I bought Airtel DTH back in Dec 2010 as I could not wait for Tata Sky DVR STB’s availability. The product lacked basic DVR functionality like the ones below
1. Ability to delete once a viewed program came to the end
2. The ability to figure out the date when a program was recorded. Useful to be able to distinguish between different episodes of a series (e.g. Gray’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Castle etc. for people who view Star Word & Zee Cafe, Saathiya for people who view Star Plus)
3. Ability to prioritize planned recordings for conflict resolution
The lack of these features got exasperating as the number of recorded programs increased. After about 2 months of putting up with Airtel I threw up my hands and got in touch with their customer service to resolve the matter.
The CSC gave me the run around for more than 2 months. My frustration with the product and the customer service grew with each passing day and I finally decided to part ways with Airtel. I contacted Airtel and asked that they refund the DVR purchase price (Rs 5, 000) and take back their equipment. The matter reached the Area Manager (Mr. Venkatesh) and the Nodal Manager for DTH (Mr. Arun Kumar) without any resolution. Finally I reached out to the Airtel DTH chief for Karnataka (Mr. Ravi Ganesh). Post his intervention Airtel stated that they issue a refund. This was July 20, 2011 and I got an email from Mr. Vinod V from Airtel’s finance team that they would refund Rs 3, 300 to me. I have contacted Mr. Vinod numerous times from then-on. I am yet to hear back from Airtel about the status of my refund.
Overall, I would urge everyone out there TO NOT GET Airtel DTH connection. Go for Tata-Sky, I did and I love it.
Avinash