The nightmare aka Airtel Customer Care - 1
I reached Chennai 3 days back and ever snce i am calling Airtel Customercare for one reason or the other.
First lets see the Airtel Mobile Episode:
3 months back before leaving for the US, i decided to put my mobile in Safe Custody mode.
I would be charged a monthly rental of Rs. 100 (which i already paid in advance) and my number would be preserved and not available for others.
Yesterday morning, after an entire night for charging my instrument, i call Airtel Customer care to activate my mobile.
Response 1 at 10 in the morning:
Innum 1 hour la unga phone activate panniduvom sir.
I wait and wait till today morning and losing all hopes, call customer care again:
Response 2 at 10 today morning:
Sorry sir, neenga 121@airtelindia.com ku oru mail anupunga sir, 1 hour la kandippa activate panniduvom sir
I wait and wait till evening, sensing nothing is going to happen, i call the customer care for the third time and the response i get baffles me.
One chap by the name Chandrashekar answers the phone and his refrain goes like this:
Chandrashekar: ” Neenga mail anupchitingala sir?”
Me: “Morning a anupichachu nga”
Chandrashekar: “Endha mail ID ku anupineenga nu therinjukalaama sir?”
Me: 121@airtelindia.com..
Chandrashekar: Subject enna sir potteenga?
Me: “Please activiate my mobile nu pottu en mobile number potten, Why?”
Chandrashekar: Illa sir, neenga subject la verum mobile number mattum dhaan sir podanum. Apdi potirundheenganna 1 hour la activate panniduvom sir..
Me: What? Idhu enna rules?
Chandrashekar: Sorry sir, neenga marubadiyum oru mail podunga sir. Verum mobile number dhaan subject la irukanum! Neenga mail pannineenganna within 24 hours la unga mobile activiate agidum!
I think enough is enough. If they are prepared to lose a post paid customer of 3 years and rather stick to their “mobile number only in subject” policy, so be it. I literally felt like puking after putting up with this. Has anyone ever filed a case against Airtel in consumer court for deficiency of service?
December 23rd, 2007 at 8:51 pm
dats so sad to hear Prabu…. mine is bsnl & u know they r taking much money from my balance… iam afraid abot d responses from customer care after reading urs….
December 24th, 2007 at 1:57 am
First and foremost, sorry for talking like a Karuthu Kandaswamy
Why not just let the mobile be ? Amma kitte eppavathu oru rendu call panna solli activea vekkalamey. Postpaid thaane, eppadiyum number activea irukanum.
Intha customer service ellam ippadithaan, avangalai phone pannama iruntha nallathu, phone panninaa, enda ? enakaa phone panrey, intha pidi saabham nu paduthu eduthuvaanunga.
December 26th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
I had a bad experience yesterday. I asked them to send me my last month’s bill as an email. They asked me to send an SMS in a specified format to 121. When I sent, I get a message back “NO URL or No Content found”. When I called them back, I get a reply, that is the format in which it needs to be sent and I will be receiving the statement.
December 27th, 2007 at 11:14 pm
Three years back when I took a connection from AIRTEL, I had the following experiences:
1. A number given to me was activated for someone else.
2. A second number was given to me. Again after 3 days, the number was de-activated and given to someone else. A new number was given to me and was not informed about it. When I called up the customer care, I found the new number. Finally, I found out that it was a pre-paid number and since the concerned person did not re-charge the number in the specified time, the number was de-activated and given to me. After the specified time also, if a person re-charges the number, it will be given back to him. I had to get in touch with their GM to get the number back.
3. The worst is when you close a connection. They do not close the connection for 3 months from the date of request. What a policy?
December 29th, 2007 at 12:06 am
kalai,
BSNL is much better tese days i guess, atleast in billing.
deepak,
enga amma was in my uncles’s place. my uncle has a landline and mobile. moreover my mom does not even take cals in mobile…
active reader,
the less said abt these idiots the better. i am applying for BSNL for landline as well as mobile.
December 29th, 2007 at 10:08 am
Iam having a running complaint with Airtel over my erratic broadband connection. I have asked them to disconnect 10 days back and they called me and sent me an email confirming that they will disconnect, but noone has turned up so far.And suddenly the Broadband is now very reliable !!?
January 15th, 2008 at 3:26 am
The following conversation may sound funny but this is how Igotmy gprs activated in my mobile
me: hello can you pls activate gprs in my mobile?
airtel : madam one sec we are recording this conversation for our reference..pls tell again ur queries.
me: huh..priya..pls activate gprs.
airtel:settings will be delivered.wait..for 24 hrs.
(after 24 hrs.)
me: hello airtel customer care?hello gprs connection..plsss activate it sirrr.
airtel:.oh….itz not done?..just 24 hrs..we will deliver settings..pls wait…
me: grrr…hw many 24 hrs u want me to wait????
airtel: sorry mam..this time surely..we r recording this conversation for future use we will do for sure…
next day..
me: hello airtel….
airte: yes madam we reco..
me: stop..stop…I m recording this conversation…if my gprs not invoked in 24 hrs I will raise a complaint with this recorded conversation okaya???
my gprs got activated :-)))