How to activate voicemail on Bharti Airtel Postpaid mobile in Bangalore?

If you know the answer, please do leave me a comment about how to set it up. But, believe me when I say- Airtel have no clue about it themselves.

 

Originally, not an Airtel customer and frustrated with Idea’s hold-on-call that lasted for a good 10-15 minutes everytime I called them, I thought of doing my first MNP(Mobile Number Portability) to Airtel.

 

I had a good history with Airtel and was very impressed by their QoS- a term that doesn’t exist in their dictionary now.

 

My request was as simple as activating voicemail. Who wants to get a call from office at 4 am when he/she has reached home at 2 am? Yes, unfortunately, that was my poor story way back in March. But again, what if something got messed up terribly? I needed a workaround and thus subscribed to Rs. 20/- a month SMP(Smart Mail Plus). Thus began my frustration.

 

Trust me when I say that I have followed the correct escalation matrix :-

a) Call to Airtel Customer Care (121) at 50p for 3 minutes. Roughly about 2 hour

b) Talk with floor supervisors. Roughly about ½ hr@50p per 3 minutes.

c) E-Mail to customer care: 121@in.airtel.com. Roughly about 6 times.

d) Escalation e-mail to South Nodal team. Once

e) Visiting the nearest Airtel Store. They know just one thing- Dial 121 from the store.

Finally

f) Threatening to disconnect call and go for an alternative service provider. 3 times.

 

Its utterly unbelievable folks but they’d rather lose a customer than take a sincere effort to resolve the issue. They have stopped replying to my e-mails or calling me now to take the issue to resolution.

 

In a nutshell, it’s been a frustrating experience. I am going for a MNP again tomorrow, not for a VMS (now that I have changed my job & it’s not required) but only as a way of peaceful protest against a now sub-standard bunch of so called technical & customer service executives of Bharti Airtel.

Sunil Mittal is a rich guy. He would not mind losing a customer who paid Rs. 1422.33 as a “parting gift” to the company. That is just Rs. 17067.96 a year…

But, remember Airtel- HFZ hai !

 

 

UPDATE

 

For you reference, Smart Mail Plus procedure is as follows:

Now MNP Port in customers can use smart mail service on 52555. Customer to dial USSD Short Code *321*671# for activation.

Activate:
Call 52668 (toll free) to activate or deactivate

Charges:
Monthly rental of Rs 15/- for existing customers. Rs.20/- for new activationRetrieving 75ps, Call 52667 (for settings) @ Rs 3/min

Features:
- Call gets diverted to Voicemail(VM) under the following conditions
When the customer is out of reach
When Mobile is Switched Off
If unreachable
- Smart mail working condition when in roaming
In not reachable mode
Switched Off mode

- Get Missed Call Information(MCI) thru sms under the above conditions:
- All VM notifications or Missed call Information notifications will include mobile number and time.
- Retrieval of all VM on IVR 52666 or retrieval of a particular number VM on IVR 52666** (specified in sms).
- Retrieval of messages while in Roaming or even from a local Landline

Retrieval:
- Call 52666(75ps) for retrieval of all VMs or 52666** as specified in the sms for a particular voicemail
- For Landline retrieval call 9945501491, enter mobile number and password* to access VMs
- Customer can retrieve while roaming by calling ten digit number 9945501491(roaming rates) after password* verification.

For Settings:
- Call 52667(Rs3/min)
- Set your Password
- Record your personalized message or select a pre-recorded message
- Set messages as default message, Person specific message or Alternate message(define time period)

Super service from HP Customer Care, Bangalore

Possibly, one of the only reasons to keep me awake this moment! I have just been out of an hour long call with BMC Support. These two days have been 'freaking' hell! Not that I am complaining about the work or the hours but get thoroughly frustrated to 'over-commitment' of the biggies!

Anyways....

It has been a long time since I last blogged. A blogger since 2004 and an early-bird, of late I have been busy shuffling between tiring work hours and the need to commit to my personal duties.

Having said that, I would not been blogging at this hour hadn't it been for the timely support of HP's Service Center in Indiranagar, Bangalore.

My HP laptop is again up and running...

A month back, I was informed that the laptop would not boot. A little later, there was a yellow line on the screen(Read: Permanent Damage) and a little later

Since it was purchased in the U.S through www.deals2buy.com and at that moment did not care about international warranty, So, I wasn't expecting much from the Service Center- Maha Electronics at 13th Main Indira nagar.

On enquiry, I was bridged to the customer care and they said that the laptop wasn't supported in India.

With this, I was left with the only option that I usually follow to get the best out of any support- I spoke to the manager Mr. Rajeev who first empathized, sympathized and then said he would "work on that on a best effort basis" to get it working and asked me to leave the laptop there.

Days passed and we were getting impatient but the most pleasing part was that the Service Center guys kept informing that the "Hold your breath" FREE replacement was on its way.

Finally, it arrived yesterday much to our immense delight. And today, I received a call from HG Padmaraju(the engineer) that the "Hold your breath again!" FREE LCD replacement had arrived and we could get that replaced whenever we wanted to.

That's like a stress buster, ain't it?

On a closing note, I don't know why I keep writing about "Customer Rights" and "Customer Experiences". My cousin Anand teases me with the line "Jaago Grahak Jaago"

Yes, indeed! I was "awakened" by this excellent customer support. Kudos to HP and the Maha guys..

Google Instant is such a pain in the neck

There is no way to turn this off permanently and if you have a slow internet connection, it becomes a real thorn.

I liked every feature of Google but this is one that I really want Google to take off their feature list.

I hope they are listening…!

What to do in Tampa, Florida!

Laying on my bed after a long day at work, I am having a good feeling and it's not related to work at all!

Technically, 8 working days from now and I will be back home to Bengalooru- Yeah! Heaven only knows how I much I adore that place?

However, as I am rewinding my emot state during my 4 months stay here at Tampa Bay, I know for sure that I like this place and wish to come back here again but this time with my family.

There are 9 things that I could think of that would summarize my "good feeling" for the place:-

1. Weather : Not as perfect as Bangalore but ask someone from Minneapolis and they would say- it's Paradise
   
2. Marts and Malls: Walmart, CompUSA, Best Buy, Target, Whole Foods, International Plaza, International Flea Market(Tampa's own cheap market), Dollar Store. There is a whole bunch of malls and shopping marts here. And for all other things, there is craigslist.
   
3. Night-Life & Clubs: It's a bachelor's heaven here. From gentlemen's club to night-clubs, the place apparently ranks in the Top 10's of the world. If you don't believe me, read more about Joe Redner in the Wikipedia.
   
4. Downtown & YBor City: If you are in Tampa, you would certainly visit downtown and YBor City. From Hookah bars to beer joints, the center around the 8th Avenue is alive from about 9:30 pm to 3 :00 am to 3:30 am in the morning
   
5. Close to Miami and Orlando: These are the three tourist hotspots namely for beaches and theme parks. Miami is like a 5 hour drive and Orlando is around 2 hours from Tampa.
   
6. People: Good "civilized" people…
   
7. Something "Indian": For an Indian, one of our prime requisites will be the availability of Indian stores- there are plenty of restaurants and departmental stores here to get Indian food. (I guess nowadays its not an issue anywhere in the world: D). Oh, did I forget to mention that I watched two Indian Tamil movies here at Tampa?-Enthiran The Robot and Manmadhan Ambu !
   
8. HART service: The bus service is pretty fine compared to where I was in the US before (Plano, TX). You can take unlimited rides in a day with a 3.75$ bus-pass OR go for an unlimited ride monthly pass at 60$. Of course, the buses are not available round the clock but it's available every half an hour during the day and before midnight. Saturday and Sunday follows a different schedule.
   
9. Compact: All the places that you would want to go or visit is close to each other.
   

   
    

Yeah, it's been an effen-tastic experience!!

Google nahi hota to kya hota?- The Plot!

I was thinking of crappy movie titles like "Shiva ka Insaaf" starring not the Great destructor himself but Jaggu Da when this thought came in. What about a movie "Google nahi hota to kya hota?"

When unrealistic themes and uncommon events have become a part of big banner movies, this title looks like it could rock filmdom. Google has become a part of our lives. No matter how big a company Microsoft is or will remain so; it will never be a Google.

The six letters that you would type to get to Google is now your last respite for everything ain't it? From codes to coats and to scorns or corns, you will get every piece of information there and that information is sometimes what your life would stake upon. Of course, Wikipedia has a lot to do with Google's popularity index but it rocks with or without it.

Now, as for the plot: - I'd like to make it simple, a direct lift from "Main Meri Patni or Woh". No one else fits the bill then our dear Rajpal Yadav a.k.a Jhun Jhun. It will be about a village simpleton who discovers the "magic" of Google and how it changes his life and life around him?

And that too, when someone tells him "You can get everything at Google".

Our guy is a loser by all means- education, sick parents, intolerant neighbors and "lafangey" friends. Lost his girl- Raima Sen a.k.a Bulbool to his nemesis Mukesh Tiwari a.k.a. Bheera- the tough guy! The audience feels his sorrow and will cry with him when the girl he secretly admired and thought was in love with him confesses her marriage to the guy who bullies him.

There is no Hanuman Temple in the village by a river that is dry. The villagers are still complaining about the drought and the corrupt politicians. The world is about to come to an end for our simple guy.

Just then, a hoarding comes up in the nearby town for Google Freshers with that simple tag line.

Thus begins Jhun Jhun's endeavor to learn computers, internet, googling in that order. From Facebook to Orkut to "How to make a coke bomb?", our protagonist is everywhere, scrapping, commenting, liking and showing off his "grey matter"!

Oh, by the way, did I forget to mention how he opens up his own Facebook group called "Jhun Jhun Ki Kahani, Forum Ki Jubaani" where he lambasts his village sarpanch and MLA of the area in his own simple way.

"Sabb kahtey hain dengey Roti Kapda Makaan, hum kahtey hain do sirf ek paan ki dukaan"

When events like the "Pink Chaddi" campaign can do wonders, I'd expect Jhun Jhun to do more than just TimesNow or NDTV but be interviewed by CNN and esteemed honoraries like our dear Borat Sagdiyev.

Lastly, there will be some item songs by Sonakshi Sinha.

Now, that you got the plot and sure find it interesting, you have got to watch the movie..?

PS: I would not do a 5 point someone here but just in case VVC is reading this, man, all that you need to do is to pay me a humble few thousand dollars and you can have the rest of the story. Of course, I need my name in the credit scroll using Trebuchet MS size 66 font yellow on a black background!

How do I convert ₹ into $?

How do I convert ₹ into $?

Google mail (GMAIL) Distribution List

 

HOW DO I CREATE DISTRIBUTION LIST IN GMAIL?

Go to Contacts on the left pane of your webmail.

Step 1: Search for the contact

Step 2: Check mark the contact

Step 3: Go to groups and either add to existing group or create a new group by using the Add to… option

Step 4: Repeat the same for your other contacts as well.

To use the DL, type the group name and gmail will automatically populate your contacts in the group.

Dedicated to Zitarians because we miss out including our nearies for important e-mails once a while!

YouTube.com smitten by Vuvuzela?

I had not seen this before and came across it accidentally. But, this is interesting.

Open the below video in YouTube.com and click on the “soccer ball” icon in the video.

Yes, your worst dreams will come true. It is indeed the Vuvuzela.

Note: This appears to work Mozilla Firefox and not in IE.

The agony of Vuvuzela and the World Cup in Africa 2010

 

You sit in your comfy beanie with a bottle of beer and some chips in front of the 32 inch LCD television. I don’t want to be disturbed today, I say. After all, it is the first match of the World Cup Soccer 2010 and you are all ears until the match begins.

Image courtesy: Wikipedia.

 

But, then began the agony of Vuvuzela- the native African horn. I know it might be a very “sacred” instrument to our African mates but without any personal vendetta against any race, it is a nuisance to me.

For the first few minutes, I was able to concentrate on the game and enjoyed Santos firing all cylinders. This lad is the player for the future. I am sure we will hear a lot about him in the coming years.

The excitement however was overshadowed by the ever increasing Vuvuzela. I could barely hear the commentator. I pitied the Poor Mexicans! It appears the Africans have an invisible 12th force called Vuvuzela. In crude comparisons, it might be what car horns are for us Bangaloreans. An American tourist would go crazy here.

Can you believe that for the sheer fear of going deaf or having a hallucinating VUVU effect, I watched the match on mute occasionally checking if the Vuvu sound is still there. But, it never did…

I thought Indian cricket supporters were the craziest zealots. But, if the chips are down, they tend to sober. Not the South Africans. Above all, they have nothing to lose and yes, beer is allowed.

So, what to do? Psychologically weaken(“deafen”) your opponents with the Vuvuzela!

Guess it did have an impact on me and I couldn’t be awake to watch the French play Uruguay.

What's one thing you own that you should probably throw away, but never will?

Wow, I don't know. That's a good question. Next one please ;-)

Ask me anything