Oct 12, 2017 12:05 PM
7583 Views
We are deeply disappointed with products(specifically JioFi) and customer service of Reliance Jio; to the extent that we feel that we have been purposefully misled and outright scammed by Reliance Jio retailers. We would strongly advise anyone considering buying a JioFi to read through our nightmarish experience and decide for themselves:
We bought a Reliance JioFi device on September 24, 2017 from a Reliance Dx Mini at 85, Prince Anwar Shah Road in Kolkata. The JioFi device ceased to function since the afternoon of September 26, 2017 merely two days after it was put to use. The signal was continuously blinking red which led to a confusion if it was the JioFi device or the SIM that was at fault. Because of the ongoing festivities of Durga Puja, we could not visit the retailer until October 4, 2017. As it turns out, JioFi devices can be replaced with 7 working days of the date of purchase. This was neither clarified to us at the time of purchase nor was it pointed out on October 4, 2017 when we qualified for a replacement of the device. When asked about the root cause of the signal issue, the retailer confidently replied that the device was functioning OK and the SIM needs replacement, without actually trying the SIM on another device(which could have been easily done at the retail store). They insisted that we must call the Customer Care number before going to a service center. So we called. After attempting multiple times, the first customer representative confidently prescribed the resetting of the JioFi device and requested us to wait for 10-15 minutes. Needless to say, that did not resolve the issue. We were in the midst of a conversation with the second representative when the call abruptly disconnected. The third representative directed us to go to another retail store to check if the SIM is active or not. In this other retail store, Jio representatives inserted our Jio SIM to one of their devices and confirmed that it was working as expected. It was therefore concluded that the JioFi device needs repair from a Jio Service Center. After running some errands in Sector V on October 10, 2017, I visited the Jio Service Center in Newtown Access Mall at around 5:15 PM well within their working hours. While the Service Center representative acknowledged the issue, they would not accept the device for a motherboard replacement on that day although I was willing to come back later for a replacement. On October 11, 2017, I visited the Jio Service Center at Hastings, Kolkata where they declared that they do not have motherboards stocked for these new JioFi models and requested us to call them back next week. At this point, we were at our wits end and simply gave up because with the amount of money we have spent chasing a resolution for so many days all over the city, we could have afforded a new JioFi device(assuming, of course, that it would last for more than 2 days this time!). We are simply unwilling to spend more time and energy on a product that has already cost us so much heartburn and money, not even counting the cost of the lost days of calling and data services from Jio.
In summary, I came to the realization that:
Jio products are far from reliable
While Jio promotes the slogan “Digital Life”, Jio pays little to no attention to build the necessary eco-system of retailers, service centers, and customer care representatives to sustain that digital life.
It is often said that the true character of an individual is revealed at times when he/she is challenged and distressed. I believe that this is true for corporations as well. How a corporate entity treats its customers in trouble, speaks volumes about the character of a company. Jio falls short of that mark by a wide margin. Jio is all about scaling up revenue and if you are a customer in distress, then you are simply an impediment to that scale up who can be conveniently ignored.
