I have worked in cellular industry for over a year... I know how things work inside. My experience tells me that Hutch is really good... technically as well as professionally.
I can think of some reasons due to which a person chooses/ rejects a cell phone operator:
Network Strength
This strength refers to how strong the signal are in city limits; or how clearly can one hear voice over phone. I can tell you Hutch is good in this. I have been using it for over a year and have never faced any difficulty. I have heard that initially Hutch’s coverage not good (as compared to Airtel) but that’s understandable... you have to give somebody time to grow and establish network. As of today, it’s as good as Airtel (Maybe Better! [:)])
Coverage
How far/deep is the coverage area outside City Limits, on highways, No of towns covered in a state, etc. I have heard that Airtel beats Hutch in all these areas. It might be correct as Hutch is relatively new and again, you gotta give it some time to grow. I am not concerned about its state wise coverage as I do not hail from KK and hence do not travel much outside Bangalore!
As far as I am concerned, my cell was working fine as far as Nandi Hills :)
Staff Attitude
There was some survey carried by I-dont-give-a-damn-who that says 80% of customers switch to competitors because of Indifferent Staff Attitude. I would say my 100% vote goes to Hutch... they have real good and professional staff. They know what they are talking about and are polite; they listen to your problems and genuinely try to solve your problem. This is where Airtel lags. Its staff got an attitude problem and they are the most misinformed/ignorant/indifferent persons I have ever seen in my life.
You might say its very difficult to get to customer care, theres always a long (online )queue... but once you get thru’ your problem does get solved... unlike airtel
I have interacted with customer care guys of both Airtel and Hutch... here are few instances:
To take a new connection I initially went to Brigade Road Airtel showroom... usually it was crowded like anything... I was having a credit card so I was under the impression that my local deposit would be waived off (which is a norm everywhere) but the Airtel guy arrogantly told that not so and I would have to pay 1500 up front + as I was living in company accommodation, my SIM cant be activated before the verification could be done + blah blah problems. Then I went to hutch shop just opposite the Airtel one... the care guy was friendly... He said no verification is required only a certificate from my employer would be enough (which I already had!) He waived off my local deposit, suggested me a scheme (which I wasnt aware of) wherein I would save Rs 1500 on my bills, activated my card in 1/2 hour. I was impressed.
The other day I was being spammed by SMS by some one I was not aware of... spamming frequency was so high that I wasn’t able to receive/make any calls. I called up care guys... she replied that though it wasn’t their problem, still they could try to trace the spammer. She called back in 5 minutes saying that the number was with a service with whom they did not have any tie up so nothing could be done... also suggested me to disable SMS service for a while. I did the same and was relieved... but the flip side was that I could not receive any SMS! Anyways I had no other option. Any 2 days later, I re-enabled my SMS to check... and was glad it had gone off... my life was back to normal. Around 3-4 days later someone higher up from Hutch called me to seek the status of my problem. She said that she was aware of my problem and they were trying their best to avoid future reoccurrence of the same thing. Man, I was pleased!
Lately after IUC came in existence I was having lots of confusions and I every time I tried to call up customer care, I got a busy line… tried for 3-4 days… but couldn’t get through, I was getting irritated… Then one fine day I got a SMS from Hutch guys saying that since I was having difficulty in calling up hutch care, a new hot line number was given to me… now using it I can directly call up customer care guy in 5 seconds! Now that’s what I call service :)
I have had couple of –ve experiences from Airtel guys but if I include them here… it make this review too long and would make you runaway!
Technology (Value Added Services)
One can also choose a particular service depending on the extra features it provides. Hutch beats Airtel/spice/all-of-them-put-together easily. It’s the only provider with MMS, GPRS, et cetra. For just 100 per month I could surf Net (unlimited) on my cell, check Mails (rediff, yahoo, etc), send unlimited number of MMS, download images or games (I have Sony Ericsson T310).
Al in all, Hutch has got superior technology, professional staff, better VAS, comparable Network, etc. And, I fully recommend Hutch!
Thanks!
Rohit Malaviya
Note: This review is valid for the state of Karnataka only.