I had applied for a Airtel landline connection through Airtel website on 7 July from Chennai.I required a landline very badly since my Airtel Postpaid connection has a very poor signal in my area.
The same day, I received a call from a lady whose number was 741898xxxx, she said a engineer will come and check for phone feasibility at my place and confirm the same. Within a couple of hours I got back the call from her with a confirmation that it is possible.
I requested her to send the concerned person to take the signed application form and for which on 9th july, a person called Amanullah(984105xxxx) turned up with a Airtel subscriber form and collect Rs.500 as a deposit for installation. The customer slip given has the CRF:TNPC393190
The very next day another person claiming to be a lines man came over and fixed the wire directly from the box to my phone inside my home. He left saying that the line will be active the next day and left.
Since the day ie, 11 july, except a msg(Landline connection 0444207xxxx, Account number 702138xxxx) that the line will be activated in 2 days, I never heard anything from anyone after till date!
After few days I started to receive the following msg "Service Update: Your Airtel fixedline a/c 702138xxxx is eligible for a refund of Rs.100 on account of Activation charges. Please update your bank details along with a scanned copy of cancelled cheque at https://airtel.in/onlinerefund for us to initiate NEFT Refund"! The link goes to spam site called Airtel Creepers for which my NIS says its a spam site!
What is the meaning of that message?
Both the numbers of people who called me are not answering my calls nor calling back.
I visited a Airtel outlet at R.A.Puram, Chennai later. I was told that the concerned agency called GSK, took up my order never followed up and therefore my case has been closed! Also they told me that I have been taken for a ride and might have to forget the deposit. Is this true? Is this what I get for applying from Airtel website?
My next action was to direct the complaint to the Nodal Team and who inturn forwarded to Appellate Authority. These people gave prompt repllies that the connection was feasible and immediate action will be take to my satisfaction in 48 hrs and asked me to have some patience. This patience has spread to 10 days now!
Now comes the worst part!
Appellate Authority stopped replying to my mails, same with Nodal too. Customer care just copy and paste what is on their screens each time. The agency who took the money vanishes and all their calls unanswered! They all are paid salaries for that! Sunil Bharti Mittal and Gopal Vittal get their fat paychecks, Airtel employees get their salaries on time. Its red every where! Customer’s blood my friends and not Airtel red paint!
If you too keen to get a connection then just walk up to a Airtel outlet nearby and not through any websites or roadside dealers. Pay money when the connection is active on your side. Keep a track of all transactions till the service is given to your satisfaction level.