I stay in the central suburbs of Mumbai, and used the Tata Indicom Broadband site to "apply" for a broadband connection. I get a call the next day to confirm that I place the order. So far, so good. I check the status of my order on the order tracker every alternate day and I get a "Lead Received and to be assigned to a Sales Channel Partner". The status does not change for a week - later it changes to a "Lead assigned to channel partner"
One fine day, I get a call on my cell phone in the middle of a meeting (never give your cell phone on the website for registering). Its a local cable-operator who wants to sell me a Tata Indicom broadband connection. The moron is at my door step at 12:30 in the afternoon, and is expecting me to be at home on a week-day. I am irked, but cant blame him either.
I schedule an "appointment" with him for a Saturday, and he doesnt turn up. I call the Tata Indicom broadband enquiry number to find out whether I can deal with the company directly. (A gem .. call these guys if you want to spoil your day!) Seemingly, these chaps sell prepaid connections only through cable guys.
My troubles start the day I meet this guy . I only hear about issues - ranging from technical feasibility to issues with building permission. Dunno why these poor chaps are doing the business at all! Two months pass, and I still dont have a connection. The status on the online tracker does not change, and I stop calling the enquiry number, as their mindless ranting of the same statements and excuses are too irritating to listen to.
I am using the services of a Class C ISP now. The service is mediocre, but I am sticking to it. (Stockholm Syndrome, perhaps!). Someone has told me MTNL is great, but after my experience with the Tata’s I dare not deal with another "professional managed company" .. a PSU at that!