I shifted to Pune a few months ago. I had to cancel the BPL service of Mumbai and get a new connection in Pune. The first guy to accost me at my office premises was from Airtel. They seem to give connections like the roadside vendors of Mumbai selling wares.
I got the connection within 24 hours. The trouble started from day one. The network was poor when I was at home. It works only in certain direction and in one particular room. It is so even today. I complained to 121 and after several minutes of waiting was able to talk to the customer service representative who was more interested in knowing if his response was good rather than rectifying my network problem.
Next the billing. I have never recieved any bill from their office. They say that the bill has been sent to my office address, but I could not find it in the pile of mail. My request to send it to my residence has not been heeded. I just rely on the SMS they send to make the payment. Just a few days ago I was able to see the bills on their web site to confirm that I was not being overbilled.
The next incidence was a nightmare. I had to suddenly leave for Chennai and requested 121 to activate my national roaming. On arriving at Chennai next day, I found no response from any service provider there. On returning to Pune after two days, I called up 121 from the airport itself and asked why this happened. The CSR checked up the system and told that the person who took the call did not activate the roaming. What kind of communication gap is there in a communication company can be answered only by Airtel.
The only thing they are prompt is in sending SMS for bill payment one after the other for two weeks. So I am soon changing over to Idea which has a very good reputation with the customers I enquired with.
So do think twice before going for Airtel or recommending it to friends or relatives.