I took a new Vodafone connection in Feb 2014. I had filled the form and gave 2 copies of my passport (one for Vodafone and one for Police Verification) and 2 photographs. I have a Idea postpaid connection as well, but I wanted to switch it off at night and keep a standby number for friends and family. I paid Rs 100 for the sim and was informed that I would have Rs 30 talktime in it. I took it in the evening and was told that it would be activated by next day late night (more than 24 hours in times when connections get active within 2 hours). I had to call 177 to prove my identity and get the number activated.
Next day I had no range till the evening. Finally when I restarted my phone again for like the 100th time I saw the network tower show full signal. Felt very happy and called 177. I told my number and gave the name as well. The reply from the customer care guy literally shocked me. He said while the number is correct the name is wrong and asked me to tell the name of the person on whose name the connection was originally taken. I mentioned that it was taken on my name only and that I had given passport copies for the proof. The exec then told me that the name and number do not match and that I should visit the place from where I took the card or visit a vodafone store.
That day I went there at night and that guy told me that the distributor filled the form and that it was not possible to have such a mistake. He called the distributor and checked and was told that there was no mistake from his side. I even visited a vodafone store and they told me that this can be done by the place from where I took the card from which was in total contrast to what the customer care guys told me. However after repeated calls to the customer care and numerous trips to the vodafone store and the other store it never got activated. When I spoke to the guy from where I took the card that idiot told me to again give the proof and fill the form and it would be taken care of. Luckily as a last minute try I again gave a call and this time miraculously they activated my connection, not sure how.
On getting activated I checked my balance and I saw that it was 0 and not Rs 30 as told earlier. I thought not to run after Rs 30 and get a recharge instead. I registered on the vodafone website and logged in. What I saw was just unexplainable. My number was registered on a female’s name and the address too did not match. I still am unable to find an explanation as to how can these idiots register a card whose name is that of a male, whose photo is that of a male to a females. Not sure whose mistake this was but I was the one who was getting the punishment.
I decided to visit a store and get it fixed but I needed to recharge. Took an online recharge for Rs 60. Payment done, amount deducted from the bank and all fine till the end. I get a message saying the transaction was unsuccessful and that the amount deducted from my bank would be given back in 5 days but at the same time I get a SMS on my mobile saying I have recharged for Rs 60 and the Order ID is MCIT 3274466328. Immediately checked my balance and saw it was still 0. So no recharge and yet the money was deducted from my bank account.
I decided to wait for 5 days to see if the money gets back into my account before I contact the customer care. On the 6th day I contacted them and told my problem and the guy who answered my call transferred me to the floor executive. 2 more things I would want the readers to know -
No matter which language you select as the mode of communication you will always be answered by a regional language speaking villager idiot
If your issue is even a little more complicated than a grade IV english spelling, the as*hole on the phone will transfer you to the so called ’floor supervisor’ to whom you again need to explain the entire problem without getting any resolution
Coming back to the issue. I was told by the guy that he will transfer me to the floor supervisor. I again explained the problem to him and he told me that he could not raise a complaint because he cannot see the recharge fail in his system. I told him that I used the vodafone website and even have the confirmation SMS about the same but he said he cannot do it and that I will have to visit the vodafone store.
So from my experience I would like to tell people a few things -
Never ever go for a vodafone connection(prepaid or postpaid or even the internet dongle). They are the worst. My friends who had taken the internet connection had worse problems and even the people at the vodafone head office were very non cooperative. They ended up losing their money.
The customer care is the worst and equivalent to airtel. The people sitting there are complete idiots with no clue on anything. A standard 1 kid could do way better than these f+ckers.
First learn the local regional language if you want to speak to them because no matter what language you select will always speak to the vernacular bast+rds.
If you have plenty of money and looking to lose it somewhere then these cheaters and fraudsters are the best
If you have plenty of time then you can surely buy a vodafone and they will make sure all your time is well utilized.
I have learnt a bitter way and if required I will take these fu+king Bas+ards to TRAI and the consumer court as well. If you need any clarifications or suggestions please do comment on this review and I shall try to respond.