Yes...That is what AIRTEL becomes once you start interacting with their Customer Service....
I had an AIRTEL connection since October 2005...this was a post-paid connection...right from the start itself I had multiple issues almost every month regarding incorrect billing. Since, Network coverage-wise AIRTEL was the best, hence just kept informing the customer service and getting them fixed...
One very interesting thing I noticed regarding AIRTEL billing was...since I had the ECS facility to my Savings Account...they would send a bill with incorrect charges to me....once I call them up...they will try to buy some time...time till the bill has been cleared from my account...and then give the waiver to my account...which meant that the money would be with them for no reason for the next one month and they are not paying interest on that....Now if we imagine the number subscribers AIRTEL has across india with ECS facility...what is the kind of money we are looking at...Just a thought....
Anyways...coming back to my review...everything went on fine till recently I noticed getting some SMS from AIRTEL saying that "Thank you for using AIRTEL Live"...this is some download services by airtel...i called up customer care and informed the person there...he told me that "Thanks for informing me...we don’t have the details of the unbilled amount...whether this is charged to your account or not...you will need to wait till the time the bill gets generated...if you see the charges...then call us back...you shouldn’t be charged for that since this service is not active on your phone"...He said the he would be putting a note in my account stating that I had called and all...
Finally, the bill came and I notices that I had been charged Rs. 590 + Taxes for some downloads from Airtel Live (I had never subscribed to the services not does the site open on my phone - Nokia E60). I called back the customer service informed about the interaction I had earlier that month with an exec regarding some SMSes which I had recieved...I was informed that the last time I had called up was 2 months back for some billing clarification and there are no notes on my account regarding any SMSes...I knew that...this is going to happen...
After 2 months of calling different individuals...speaking to Supervisors...nothing really happened and hence I decided to cancel my connection...on 31st Aug, went to the nearest AIRTEL store...filled the application and gave the exec there...
I was told I had to pay the unbilled plus the PRO-RATED rental...when asked about the Advance monthly rental and the discount which I am going to get...i was told...for cancellation you need to pay this...once your bill gets generated...we will calculate everything and if there is any refund...will send you the refund... Perfect!!! Thats exactly the quality of service I expected from them...
Anyways...wrote to 121@airtel.in the same day...after 3 days I recieve a response from them stating that their system is getting upgraded hence they will not be able to respond to my mail till 13th Sep... On 15th Sep, I get an email from them stating that "we are sorry to know about your concern...will get back to you with the resolution by 24th Sep"on 24th Sep...i am informed the they cannot do anything since I have a corporate connection...i need to send an email to a different email address, ....
I send a mail to that addres...get an automated acknowledgement...on 04th Oct they respond that the number has been "Temporarily Disconnected" as of 21st Sep...I resend a mail to them asking what is Temporarily Disconnected...what about my final bill...etc..etc...Get an automated acknowledgement....no mail...resend the mail...not even get the acknowledgement this time...
So this is my experience with airtel...Yes this may be one off instance may be for them...but I had been using AIRTEL for the past almost 4 YEARS...They need to understand that I changed providers inspite of the fact that I had to change my number which was there with me for the past 4 years...
I am sure they would not...They are busy aquiring new businesses in South Africa...why would they be concerned about the INDIAN customers...I am sure of one things...if they continue the same way...pretty soon they will no longer be NO. 1....