Airtel SUCKS!

This is my experience with Airtel...and it has not been good. In fact, it has been terrible. And I need your help to get this experience out in the open. Help me spread the word!

In November of 2011, I started experiencing problems with my Airtel broadband connection. I raised a ticket to get this resolved. After a few weeks of inactivity and my constant follow up, an Airtel engineer came and checked the connection and said it was ok. At that time, it was working correctly (as per Murphy's law) and so I could not do anything about it. A few weeks later, the problem became more pronounced and I raised another service request. This one on the 17th of December. And at this time, I plainly told the Airtel folks that I would not pay the bills until the service was corrected.

The problem turned out to be that the DSL modem was hanging every now and then and so the broadband connection would also hang. The service engineer acknowledged the problem, but said that Airtel had changed policies last year where they did not provide replacement modems any more and that I would have to buy a new modem.

Now the only way I can use the Airtel broadband service is if there is a DSL modem, which was provided as part of the service when I subscribed for Airtel broadband. Without the modem, I cannot use the service. So I consider the modem as integral to the delivery of the service.

I stood on that principal and requested that the service be made available to me by replacing the modem. After a few weeks of follow up, I was told on the 23rd of Jan that Airtel would not be replacing the modem. In that event, I asked Airtel to cancel the broadband connection and I would clear all the bills save for the broadband charges for the last 2 months since the service was mostly unusable.

On the evening of the 24th of Jan, I got a call from the Customer Retention team of Airtel saying that they consider me a valuable customer and that they would replace the modem for free if I did not discontinue the service. I informed them that I was only disconnecting the service because of modem and that I would have no problems retaining the connection if the problem is resolved. I was told that the problem will be resolved with a free replacement modem in 3 working days.

After more than two months of follow up with Airtel support and after several cases being logged (as documented by the messages I have received from them...the one at the top says they will get back to me after almost 2 months!), I was told that I will not be getting the replacement modem and that my service is being terminated for non payment of bills!!!

You can imagine my surprise when they said that not only is the connection being terminated, I need to settle all outstanding bills, INCLUDING broadband charges for the months where the connection was to be remedied, but wasn't.

I informed Airtel that I will not be paying for a service that was not fixed and so they need to send me detailed bills with only call charges and not a consolidated bill for each month.

Again, after repeated phone calls from Airtel collections people and my repeated requests for a separate bill for call usage, I received an email from Airtel on the 7th of April about the final amount for settlement and mentioning that this was under review by the credit control team of Airtel. My response to them (along with the original mail) is below.

From: Malhar Anaokar <malhar.anaokar@gmail.com>Subject: Re: Outstanding Dues on Your Airtel Account No - 14231243 - Del No - 08040945596_kk
Date: 9 April 2012 10:12:30 AM GMT+05:30
To: Collections.KK@in.airtel.com

I am tired of repeating myself, so I am going to put this in writing once and for all.
I had raised that I am having problems with my broadband connection in December '11. The airtel engineer who visited my house told me that the modem was hanging, was faulty and that it needed to be replaced. However, airtel policy had changed in the last year where replacement modems were not provided and that I needed to procure a new one myself. Since the modem is essential for the delivery of the service and the service cannot be consumed without a modem, I believed that the modem should be provided by Airtel as part of the service. Until my service had been restored to proper working condition, I refused to pay the outstanding dues. Since this was not provided, I finally gave instructions to airtel to discontinue my connection.
I was called by the airtel retention team on the 24th of Jan to tell me that I was a high value customer and that as part of the retention, I would get a replacement modem in the next couple of days. I am attaching a PDF of messages received by me from Airtel (starting 17th of Dec) in which my case was registered and a resolution was promised, but where all that changed was the date for resolution of my problem, but my problem was never resolved.
After several follow ups and no replacement of the modem, I was told in late March that my modem will not be replaced and that my service (phone & broadband) has been discontinued. I was asked to pay the remaining outstanding amount for closure.
Since I had asked for termination of the service a few months ago and I was assured that the modem will be replaced (which it was not) and that my service will be restored to normal (which it was not), I have taken a stand to not pay for the broadband charges since this issue was raised. I am perfectly ok in paying for all the phone calls made.
I was called on the 2nd of April and also on the 5th of April where I was told that a soft copy of the bill for only phone charges will be sent to me by mail post which I can pay for the phone charges and not the broadband charges. I have still not received the bills and instead I have got this message threatening me on further action.
I want to stress that this amount is outstanding NOT because of my inability to pay, but because of AIRTEL'S INABILITY TO RESOLVE AN ISSUE, INABILITY TO LIVE UP TO IT'S COMMITMENT AND INABILITY TO BE A CIVILIZED SERVICE PROVIDER.
My experience with airtel has been pathetic, to say the very least!

Malhar Anaokar

-Malhar
If you have nothing better to do, my dumping ground is at http://totalbakwas.blogspot.com/
"If your happiness depends on what somebody else does, I guess you do have a problem" - Richard Bach

On Sat, Apr 7, 2012 at 4:15 PM, <Collections.KK@in.airtel.com> wrote:
Dear Sir/Madam...
With regard to the above subject we wish to bring to your notice that there
is an amount of Rs. 17636.25 /- outstanding on
your Land line no.- 08040945596_kk , bearing account number 14231243.
Please note this account is under the scrutiny of our credit control team
and Non settlement within 15th Apr - 2012
will force us to initiate further course of action to recover the said
dues.
You can make payments using your Credit Card or Debit card with our online
easy pay option. Kindly log on to
www.airtel.in for more details or walk in to your nearest airtel
relationship center to make the payment.
Please revert your consent for payment assistance by email on
visesh.airtel@gmail.com


Warm regards
Bharti airtel limited

This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies and the original message. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure,dissemination, forwarding, printing or copying of this email or any action taken in reliance on this e-mail is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful.
The recipient acknowledges that Bharti Airtel Limited or its subsidiaries and associated companies(collectively "Bharti Airtel Limited"),are unable to exercise control or ensure or guarantee the integrity of/overthe contents of the information contained in e-mail transmissions and further acknowledges that any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and no binding nature of the message shall be implied or assumed unless the sender does so expressly with due authority of Bharti Airtel Limited. Before opening any attachments please check them for viruses and defects.

As a response to my mail, Paramesh from Airtel sent me the bills Since Nov 2011 until April 2011. Since the connection was terminated near the end of March, the last bill didn't have DSL charges. I used that as the reference to remove DSL charges from the Dec, Jan, Feb bills, but chose to pay for the DSL usage in November as I wanted to be fair as I had used the service and only raised the complaint then. Since the problem remained unresolved from December thro March, I refused to pay for DSL charges.

On the 10th of April, I paid Airtel for charges (minus the DSL charges for Dec, Jan, Feb and March). I was informed that I will get communication that this account is settled.

I received another mail from Airtel threatening legal action if the account is not settled. This is my response:

From: Malhar Anaokar
Subject: Re: Outstanding on your Landline / Broadband No : 08040945596_kk - R3VDate: 12 June 2012 5:00:06 PM GMT+05:30
To: Collections.KK@in.airtel.com
Cc: collections.v@airtelmail.in

It seems that Airtel not only does not care about it's customer, forget retaining them, but also does not read a customer's complaints when written clearly.
As articulated in my mail to Airtel on the 9th of April, here are the problems in chronological order:
1. Problem with Broadband connection raised on 17th of Dec.
2. When called for payment of bill on 25th of Dec, I stressed that I will pay the bill after the problem is rectified
3. Engineer visited home and informed that the DSL modem is faulty. Since Airtel had changed it's policy a year ago, replacement modems would not be provided. I asked how Airtel planned to provide the service without the modem. Only answer given to me was that I have to buy a new modem. I asked that the service be terminated.
4. I was called on the 24th of Jan by people from Airtel Customer Retention team to say that I was a valuable customer and that in this case they would give me a replacement modem as solution to my problem. I accepted that as a solution and said that once the problem was corrected, I would settle all outstanding dues.
5. Over the next month, I kept following up with Airtel on the status of my replacement modem (details of the service request number are below).
6. I was finally informed after 2 months of inactivity from Airtel that the replacement of the modem will not be done and that the service (both my phone connection as well as my broadband) will be disconnected due to non payment of dues.
7. I informed Airtel representatives repeatedly that I will gladly pay the phone dues for the last few months, but will not pay the broadband charges for the last few months as the only reason the service was still active post 23rd Jan is because I was assured by Airtel that my issue will be resolved.
8. I received a mail from Airtel on the 7th of April stating that I had an outstanding of 17k+, but even after repeated requests, I was not told how much the call charges were.
9. I responded to the above mail on the 9th of April (mail attached below) restating my grievances
10. Airtel representative called me to tell me that they cannot segregate the call and broadband charges and asked my how much I would be willing to pay. I asked that the e-bills for the last few months be sent to me.
11. I received an email on the 9th of April from Paramesh.M@in.airtel.com with attachment containing bills from December thro March. The March bill was with with broadband service disconnected.
12. Based on the above bills for 5 months, I calculated my voice usage (plus data usage for December as I had only raised the complaint then) to come to Rs 9750
13. Chq No.885311 drawn on Citibank in favor of Airtel for Rs.9750 was handed to Airtel executive which cleared my bank account on 12th of April
14. I was told that I will get an email confirming that the account is now closed and settled. None such email was received by me.
15. I received a call from Airtel representative several times in the month of April and May (even when I was traveling internationally) to tell me about an outstanding of 7k+ for the land line number which had been disconnected.
16. I received a call from Airtel representative on the 7th of June telling me that if the remainder of the amount is not settled, legal action would be taken.
17. I received an email from Collections.KK@in.airtel.com (to which I am now responding) stating that if the amount is not settled, legal action will be taken.

Let me summarize this in even simple language:
1. I reported my problem to Airtel
2. Airtel committed to me that they will solve my problem
3. Airtel DID NOT solve my problem
4. Airtel is charging me for usage of a service that was not working properly
5. Airtel is threatening legal action for a service they did not provide and for a problem they did not fix.
I want to stress here that in the event I receive legal notice for non payment, I will send all my communications (on the matter with Airtel as well as all the SMS confirmations I have about Airtel promising to fix my problem, but not actually fixing my problem) to the Times of India, the Lokayukta and the Consumer Court as well as publish this information on prominent blogs and social networks.
Instead of apologizing to a long standing customer for not providing the service as promised to him, Airtel has resorted to threatening it's customers with legal action. Is this what Airtel meant when they sent me this mail informing me that I am a Platinum customer?

After repeated calls and my repeated emails to them (just like the above), I received this on the 19th of June!

From: Collections.KK@in.airtel.com
Subject: Oustanding on your Airtel Landline/Broadband No : 08040945596_kk -RV3Date: 19 June 2012 8:50:42 PM GMT+05:30
To: malhar.anaokar@gmail.com
Cc: Collections.v@airtelmail.in

Dear Sir / Madam,
This is to inform you that there is an outstanding of Rs 7886 /- towards
your airtel landline number 08040945596_kk with a/c # 14231243.
The payment has been not received for the same till date. Hence the case
has been moved to our solicitors and a Lok adalat notice has been initiated
on 28th June 2012 at The Deputy Registrar, Mayo Hall Court Complex near MG
Road Bangalore – 01 on 28th June. Between: 11 am to 4 pm for amicable
settlement of the above mentioned account.
The notice has been dispatched to your billing address. Hence request you
to take the notice and appear in the court on the above mentioned date.
Please ignore the mail if the payment is made.
Note: For any further clarification, feel free to contact:-Mr Ashok on
9880052608
Please do not reply on this e-mail for further communication, mark a mail
to Collections.v@airtelmail.in
THANK YOU
BHARTI  AIRTEL  LTD
This e-mail and any files transmitted with it are for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies and the original message. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure,dissemination, forwarding, printing or copying of this email or any action taken in reliance on this e-mail is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful.
The recipient acknowledges that Bharti Airtel Limited or its subsidiaries and associated companies(collectively "Bharti Airtel Limited"),are unable to exercise control or ensure or guarantee the integrity of/overthe contents of the information contained in e-mail transmissions and further acknowledges that any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and no binding nature of the message shall be implied or assumed unless the sender does so expressly with due authority of Bharti Airtel Limited. Before opening any attachments please check them for viruses and defects.

There you have it! Airtel has sent a notice to me for collection on payment of a service that was not provided. 

Please help me fight this insensitive behavior. Please spread the word. Help me get this to the public's attention! HELP ME!