[mmmjgm]

Originally Posted by d3mon

@mmmjgm

They very clearly state that the services which don't affect talk time INCLUDING incoming voice calls/SMS can be accessed.

Surely this doesn't exclude outgoing SMSs, does it? Especially as that is FREE for me. And that means that it does not affect the talk time. So it clearly falls under that statement !

It will affect your outgoing (data/voice/sms) Trust me dude, I've managed telecom voice customer care centers. I know what I am talking about.

You will need to also see the terms and conditions of the free SMS pack you are using. There will be some caveat tied in to your balance or to a time limit as to how long it can be valid.

If you can please post the terms and conditions of the pack here if possible so that this does not happen to other users, or they can be made aware of
such technicalities.

Originally Posted by d3mon

And even the automatic network message informing me of my balance that I get after each SMS says "Last call charges Rs 0.10" while my balance isn't reduced.


And good idea for sending in that mail. I will simply give a link to this thread, and let them read it at leisure

You are welcome, I don't get in touch with 121 over voice and its a happier ending for all of us.

I do get some really irritating feedback calls to ask for my feedback.

[hrag]

Some phones (e.g. Motorola Q8 GSM) don't get the settings automatically when GPRS is activated. An Airtel helpdesk gent gave me good advice - activate GPRS in a phone you know works and then put the SIM into your new phone. Needless to say, it worked just fine.

[d3mon]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Read through it again. It says

An incoming SMS is not charged. Now, doesnt it appear a lot clearer?

Didn't get your point.

Now, this is the exact quote from this page:

:: Airtel :: Mobile Prepaid : FAQ's

"Note : All services which do not affect talk time value including incoming voice calls / SMS shall continue to be available to the Pre-paid subscribers during the entire validity period even after the talk time value is exhausted."

Let's go through it one by one.

Service: Outgoing sms is a service. Right?

Does not affect talk time value: Free SMS. No change in talk time value. Right?

Pre paid : Yes. I have a pre paid connection.

Validity period: Yes, I have remaining 'validity' on my card.

Talk time exhausted: Yes, my talk time is exhausted !!

@mmmjgm

Yes, the free SMS pack that I purchased was valid for 1 month, for a maximum of around 360 SMSs. I have around 250 left, and the card is valid till around the 28th of this month.

In airtel's own words, "In 36 RC the customer gets 360 local SMS. SMS validity 30 days. " (Taken from :: Airtel :: Prepaid Mobile - Tariffs. )


This is all the info that I could find so far.

[mmmjgm]

Originally Posted by d3mon

@mmmjgm

Yes, the free SMS pack that I purchased was valid for 1 month, for a maximum of around 360 SMSs. I have around 250 left, and the card is valid till around the 28th of this month.

In airtel's own words, "In 36 RC the customer gets 360 local SMS. SMS validity 30 days. " (Taken from :: Airtel :: Prepaid Mobile - Tariffs. )


This is all the info that I could find so far.

Hi d3mon,

There are two commercial systems of recharging your prepaid phone,

1) Top ups - this keeps your existing plan but tops up the balance in your prepaid card. If you had used a top up in this case - it keeps your earlier plan in place.

Top ups are of a higher denomination in general and keep the earlier plan as chosen in force till the balance/time frame of the plan is in place.

You cannot start off with a prepaid card with a Top up recharge, you need a plan in place - new connection will not come out with a Top Up plan. You need some or the other plan in place which will be built into the new Sim connection.

2) Recharges - each denomination has its own validity and benefits. - also increases your balance but changes the terms and conditions of the package which iinclude 1) Validity, 2) rates of sms & calls, 3) terms and conditions change according to each and every recharge plan (as shown on the airtel website).

This method of a recharge will give you altogether a new plan with different validity dates & conditions.

I.e. each RC plan of different denominations has its own validity, cost per minute/ per sms/data etc. say 36 has xyz validity, cost per call/sms/bytes of data, another plan say RC 119 (hypothetically) will have its own validity cost per call/sms/bytes of data.

Also as the site says you need to have a minimum cumulative recharge of over Rs. 200 in 180 consecutive days. (not sure on what your recharge history has been).

In all possibilities there has been a situation where your Recharge has replaced something you thought you had earlier.

Why I say this is because this is one of the biggest customer service issues we used to face.

The billing server will not have different rules for you and different for someone else who has the same Recharge in force.

Yes if you do go below balance or if one of the conditions is invalidated you stand to loose the benefit of the Recharge plan.

Cheers

[hillram]

Generally Airtel is good in customer service.But at times they have let me down.
Here in South India i feel the service is much better.

[esteem_lover]

This is regarding Aircel in Chennai.------ I once had to go to their main office in Spencer Plaza to get the wap settings on my old Motorola phone. They simply refused to tell me how to configure it, they wanted to do it themselves.

About AIRTEL Digital TV ----- POGO, a kids channel beams some interesting cartoons which my kids love. I have been using Dish TV for 4 years in which time we have seen all these cartoons with a choice of Hindi/English audio. Now when I switched over to Airtel, I am forced to watch Mr. Bean, Looney Tunes etc in Hindi. Imagine listening to Bugs Bunny go "Whats up Doc ?" in Hindi !! Both the audio channels are in Hindi. When I call up the CC, no one is willing to listen.They simply say broadcaster's problem. I wanted to escalate to a higher level, but I hit the now familiar phoneblock. absolutely frustrating.

[n_aditya]

I was using a post paid connection with Airtel on my mobile phone. This was a corporate connection availed at the airtel kiosk in our company.
I was using this number in Chennai, Tamilnadu. As I was transferred to Maharashtra in Oct 2008 (thru the company i work for) I called Airtel customer care (in Oct 2008) to place the number in safe custody till my return.

Customer care replied that to place the number in safe custody I had to pay all outstanding amounts. I paid the same on the airtel website and the airtel person confirmed that my number will be placed in safe custody.

After a week or two (in november 2008) i saw that my number was still not placed in safe custody and called airtel customer care again. This time I was informed that Safe Custody is not possible as the option is available only if I submitted a written request, in person, at the Chenai Airtel office.

I obviously couldnt go to Chennai just to submit this letter.

So I decided to cancel my connection with airtel. I went to the airtel office (Airtel TCS) in Pune, Maharashtra and spoke with one Ms. Shonali.

I paid balance outstanding of Rs. 56/- (Rupees Fifty Six only) on Dec 20th 2008. I was told by Ms. Shonali that the monthly rental for my connection will be waived off since Airtel gave me wrong information about safe custody which further delayed the disconnection by one month.

Subsequently the connection was cancelled on 18th Dec 2008. I received a bill in Jan'09 asking me to pay the monthly rental charges of Rs. 499/- when the same was waived off by Shonali from Airtel (rental waiver request was not honoured... God knows why). I was asked to call 99529-58429 / 9840928011 for clarifications. I called the above numbers and got connected to a lady on the second number. I explained the entire problem and she promised to call me back in 2 days but it has been over 3 months and no one called back. Now I have received a legal notice from airtel for no fault of mine to pay the outstanding.

1. I was given wrong information on safe custody - no one called back to give me correct information.
2. disconnection process took over a month so Ms. Shonali put in a rental waiver request as the delay was not from my side.
3. Each and every payment from the time the connection was activated till disconnection was paid on time.

I am in no way at fault since I had contacted airtel several times requesting for disconnection and now i am being harassed with a legal notice.

I lodged a complaint with airtel customer care after being on the phone with them for over an hour and they promised i would get a call back from the billing team. No call yet. Its been over a month.

I am shocked that a company that boats of being one of the top players is stooping to such low levels and harrassing customers for no reason at all.

Even Ms. Shonali was shocked when i informed her that i was sent a legal notice for 499/-. I have lodged a complaint with 2 consumer forums but no response yet.

[prince_pervez]

I got this done 2 years back(airtel live setup). It took me just one call! I guess with the number of mobile connections and the decreasing TOT for closing a call has detoriated the support systems of Cellular service providers with huge/massive customer bases.

[d3mon]

Originally Posted by mmmjgm

Hi d3mon,

There are two commercial systems of recharging your prepaid phone,

1) Top ups - this keeps your existing plan but tops up the balance in your prepaid card. If you had used a top up in this case - it keeps your earlier plan in place.

Top ups are of a higher denomination in general and keep the earlier plan as chosen in force till the balance/time frame of the plan is in place.

You cannot start off with a prepaid card with a Top up recharge, you need a plan in place - new connection will not come out with a Top Up plan. You need some or the other plan in place which will be built into the new Sim connection.

Well, the last Recharge I did was this SMS card only.
No other recharge/top up has been performed since.

Originally Posted by mmmjgm

2) Recharges - each denomination has its own validity and benefits. - also increases your balance but changes the terms and conditions of the package which iinclude 1) Validity, 2) rates of sms & calls, 3) terms and conditions change according to each and every recharge plan (as shown on the airtel website).

This method of a recharge will give you altogether a new plan with different validity dates & conditions.

Agreed. I recharged with the 36RC card, and it modified my plan for a period of one month.

Right now, I have my plan which would say that I have got free SMSs.

Correct ?

Originally Posted by mmmjgm

Also as the site says you need to have a minimum cumulative recharge of over Rs. 200 in 180 consecutive days. (not sure on what your recharge history has been).

Incorrect info, I'm afraid.
Why would I need a recharge of over 200 in 180 days?

In fact from the airtel website,

"- Rs 99 is the New Lifetime Validity recharge denomination available for only existing non-life time prepaid customers. Processing fee of Rs. 2/- is applicable on all talktime recharges. Minimum recharge of Rs 200 (cumulative) in 180 running days to enjoy lifetime validity benefit."

This condition is applicable only for someone going for a lifetime validity period by the Rs 99 RC.

Originally Posted by mmmjgm

In all possibilities there has been a situation where your Recharge has replaced something you thought you had earlier.

Again, my last recharge had been the 36RC, which means that I have free SMSs.

Originally Posted by mmmjgm

Why I say this is because this is one of the biggest customer service issues we used to face.

The billing server will not have different rules for you and different for someone else who has the same Recharge in force.

I understand that perfectly.

I'm not saying that I'm being treated any different from other customers.

If I can't send SMSs with a balance of less than Re 1.00, I am sure noone else with the same plan can.

But that's not my point. My point is that it's wrong. Plain and simple cheating on Airtel's part.

Originally Posted by mmmjgm

Yes if you do go below balance or if one of the conditions is invalidated you stand to loose the benefit of the Recharge plan.

Well, NO !!

This is what we've been discussing in so much detail for so long.

AS LONG AS I HAVE VALIDITY, I AM ENTITLED TO ALL THE SERVICES WHICH DO NOT AFFECT MY TALK TIME.


When vodafone can continue to provide a facility for sending SMSs even with zero balance (provided one has free SMSs in his plan), why can't airtel ?

Originally Posted by mmmjgm

Cheers

Cheers

Originally Posted by n_aditya

As I was transferred to Maharashtra in Oct 2008 (thru the company i work for) I called Airtel customer care (in Oct 2008) to place the number in safe custody till my return.

Errr...What do you mean by 'safe custody' ?

Originally Posted by n_aditya

2. disconnection process took over a month so Ms. Shonali put in a rental waiver request as the delay was not from my side.

IMO if she put in a rental waiver request, you could ask her to give you a copy of that, and counter sue airtel for harassment.

Originally Posted by n_aditya

I am in no way at fault since I had contacted airtel several times requesting for disconnection and now i am being harassed with a legal notice.

Agree. Totally.


PS: I've mailed this link to the nodal officer for rajasthan, one Mr Deepak Negi. Let's see if I even get a reply.

[iceman91]

Welcome to Indian Customer service. they take things very lighlty as they know the legal process ramifications are too tedious and maybe .01% of customers actually take it to he ombudsman or consumer forum.
the managers supervisors are hand in glove too. So by asking him to give the phone to his boss or senior has no effect 99% of the time.
on a different note I used to get calls strating from thr 24th of every month for my vodafone no. (have both airtel and vodafone). The due date is 30th-31st of the month. ikept saying why you calling and their response would be "sir we are in the area so we want to collect the check" I would yell rant and abuse them saying please understand that I pay from my credit card directly. They just would not listen. Called CC did not work out finally I knew a friend there whom I called and he blocked these calls to me.

[bhp1]

I agree Airtel's customer service is really bad, Ive experienced myself.

There's an option to call nodal officers, though they also do not respond sometimes, but its way better than general customer care!

[pradster]

I coudnt agree more! Airtel customer service is a joke!
Hell! their network is a full book of jokes itself! My signal strength indicator moves up and down like an equalizer bar!

Just last weekend, I accidently locked my cellphone by entering the wrong PIN number. I called these guys on friday night asking for the PUK number which would unlock my phone, they didnt have it!

"sir, system down hai"

You have millions of customers and "system down hai"? did the inhouse monkey mess up the cables?
The story does not end here, the system was down till sunday evening! ( I wonder what it was down with, or ..nevermind)

Here I was, away for the weekend, with ZERO cellphone services, and I am apprently a premium customer as my monthly billing is more than 25k (dont ask me why) and even I was given the shaft!
I am seriously evaluating a move to vodafone, but then they arnt a bunch of geniuses either.
Its a sorry sorry state when the customer is no longer the king,
Cheers
Pradster

[n_aditya]

Originally Posted by d3mon

Errr...What do you mean by 'safe custody'?

Well its a temporary disconnection. I was told it has a nominal fee but then another airtel cc agent said it's free.

Example : You are going abroad for say, 6 months, you can ask for the connection to be put into safe custody. You will only be charged a nominal fee like 100 bucks or so. No rental, no other charges. The no. is blocked and anyone calling a no. placed in safe custody will hear "this xxxx no. is temporarily out of service". Once you are back you can reactivate the connection.

Each request for safe custody is valid for 3 months only and has to be renewed for another 3 months if required.

My colleague used to avail this as he used to travel abroad very frequently.

Originally Posted by d3mon

IMO if she put in a rental waiver request, you could ask her to give you a copy of that, and counter sue airtel for harassment.

I did but she flatly refused to give me a copy as it was against some policy. However she showed me the request details on her computer.

[d3mon]

Originally Posted by iceman91

So by asking him to give the phone to his boss or senior has no effect 99% of the time.

Well the only way is to ask for their name first, so that they dont' disconnect you, and insist on talking to their superiors. IMO it works most of the times.

As you know their name, they simply can't disconnect the call, you could report them, and if you stay on the line long enough, they will eventually give in.

Originally Posted by iceman91

on a different note I used to get calls strating from thr 24th of every month for my vodafone no. (have both airtel and vodafone). The due date is 30th-31st of the month. ikept saying why you calling and their response would be "sir we are in the area so we want to collect the check" I would yell rant and abuse them saying please understand that I pay from my credit card directly. They just would not listen. Called CC did not work out finally I knew a friend there whom I called and he blocked these calls to me.

LOL.
Though you could try registering on the DND (Do not Disturb) registry.
This is one thing that really works. Once I was registered, all SMSs, calls etc informing me about various offers from airtel and others stopped!

Don't for one moment think that I'm giving credit to Airtel for this though!

It is due to the severe lashing that they received from the government and the steep fines they would have to pay for violating this DND registry that keeps them in check!

Originally Posted by n_aditya

I did but she flatly refused to give me a copy as it was against some policy. However she showed me the request details on her computer.

BINGO! If it's on a computer, then it has a file/reference number etc. Tell her that if she can't give a copy to you, give the reference no/file no. at least so that you could follow it up with airtel.

If she still doesn't agree, tell her that it's a legal matter now, and her not giving a copy would be "obstruction of justice". He he.
Disclaimer: The above advice is based on a strong foundation of reading lots of novels with courtroom drama as the central theme !!

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by d3mon

Didn't get your point.

Now, this is the exact quote from this page:

:: Airtel :: Mobile Prepaid : FAQ's

"Note : All services which do not affect talk time value including incoming voice calls / SMS shall continue to be available to the Pre-paid subscribers during the entire validity period even after the talk time value is exhausted."

The way i understand this is, there are two clauses to this statement of theirs, which we shall break up and analyze:

1.) All services not affecting talk time value,
2.) Services which include incoming voice calls/SMS.

According to my understanding, both these should be true/satisfied for the statement to be applicable. It is not a question of any one being true.

To take your case, the talk time value doesnt change, but neither is the service you seek to use an incoming SMS.