Hey folks! I am a prepaid customer who uses Airtel SIM Card on a talk – a long – offer - if we recharge for an amount of Rs. 360/- or above, we get normal talktime + Rs 150 for Airtel to Airtel only for first 19 recharges . I had been enjoying this service for the past 18 – 19 months. So I was under the assumption that the card offer may have been over. I do not require so much talktime since my usage is minimum. So instead of going for Rs. 360 recharge, I wanted to go for a lesser recharge value. The day my validity expired, Airtel started shooting me promotional messages saying if we recharge for Rs. 210 or above we get Rs. 50 extra for Airtel to Airtel only. Assuming this facility is available for me as “my” cellphone with the Talk-a-Long offer SIM receives this SMS, I went ahead and bought a Rs. 210 RCV.
When I tried to recharge, it started saying that “this information is currently unavailable”. On attempting to recharge with the 120 keys, it returned the message : “This voucher has already been used”. I visited in person the shop where I purchased the RCV despite my hectic schedule, but he asked me to visit the Airtel shop.
Upon visiting there, I walked to a desk to gain some assistance, but found that all the attendants there were too busy to listen to my queries. God alone knows what a hurry I was in !!! After some time one lady turned up and asked me what’s the problem. In an office of Airtel first of all I did not understand how such a girl was recruited… she was looking too untidy (I am not commenting on her looks but a person with such a face should not be recruited in an office of Airtel where many customers walk in….do not understand what made the recruiter choose her !!!! And her response was also not upto the mark !!! ). I explained to her the same. Her reply was :
“Please Wait……”.
No response for 5 minutes and they were all busy in processing applications of new customers. Then the lady remembered me sitting and negligently spoke to another girl ….”Just check what he’s come for. I explained to her also the same. With a “not so interested” face she too asked me to wait. Idle for next 10 minutes. The first lady came back to me and asked as if she forgot everything and I had to explain once again. She took the RCV and checked the status of the card (if the PIN # was recharged already or not) with the serial # and said the card is a wrong card and no info appears on the database upon the entry of the Serial #. I informed them that the shop where I bought the RCV is not a small shop that can cheat but a major Nokia dealer in Bangalore. I requested them to take the card back and they can sell to someone else or return to the dealer …..they still refused.
Few days later I visited the shop where I bought the RCV again to sort things out. The guy there called the Customer Care and after 30 minutes said that the mistake was on my end as my recharge value is Rs 360 and not below that. I informed them that it was only due to the message from Airtel that I bought the Rs. 210 card. They refused to take the card back as the foil on top of the recharge PIN # was erased by me revealing the 16 digit PIN #. I contacted the “Magic customer Care” over the phone and explained the entire story. The agent informed me that the message sent to me was a “Common General Promotional Message” and is shot to all the prepaid customers. I asked him why shoot SMS which does not apply to those customers with different plans. He argued saying that “Airtel will send such SMSes to all the customers and it is upto the customers to be wise and decide whether they should take the offer mentioned or not”. Remember their slogan “ Express Yourself” . When an SMS is delivered won’t the customer naturally tend to think that the offer applies to them too? How can the customer be “wise” ?( Interestingly, when I contacted them a few weeks ago they could not track as to how many recharges have been made so that I can change my plan once 19 recharges are complete). This really enrages me. I will not spend Rs. 360 to activate this valuable treasure named Airtel card for which I have spent Rs. 210 already that went for a waste.
From network point of view, Airtel is great – no issues with it. But it seems the company is saturated with brand name, the no. of customers they have which is huge.If they respond this way to customers, the no. of Airtel customers is certainly set to dwindle. I was under the impression Bharti Telecom is very good towards customers and I did not understand why there are many customers who rate Airtel 1/5 , 2/5 and so on in this Website. But now I do.
My suggestion : Please go for service of Cellfone ( whether it be CDMA or GSM) to a non –brand-name –possessing Service Provider for eg. Tata Indicom, Hutch who need customers to emerge in the market as a leader yet.All Airtel needs is money, more customers, more sales and not customers anymore. Airtel is no good. I have had a review already on their great service @ https://mouthshut.com/review/Airtel-104129-1.html and their service is worsening.
Hereafter I shall be wise as Magic Customer Care suggested me to be by saying Goodbye to Airtel. Comments and suggestions Welcome.