Billing nightmares . Review on Airtel Mobile Operator

Get ready for the latest in cellular equivalent of daylight mugging.. the airtel way!

(i) Monthly rentals are collected in advance! No other operator does this. This is similar to a hidden deposit. If you opted for Rs 599 rental, you pay 599+ proportional amount for the first month for the number of days you use it. If the first month is a full billing cycle you pay 599+599 for rental!!

(ii) Get your airtel bill charged to your credit card at your peril. You get debited to your credit card within 2 days of bill generation. That means you pay for it even before you get a chance to see your bill. This is even if your payment due date is 15 days away. No amount of talking with airtel will help it.

(iii) Why is it I am not the only person who complains that airtel bills dont reach their destination in time... if they get mailed at all, that is.

(iv) Dont ever attempt to change your billing address.. you dont receive bills at either your new place nor old place. Get ready to chip out 100RS for a duplicate bill in lieu of the bill that you should have received in first place.

(v) If you finally get to see your monthly bill at all.. get to see so many entries for the same number within seconds of each other. Suppose you call number ''X'' you would find yourself billed for 1 sec, 2 sec.. etc. 3 or 4 times (not all the time though).. but at minimum pulse rate. Do we get billed for poor connectivity?

(vi) Disconnection from airtel network is not easy either. You can disconnect only from the city where you bought the connection. If you are roaming it takes 2 billing cycles (2 months) to get disconnected. So you pay the rental for all the intervening period though your number is not operational for that nearly 2 month period. To be fair to airtel.. Pros: The network is good within city limits. The earlier problems of network busy (especially when a new weekend rate scheme is announced) seem to have diminshed. The customer service has matured a bit. The people manning customer care seem to know what they talk these days. Dont get offended by customer service.. they just are not equipped to handle growth.