The closest to what we needed turned out to be LifeStyle Home Center in DLF Plaza Mall near IFFCO chowk. We had been there several times before, and had always found the selection good, but not what we wanted. After several weeks of not finding what we needed, we decided to just go and buy from Home Center whatever we find.

Here are the good things about this place:

• Variety of furniture items: a very large selection of beds are available to choose from. So, you should find something that you like (unless you are super choosy like us). There are several options on dining tables, sofa sets, and wardrobes as well. They lack any office/home-office furniture, though.
• Quality of goods: the workmanship is good because everything is produced through standardized processes, so you don’t see improper paint, or unpolished wood, etc. as you might see in some of the shops at MG road.
• Professional servicing: the people who came to assemble the bed at home knew what they were doing, carried proper tools, and did a very efficient job of assembling the bed.

Here are the things that we didn’t like:

• Discount policy: there was a discount being offered on the bed that we bought. When we made up our mind to buy, we were told that the discount is given in the form of vouchers for the store, which forces you to make another purchase from them.
• Poor delivery service commitment: We were told that the bed will be delivered at our home the next day and it will be assembled at home. What NO ONE told us during the purchase process is that these two things can be very disconnected. The bed was delivered the next day, but they mentioned that the assembly team can take up to 48 hours (post delivery) before they come for assembling the bed (as per their policy). We found this to be utterly ridiculous. Why send the bed in pieces to us if no one was going to come over and assemble it for 2 days. After much fighting over the phone, they sent someone the next day (not even the same day, even though they promised over the phone that it will be the same day).
• Poor inventory management: Earlier we had thought of buying a mattress separately, but since we now had to use those discount vouchers, we decided to purchase the mattress from the store itself. They were able to offer us the type of mattress that we wanted (pocketed spring). However, once we chose the mattress, we were told that the mattress will take 15 days to deliver. So, now we have a bed without a mattress, which will come in another 10 days or so. We think this is a major customer service failure.
• Pricing: We think that there is a 15%-25% premium on their prices, but there is a lot of convenience in dealing with them, so maybe its worth it.

In conclusion, we think the place is worth shopping, if you are aware of the negatives before hand. What have your experiences been at this store?

Personally I feel that Ambience Mall is the best one around in Gurgaon. It’s big, spacious, has a large variety of stores, has enough entertainment and food outlets, and is classy (which other mall has a BMW showroom in it?). But, then something would happen that reminds you that you are in India. Here’s what happened:

After the movie got over, we roamed around the mall just a little bit and then went to the elevator to go down to the parking (so that we could go home). We were on the 2nd floor.

We pressed the down call button on the elevator. The elevator came, and didn’t stop, and simply went on down. Well, I thought, it must have been full. Again I pressed the button, again I waited, and again it didn’t stop and simply went down. Hmm. Another couple was waiting with us and decided to take a quick peak from the side and saw that the elevator was completely empty.

This actually happened a third time (and by this time I had lost my cool). Normally, if this happens, I would simply walk, take the stairs or the escalator. That day, my wife wasn’t well and didn’t feel like walking a lot.

When the elevator finally came, I questioned the guard who was operating it for his behavior. He of course made excuses first about how it was full and all (which we knew he was lying about). When confronted, he said that his superiors had ordered him not to stop the elevator at any floor.

I asked my wife to wait in the car and asked him to call his superior. To make a long story short, this guy was acting on his own because someone from PVR had asked him to make sure that the elevator is on the 4th floor at a particular time. The reason? Some ‘VIP’ was going to get through watching a movie, and had asked to ensure that he doesn’t have to wait for the elevator.

The problem?

Well, aside from the fact that this shouldn’t happen in the first place, there is one thing mainly wrong with this: Customer Service. If the elevator was not going to be available for some time, the least that they should have done was let us know. All they had to do is put a ‘not-available’ sign on each floor for the duration of this.

That incident completely ruined our evening.

Let’s talk a bit about the overall experience (the movie itself was just one part of it). I got to the mall a little after 11:00pm. Here’s a very important tip: for this late movie get to the mall before 11:00, and here’s why.

The basement parking closes at 11:00pm. They won’t let you in. I don’t know about you, but I feel the most comfortable parking in the basement of a mall. I had to go all the way around to the back of the mall (it’s a huge mall) and then park in the open. It was chaos to park there. Since it was in the open, a lot of people chose to park their car not in the designated open parking area, but on the road side (to save 20 rupees? I saw some pretty expensive cars being parked that way).

In any case, parking in that open area is a pain because then you might be stuck in the mall if it’s raining because it’s a good 100 meter walk before the open marking starts from the mall gate, and so you will get drenched (as I almost did since it started raining about 2 minutes after I got in my car).

Other than this instance, the experience was good. It was crazy to see a mall as big as this completely empty (after the movie). I wish I had my camera with me, I would have certainly taken pictures.

Buying the Tickets

So, we landed at Ambi mall to buy tickets for the show of The Incredible Hulk (normally, you should of course book online, which gives you the best chance for landing tickets for popular shows). Their automatic ticket machines were not working, so I tried to find the ticket window. Here’s the first nice thing, while there were lines on the other windows, there was a separate window for Gold Class, with only two people in front of it. As it turned out the two were only there to find out what was Gold class and weren’t their to purchase tickets. That is of course the first and only drawback of the Gold Class: the price.

The Cost

The cost of one ticket is a whopping Rs. 500. And that doesn’t sound too bad, but since there were four of us, it turned out to be Rs. 2000. Considering that normally, I can get 4 tickets for the price of two (when using BookMyShow.com), this was a large jump. But that was the only downside (and if you think of it, it may not be a downside at all).

Getting In and Relaxing

There is a separate (carpeted) entrance for Gold Class patrons which I really don’t care about, but some people might. The good thing is that since there are only 2 screens which are Gold Class, there would usually not be a large line of people, so once again you don’t have to wait in line to get in. Once you are in, you immediately ascend to the upper level, where the audis are located.

If you are early, then there is a lounge upstairs which you can relax in, grab a snack or just chill. I believe that only Gold Class patrons have access to this area, though I didn’t see anyone preventing others to enter or checking tickets.

Inside the Auditorium

Finally, you get in. You are led to your seats by the usher, and boy these seats are something. First of all, there are only 6 rows (at least in Audi 2), with a total of 44 seats. (No wonder they are charging so much. I calculated that one seat takes the equivalent space of 4 seats in a normal hall – so it’s not charging that much really.

You have more legroom than you possibly need. The seats themselves are LazyBoy like recliners which are super plush. They electrically recline to an angle which is perfect. Your legs are propped up, and your back is at an angle which makes for a very comfortable viewing.

You are given soft blankets if you are feeling too cold. And you are also served a welcome drink, which is some kind of apple juice, though when the brought it, it looked like Champagne (who am I kidding). There are call buttons which will bring an attendant to your seat if you want to order any food or drinks from a menu which my wife found to be interesting enough to comment on.

I am pretty sure that I felt that the acoustics of the hall are better than the poorer cousins (the normal PVR halls) though that could be psychological (my mind trying to justify the cost of this movie). But my friend thought the same. The movie was quite incredible (this means I liked it a lot). And when it was done, I didn’t feel at all tired (primarily thanks to the nice seats). Normally, I get cramped up (I am a tall guy) and may end up with a stiff back at the end of a movie. After this one, I felt refreshed.

The comfort factor can be gauged by the fact that when the movie was over, no one moved for a long while. People were reluctant to leave the comfortable embrace of their seats. Normally, as soon as the movie is over, everyone starts moving out, and you feel like you are part of a great migratory herd moving out of the cinema hall.

There were two other minor things (which may have been coincidences). The movie started on time (no pesky ads). And also, during the interval there were no ads either as there are in normal halls. And I could swear they waited for everyone to get back into their seats before resuming the movie from the Interval (probably my imagination).

Conclusion

I think the price is worth it, if you can afford it. I am going to maximize my movie going to Gold Class from now on. The overall experience is worth it.

In fact, the only bad thing, about the whole experience is that you can’t cuddle with your wife because of the huge chairs (it puts a big gap between the two of you). But if you really wanted to, one seat is big enough for both.