This here is a classic example of a service with potential to be the best but failed to make the grade.
To be really honest, in terms of connectivity and the bandwidth of this service I have no reservations in saying that it is at par with the best broadband services available in India.
Two primary areas where it falls really short and becomes traumatising
Reliability of the connection
Customer Service
Reliability of the connection
As you are aware that this the only service that I am aware of(correct me if I am wrong) where there is absolutely no need of a dsl cable modem or any extra purchase necessary from the ISP to activate the connection. The cable is directly plugged into the Lan port and once the dialup software is installed in your system you can start browsing.Billing is also not an issue because this service operates on a pre-paid basis, very much like the mobile phone.
However the pre-paid issue also makes it difficult to enforce service delivery, because the ISP has already received the payment for a future promise of service which as I eventually found out didnt happen as promised and there was no effort on their part to enforce their end of the contract.
Now if you are also aware Sify has conveniently decided to operate on the franchisee model, which means that in your neighbourhood the franchisee will be your local cable operator. He acts as the face of the company and is supposed to resolve and service all issues as much as possible.
Truth be told the cable operator can do nothing more than receive the payment and renew your connection. If there is a physical breach in the cable connection to your house he can probably set it right. But when the connectivity problem becomes technical thats when it gets annoying. The cable operator does not have any expertise or know how to attend or resolve the issue and he is at the mercy of the local sify service engineer who has been assigned a specific area to attend to and resolve complaints.
These "technical" errors keep happening very often, and the last time I got one I was indefinitely disconnected from the world wide web.
- Customer Service
The customer service personnel’s standard reply to any query is "We have forwarded your query to the technical team. Your complaint will be responded to by our team in 14 hours."
Till date I have not been able to decipher the rationale behind the 14 hour response promise. Truth be told I have never received the call(the last three occassions there was a connectivty malfunction) telling me what the problem is and when and how it is going to be resolved.
What was worse is that when I used to make a follow up call to the customer service executive I was always required to repeat my whole complaint to the new executive who took my call, despite them giving a complaint reference number to track my complaint progress.
The only time I have seen the customer care unit being proactive is to remind me to pay the next months tariff to keep my connection active!
I even tried sending a stinker to the head of customer support in my city, and didnt get a reply from there.
I was disconnected / unplugged from the internet for 6 whole months and I guess the ISP totally forgot about me. I just decided to direct my energies in getting another ISP’s connection and I have not regretted the decision till date.
Do yourself a favour and dont sign up for this service.