Consider this: You’ve been with a brand since 2004. A loyal pays-on-time, never-disputes-the-bill customer. You’ve hung on in the bad times and the brand has had some. You’ve defended the brand when others laughed at you for being a diehard.
Now you move office, move to a basement instead of a 4th floor office. The location is one of India’s most premium office complexes in the heart of the nation’s capital. The service dies. DIES! Not the whiff of a signal. You change your phone – it must be the dratted BB, you think and so you don’t complain. You change to the latest smartphone success on the market, used by millions. It still doesn’t work – no signal. You are due to travel, so you finally lodge a complaint. Thinking that by the time you’re back, the service will be sorted out – it is an office complex where they’d want to have a signal after all. You come back, still no signal. By now your patience is a wee bit eroded…. time and neglect do that to a customer. So you call up their customer care and ask on the status of the complaint – it’s been nearly twenty days now and you are unable to function – you run a business after all. The first exec you speak to has no clue…. so you speak to her supervisor – the guy is polite, apologetic… but can’t offer any timeframe, can’t arrange a call-back. He does escalate the complaint however and gives you the service’s appellate authority cell number. You feel better. Till you call the number. It’s invalid – the same cellular service that gave you the number tells you so. You call again. This time the supervisor is rude, insistent that the number is right. “Try it while I hold on,” I say…. but she isn’t listening. Why should she? You’re just one measly customer among millions.
By now the service (or the lack of it) has finally got to you – you are aggrieved, angry, worried at their lack of concern. Your clients can’t get through to you – neither can your family but the service is clearly not bothered. So you think, “Hey, there’s social media – let’s get some redress, let’s get some response.
Voila! They’re on Facebook so you post your complaint on their wall. It doesn’t show on it. So you repost the complaint under one of their comments. Then you notice your friends commenting. So yay! it must be showing on your timeline. You post on their comments too. Finally, these guys will have to wake up and respond, you think.
HAH!!!!! The posts are deleted. You are now BLOCKED from posting on their wall. You are a paying customer – how can they do this to you. So, you tweet at them. No response. You get your friends to tweet at them. You tweet to Sr Bacchan hoping he’ll help – his son does endorse the brand after all.
Rodinhooders, what would you do if a brand did this to you, a paying, loyal customer for over 9 years?
Abhik Prasad
In this age of number portability, why are you trying so hard to remain an Idea customer ??
Nameet Potnis
I feel for you, and yet I am trying to stay objective here.
1. Idea doest owe us anything
They provided a service, you chose to avail of it. They charged you for it, you paid. They might have even thrown in a Personal Customer Service Agent (like in my case with BPL/Loop mobile), but the fact of the matter is, they don’t owe us anything. the provide a service, it is our choice if we wish to avail of it.
2. I am sure you are not the only person marooned on this island
This could be a good time to look around you and see if there are any others on the island (basement) that you are marooned on. If there are, please walk over and see if they have Network access on their devices. If any of them do, you just hit gold!
3. Troubled relationships are just that, troubled relationships
You moved, he doesn’t want to. Its okay to outgrow each other. Like Fastrack says “Move on”.
4. The bright side
Like they say, “With every new relationship comes a new hair cut!!” Try Vodafone, Reliance or Airtel. Their rates/network might surprise you. This could be your chance to try one of the new guys. Mobile Number Portability takes a couple of hours of effort. You can retain your number and still enjoy the benefits of another network
I have a Vodafone and a Loop connection, very often they both disappoint me. At no point am I saying that you give up! What you did was the right thing and if you do actually choose to move to another network, they lose a paying loyal customer, you dont lose anything except a couple of hours this Saturday at the nearest Vodafone/Reliance/Aritel Gallery.
To make your life easy, please see below:
List of Vodafone stores in Delhi – https://bit.ly/VSxmSF
List of Airtel stores in Delhi – https://bit.ly/VSu6qo
List of Reliance stores in Delhii – https://bit.ly/VSuzce (Thanks Asha for letting me know she is in Delhi and not Mumbai)
Hope this helps. Have a nice day. If you need help with porting let me know. I have ported two numbers, can help you 🙂
Govind G Prajapati
Same happened to me from TD
I have been fighting everyday since 6th of Feb yet not resolved.
I paid from credit card, and it didnt showed on their System, due to some problem
payment got debited, and also settled by bank with merchant.
and Now i dont get any help, I contacted trai ddgpg-dot@nic.in
they forwarded my mail satya.yadav@tatatel.co.in
and yet not recieved any reply
Everyday in morning my cell service gets stopped and I have to fight for it to get it activated till noon.
This is my first bad experience with Tata Docomo in last 8 years.
but time has changed now I think so.
Customers are no longer important to them and they dont bother about their problems which caused by their system.
Pushpendra Thakur
Hey Kaanchan,
Thanks to u, finally I signed up & became a Rodinhood 🙂
Well, I guess like Abhik mentioned, the good old days of being a loyal Idea customer are over for you, use number portability :)..
N if u r dead serious about booking Idea, y not try akosha.com,hav heard some gr8 reviews about dem…
kaanchan bugga
Thanks, Navin… yes I have moved on and chosen number portability!
kaanchan bugga
Pushpendra, so glad to see you here… yes, I am moving on…. no other choice really…
kaanchan bugga
Hahahaha.. wondered about that and am moving on….
kaanchan bugga
Though Nameet, I don’t agree with you about Idea not owing us anything… they owe me good service as long as I am a paying customer…..
kaanchan bugga
read Pushpendra Thakur’s reply… may be you can try akosha.com
asha chaudhry
btw,
ankur singla – the akosha guy is a rodinhooder 🙂
https://www.therodinhoods.com/profile/AnkurSingla
https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/the-story-of-a-startup-called-akosha
Govind G Prajapati
I dont want to port it as, This is first time it happened to me in last 8 years.
and i think its system’s problem which they are not unable to get any clues or hints
so its being delayed, i ve got some sort of resolution for in discontinuing my services as now it seems stable that they have reactivated it.
just delay in complaint resolution is now my problem…..
I trust TATA’s then any other company.
Hope they resolve it asap