I purchased a simcard from Bangalore on May 28th. I provided my details (passport) and the vendor assured me everything is ok. My outgoing calls were enabled on 28th itself. I started messages on 1st June from Airtel that they have not yet received my documents. So I called customer service on 121, but it is impossible to reach any human there. Then I called the vendor and he expressed his helplessness because he claimed that he had already sent the papers.
As I was in Hubli by that time, I went to an Airtel office and submitted fresh papers. They said, my papers were rejected possibly because my id page on passport is handwritten (old passport, but not expired). So we decided to submit my father’s passport papers as it has his id details printed. The airtel office assured me everything was ok. Around 5th June, my outgoing calls were disabled. Since then I have been trying get to someone at Airtel, without any success. I have sent e-mails to their Bangalore circle escalation and ombudsman, tried calling escalation numbers all to no avail.
Till today, i haven’t been able to talk to one single individual from airtel. Aritel is pathetic, i wouldn’t recommend them to anyone.