Prepaid nightmare… (Airtel Kerala). Review on Airtel Mobile Operator

Do we call this ill fate or bad luck? Three years back I had to write a review on RPG Cellular providers of Chennai with such frustration. Then the single consolation us commoners had in Chennai was AIRTEL the legend of new cellular era in India. After spending three long years out of India and going back on a short trip to see how my country fares, here I am to haunt the same Airtel which was the salvation then.

I was telling my friends that India cannot change all that fast and Three years is way too short a period to have made any major changes. Some of my better informed counterparts did warn me not to be so sure about it. And what did I learn in my 12 days there after 1000 days away from there??? INDIA HAS CHANGED… a hell lot! At least cellular scenario in India has changed. Right! That’s more like it.

Being on a short trip, I made the critical mistake every one is likely to make. I chose a prepaid mobile connection to keep me connected to rest of the world while I am on the move in India. Above all, I chose an Airtel Prepaid card, trusting the seller at Cochin Airport kiosk. As eager as I was to meet my parents and in obvious hurry, I did not stop to ask enough questions. Upon paying Rs. 1200 the friendly guys there snapped a SIM out and loaded it in my phone. On the way out I found out the credited amount on my phone is only Rs. 500! Too late for any arguments and already half way out, I tried my best to console myself that it could be the registration charges. There comes the next shot… I was cut out of the network in 20 minutes on the National Highway from the Airport. And this was no one time affair. I was constantly faced with interrupted conversations and bad quality networks all over Kerala. Between Palakkad and Calicut, the antennas never showed up at all barring a couple of pockets.

Next shot was fired when I realized that I have exhausted the credit and need to recharge by end of 3rd day. Thanks to the exorbitant prices for airtime. I will remember to put down the charges at the end of this review. Well back to the Kiosk to find a recharge card for the phone and guess what I found…Pay Rs. 350 or Rs. 550 to get a credit of Rs. 160 and Rs. 250 respectively. I ended up looking for a higher value pack which would reduce the kind of charge per Rupee on Airtime value. Then there was a magic offer from the Airtel’s marketing wizards. Various bouquets with clubbed values for specific use only! The actual airtime value charged is going to be a killer. I paid Rs. 299 to get a airtime value of Rs. 50 along with specific Local mobile calls worth Rs. 150, Local Airtel to Airtel calls worth Rs. 200, Local sms value worth Rs. 200 all this to be used in less than 30 days.

Now comes the real irony of magic offers. All those Specific values will get credited only after completing 48 working hours from the time of recharge. If you make the recharging on a Fri-Sun period, do not expect anything before Tuesday other than the initial Rs. 50. If you have an emergency in this 5 days you are waiting for, don’t you dare use the charge in your phone for each calls are going to cost you 5 times it usually would. For instance Local Airtel to Airtel calls are supposed to cost only Re.1 per minute. From this charge, it will cost you Rs. 5 per minute. When I spoke to the customer service after going through an crazy array of IVRs, the most unfriendly voice who was eager to get rid of me, greeted and told me it was impossible such an error could happen and she will not be able to help me. This So called customer service executive had the sense to remind me that I am not the only customer for Airtel some two and a half minute in to the call with her. As a humble customer, I was left with only one option, to thank her in the politest of my language and disconnect the line.

If you were to leave your domain, the roaming charges are another story all together. Thankfully, the network seemed to be steady in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. But the charges it was showing soon got me whipping open my international Roaming phone from Saudi Arabia. At least, that was saving cost for my customers and office who had to contact me and the difference in charges for me is very marginal. I assumed my family can always afford to spend a few extra bucks by making an international call in case they wanted to reach me for anything.

My experience with AIRTEL Kerala was one of the bitterest experiences ever. To sum up, going prepaid was the costliest cellular experience with the least convenience. Ironically, Airtel invites you to express ourselves on their service. I wonder how far they want to hear me expressing myself…..!

Charges per minute:

Airtel to Airtel (In Kerala only) Re.1.00

To other mobile phones      Rs.2.25

To local Landlines           Rs.2.50

Mind it, these charges are from the airtime credit you have on your account. In the first place, you had to pay Rs. 2.40 to get Re 1.00 worth of airtime credit. Now let’s see how good your math is.