First of all, my respect towards Airtel has been shattered with the experience I had.

I am using Airtel as my network from 2006.  Due to my job movement from India I had to loose my previous number that I had been holding with Airtel.

So I had started using the above stated number once I came back from India, which was my brother in law’s number.

So, I visited the Airtel showroom in Hyderabad where I am working for a corporate company to check if I could change that number under my name, where the representative told me that it cannot be changed as a prepaid number whereas it can be moved to Postpaid and once I use that for 4 months I can change that to Prepaid.  Listening to the representative I agreed to the plan and converted the number to Postpaid.

From there on my network was bad in the area where I was using it which is (Masjid Banda).  So, I went to the representative again to complaint about the network issues for which he replied that the area Masjid banda has Network issue.  I asked him why didnt he let me know about this for which his answer was that’s not his job and asked me to call the customer service and complaint.  I asked him then who he is, for which he did not respond and he called the next customer to attend them.

So, I asked him what is the option he asked me to change it to Postpaid if I want or asked me to port the number and he was not worried at all about the issues the customer was facing.  So, I asked him for an option and he told me to change the card from Postpaid to Prepaid and he gave the request and asked me to clear the bill which is really pathetic for that service I got he calculated my bill and asked me to pay Rs.610.00 and asked me to wait for the customer specialist call on which I did not get one.

Instead I got a message stating that my Postpaid to Prepaid has completed successfully.  Today, when I visited the showroom again I was told that the minute I change the option from Postpaid to Prepaid I will be considered as a new customer and I need to do a first recharge for Rs.229.00 or Rs.495.00 which itself is a pathetic since just by moving yourself from Postpaid to Prepaid all my plans are cancelled so from now on I will be considered as a new customer and he did not have the courtesy to tell me that I can do the recharge in the showroom itself.  So, I went to another retail store and he tried recharging it for Rs.229.00 for which I was not able to and instead I got a message that this value is no longer valid and I need to recharge for Rs.248.00 and again tried that but it was not recharging.

So, I went back again to the showroom and asked him and then he checked and said that there is some error and issue with my number and raised a complaint and said that to try in the evening.  When I asked him about why Rs.229.00 is not getting recharged he did not have the answer and he called someone and they gave him the information that the value is no longer valid which shows how updated this CSR is.  Now, when he was not able to do the recharge from his end, he was not worried that there was an issue from Airtel’s end instead he just blindly asked me to try in the evening for which I asked him why he is doing this again his answer was its not his duty and he was least bothered about it and he also added by saying whatever the money I am paying is not going to his pocket, but to the company.  So, I am not able to make any outgoing calls and unable to reach any customer service by calling 198, because the IVR does not have any options.

Now, my conclusion is I am very much annoyed with the CSR’s response and Airtel’s response.  I am going to use this number for a couple of months with this network and gonna change it.  Also, I am going to take an initiative to inform all my friends and colleagues to change the Airtel network by sharing this experience.

I sent the same information to airtel Customer service email for which I had a reply stating “This is in reference to your email regarding unable to do FRC recharge and unable contact customer care for your airtel mobile number 9003822033.

 

At the outset we regret the inconvenience caused.

 

Regarding unable to do FRC recharge:

 

We would like to inform you that your concern has been registered with reference number CPONR30313197211 and the same would be resolved by 18-03-2019 at 02:25 PM.

 

Regarding unable to contact customer care:

 

The issue faced by you may be temporary in nature due to technical constraints.

To know details related to your account, you may dial *121# (Toll free).

 

To talk to a customer care advisor in your language, dial 121 (50 paise per 3minutes), 198 (Toll free), +919849098490 (Charges applicable as per base tariff) from your prepaid number and select option 1, then option 6, then option 9 to reach customer care executive.”

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