I am a Post Paid customer of BSNL. My Mobile No. is 9448893000 and my Account No. is 201498148. I had taken this fancy number by paying the necessary premium amount. I am a regular and prompt payer of my mobile bills, except for a few delayed payments for which I have paid the penalty charges also. Nothing is free or excused at BSNL. During the month of April - May 2010, I was out in my Village in Andhra Pradesh and could not pay the bill invoice 647762359 in time.

By the time I reached Bangalore on 5th May, my out-going was barred. On 6th May, at around 1.15 pm, when I went the Customer Care Center, Ganganagar, Bangalore, to pay my bill, the ladies there were already at lunch, even though the working hours is from 9.00 am to 2.30 pm without break. There were already a few other people waiting to pay their bill and cursing them for there service. I don't have anything personal with the ladies eating their lunch. But they should take turns at the cash counter.

Finally at 2.00pm I paid up the Old bill as well as the newly generated bill total amounting to Rs. 1254.00 and I requested for activation of out-going calls. The lady assured me that it will be done in 3 hours. Even until late in the evening, it was not restored.

On 7th morning I tried calling the customer care number, and I made 5 call, each time the lady at the other end keeps me on hold and forgets it. The customer care menus and the IVS is very bad, that's a different story. Thereafter I went to the Customer Care Center, Ganganagar once again in the morning at 9.45 am. The Office is open, but nobody to attend to customers, even though the office starts at 9.00 am. A lady walks in after 5 minutes and I asked her that my service is not yet restored.

I don't know what her frustrations were, but she was very arrogant, and her reply was as if it was a punishment for me for not paying the bill on time. When I said this is not the reply I expected her and she shouldn't be talking like that, she said it was none of my business. I got very angry, and on the spot I removed the SIM from my mobile phone, threw it on her desk and asked her to destroy it, if they are not able to restore my service.

That ends my relationship with BSNL. I have three other connections in the names of my other family members, and I intend to cancel all of them.

There is a lot I need to say on the services of BSNL, which I will take it up at a later stage. Unless you act on the deploring customer services, you will be loosing a lot of your customers in the days to come. I do not regret cancelling the services of BSNL, but I regret I could not retain the mobile number, because I had given the number to hundreds of my friends, relatives and business contacts.

Now I have to start over fresh with a new number from a different mobile service provider. I think, if only there was number portability, I would have jumped over long back and unless there is drastic changes in customer service, there are plenty more waiting to do the same.

A Frustrated Customer,
M.A.Ravindra Raju