Airtel
Reviews and Complaints

Hi, I am having a connection CUG post paid with Airtel from mid of July 2005 and used till july 2007. During the month from February 2007, some of the calls called by others have added to my bill and customer care is not accepted the problem. So i paid additional charges extra. After that the same problem is repeatedly every month, the customer care will not support in this regard. I mailed to Nodal officer, no use at all. In the bill statement, for wrong numbers also charged, miss call, more sms usage etc are keep on adding extra. Please don't go for Airtel specifically to CUG Postpaid plan irrespective of the company. Try to stick with another network other than airtel.

I have purchased a data card from Radical Communication (Lajpat Nagar)and they promised that it will be activated by end of the day (the day of purchase). In the evening when I called the Cust Care, they mentioned that the card is not active and I should get in touch with the outlet from where I bought the card. I called the number on the bill 011- [protected]/[protected]... both numbers are dead. I called another two numbers shown on the carrybag 011-[protected]/[protected]. These numbers do not exist! The reason I bought the data card is to take care of some urgent business whilst I am traveling. I live in Gurgaon (and the reason for me buying the card from Radical Communication at Lajpat Nagar is that the outlet in Sahara Mall did not have any stock of cards) and it is not easy for me to travel to Lajpat Nagar to follow up. I would equally blame Airtel for appointing such Franchisees who do not have a proper phone number to provide after sales support.

This is regarding Airtel - Kolkata region, where i have faced a peculiar problem with them. My card is life time card and without my knowledge they used to deduct from my prepaid account rs.15/- every month for mci. When took the matter with customer care, nodal officer they will apologies and say this will not happen next time. So for one month you will be free and again next month they will deduct the charges in the name of mci. If once it happened then ok. Repeatedly it has happening and fed up with them. How many times i will have to speak to their customer care and as well as to send mail requesting them to credit my deducted amount. Once they have credited the deducted amount but not the second time. Will the company check in this matter so that they doesn't harass me unnecessary.

My Telephone was disconnected upon my request in December 2006.

The Security Deposit of Rs. 3,000/- deposited with Airtel (formerly Touchtel) against Touchtel Bill No. [protected] Dated 11.04.2002 has not been refunded to me till date.

This is despite the fact that I have lodged several complaints with Airtel Customer Care at least five times.

Some of the complaints are vide Complaint nos. 819901 Dated 01.04.2007
9853716 Dated 22.05.2007
[protected] Dated 29.06.2007
1797146 Dated 29.07.2007
1797146 (During First Weak of August 2007)

Security Deposit refund is due to me and has not been paid to me despite over eight months of persistent complaints

1. Landline tele No 4061027 at Gurgaon is in my wife's name. We recently changed residence and requested for shifting of the No to the new address which is in the same colony (DLF Phase-III) in a different block at aprox 3.5 kms. The people concerned turned up on24 Aug07 and did some line laying. Thereafter, there no response. The points in question are:-
(a) The Company will be charging us for the shifting and
yet provide service at their convenience.
(b) Rental charges will also be charged for the days when
services were not provided.
(c) They have already been informed that both of us are
working and will not be able available till 6PM in the evening.
We have to wait and see further response and excuse for not
turning up.

2. The Company has been charging for CLIP services which have not been requested by us at any stage. We have further requested for discontinuation of the services and action is awaited from the Company.

I got a call from Abacus Communications (Relationship Centre of Bharti Airtel) to offer me a airtel prepaid plan on my existing connection. They asked for Rs. 500/- and one of the guys came to my office and collected the money and gave me a cash memo and a copy of the Airtel Form which I had filled. Now after 5 days,when I call them up, they are just delaying the matter. Many times their phone doesn't connect. I haven't got any change in my plan as offered. On contacting Airtel Customer Care, i get a rude response asking me to contact the relationship center. It is really disgusting on part of Airtel to tie up with such Relationship Centers who collect money on their name.

Sachin Jain
Software Engineer
Xansa India Ltd (Noida)
Airtel mobile no : +91-[protected]
email : sachin.[protected]@xansa.com

While checking my credit card summary I found two charges of $213.00 each posted to my account. I tried to call Airtel but their line is always busy. I have contacted my credit card company and was told they will remove both charges within two business days.

This is a good example of what happens when jobs in America are exported overseas!

I purchased air tel Top-Up recharge 17/08/2007 Rs 10(ten rupees) with serial no [protected]. I tried 17, 18th for recharge bur personal pin is not accepted. I informed this issue to Customer care executive.he advised me to contact dealer. Dealer asked me to contact Customer care. It shows how the air tel is reacting ultimately I am the looser.

I have a airtel prepaid sim card purchased in around july 2006. In around august or september 2006 my missed call alert service was activated on its own. i got a msg stating 'thank you for using airtel missed call alert service' and my account was debited by Rs. 15. I contacted the customer care but they said that i myself have activated it which i didn't but still i asked them to deactivate it. They said i will have to send a msg 'MCA CANCEL' to 511. i did so. I received a msg stating that my service will be deactivated in 24 hrs. but it didn't, i again called customer care, they asked me to try again. Till today my service has not been deactivated and Rs.15 is been regularly deducted from my account. I have called customer care several times about this and they say that they will forward my complaint but nothing happens. I had even gone to airtel office at F.C. Road, Pune they also emailed my complaint to higher officials and assured me that i will get a refund in 2 days but nothing happens.

Airtel has few bad policies and one of them which i don;t like is that... they are the only authorized seller of HTC Touch, Price worth 20,000 and if any customer shows interest, he is forced to purchase the same without giving any demo of the piece. This is very ridiculous and unethical.

Can't Airtel afford to keep the demo piece or its like they have started taking customers for granted.

With all due due respects and past service quality I had with JTM and Airtel, I foolishly took a postpaid connection of Airtel [protected] after taking a prepaid music did not satisfy me after my retirement from service on 31 July 2007. I never realized this will be my biggest mistake in my life and Airtel will play all kinds of dirty,nasty, disgusting, sick, sadistic, perverting, shocking,ugly, nauseating and with all possessed hatred towards customer. What ever I mention is nothing if one experiences the action of the GREAT GREAT GREATEST,LARGEST servings mobile gullible customers namely, AIRTEL. Having activated my number [protected] in record time I could never imagine that after a week the sadistic Airtel will bar my outgoing calls without any iota of messaging or warning on 10.8.2007 evening so surreptitiously so that the wretched customer would wriggle for two days of the week end ie 11 and 12 August.

Prior to disconnecting my outgoing call, I was receiving innocent calls form some hole devil of Airtel asking if I pay bills directly at Airtel service or settle thru credit cards. I was a biggest fool to politely respond that I can settle bills either by check payment or credit card. This business of calling went on for two blessed days without any inkling that the HONORABLE AIRTEL SERVICES WILL DISCONNECT my ot going calls so mercilessly like Moists killing innocent as informers.

LAter I get a blessed message indicating that I should visit the nearest Airtel center! When I innocently go to the AS Rao Nagar Airtel office which is not eben given in the website of Airtel, I find to my shocking aftter waiting for nearly 20 minutes that barring was done because of not finding the address of my house, Plot No 163, Saibaba Officers colony, Behind Sainkpuri 3rd Avenue, Secunderabad-500 0094 inspite of submitting my ration card photo copy which has myself and my wife with my iris recognition wth authentic home address.

What else I can say that the staff iof Airtel who tried to verify my house is nothing short of a sadist. I was the colony President for many years and is one of the most noted figure in the colony. Even a child will guide my house.I wonder which blind fellow was deputed by the holy Airtel customer to verify my so obvious house. Following my retirement I have to surrender my earlier [protected] and 040-[protected] after using for more than a decade at ICRISAT.
So the Airtel devil customer service staff might have found it impossible to locate my address since he was no where near the locality. I can prove it if this blessed soul is asked to meet me personally by the so called customer services of Airtel.

I want to ask the Airtel services What is that you people achieve by barring the outgoing services. If this was so important, I could have given a video CD of my locality with my house highlighting my home address etc. Perhaps this is not the intention of the so called uncustomary friendly services of Airtel. They want me to suffer for a weekend depriving making out side calls.
Does Airtel think that this is called customer service or dis-service. Please change the name of your department immediately.

I am really sick of Airtel. I am really sick of this sadism supported by entite Bharati Airtel. I know no one from Airtel would like to listen or take action beacuse the very idea of disconnection is to make me suffer. I fully respect your " Know the Customer". But I hope this is not the way to know the customer.

I want to ask the Airtel management what law is existing to bar outgoing calls without any prior intimation. Is this not simple hough handedness of Airtel. Please prove I am wrong. This mail is for other service providers not to emulate Airtel.

Thanks for being cruel to me Dear Airtel! Keep the flag of customer dis- service at Airtel fly high for centuries to come. I know no one from Airtel would care to read this long disgusting customer feelings.

NSS Prasad.

Things have come to such a pass now that it seems hilarious and a scene out of comedy of errors.. but that is how Airtel 121 operates. I had to transfer my cellphone from my company's name to my name .. on contacting Airtel 121, the first time I was promptly handed over a "concern or complaint number" & was told that someone will pick up the necessary paperwork. The person came to collect papers and told me that my connection will be transferred in 48 hrs... 96 hrs. or four days later I called up Airtel & was told to wait. I did .. After seven days I called up again & was told that the verification was to be done. On asking what the hell was that.. I was told that someone needs to verify the address... this should have taken place within 48 hrs but "the other department" failed to put in a verification request... I was also told that the verification will take place the same day. Of course nothing happened. Next day I spoke to a different person. Of course he did not read or tried to get familiar with the details of the case.. but started advising me that it is normal for such things to take 48 hrs.. He also promised me the same day service and assured me that he was not like others... Day 8.. some idiot calls me and tells me that he is at my company address for verification of the address... Of course he hanged up promptly when I pointed out the address. I called the gods at 121 again and this time another person assured me that he will make sure that this guy is straightened out and the verification is done immediately. He claimed that my experience so far was with ###s of 121 and he was the real guy. Day 9... I get a sms that the resolution of my concern must have been up to my satisfaction and thanks for using airtel. ... I called up the gods again... this time the goddess assured me that she will follow up and the verification will be done immediately before noon.. she also promised to take up the matter with the "other department" that sent me the sms... Well they did call me in the afternoon and said that "no such owner exist at the address.. or something.. " meaning that someone had come for verification.. well another lie as perhaps I know my address and I live at my address... also my maid and mother is always at home. On pointing this out to the 121 goddess.. she of course said that she will forward a complaint.. and once again she was not like others... By the way that day I was home all the time due to another Airtel screw up on my bill.

These guys are completely untrained.. do not have any customer orientation and never ever read the details before talking to the customers. You have to explain the same thing to thirty people none of them understands the complete picture and they act like well "gods" and infallible.

Each one of them promises to get back to you within hours if not the same day.. but they never do. Even now after speaking to one of them four hours back, I am waiting for their call that was to take place within forty five minutes.

HAIL Airtel 121 Your anytime anywhere customer service.

I purchased a brand new mobile phone Nokia 6080 through the vendor, 'Sangeetha' outlet, located at the Banashankari BDA complex on 01.08.07 at 9.00 PM. The same day I also purchased the SIM card under the 'Airtel 399' plan at 9.45 PM at the retail outlet just besides 12B bus stop at Padmanabhanagar. The SIM card vendor himself activated the number selected by me and charged the same for an additional amount of Rs.400/- immediately upon my request. My mobile number (MSISDN), as printed on the backside of the SIM card packet is [protected]. The SIM number is printed as [protected]. The IMSI number is printed as [protected]. The packet is packed on 21/07/07.

When I tried to register through your website today at 2.15 PM, after entering all the 3 information asked on the 'Registration Screen', I.e., login name, mobile number and the code, it rejects my registration displaying the message 'mobile number invalid'.

I am regularly using the said mobile number since the day I purchased it. I don't understand the reason for rejection of registration of my mobile number on your website.

Please anyone clarify the reasons for rejection of my mobile phone number [protected] at the earliest, since neither the Airtel office located on the Ring Road near Padmanabhanagar nor the SIM card vendor nor the mobile phone vendor 'Sangeetha' outlet located at the Banashankari BDA complex, is extending any support in enabling 'Airtel Live' on my brand new Nokia 6080 mobile phone.

I have three airtel postpaid nos. On one Airtel no. [protected], I have much STD usage. I wanted to churn to Hutch but some retention guy named Suresh called me and said that they would be giving me 1000 std min on any airtel no, if I don't churn my Airtel connection. But, nothing given. I contacted 100 times to retention but nobody gave any proper response. One day, a guy named Prakash Mehta called me and said that he is sending my request for approval to get 1000 std min free on airtel nos. Again, nothing given. Finally, one day there was no signal in my mobile and I was getting message on screen as 'Sim registration failed'. I contacted customer support and they told that my no. has been disconnected from Airtel. It was shocking for me as I hadn't given any request for disconnection and suddenly without any prior confirmation, my no. disconnected. I prayed customer care to retain my services and finally after calling 5-6 times, at cust care, my services could be retained. This is how, Airtel retention people take care of their customers. If you will ask them for some facility, they will direct disconnect your no. without letting you know. Now, I am scared talking to retention department for any reason as they can discontinue mobile services and will leave you in the status of shock and frustration.

The Airtel connection I own has turned into a nightmare and is the single most annoying and stressful part of my life. The losers don't know how to talk to their customers properly, forget about speaking to them in a friendly, civilized, polite fashion. Airtel possesses the WORST CUSTOMER CARE SERVICES at present amongst all of its competitors and non competitors combined. Their executives are rude, even at their relationship centers that they're so proud of, THEY DON'T KNOW HOW TO TALK, PERIOD.

Getting through their customer care line 121 is by the way a different headache altogether.

And the WORST comes upon you when you get a phone call, when you're in the middle of something, from a number that looks somewhat like a mobile number, and then a woman starts ranting - 'Dear Airtel customer...'

Honestly honestly honestly, I love SRK but I pity him for the fact that he's come to become the face of this really ugly brand.

They call me claiming that they are calling from airtel, offered a post-paid connection (Currently I am using airtel-prepaid connection). I agreed, for the connection so they send their executive on 27th july2007, to collect the documents.

I paid him rs 599. Cheque (Blank-hdfc bank cheque no. 178786) which is clear in account name chandan korko and he told me that sim will be sent in7 working days. When I contacted them after 6 days. They told me that, airtel wants some other address proof as a document, and they will be sending same executive to collect document. For 10 days no one comes.. I some how manage to send my document to them. I submitted copy of leave n license agreement of my house. Now its more then 16 days and my sim is still not activated... With lots of efforts I was only able find out that these agents are not from airtel but from infomark solution

When I try to contact them, they don't even answer my call. I contacted customer care number 121, they told me that their is no record of any such application and asked to contact the agent/dealer who gv the sim card.

They never pickup my call... Name of the agent who call me for postpaid connection is "sonia" - [protected].

Their team leader's name is "chandan korko-[protected] one another member name is shivani-[protected]. Plz can anybody tell me where should I go... How can I get refund... I don't want airtel postpaid connection now... From where can I get my money back.

Should I report it as a scam in police... Or should I go to consumer forum... If this is the service airtel providing now... What should I except from them people in future... Airtel will loose many of its customers because of this "infomark solution"!

So guys beware of infomark solution and airtel,
My contact no :[protected].

I have purchased one AIRTEL prepaid lifetime valid number 0091-[protected]... i have paid the recharge amount for 10 years validity in advance... My sim was stolen from my car along with my Sony Ericsson's phone IEMI number - [protected].

I did file complain in Police by FIR and i asked for the cancellation of the old SIM and requisition done for a new SIM with same number and talk credits recovery...

I have been struggling for the same problem since July 2006 but no one employee in the AHMEDABAD or UDAIPUR AIRTEL Offices is helpful... not at all... They made me here and there to issue new SIM for which i have already paid in advance... and now they have provided same number to someone else... how weird is the company's service... injustice to one and fraud with another customer...

I have 2years validity, last Wednesday (1st Aug 2007), I had put the top up of Rs.55 dedicated account, with reference to airtel request sms. But yet its not credited to my account, I had called the customer support for more than 7 times, but no use, I got different answers from different CSR's. few said its server down, few said under processing, few said already credited, few said its not credited and what not..Finally when I tried yesterday night and today morning (Aug 7th 2007), I got a automated voice stating that we can only send queries through SMS, I doubt they even blocked my number by speaking to CSR. Still I am waiting that they would credit my dedicated top up, though its a small amount, but still Airtel people is not supportive and not prompt towards their customers. I personally feel now a days Airtel has become money minded rather than customer friendly. Yesterday, I got another bad news from Airtel, stating that they are withdrawing their free SMS plan, SMS would be chargeable from today. I feel " AIRTEL ONLY FOR RICH PEOPLE NOT FOR COMMON PEOPLE".

I purchased this Airtel number sometime in the mid of april 2007 from an Airtel dealer. It seems this number was used by another lady called PS Sangeetha before I purchased. But, it seems she had not informed any of her banks on the disconnection of this mobile number, therefore, I am getting very frequent calls from SBI cards Chennai division (044-[protected], 044-[protected], 044-[protected], 044-[protected]) average = 5 calls per day. It is really irritating me and also disturbing my regular work because of SBI. I had clearly explained them on the person change for this mobile number, but still SBI keep on calling my mobile number asking old user. I am surprised that even SBI management doesn't know how to

1. Disseminate the call updates among their colleagues.
2. Verify with airtel on the number change.

If things goes on like this probably I have to take legal action against them.

I had a recharge with RC120 and so I must be costed with 1paise for SMS and Rs.0.49 for call. But this is not happening. I was charged 1 rupee for each call to Airtel.