Cell phones have become a
necessary evil and mobile service providers seem to capitalize on people’s
needs. I have multiple uses for my mobile phone – some typical and the others
based on my personal needs, as a result, my mobile is to me, what a teddy is to
a three year old. The thought of being without it gives me nightmares - I use
it to finalize deals, order groceries, send emails, check social updates, buy
tickets, check prices, calculate currencies, create reminders and lots more..
XTel was my mobile service
provider for over 10 years, however, after a mammoth new mall popped-up near my
building, I could only make calls from a particular balcony. "Wow!" I thought
initially - no late night calls from friends demanding a designated driver for
their ride from nightclub to home, no sales pitches at odd hours and so on.. Also,
I’d started with XTel’s services shortly after entering college and felt a
sentimental bond! The idea of switching to another service provider with a new
mobile number seemed pointless for the first few weeks.
One morning, I read an email
from a friend saying he’d tried calling me several times to ask if I’d like to
accompany him to the Jazz Yatra, but could not connect to my phone. The
realization hit me - I was cut-off at home without a functional mobile
connection! I switched off Chet Baker playing through my headphones and called
customer service from my father’s phone. The call was transferred from one IVR
menu to another and was three minutes later answered by a customer service
representative. I attempted to explain in detail the problem with network
connectivity and internet access from my apartment since the mall had been
constructed.
“You obviously have not read my
complaint – there is no mobile or internet service connectivity in my apartment
– why would you want to call me?” I would say every time through minced teeth, “just
send a technician any time after 6 p.m. on a weekday.”
Sometimes, I would receive
calls on my office phone to ask if I was satisfied with their mobile services
and customer support. Usually, I was in a meeting and just disconnected the
call. A couple of times, details were shared about the complaint I had made
several months ago, but the usual response would be – “Ma’am, we request you to
call 121 and mention your service request number – they are very efficient…We
also have a new offer for 3G connections, would you like one?”
XTel kept making empty promises
to resolve my issue - I was their valued “Platinum” customer. I remained
cut-off from friends and colleagues the second I entered my building – it was
like I’d landed on the dark side of the moon! Their customer relationship management,
customer data management, and internal co-ordination was intolerably poor.
After missing another important
call to ask if I’d like to meet an old friend visiting from Scandinavia
before she flew back, I decided to switch to a new service provider - TelKom. Before
the switch, I decided to clear all dues with the current service provider. Which
I did.
XTel refused to close my
account, saying some dues had not been cleared. I decided paying would be
easier than arguing with their executives or receiving numerous reminders by
SMS.
A customer services manager from
Xtel introduced himself a few days later over the phone and asked why I was switching
to their “inferior” competitor.
I did them the disfavor of not
accounting the experiences I had with their staff across teams - my opinion
wouldn’t matter for a company focusing on profits not customer satisfaction.
Though, I did tweet to my 218 followers about my customer experience with
XTel.
Since they were refusing to let
me switch – “Ma’am, your request should come at least two working days before the billing cycle is
completed”, and I needed to remain connected 24x7, I had no choice but to
sparingly use the existing number till the formalities were completed. Finally,
I cleared the supposed outstanding payments again and tossed my old SIM card into
the trash.
A quick call to TelKom
activated their services to my phone within an hour – no more connectivity
issues or exasperating customer service from a mobile service provider that was
a dinosaur.
My mobile phone rang a little later – “Good morning, Ms.
Chatterjee. I see here on our CRM software, you mentioned having a very negative
experience with your previous service provider when you applied for a new
number with us. At our organization, customers come first, we would like to
offer you free internet surfing and unlimited SMS for one month, we hope this
will allow you to share your new number with all your existing contacts….” I
was thrilled and shortly after disconnecting the call updated my social
profiles with the new TelKom number.
