Thursday, September 4, 2008

AIRTEL CANT CONNECT OR REFUND

I shifted out of Gurgaon and Airtel were unable to give me a phone and internet connection in the new city.Though I handed in my telephone instrument and modem at Gurgaon and got a receipt,they havent given me a refund for over 4 months!In the latest of communications,they claim they have adjusted it against a bill–when I paid all mybills before leaving Gurgaon.
It was at their insistence that I even agreed to a transfer too my new address,Then they themselves couldnt do it!!And they have the nerve not to pay!

From Airtel Broandband blog on August 23:

http://airtelbroadband.blogspot.com

TRAVELLERS TO INDIA KNOW THIS....

Hello!
I have been in India for quite a time and I want to share my experience on prepaid mobile phones to others...
It was not as easy as I thought, but then that's India, isn't it? :-)

I got a phone with warranty card right away, that was not the problem. But I wasn't prepared to the conditions:
SIM cards are quite cheap, about 150-200 Rupees. But you should know that if you are TRAVELLING around India that you can only recharge your card (for most of the providers) in the area where you bought it!
For example, I had a Delhi SIM card and I went to Agra and could NOT recharge it, so I had to buy a new card, tell all my friends my new number....
But even if you have a provider (like Airtel) that recharges cards in other states, you will have to pay 2-5 Rupees per minute for incoming calls and also the costs for your outgoing calls will rise with the same amount per minute.
That means you won't be able to be called as soon as your amount is gone...
Maybe that's normal in other countries, too, but knowing only the German conditions it was quite extraordinary for me, because "home" you never think where you are, you just get incoming calls for free, recharge your card whereever you like... But, well, let's be fair: Germany is a LITLLE smaller than India!

Okay, so if you travel a lot and want to keep the same phone number all the time, reload for a high sum from the beginning to cover all the costs you might have for incoming calls, too!

Costs for outgoing calls to Europe were - according to my experience - about 17 Rupees a minute and 3 Rupees for SMS (being in the town of purchase of your SIM card...).

Network coverage is another thing to carefully think about!
Most providers have good network in all of the big cities, but it may occur that in some towns you can GET calls but not MAKE (especially international) any.
I had problems in Rajasthan, for example.
As to my experience and what people told me, Airtel has one of the largest and most reliable networks and you will be able to call abroad from all over India. (except on many trains, of course, due to absence of any network)


Recharge cards can often be bought for the following costs:
About 335 Rs, valid for 30 days, pure phone amount 150 Rs
About 650 Rs, valid for 45 days, pure phone amount 360 Rs
About 1225 Rs, valid for 90 days, pure phone amount 950 Rs
About 3300 Rs, valid for 365 days, pure phone amount 2700 Rs
(varies a little according to provider)

Another advice: buy phone cards for 200 Rs (phone amount about 180 Rs, valid 4 months) in your post office - or ask there, they'll send you to the right shop. You will have a secret number and can use the card to call abroad from any fixed network phone, for example your hotel phone. They won't let you use them in ISD shops, of course.
To Germany this option is much cheaper than phoning from your mobile (about half the price) or phoning from ISD boxes (often more than 20 or 30 Rs).

So, that will help you, I hope, to avoid the mistakes I made! :-)

Have a nice time phoning (and travelling) in India!

Bye
Martina

Posted in:INDIAMIKE.COM

http://www.indiamike.com/india/electronics-in-india-f15/prepaid-mobile-phone-in-india-a-starter-s-guide-roaming-sim-cards-networks-t8434/

The wonders of being interconnected

Published by Abhishek on 16th Aug 2008 in Indian Telecom.

I seem to have embraced the digital lifestyle for sure. I must confess that I am hooked on to the Web 2.0 as a social phenomenon; although I do feel hamstrung by the pathetic and high cost of access here in this country.

I have a slow (and unreliable) BSNL connection at my home and a fantastic Airtel Broadband at my work place. My daily life revolves around checking my updated RSS feeds and email including the updates on Facebook. I progress to check the new updates in the journals across the world. I get all the twitter updates on my cell, although its difficult to ensure a smooth service. I use Flickr account to update my pictures and trust Opera to keep a track of my preferences, updated bookmarks and speed dial across the platforms and geographical location. I use You Tube to stream the programmes I have favourited and watched.

I dont fancy a Blackberry as yet because I dont need an expensive option to reply to emails. So by and large, I am connected and hooked to the Internet. It hasnt taken over my life as yet but I realise that connectivity can be so important to know about what’s happening in the real world.

All this has become possible recently as part of the “broadband” revolution sweeping in. This sounds like a cliche. It really is. Much of the country is in the dark as far as basic connectivity is concerned. The “deadlines” have been revised umpteen times and no one looses sleep over the fact that in the global race, Indians are left behind only because the system cannot nurture ideas. None of the applications I mentioned are hosted in India nor designed by Indians. There are a host of me too applications chasing the fragmented pie with a “desi flavour”; it remains a disappointing experience to see that they cannot even ensure coding their web sites with existing web standards.

Societal bonds would change with the increasing thrust of Internet. As geographical boundaries melt away, we are going to see an increasing collaboration of people with common interests coming on a common platform with more profusion of ideas to collaborate towards similar goals. All in all, the existing system should facilitate this interaction. Only then, we would see the true wonders of being interconnected and interaction.

From: Broadband blog
http://broadbandblog.in/

AIRTEL TRICK TUNES

Dial 543211 and Reach till Manage my Subscription.Then subscribe for one year pack,make sure you have balance of atleast 55 then only you can use this service i mean u can activate 1 year pack .Your balance will become -30.Thats all.You save rs145 + 1 year hello tune .

Top up n Enjoy Hello Tune for one year and its working in TN working for me ...

Note:This may work only in few circles...but it works for sure...!If u have any prob do let me no will help you out ..!
Last edited by taruntanu; 23-Jul-2008 at 01:02 AM.

From the India mobile forum: http://www.mobileforum.net.in/airtel-mobile/534-airtel-hello-tune-trick.html

Monday, September 1, 2008

CHARGING FOR THE THE SERVICE NOT GIVEN

Airtel
Posted: 2008-08-30 by Surendra [send email]
CHARGING FOR THE THE SERVICE NOT GIVEN
Complaint Rating: 0 % with 0 votes
Company information:
Airtel India
India
airtelindia.com

I am posting the details of my complaint which has not been addressed till date only promises were made but no reply-
DATE TIME (hrs) ACTION DURATION (mm:ss)
7-Aug 1002 LOGGED IN TO NDTV ACTIVE and down loaded news videos{(DDA offers flat in Delhi (size-1109 kb) and Advani goes Obama way (actual size of the video was more than1100 kb but down loaded video size was 651 kb because when the download process was On I got the under mentioned message)} (SIZE OF TOTAL DATA Sent 76 kb and Received 1829 kb) 20.03
7-Aug 1015 Received SMS from 64611099 thanking me for down loading java game and deducting Rs. 99 from my acct. 0.00
7-Aug 1027 I called 121 and gave complaint about the above mentioned message vide Complaint No. 080707085 7.09
8-Aug 1526 I called 121 but call dropped 0.10
8-Aug 1526 I called 121 to enquire about my complaint as I was promised for some solution result was zero. I was further promised that it would be replied at 1108 hrs on 12 Aug but I got no response 18.30
12-Aug 1656 Called 121 and asked about status of my complaint I was told that there was some problem in system of Airtel. I was suggested to call after 02 hrs. 3.26
12-Aug 1922 Called 121 and asked about status of my complaint but call dropped. 1.20
12-Aug 1924 Called 121 and Talked to Mr. James about status of my complaint I was further promised that it would be replied on 14 Aug but I got no response 12.54
14-Aug 1844 Called 121 to check the status of my complaint but call dropped. 1.03
14-Aug 1846 Called 121 and Talked to Ms. Sania and Mr. Ram about status of my complaint I was further promised that it would be replied on 15 Aug but I got no response 7.29
19-Aug 1458 Called 121 and Talked to Mr. Manjunath about status of my complaint I was further promised that it would be replied on 20 Aug at 12.04 hrs but I got no response 7.35
20-Aug 1851 Called 121 to check the status of my complaint but call dropped. 1.05
20-Aug 1846 Called 121 and Talked to Mr.Sharief about status of my complaint I was told that it would be replied by 12.04 midnight and I should wait till past midnight but I got no response. 7.29
21-Aug 1347 I called 121 to enquire about my complaint as I was promised for some solution, but result was zero. I was further promised that it would be replied on 25 Aug but I got no response 19.07
25-Aug 1832 I called 121 and talked to Mr. Mallikarjun and Ms. Shobha to enquire about my complaint as I was promised for some solution, but result was zero. I was further promised that she (Ms. Shobha) herself would be replying after 02 hrs but she did not respond. 20.07

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/airtel-c94336.html

To hell with so much of upgradation!

Airtel
Posted: 2008-08-30 by Big J [send email]
Mobile Office
Complaint Rating: 0 % with 0 votes
Company information:
India
Phone: 9748120280

i've been with Airtel for the last 2 years or so. I use their mobile office service (498/month) to connect to the internet from my computer. However, i face connectivity issues almost every month and they call it "System Upgradation", hell with so much of upgradation in the block (if only it were true) we might as well get to use 3G by now, guess they term "repairing the crappy network" as "upgradation", maybe these guys need a dictionary. I'm facing connectivity issues again from the 28th of this month. Tried calling up 121, it says "connection error". tried *121#, says "you're not a pre-paid customer." Tried again the next day, and got thru to a rep. After hearing my explanation of the issue, he suggested i might have messed up with my phone and i'd have to format it. Going with him, i formatted the phone and lost every bit of personalization. However, the problem persisted. Called up cust.care again, this time, the rep says (in his strange accent) "sir, i've checked the issue, and it would be fixed by the 2nd of next month at around 10:31am.., we are going thru another upgradation"...
Called up the GPRS help desk at 12150 after hearing this, the GPRS help desk rep informed that it wouldn't be taking more than 48 hours to fix AND APOLOGIZED on the previous rep's behalf. To re-confirm, i called up customer care at 121 again, and this person again told me it would be fixed on the 2nd at 10:31am... Don't you idiots keep a log or something so that all your reps lie the same way???? it's 30th today, 48 hours up, GPRS is still "going thru upgradation".. Crappy idiotic thieves. Good that TRAI is allowing CDMA providers to use the GSM spectrum, even tata indicom is better than this. YOU GUYS AT AIRTEL, ALL OF YOU REALLY REALLY SUCK BIG TIME, live with that.Need my number? it's 9748120280. Mess with it as much as you want to, see you at the consumer's forum. BEST OF LUCK.

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/airtel-c94361.html

mChek service not working with SBI account....!!##

Ashish
mChek service not working with SBI account....!!##
hello guys is there anyone who is using this mchek service with his or her SBI account ???

>♥sreed shãrmã
yaa ur right.........its not working with sbi..the largest bank.............

Mukesh
Airtel has tied up only with ICICI bank as of now. You hv to wait for sbi & other banks to get connected with Mcheck...
I hv an a/c with icici & I hv connected my Mcheck with it... as of now m taking the benefit of recharges offered by Mcheck...
recharge 255 get immidiate balance of 355...

SRIKANTH
yeh! its not working with sbi/sbh
.

rayudu.@cwa
i have done the mcheck 255rs recharge with my hsbc card,,,its working,,
but unable to connect with my sbi/hdfc cards

FROM THE ORKUT FORUM: http://www.orkut.co.in/CommMsgs.aspx?cmm=443585&tid=5240408783242689405

Airtel Charging Rentals for Services Not Subscribed

Airtel customers beware! Airtel has come up with a rather sickening plan to fleece your balance through monthly rentals for value-added services like missed call alerts and news alerts.

Airtel had sent me an offer saying if I send an SMS to a toll free number, I could try out the new service called missed call alerts for free for a week or so. I did so and thought it would've expired naturally after a week. Now they have deducted a monthly rental for the stupid alert without informing me in anyway that they are providing me the service. They are doing this cheating on all the stuff they introduce new. It's particularly harmful for prepaid subscribers as they cannot do anything about it other than call customer care, who assure you that you are taken off from the service but you would still get messages saying your money is gone.

Regards,
Mahir
9746 056 353

FROM THE MOBILE FORUM

http://www.mobileforum.net.in/airtel-mobile/671-airtel-charging-rentals-services-not-subscribed.html


Re: Airtel Charging Rentals for Services Not Subscribed
hmm well dude ... they also offerd me free missed call alert ....... for 14 days ... b4 activating it , i asked customer care abt d details .... they told me ... aftr this 14 days , u must have 2 activate this mssd call alrt service @ Rs 15 .... so actually in Rs 15 they offer missed call alert for 44 days !! dats d main thning !! so guys b4 activatin nethng ask their customer care !!

anthr thng i must share here ...airtel sometymes send flash sms 2 ur no ...... lyk "Free XYZ @ *1234567# " ..when u call *1234567# u wll activate d service wthout no confirmation !! and u may b asked for Rs 7 to Rs 45 !! one of my frined had such prob ... we emaild 2 nodal officer abt ths ..bt still no response !!
RDBMAC is offline Reply With Quote

The loot by cell providers is increasing day by day ..... did anyone of you heard messages on other ppl caller tunes or when phone is switched off or out of network.
Msges like if you are an airtel/idea dial * to copy this dialer tones or get missed call alerts & blah blah

I mean they are not leaving any way to fleece its customers. The cell display feature which use to display area sometime back is now used by these companies for advertisement.
Only Dolphin in Delhi still show area info rest all show Dial blah numbers to get latest blah blah at chargeable at Rs5-6/min.