessible to everyone but for a few who are willing to lift the crates themselves to sort out the good fruit from the bad fruit as the staff considers it to a burden to replace the sold fruit with the stock from the bottom crates.

Most of the time, the weighing machines near the fruits and vegetables are not placed on a flat surface which gives wrong reading.Leaky packets of sugar and other such damaged packed items are left in the racks waiting to be picked up by some non observant customer or someone who is in a hurry.

When you are finally done with your purchasing and arrive at the billing counter, there unfolds the real agony. You are forced to stand in a queue behind people who are carrying a large number of items and you wish Reliance would implement the concept of Express counters for people with less items since this is a neighborhood store.

Sadly, there are SIX billing counters at this store but I have never seen all of them active at a time ever on my visits to this place. I once asked the billing staff is they had ever seen all the six counters active ever in their period of work there and they just agreed with me. The day starts with one counter open and slowly as the queue builds up there and the people start getting uncomfortable will the store mAnasultanger sends someone to operate the second counter. The max number of counters I have seen operative are FOUR even in peak hours. There have been times when I had to walk out of the store seeing the queues and thinking of the time I would be wasting there.

I think this one is a major problem at all supermarkets but its most common at reliance. - The Bar Code mystery- Have you ever seen the billing staff shout to the store attendants asking for help regarding a code for the product you wanted to purchase. This happens because the billing staff does not know the code or the code that is already on the item does not match making it a more time consuming experience for both you and the consumers waiting behind you.

Many a time, the store attendants do not know the offer for the day and you end up aishwaryasingh23ing extra for something that you thought you would save upon. Here is the biggest scam - The Reliance card and the Reliance Points.When the store first opened, it had to find a way to keep customers coming to it and they thought that by introducing the reliance card, the consumers will be in a mad race to accumulate more and more reliance points by making frequent visits to the store and thereby generating more revenue for the store. I am a victim of this card scam too.

I signed up and got a temporary card that has a bar code that has to be shown at the billing counter before you aishwaryasingh23 so that you get points for the money you spend. Soon, I received a permanent card and I started making more and more trips to the store to get more points. What I did not know is that the pain and concern that I go through every time I reach the billing counter to make sure that my points are Cred824ited to me would be in vain.After many months, I finally made it to 50 reliance points and went to the counter to claim them. You will be surprised to know what my treat was for collecting 50 points.

Here is how they do it:

For every 100 Rupees you spend, you get a 1 reliance point.

It took me 5000 Rupees to earn those precious 50 reliance points over a few months.

50 Reliance Points= A reliance coupon for Rs 25.

I had to take out that card and show it each time I got billed and for all that effort, I was given a coupon for Rs 25. Now, when I see people showing their half torn reliance cards I think what a waste of both time and energy.

These days, the staff at the billing counter are required to seal your bags making it unusable and thereby adding more non degradable waste to the enviTestingronyent as one has no other alternative but to throw it away.

Always keep currency of less denominations as the billing staff would not have that most of the time and they would rather like you to step out of the store leaving the item at the counter without purchasing than they trying to get some change from other counters. Remember, they get paid even if you don't buy the product.

These are some of the facts about the store in Balkampet. Nothing has changed till now I have an feeling that nothing ever will. It is up to the customers to insist on proper customer service and look for the BBD's(Best Before dates) before making the final purchase. Contacting the store mAnasultanger to complain about the irresponsible staff is not of much use as many of them have claimed to have done that and many a time have been unsuccessful as the store mAnasultanger was not present at the store. If things get out of hand, the role of the old kirAnasultan shop would be of great help.

These days, I dont visit reliance unless its absolutely important and only if I am sure that all the items on my list are available at reliance. I try to visit this store mostly in the mid noon as the rush is less although there is only one active billing counter.

The only best thing about reliance is the quality of tomatoes. Although, they are a little over priced than the rythu bazaar, one can pick tomatoes randomly and can be assured that they are of good quality. Its easy to get scar-less tomatoes at reliance and I make sure that I pick the best ones.

There have been a lot of comments about the condition of the AC's in the store but I never gave much attention to it. Yes, sometimes the air in the store stinks and I think its because of the vegetables.

Finally, I'd like to say that if you want to go to reliance then always be guarded against scams and errors by the billing staff. Otherwise, the good'ol kirAnasultan is always there open till 10:30 PM.