------update on 15-Feb-04-----
They still have not solved the Rs 250 excess billing problem. On top of it, I seem to have remembered names of hutch care people. So one of them (Guruprasad, supposedly senior person!), says he cannot help in this problem. And this time, he does not offer me to go to Hutch shop. He asks me to go to Hutch corporate office in Bangalore. I wonder who is the ’senior’ person I will have to speak to over there?

----end of update-----

-------- update on 11-Feb-2004:---------------
I realized that to solve the Hutch Access (Internet /GPRS) problem, they have charged my account Rs 250 for re-activation charges. I spent 30 minutes on phone talking to 2 different Hutch care officers, that this reset was done by their own person, and I was not even told about any charge for this. But they would not listen, and will not even lodge a formal complaint. All they repeatedly said was to ’’walk into the nearest Hutch Shop’’. I think that’s where the problem started in the first place, since it was a Hutch shop person who reset the account without telling me anything about re-activation charges. And after spending 3 hours in Hutch shop in Koramangala in last 4 days, going there again is the last thing I want to do.

The Hutch care people try to talk smart, but you only end up calling them again and again. Well, I am downgrading them all the way to ’worst’.
--------End of Update---------------------------

I tried Hutch connection, after switching from spice, solely to be able to use GPRS facitlity to be able to download data/emails on my laptop. It was ok while it worked (about 10-11 kbps speed), which is not much if you want to download attachments, but enough to get updated on important emails.

But the trouble started when I had intermittent problems with connection, and had to visit hutch shop several times to correct it. I was told:

1. It could be due to dial up no problem. This is a common excuse given if you have a non-Nokia phone. Mine was Sony Ericssson, but it used to work fine with *99***1# no. They would suggest trying 2 or 3 in place of 1, as if it is some kind of vodoo trick to get it right.

2. Then I was told an innovative excuse. I should upgrade the software in my handset. When I went to Sony Ericsson service centre, they told it was already latest, and there must be problem with hutch access.

3. Probably by my repeated visit and insisting on proper connection service, the hutch shop and hutch folks decided to get rid of me. So it has been 3 days now, and I do not have any gprs signal on my handset, despite being told repeatedly that my service has been active.

If hutch thinks that I cannot switch their service again, they are wrong. That’s exactly is what I am going to do if the hutch access is not restored in another day.

One more thing. If you visit hutch shop, they do not seem to show any hurry in service, no matter how many customers might be waiting. This could work in US, with few customers and far between, but here you better serve your customers fast, and twice at a time, if necessary. I myself have gone back a few times after seeing the queue and the response times of the service people.

Another point, the connection from my hutch to spice phone is damn difficult to get. I cannot say which network is busy, but I never faced any problem when I used to have spice connection in calling any mobile. You decide if you have faced similar issues with hutch voice service.

These are my views. Hope you all have better experience.

Regards,
-Vivek

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