I recently relocated to Pune from Bangalore and was looking out for a Broadband connection. After extensive enquiry, I was told that there was only one ISP provider in our apartment complex at the moment which was from ’’Tata VSNL’’.
I was very reluctant to approach the Indicom guys as I had a very bitter experience of their customer support in Bangalore where I had availed their land-line connection. Starting from the fact that their billing was erratic - I noticed only when my wife was away for almost a month but the bill from Indicom turned up promptly for almost the regular amount which really shocked me because it was only my wife who extensively used the landline and in her absence, I was sure that the bill would be negligible!!!
When we finally shifted to Pune, the Indicom customer service chaps tried to coax us to transfer the phone to any of our friend or relative (I really could not think of anyone whom I detested so much that I could pass on this ’’headache’’!!!!) instead of surrendering it. Even in spite of repeated calls, they were not willing to send anyone to reclaim the handset and they finally wanted us to drop it at their customer service centre. It goes without saying that I chose not to do so and instead, dropped the handset in my litterbag.
I badly wanted the broadband connection (I was job hunting & my office proxy blocks access to all our personal mails) which prompted me to enquire about the quality of service with the existing users in my apartment after which, I very very reluctantly called up the Indicom executive promptly who turned up at my place.
I opted for a prepaid connection - something called Surf 2000 or so and reputedly asked him as to what was the time frame by which I can get connected. I got a prompt answer saying that it was 8-10 days (worst case scenario) and since I urged him that I want the connection badly, he said that he would do all that he can to get me connected in 5 days time, and left pocketing my cheque worth Rs2.5K.
Amazingly enough, after about 4 days, that too on a Sunday morning, a technician turned up at my place to check the wiring at my apartment. He pulled out some wires from the junction box, made some calls and after some tense moments (I was getting tensed as to what he had to say about the wiring), he told me that everything was intact and he will just go down to the junction box and return in a jiffy.
Thus ended the good part of the Indicom story. I never heard from anybody for another week. Repeated attempts to call the customer executive who took my cheque did not materialise, he was either un-reachable or not picking up the call. I found the customer service number from the web and its a real Herculean task trying to reach an executive on the hunting number (you will have to wait for at least 10 mines). My cherub was realized by then and I was so upset with the way this was handled that I chose to cancel my Broadband application and have asked for a refund.
I am not sure as to how long it would take to get my money back but I really did not want to go ahead with this harassment anymore. If this is the way they want to treat prospective customers in the initial stages itself, I am not sure as to how the treatment would be in the long run!!!
I am happy browsing the web at the crowded Internet parlour near my house but I am glad that I chose not to be taken for a ride by the Indicom guys!!!!
I sincerely hope that this review helps prospective Indicom Broadband customers as to what to expect when they sign up for a new connection :)