”All we do is Communicate…”
Mtnl to Orange to Reliance to “Nextgen”
I am sure, the days of picking up the landline phone has gone. I still remember, when we didn’t have an STD facility and the only source of contacting your relatives was trunkcall. The days have really changed, when I used to pay 16Rs for a min call from my Orange Cell phone to the day when I am paying only 40p for a minute call. Things do change but some companies don’t change. We have seen lot of proffessional approach since the day when the private cellular operators made their mark in India. But some indian companies like Reliance still think they run a local electrical shop.
“ Reliance a local Electrical Shop…”
I know, when we speak of Reliance, we talk how big they are and how big has Mr Ambani grown and he is the man for many youngsters. But, people who have worked and did business with Reliance won’t have that good voice for the Ambanis. As they said, Dirubhai, ka sapna, sab ka maal Apna, can’t be said better for Reliance. Remember we used to bring, a wire from a local electric shop and when we had problem with that wire or switch we didn’t have anyone to go, same thing happens with the way you buy product from Reliance. Reliance Infocomm is a bigger version of an Electric shop, as to you buy the product but suffer till maximum but still your voice wont be heard. RI was started with an Investment of 25000Cr with a big dream to give cell phones to each and every person on this Indian Penunsila , his dream has become reality but the sad part is, that people do have cell phones but most of them have got their connection disconnected due to countless reason which Reliance can only answer the best. I don’t think , I need to talk more about Reliance lot have been spoken in the last 195 reviews, I have seen on MS.
“ The Plans…”
Of the many plans in the offering, I guess for a extensive user like me DAPO(Dirubhai Ambani, Pioneer Offer) is the best one, where in, you have to pay a rental of Rs 700 if you have paid a down payment of just Rs 501, which includes the cost of a multimedia instrument from LG, Nokia or Samsung. Sounds really good na, even our local paanwala has got one. You have the option of going in for color handset for a downpayment of Rs5001, which is again a very good bet. Now, under DAPO scheme, which I have taken where SMS is totally free and any outgoing to RIM to RIM is as low as 40paise per minute for first 400mintues in a month after that you are charged Rs 1.2p paise which I thought is pretty good. But there is lot of catch in it, for which you need to check the details in the brouchure. Things look very good for me till now as, I get a color mobile for as low as Rs5001 with all these facilities
Free SMS & MMS (On DAPO Scheme)
Handset (Its not free, its under the finance scheme which would be deducted in your monthly bills)
Rworld(With host of facilites like astrology, news, cricket show, cocktails(My fav), ringtones(they suck), screensavers, video etc(Free till March 2004)
Immediate STD and ISD Activation(No deposit) and many more …
As I said lot has been spoken and for all the facilities you can check their website.
“The Service “
“Network”
There is no second thoughts about it, RIM gives you the best network coverage even in the basement of a building. If someone is not getting their coverage then he must be definitely having problem with the handset, you need to get it checked with the service centre. Hence, 10/10 would be given to RIM for their amazing coverage.
“SMS”
Still, RIM has not tied up with major CELL providers hence you wont get sms from Airtel Delhi or Hutch in some cities, I think so it’s a temporary problem and it would be solved.
” Even a Credit card companies are better for bills…”
This is were, RIM sucks big time, when they have invested such a huge amount on infrastructure , how can they fail in a proper billing system. If you are using RIM, you can expect all kinds of weird bills coming to you. Imagine someone have been billed for giving Mis calls, some have been billed even before the day of their mobile service has been activated.
Instead of talking about others, let me talk about me. I had booked the RIM on June 31st and I was under DAPO scheme hence all was well, but my STD was not activated till I made atleast 50calls in 30 days at their call centre and made around 25 visits to their webworld( believe me I am not putting this absurd figure this is the right figure of my calls made to their callcentre and to their webworld) Imagine the state of such a big organisation. Finally when my STD was activated, things were good, I was happy and at the end of the month, I get a huge bills for some number where I have never made a call and believe me I was not billed on DAPO but I was billed on Rs 149scheme, things fall fat and I wouldn’t pay my bill, as I had jack in Reliance, some how my cell was not deactivated, still I was enjoying the services but with wrong bills its been 4 months still after making exactly 95calls , my billing problem has not been rectified, infact I had call from their centre that my problem was rectified but I have not seen any changes. Hence, I have left it, the day it gets barred, Reliance would be sued from me but I know a small person like me cant win the case, but I guess why think on those lines.
”Customer Service”
One of the most pathetice, bizarre, and absurd customer service in the history of Cell phone. You call at the Call Centre and in the IVR you select English and you have a Rep answering your call in Hindi, worst inspite of my repeated complaints which shows on their software, they have the guts to say that its not their responsibility and its their billing and their technical team to handle the issue. I don’t understand how does STD activiation has to do with Billing team and billing issue to be handled by technical team. God only save Reliance for having such wonderful Reps. Also, they don’t understand English even with the English speaking Rep , hence, it would be waste of time to call at their call centre. At their webworld, its really sad state, because the Webworld representative are really not equipped or trained to answer some queries. Hence, I would blame Ambani and his money making management team for this disaster.
Conclusion..
I think so Reliance is the best only as far as the coverage is concerned and as of now, let me stick to it, because they have got the roaming which is definitely cheaper than other service provider, but the day, Tata Indicom gets roaming, I might be their next customer. I think so it will take atleast 2 years for Reliance to solve their Billing problem because they are the only provider with more than 30lacs customer base and handling them is not a mean task but still, I didn’t expect it to be so bad. But if it is Reliance you can expect an Indian mentality to scrape in or can I call it a Vani(Grocery Shop) mentality.
I know their are few individuals, just hate anything good about Reliance, its not for those, its for people who know the good and bad about a services, bills are bad, tariffs are competitve and so is their coverage. Its been just a year for RIM in the market, just to tell them they are worst is also not the right thing, I feel it should be given atleast 2years time, remember how BPL and Orange were when they started the operation.