What prompted me to opt for this service was the name (BPL when I bought it 3 years ago in Pune - Maharashtra/Goa Circle) ... but then I was studying and didn’t bother much about quality and the abysmally low prices (and free SMSes) offered seemed lucrative.
But the service sucked from day one, with me being not reachable most of the times to my friends/family and even making outgoing calls was/is a pain. I’d to try atleast 10-15 times to make an outgoing call and get rid of the "Network Busy" message.
Then came HUTCH and took over BPL, which made me happy. But even this was short-lived. Even today I face the same "Network Busy" message even while making outgoing calls. Makes me wonder, how do HUTCH guys plan to rake in the revenue when making outgoing calls is such a pain. Even today from pune, If I try making an outgoing call in the evening, I have to struggle atleast for 15 minutes trying over and over again to get rid of the irritating "Network busy" message.
GPRS ... what GPRS ???? I have already made 20 odd calls to the help centre, but in vain to get my setting details to connect to GPRS. HUTCH heralded from roof-tops when they started the GPRS connection, but the helpline guys ain’t aware what setting do I need to make on my Nokia 6220 handset to start the service. It’s a a sheer pain calling them umpteen number of times. So I’ve decided not to live with the joy of GPRS.
Except for the low rates on my prepaid (Re.1/min for an local outgoing mobile, Rs.1.5/min for an local outgoing to landline and Rs. 2/min for STD), there is nothing to enjoiy with the connection. Also HUTCH gives me 490INR talktime in a voucher of Rs.550, which is the only reason am still carrying the service (and also because am very patient when it comes to such things since I use my cell sparingly).
Don’t ever go for HUTCH if you are a busy cell phone user and have critical calls to attend or make every now n then.
Cheers - Shreyas