“Trouble shooting is never easy. Like the trained medical practitioner, I have to patiently listen to the customer and identify the problem. Sometimes, it is like surgical intervention. With circuits becoming almost microscopic, repairing minuscule parts is a challenge. One wrong action and the damage is doubled and sometimes, it’s irreversible. In fact, assembling a new set is easier than repairing one,” says Ravindran Kuppuswamy, owner of Maxwell Electronics.
“I was initiated into electronics by my father Kuppuswamy who was an expert in repairing valve radios and communication equipment. He would often say, ‘Follow the tailor’s rule, measure twice and cut once’. He meant all possibilities should be explored before taking action. I quit my job with NELCO in a few years and started working will my dad full-time.
With the advent of television, mass communication assumed a new dimension. Music systems and video display units have evolved over the years from cassettes to digital discs. I mastered the art of servicing these gadgets. That was when the shop’s Maxwell Radio services transformed into Maxwell Electronics,” says Ravi, tracing his enterprise’s history in one breath.
“Ravi sir has mentored me on the values of good customer relationship. He would often say, ‘Keep in mind Tom Peters’ principle — always “under-promise but over-deliver” to make them happy. Assess the damage and let them know the cost of the repair. Eventually if the cost works out lesser let the customer have the benefit. This is what they call consumer’s surplus in economics. That way you have earned his goodwill. After all, a satisfied customer is your potential campaigner,” says Rajesh who joined Ravi as an apprentice in the mid-1980s and now managed the operations.
I give a ten-year-old television set and a battery-operated emergency lamp for service. Taking one cursory look at them, he says, “This TV set has lived its life, sir; I am sure we would have replaced most of the spares and it’s not worth spending any more on it. I value your sentimental attachment to it but then, we have to look beyond that. That emergency lamp is of Chinese make and it is cheaper to buy a new one than repairing this. You see, honestly, barring the great wall of China which has stood the test of time, all other products from China pack up soon. Jokes apart, voltage fluctuations, dust and moisture break down of the system majorly.”
Impressed with assessment, I walk back lugging the gadgets looking for the nearest scrap dealer to make some money out of them.
(T.S . Manohar is
a resident of Mylapore)
