It’s been 3 years with Tata Docomo. Over time, I have positive to the most negative reviews about them. There would be at least 2 pages of negative comments.
The pros are that Local, STD & ISD calling are cheap. Even making ISD call is calculated in terms of seconds which no other operator in India can provide. For Rs 58, valid for 90 days U get to make Local & STD calls@1.2p/2sec.
3G is dirt cheap. With the 3G Smart Life Plan, Recharge for Rs 250{222 Talktime}+{1GB 3G Data}. The rest all operators charge 1GB 3G data for Rs250. Aircel charges 1GB 3G Data for Rs198. 3G speeds are really good and download speeds are always between 1-1.5Mbps Download and 0.75-1Mbps on upload.
The Cons.
a) If you are not in a Tata Docomo 3G state. Please do not pick up Tata Docomo. The coverage is pathetic.
b) 2G speeds are intolerable. With the 4.4Mhz spectrum they expect to cover the entire state, which is practchandru021y impossible. There is no coverage in places like Mumbai and Thane, then you can forget about the rest.
c) The customer care executives are really negligent and not trained. They have just been put on their rRajeev_Vermactive workstations with a solution paper and a FAQ sheet that can solve queries. They do not even try to listen to the customer.
d) The web complaint form is not working since December 2012. This has been done so that customers do not post any complaints additionally to the complaints they get on 198.
e) The web complaint form redirects you repeatedly to the " my account" page even after registration. f) Billing has always been a headache. Many a times, I get charged 3 to 4 seconds more than the timer. There are times when Rs50-Rs60 has been deducted without any reason. On the website it clearly mentions that a deviation of +/- 2 seconds will be there when call charges appear.
g) There are also situations, when in a full signal area, a person has not been able to call me, and the call has been diverted to my other phone.
h) Delivery status of the message is no longer a priority for Tata Docomo. The only way to know whether the message is delivered is when you get a reply from the receiver. The delivery status of certain messages are lying pending for more than 6 months.
i) There are areas where each and every other network has coverage in a particular area and Docomo doesnt have a single bar. Inspite of repeated complaints, there is no resolving of the problem.
j) There are certain areas in Metro & urban cities that Tata Docomo doesnt find it important to give coverage. These are the most prime areas and even after 4 years, Docomo still analyzes these areas to be weak signal places.
k) Tata Docomo customer care expect you to carry more than one phone always. They want you to check coverage by inserting your sim card into another phone, before they take a complaint.
l) Only 1050 complaints are left to be redressed according to the latest reports given by Tata Docomo for the Rest of Maharashtra & Goa Circle. Its a joke.
m) There are certain complaints given to the Executive VP’s desk. But it seems Mr Gulati, has already started his retirement as he has resigned in May 2013. There is no response of the complaints since 4 years.
n) The only statement that you get from Tata Docomo network team is " Sir/Madam, we have already planned a cell site at this location. It will be coming up soon. But we can’t confirm you the exact time." This was told 4 years back for installing a cell site at Viman nagar, Pune.
o) SMS Packs are the costliest on Tata Docomo than any network in India.
p) You will not receive any SMS from US numbers on Tata Docomo. This is a fact. CC executives try and give you codes to unbar the SMS services. Thats all!!
q) According to Survey, there is 99% connectivity at places where Tata Docomo provides coverage. It doesnt state which areas.
r) Unlimited Local, STD calls are only to mobile phones. Landline phones are exempted. These are terms & conditions mentioned in Font Size 3 of the Tata Docomo ad.
s) Tata Docomo doesnt have coverage or tie up with any operator in North East and J&K. So your smartphone is just a piece of junk once you are in these areas. No calls, No SMS and No data.
t) 3G will always get disconnected while even travelling within the city on Tata Docomo. You need to manually reconnect it to restart your data services. Data has also been frequently getting disconnected since past 2 months. According to Tweet by Tata Docomo, they state that Data sessions will only last for 30 minutes. You need to reconnect manually. Its a pain and at times, after 30-45 minutes later, I have to restart the phone to get the data connected.
u) Ad-clicks are the new source of income for Tata Docomo. They deduct Rs 50 from your balance on certain clicks put on apps like Nimbuzz, NextGTV, etc. You will never even realize that your balance is cut.
v) It would have been better if the money spent on endorsements by Ranbir Kapoor was actually used for installing new towers and buying spectrum.
w) There are only 66.83 million subscribers on Tata Docomo as compared to 74.36 million a year back and 80 million subscribers 2 years back. Everyone is running away from Tata Docomo.
x) The UID Port Number given by Tata Docomo is only valid for 15 days, whereas other networks give a validity of 1 month. So if you want to port, make sure you are FAST!
y) Your cell battery will die out in 2-3 hours lesser than normal because of frequent fluctuations between 2G and 3G networks of Tata Docomo. Your network is bound to be fluctuating even in the strongest 3G areas.
z) The largest selling recharge is the Unlimited 3G plan of Rs 250. Docomo advises you to do online recharge. Unfortunately, they do not intend to put this 250 plan on the online recharge options.
aa) According to sources, Tata Docomo only installs towers in areas where there are people and footfall. So in order to get coverage, make sure you have a battalion of Tata Docomo customers, so that they can install towers there.
ab) In 2G areas, the 3G INTERNETHVC profile hesitates to work. You need to keep checking to keep your data active. Initially customers, were supposed to switch profiles for internet while roaming. Beat the pain!
ac) If you are calling 198 and were unable to get through on the 1st attempt, stop trying to make calls to 198 for that entire day, because, you wont be able to get through and Customer Care dont want to hear you at all.
ad) Areas like East Street(Pune), MG Road(Pune), Bhosale Nagar(Pune), Viman Nagar(Pune), Vishal Mega Mart(Pune), Esquare University Road(Pune) are the most prime areas in Pune. These areas according to Tata Docomo are weak signal areas. If these are weak signal areas, which are the areas that have strong signals.
ae) SMS packs are more expensive that Call-rate cut packs. LOL....:D
af) Tata Docomo shut operations in J&K within a night. In bigger circles, they could shut within a week.
ag) On Black Out days, like national holidays, if you are expecting to receive one time passwords or Alerts from your Banks, just forget it, you will get it only at night, when you are fast asleep.
ah) Daily packs are mentioned on their website https://tatadocomo.com/daily-plans.aspx. But these offers arent available for more than 6 months.
ai) The Tata Docomo customer care has just made templates which can be sent as condolence messages to customers. These are just absolute junk mails that we call it.
aj) Tata Docomo doesnt allow tethering or sharing of data through wifi hotspot.