On 14th March 2016 I recharged my IDEA number – 8726893979 with a 2g night pack of Rs 17. Even after recharging I was still getting a speed of 1 KB/s(from my RS 249 2g Unlimited plan after full speed quota over).Then when 2g night pack was not activated even after 1 hour, I recharged with a 3g night pack of Rs 46 thinking that I will let go of the previous loss of 17 rupees. But even the 3g pack did not activate till 3:30 am, ( as I was still getting a speed of 1 KB/s) after which I slept. In the morning I see two sms from idea one at 5:52 am and the other at 6:07 am informing that the nights packs are activated. Imagine Idea is now activating the night packs AFTER the pack is already supposed to be expired.
Then on 16th march when I recharged with a 2g Night pack once again(yes! I’m that stupid) the Internet again stopped working after an hour and didn’t resume till 3:30 am, after which I slept. Did I get a refund for that? NO! The reason given by idea - it was a technical fault(as if the technical faults of idea are not THEIR own responsibility. That is - it’s up to the customer whether he wants to take the risk of losing his money in case idea fails to provide the services HE ALREADY PAID FOR.
Then a long journey calling and emailing their customer care began which finally ended today after I had a talk with their senior executives at(18002700000) after calling the consumer court helpline. The jist of our conversation is - When I say my Internet Night packs were not activated their representatives say that it WAS activated as you were using internet and getting a speed of 1 KB/s. When I tell them that the 1 KB/s speed I was getting was from my RS 249 2g unlimited pack(after full speed quota over) they say no it was from 3g night pack. When I say how can 3G speed be so low(1 KB/s) they say network fault. Whose network is it anyway?Idea ka hi hai na? then why can’t they take responsibility for their poor service? why should customer pay the price for their network faults? Furthermore - When I say I got the confirmation sms - "your GPRS pack is activated” for 2g & 3g night pack at 5:52 am and 6:07 am in morning they say network congestion. Tell me one thing does your network congestion only happens in sending activation messages of packs cos there has never been a single delay in deduction of money sms whenever I activate a plan?
IT is very clear that IDEA is trying to convey that it holds no responsibility for its pathetic service and the customer is free to be looted and scamed as per their desire. I wish the government took notice of such poor practices of the telcos.
what an IDEA of ULLU BANOING sir ji. Instead of saying sorry and compensating the customer their are saying that no money will be refunded - which means its a risk to recharge internet on idea. idea ki kripa hui to apko speed milegi nahi to agar internet na chale ya 1 KB/s speed bhi mil rahi hai to aap kuch nahi kar sakte - it’s completely YOUR loss!
Obviously I do not have any more patience left to file a case in consumer court for a matter of 80 rupees but but One thing I have realized that Idea customer service is the worst of any company that I have dealt till date. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK - is their motto!
Similarly on 2nd March 2016 I had recharged Idea with a top up of Rs 88(full talk time voucher). At that time I already had a balance of Rs 15 in my mobile. So after the charge my balance should be 15+ 88= 103 Rupees. BUT after recharging, I get an sms stating that – “Rs 88.00 credited. final balance Rs 88.93”. When I called 121 it also gave me the same information. Then I called their customer care and talked ‘sweetly’. after which my balance was restored to RS. 103. Such is the level of their cheating that their “TECHNICAL FAULTS” always occur in a way that rob the customer. Have you ever heard IDEA giving extra talk time due to technical fault?
All these incidents make it pretty clear what level of customer service you can expect from Idea!
NOTE: IN all fairness, let me add that during the last 5 years of being an Idea customer I was mostly satisfied with their service and cost of plans but since the last few months their service has rapidly deteriorated while the cost of their plans have exceeded too much. I’m sorry to say but if they carry on like this then no amount of advertising will prevent their downfall!