Thursday, January 13, 2011

Femina

i was elated when i came to know that my LTTE to Femina (Letters to the Editor, courtesy Amit) was one of the winners for the November (1-15) issue and i declared it here with equal exuberance. i was bed-ridden and it did good to my morale. i was told i would receive a mobile phone cover from miss sixty.

However, a lady, Bernes Mendes of Femina magazine ended asking for my contact details 5 times. The first two times, i did it patiently. The third time, i followed up CCing the mail ID to which i had sent my letter (cos i know they checked that mail) again. So, lady Bernes with an apology, asked for my contact details again. i replied with a grrr and then again and yet again, i was asked for my contact details. Finally, i copied all the e-mails that i had received (2 chains) into one and asked them to read it and told them they are very unprofessional. She gave me two numbers, which were unreachable too when i tried from my landline. (my cell phone was stolen and i was in no mood to buy another online, and i wanted a phone to suit the cover from Miss Sixty, perhaps a smart phone or so). i have not received any more mail, gift or love from Femina thereafter.

In the mean time,  i received 5k discount coupon and bought diamond earrings with 5k discounted from Surat diamonds, i shopped online from Shoppers' Stop with another discount coupon, i got a stole delivered for free from imint, all from the luxury of my bed. i mean my virtual life was rocking, but no sign of gift from Femina.

It is not about not getting the gift but, for the fact that Femina is a good magazine (answer-for-everything, tech savy and all, no???) . i went to their website, and gave this feedback.

"Hi,
I was one of the winners of the "Letters to the editor" for Nov 15 issue. A certain Bernes Mendes has been asking me for my address 5 times even after I have replied to each and every mail with my address and contact number. Now, I am not interested in the prize, but it has left me with a bitter taste of the way Femina is functioning. You claim to be many things to many women, but I see a' technology-retard-sob' in the behavior, if her excuse for asking my contact 5 times is due to some problem in checking her mails. Her action is actually invading my personal space."

8 comments:

ganapati said...

i hope you get the prize soon.. well these big houses are mostly like this... and get well soon... i was not able to read earlier due to exams, vacations and so on... get well soon.. and keep giving us good posts

Anonymous said...

hi dont worry u will get the prize

btw hope ur parents/in laws taking good care of u

get well soon

AmitL said...

Hi, Arunima- Hey, that's news to me too..Like, whenever I've won a prize in their sister(brother?) publication, Filmfare, it's always come within a month.Good luck at receiving it soon..why not drop a mail to the Editor?(same id as where u sent the prize-winning letter).I agree-it's not the value of the prize, but, the principle.
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Wow to all the other discount shopping you did- were they also prizes?
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Lastly, thanks for the honourable mention at the beginning..now, looking forward to more prize-winning letters- try Woman's Era, Filmfare- three quizzes, letters, etc?

Arunima said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Arunima said...

@Anonymous: It is not about the prize. It is about asking for my contact details 5 times. How could such a big publication do it?

And thanks, I am recovering well. The mother is taking care of me.

Anonymous said...

big publishcations are big for namesake .this what happens in todays world

anyways good to knw ur recovering well.

long time havent seen humorous post on MIL :)

S said...

Woah !!
Ur online life is really rocking :)
Some magic u got! :P

claytonia vices said...

Aaah, these glitzy glossies! They are good at churning out glamorous images of beauties photoshopped to give a complex to any normal woman while writing nice articles about women's rights, issues etc. :) They are as capable of being bogged down on the inside with red tape and incompetence as much as any other workplace! :)