[Resolved]  Airtel — SUB-STANDARD STBs

Address:

Chennai, Tamil Nadu

I have been facing problems with the Airtel DTH Set Top Box (STB) ever since its installation in Jan 2010. The STB was replaced on many ocassions during the warranty (6 months). Thereafter each time, they charged service charges for replacing the STBs. Even during the replacement it is common to see the technician trying out 2 or 3 STBs before finding one that 'works'. However it works only for a few weeks and fails again. Please note that the replacement STBs are not new but pieces that have been repaired over and over numerous times.
This time I refused to pay service charges and asked Airtel to replace the STB free of cost because I cannot be expected to keep on paying for sub-standard service and poor quality of STBs. After numerous complaint over 5 days, I got a call from Airtel yesterday that my STB would be replaced Free of Cost. However when the technician arrived, he said that he was not aware of any such offer and that I would have to pay for the replacement. He called up the service centre who also confirmed that the charges would have to be paid. I called up the call centre and they also were not aware of any such offer and said that I would have to pay. The tel. no. from which I got the call regarding the free of cost replacement was not reachable.
I reluctantly agreed to pay (because of the ongoing world up cricket matches which I did not want to miss). However, even the replacement STB was found to be defective on installation! Thank god it happened right away. Had it happened later, I would again have had to pay serrvice charges for another replacement. This has reinforced my belief that the Airtel STBs are indeed sub-standard. I think it helps the company generate constant revenue through service charges; the customer be damned, they couldn't care less.
I do not feel like wasting any more time and energy on complaining again and again and have decided to end this issue once and for all. I have therefore asked Airtel to terminate my DTH connection immediately and refund the balance amount in my account. If they do not act promptly, I plan to take the matter to the consumer court and also claim compensation for mental agony and harrassment.