This is the nightmarish tale of a young man who bought home a Sify Online start up pack of 25 hours duration about 15 days back . Now this young man has been surfing the net from home for the past 2 years and have used Sify on numerous occasions. So when he finished the existing account he thought that maybe he should renew it, even though he was not exactly happy with the speed . But he found that renewal packs are not available in the market. Left with no other option he went for a 25 hour start up pack and soon found himself tied up in a situation from where no was no way of coming back !!
Ordeal
Day 1-3 – The young man , after , surfing the net for about 130 minutes decided to check out his account logs and what does he find ? He finds that about 330 minutes have been deducted from his account-Billed minutes, as the Sify officials prefers to call it ! Intrigued , confused and angry , this young guy phoned the Sify Help desk . A young lady with a South-Indian accent picked up the phone . This is what the conversation went like.
Guy- Hi ! I have got to ask you something. I bought this start up pack of 25 hours about 3 days back and have surfed the net for about 130 minutes but almost 330 min have been deducted from my account? Can you explain this to me ?
Lady – (Very Coolly replied) Certainly. Please give me your user name ?
The Guy gave the user name and the lady explained –
Lady – Sir , on such and such date , you had logged on for 540 seconds. Now we divide it by 60 seconds and then we have 9 minutes. Now we multiply it by 1.5 and thus we get 13.5 which we then round it off to the nearest multiple of 5 , which in this case is 15 min .
Guy – But why multiply it by 1.5.
Lady- Sir , you live in a B-Classified city and hence we multiply it by 1.5.
Guy – B Classified city ? What’s that ? Well , anyway my account log shows that you have actually deducted 27 minutes instead of 15 minutes which you have just explained.
Lady – Sir , I am not finshed as yet .
Guy- What ?
Lady – Sir , we added 12 minutes to the 15 minutes and that’s how we came to deduct 27 minutes from your account .
Guy – What ? I mean , Why add 12 minutes ?
Lady – Sir , that’s our policy .It’s actually the “ Port Charges “ .
Guy – So , does it mean that even if I surf the net for 1 minute , you guys will deduct 5 + 12 = 17 minutes ?
Lady – That’s true Sir .
Guy- But surely this is ridiculous! I mean what kind of a policy is this ?
Lady- Good Day , Sir .
Guy- Hello ! Hello ! Hello !
Moral of the Story
Quite simple . Don’t go for Sify if you live in a B- Classified city . Don’t ask me how the classification is done coz I have no idea . But if you do go for sify then be prepared for the following-
1) Slow Speed- You will be connected at a speed anywhere between 9000 bps to 30000 bps. Getting connected at a speed in excess of 30000 bps is almost like a dream.
2) Pay through your nose- Even if you surf the net for 1 min , 17 min will be deducted from your account !! At least that’s the policy in the 25 hours pack and I guess, should be in the 10 and 20 hours pack also.
3 ) No free surfing – At least in the 25 hour pack there is no free night or Sunday surfing . Don’t know if this follows in all their packs or is it only so in B- Classified cities.
4) Check your account logs – In order to avoid being unconscious from shock, it’s better that you check your account logs from time to time!