I had received a certain ‘branded’ belt as a gift. It
was a couple of sizes long (length of 36”) and therefore didn’t have holes
corresponding to my size (length 32”). I first visited the brand’s store
in Bangalore's Garuda mall and requested to have extra holes punched. To my surprise,
the CSA in that store first didn’t know how to do it; much less have the
equipment to punch the holes. I suggested that they take the belt to one
of the neighborhood shops to get the holes punched, which they obliged and got
the task accomplished.
I figured that I was not happy with it as the holes-end of
the belt was sticking out too long beyond my trouser loop, and wanted to get
the buckle-end trimmed to get it to the desired length. I went back to the same store after a couple of weeks. The same associate accosted me and when
I explained my problem to him, he began figuring out how to open the
buckle! It was the house-keeping boy who used his imagination to finally
open it after some 10 minutes of wasted effort by him and his colleagues.
When the buckle was removed, they discovered they didn’t have the required
equipment (this time, a pair of specialist scissors). Once again, I
suggested that they get it done from the neighboring Shoppers Stop. And
this time, I walked along with the associate to the men’s section in SS.
When we explained our requirement to the CSA in charge - Ms.Veena - she first
made me wear the belt to determine how much trimming it required. Then,
she very deftly unlocked the buckle and trimmed the belt to the required
length. She also made a ‘U’ shaped cut at the trimmed end to accommodate
the spring of the buckle lock. She then, latched the belt with the
buckle; twisted and rotated it a few times to check if it was smooth to
operate. She then handed me the trimmed belt with a beaming smile!
I left with a thrilled experience while suppressing my desire to buy another belt from that store!
