Airtel's Shockingly Bad Service

[city02 63]

there is so much i tend to take for granted when bitching about rcom's pathetic service that i often forgot that other big players are no better!

apparently there is NO way to lodge a complaint over the phone at airtel if you are calling from outside their network.

you will have to visit a service centre in person or call the 3 digit number that can only be called from an airtel phone.

when did this become a standard business practice?

here is an excerpt from my email to the idiots:

1. currently there is no number to lodge a complaint unless we call 198 from our airtel phone.every customer should have the right to complain in case their handset is unavailable.your competitors provide full 8 digit landline numbers that can be called directly but you don't.why this 3rd class service from airtel?

2. if we don't know our telephone password the IVR hangs up on us which is incredibly rude and unprofessional .just because we don't know a PIN does not mean we can't lodge a complaint or talk to a human.

3. our airtel number is meaningless if the complaint is general in nature [e.g., problem with the website]there needs to be a way to resolve & fix any site errors without requiring a person to first become a customer of airtel

4. the contact email under postpaid is wrong and was changed a month ago yet the site is showing the incorrect email [this should have been updated within a day].

5. there is no visible 'site map' on the web nor is there any link to download all forms for quick access like many banks already have

6. listening to a long promotional marathi message on the IVR is irritating when the 1st thing we hear should be language selection [this is bad design]

7. the amount of effort it takes to send out an automatic reply saying that

'this is the old email and you should resend your request to the new id' is the same as

simply forwarding all incoming emails to the new id also!

8. forcing the customer to go to the 'nearest retail outlet' is absurd for a telco when we should be able to contact over the phone!

i'm shocked at how callous and unprofessional airtel is when it comes to taking complaints from non-airtel phones.

[raccoon 53]

Similar experiences with AirHELL. And I stopped writing such letters to them as I'm pretty sure they are most likely not even read by anyone from the management. Some nincompoop, half-witted CC exec. may (or may not!) read and send pre-drafted msg. just for formality's sake. Mails to Nodal and App authority are never answered... except one instance where the App. auth. replied after some 8 MONTHS by when I renounced AirHELL for good.

Others may not be terrific, but AirHELL is the worst by far. Even RCom is better, IMO.

Edited April 26, 2011 by raccoon

[Chetan 13]

I used to Have all 3 airtel services, 1) GSM 2) Broadband 3) Digital TV.

GSM i closed it within few months of using cos of poor quality in voice.

Broadband was kicked out as soon as the FUP ( fair usage policy) , and when Airtel BB was launched, I was among the first few in Coimbatore to get it.

Digital TV was kicked out cos bad reception on their lousy STB, and they wanted me to pay 100/- to their service engineer - AIRTEL sux totally and i ask any one and every one having airtel to kick it away.

[parin 857]

For mobile I dont have much problem but will tell voice calls are not good on airtel.

in bb FUP really s**ks.

Digital tv I haven't used do can't comment.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk

[Karthik R 246]

Even I gave up AirHell (terminology courtesy : Raccoon )

[digitalnirvana 646]

City all your points are valid well done to raise them, please keep us updated if any improvements.

[Deepak Shankar 79]

It would real waste of time writing to Air Hell as they never bother about the customer or his issue.They are happy as long as u keep paying without askin for anything.Mobile front I havent had any issues but I have had nightmares with Air Hell landline and BB.The best thing to do would be to simply dump Air hell and go elsewhere.Though choices are limited atleast there is some choice compared to them

[abkumar 11]

I am porting my number from Airtel Delhi to MTS ---- amazingly affordable operator and I hope network will improve with time

[shrik 9]

1. currently there is no number to lodge a complaint unless we call 198 from our airtel phone.every customer should have the right to complain in case their handset is unavailable.your competitors provide full 8 digit landline numbers that can be called directly but you don't.why this 3rd class service from airtel?

iirc (area code)-44444121 is an alternative airtel customer care number you can dial from other phones.

[sgiitk 32]

Came across another one for Scaretel. Messing about in 3G for revenue. See http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadgets-computers-software/103233-airtel-3g-billing-fraud-6.html

[csmart 472]

i have PRI line from airtel. it is not allowing me to make payment thru their website without logging into the account. there is provision for it ont ehs ite, similar to "insta pay" on rcom site. after entering all the details, it says password sent to a number which is landline and not belonging to me. raised complain today and was told there is some technical problem in sending SMS to reliance number and hence cant do it. the worse part, i got SMS from them stating compalin no and expected resolution time.

i asked what is technical problem but he could not answer. asked him to mail me about it, he said he will send mail but yet to receive it.

i am planning to complain about it on PG Portal..

[KapilAgrawal 340]

Well when it comes to services of all telecom operator, More or less 'sab ek hi thaali ke chatte batte hai'. All they care about it revenue by any available means. And as a matter of fact

--- If they start listening to all customers, their revenue will fall at-least by 15%.

--- They don't have resources & trained personal to answer all queries & understand the problem.

--- Sales people (One Major problem) commit things which are different from the reality & you know the story.

So its better to be aware.

For AirHell, Their Nodal Officers are quiet responsive (Atleast for MP&CG).

[Ashokjp 15]

Airtel has 198 helpline from other phones - 4444198 just replace 121 with 198 with their normal customer care no