The following review may seem long but will be useful if you planning to go for Hathway. It will make you aware of their behaviour.
My views: I really like the internet speed, and the technology, just that it automatically turned down at 7 am in the morning.
This was not communicated but I am okay with this minor thing. But I was extremely dissatisfied with the customer support within 1st 2 weeks.
My story:
(Before installation)
I received a pamphlet from Hathway and so I called the sales representative Mr. Rana for inquiry. He was very quick to come at my place and provide me with the relevant information.
I was happy with the services and charges he offered but I asked him to give me a demo so I could decide better. But he mentioned that Hathway doesn’t provide demo, and so with no other option.
I immediately issued a cheque of Rs. 4689/- for 6 months subscription, but as I was filling the application form, I thought I should check with some friends for reviews of Hathway. I told Mr. Rana to give me some time to think and then I would let him know. He suggested that I still fill the form let him take the cheque with him, and he will start the process and deposit the cheque only after I give the confirmation.
In the next 2 days I gathered a lot of reviews from friends and internet and decided to not go for hathway due to their bad customer support. Then Mr. Rana called me to check with me and I said that I don’t want to go for Hathway and he could return me the cheque.
He said he had already started the process of creating my login and now he couldn’t reverse it. That was the first shock to me that how could he start the process before my confirmation.
He tried his best to convince me and assured me that Hathway is really good and I should not rely on other reviews. I still held my decision of not going for Hathway after which he said he will get back to me after talking to his senior.
He called me within 10 mins and said he was ready to give me a free demo for 2 weeks with 5 GB data. I said fine, lets give it a try.
But the way he was speaking on the phone, I wasn’t sure what was really happening with my cheque that was with him, so to be on the safer side, I asked my bank for stop payment.
The next day the technicians came and made the installation at tortoise speed, taking 4 days to do the wiring, which Mr. Rana assured it hardly takes 30 mins.
It actually was a 30 min task, but the awesome technicians divided that task in 4 days for a temporary installation for a demo that didn’t involve any drilling in the walls but just pulling the wire from a window due to which I couldn’t switch on the AC:
Day 1: Get the wire from terrace to the house.
Day 2: Added some pin at the end of the wire that would go in the modem.
Day 3: Got a modem.
Day 4: Got a router and finally completed the installation and wifi.
(After installation)
I checked the wifi speed in laptop and mobile devices. I was really happy with it and decided to use it over next 2 weeks and decide.
To my surprise, immediately the next day after installation, I received an SMS from Hathway thanking me for payment of Rs. 4689/-.
I checked with my bank how this was possible and they informed me that the amount has not been debited and may be Hathway has just put the cheque for clearing.
At this point, I knew that the Hathway customer support is very very poor, badly organized, and there is no coordination between sales and accounts department.
Felt cheated and that the team is just there to make money. Still since it was a demo period I used the wifi and was still impressed with the speed it offered, but at the same time had the bad support issue in my mind and was confused whether I should go for it or not.
After about 2 weeks, on a wednesday, the support team called back and informed the cheque had been returned and I should immediately pay to continue with the service.
I said listen, first of all this was a demo given to me, so there was no question of payment, and second, you were not supposed to deposit the cheque during this period and without my confirmation.
The person on phone(Mr. Pankaj) said ok fine it was a mistake, but now if I want to continue, I will have to make the payment soon which is 4689+ an additional Rs. 112 for cheque return charges.
I was surprised and argued with him about the additional 112/-, to which he said okay fine just pay the actual amount.
I said okay I’ll pay but I had no trust on the support team and so mentioned that currently the technician had done a temporary installation for demo purpose, and so demanded that they make the permanent installation first.
Only then I will pay the amount. But he insisted I do the payment today itself and assured me that he will send a technician the next day for final installation.
But after going through all these things, I didn’t want to trust these guys anymore, and knew that after getting the payment, they will not bother about my issues and will not entertain me.
But he kept assuring me and mentioned again and again that the system will not accept this and the service will be discontinued that night. I said fine, let it discontinue.
You come to my place, do the installation, and immediately in front of the technician I will make an online payment and then you can restart my service.
He had no opinion but still said ok and just hung up the phone. I was sure he wont send any technician at my place.
And its been 10 days after that now, and no technician turned up nor did I get any call from the team for appointment.
My experience:
I feel so happy that I did the stop payment before Mr. Rana deposited the cheque, else I would have been forced to take the service even if I didnt like the demo.
And second, I feel happy that I did not agree to Mr. Pankaj else I would have paid the amount and no one would have come at my place for a final installation.