I had earlier given 5 stars to the Airtel app, but have then revised it to 3 stars as I’ve continuously faced issues which have remained unresolved.
But this is not just for the app, but my overall Airtel experience has fallen. Read on to know why.
To begin with, the help feature in the app is a complete waste. It is more like one line commercials about their services, rather than any substantial help to resolve any specific issues or requirements. The least they could have done was added a live chat module or contact details for specific services, but even that is not done. The only email id listed anywhere in the app is the 121 support email, which is useless because they don’t respond.
The app always shows incorrect DTH balance, in the negative and in red, no matter how much you may have recharged. I had recharged for 10 months, but it continues to show me a low balance warning even after 3 months of recharge. It seems the balance never refreshes, so you can never know how much is left and when you may have to recharge. When I write to customer support about this, they must have just ignored my mail. Typical treatment given by 121.
The app shows us our current plan, and other plans available etc for DTH and 4G Hotspot, but it doesn’t allow us to opt for a different plan. For several months I’ve wanted to downgrade my 4G plan to a lower amount at least from next billing cycle, but the app has no such option. For this I have to go out of my way and physically visit their center. Even in case of DTH, the app allows us to add more channels into our plan by paying online, but it doesn’t allow us to discontinue existing channels which we don’t want to watch. All this talk about customized plans is just in commercials. In reality, we have to buy what they sell.
At least 50% of financial transactions through the app, such as recharges and wallet transactions fail, specially at night. Customer care doesn’t care in such cases.
My Airtel prepaid 4G SIM, despite showing full signal strength and proper network settings, still doesn’t allow my smartphone to connect to internet. But whatever data packs I buy promptly get exhausted. So now I’ve been forced to disable data on my mobile. My only option is to always be within range of some WiFi hotspot.
I could go on and on about the app and about my overall experience with Airtel, but what I wrote above should be enough to conclude that all these claims made in commercials about Airtel being an open network, an honest network, customer oriented, are all just a part of a big comedy show. In reality, Airtel fails miserably even in ensuring that at least the basic functionalities provide the intended purpose.
I may further revise my ratings based on new experience, and the day I have to give it 1 star, I shall discontinue relations with Airtel.