I finally managed to win the battle against Vodafone after relentless hammering and emailing and bringing TRAI in the loop. In the process I realised that the dice is heavily loaded against the customer. It takes a lot of effort to make this happen.
I had a problem of poor network coverage inside the premises where I work; the solution had to be an in building one. After calling up the customer care, the usual response was that the “concern” was noted down and that the “survey” is being carried out. Emailing them drew no response. Yet, I persisted and escalated the mail to Nodal Officer which did elicit a reply without any firm commitment.
It was then, I realised, that there were various provisions of TRAI that had been violated. I emailed to TRAI as well as to Vodafone; it shook them from their slumber and for the first time, I got an acknowledgement that it would be looked into. Still not getting respite, I managed to get the number of a person who was dealing with TRAI regarding customer complaints. I laid down the entire case, talked to the network head on a conference call with nodal officer in tow. It was a free for all; for the first time, they admitted that there was a network glitch and that needed to be rectified.
Finally, after some more persistence, emailing and cajoling them; I was after the life of the network head; that moron had it from me on different occasions. He finally conceded and went ahead with the installation of the in building solution for persistent problem that most of the employees faced.
I learnt that the easiest solution out for the companies is to “battle” it out in the court because they have a fancy retinue of lawyers on payroll. Given the delay in the legal system, it’s the easiest thing to get a date for the next hearing and postpone the matters. In any case, even if the judgement is delivered in your favour (remote chances given the fact that you have no clue about the technical nature of the complaint), it becomes a herculean task to have it implemented at the earliest to your relief.
I chose not to go to court but push them to their own work. It took a lot of patience and gritting of my teeth but managed to do it.
Alls well that ends well.
Congrats!! It took me close to a year and a million “tickets” that were raised and closed with no resolution until my network problem at home was resolved. And this was Airtel.
Congrats!! It took me close to a year and a million “tickets” that were raised and closed with no resolution until my network problem at home was resolved. And this was Airtel.
Ur lucky it was Vodafone , try doing this with Reliance or Airtel and see the results , btw Vodafone may not have the best network but their service is pretty ok
Ur lucky it was Vodafone , try doing this with Reliance or Airtel and see the results , btw Vodafone may not have the best network but their service is pretty ok
Hats off to you Abhishek! You’re spot on when you state that the dice is heavily loaded against the consumer in India. This pattern can be observed across all sectors that have witnessed rapid growth. I won’t get on my soapbox on the experience with Unitech, but suffice it to say that it was and continues to be hell.
I admire your tenacity and truly believe that in the absense of any industry watchdogs, it is folks like you that make corporations acknowledge their screw-ups.
Sidman
Hats off to you Abhishek! You’re spot on when you state that the dice is heavily loaded against the consumer in India. This pattern can be observed across all sectors that have witnessed rapid growth. I won’t get on my soapbox on the experience with Unitech, but suffice it to say that it was and continues to be hell.
I admire your tenacity and truly believe that in the absense of any industry watchdogs, it is folks like you that make corporations acknowledge their screw-ups.
Sidman
Hey Sid,
Thanks a ton for the very kind and encouraging words. I had no other option but to fight them! It was frustrating but rewarding in the end.
Hey Sid,
Thanks a ton for the very kind and encouraging words. I had no other option but to fight them! It was frustrating but rewarding in the end.