I’ve had a Reliance connection for about 16 months so far, and I am tired. For the better part of the past couple of months I’ve been dreading receiving a message from reliance that reads
’’Dear Customer, your usage is high, please pay an interim amount of Rs...’’. This is in the early part of the month when the due date is always the 23rd. Bear in mind, I pay all my bills on time. Heck I pay bills even when I dont receive them, by calling customer care and getting the amount.
So I call customer care after reading the SMS, and after being put on hold time and again for a half hour AFTER I get through and draining much of my battery in the process, the call centre punch-absorber tells me that the issue is resolved, and that my connection will not be de-activated. A few days later I cannot make out going calls. no warning, no reason, just like that.
So I call CC again and after staying on hold for what seems like the end of my patience, for more than 1 call, I get to know that they have NOT barred my service, and that there must be a problem with my phone device. I do everything thats not written in the book - shutdown restart, pull the battery out and even try and do a ’discharge’ by touching the power points with my fingers, with my bare feet on the ground. To no avail. An hour later, as if magically, I can make outgoing calls.
I actually have a list of preferred ’lucky’ numbers to call to see if the outgoing facility works. It is downright ridiculous. This has happened to 2 other colleagues who do not use the same handset as I do, so I KNOW its not a handset problem. A few days later, I receive an SMS - another dreaded one - that is terse ’’Outgoing calls barred’’. The @#$%s! Now what! So I call CC, and after zillion and a half menus and verifications, they tell me that it has been barred, but they do not know why. I have to go to the nearest webworld. Wonderful! Just the response I need.
This happens time and time again, and I am sick and tired. Sure enough I pay a vist to the webworld and I wait 2 DAYS to get my connection activated. Earlier today, there was a precedent. After receiving the SMS on my blue-screen-of-doom, I called CC, and after about 20min on the line they said that they will activate it in 2 hours. And they did. Am I supposed to feel happy, I dont think so.
Right now, I want to hurl the handset against the wall, FILM it in the process of disintegration, and put it up in a place for the world to see how much we are happy with the service. Mukeshbhai, clean up your act. You don’t need a Harvard degree to know that more talk time means more Rokdaa - Just good old gujju acumen and good old gujju customer friendlyness.