User Review : Tata Docomo

The TATA group recently launched yet another new cellular network in Karnataka. It's called TATA Docomo.



Won't go into details of the postpaid plan, but the prepaid plan is pretty attractive. Their main feature is the 'per second pulse'. Presently, all other networks have a 'per minute pulse' system. In effect, if your call lasts 5 minutes 10 seconds, you pay for 6 minutes [6 pulses]. But with Docomo, you'll be charged for exactly how long the call lasted, i.e. for 310 seconds in the example.

The call charges are also pretty competitive. It's 1 paisa/second, all across India. So, you get to call any number anywhere in India, local or STD, @ 60 Paise/minute, compared to 50 paise/minute as offered by Virgin mobile. But, as you might know, Virgin offers STD calls @ 50 paise/min only for 1 hour/day. After that, STD call charge is RS 1.50 . Pretty expensive. That's not the case with Docomo. You can make calls at the same charges 24x7 (*). In effect, Docomo calls are cheaper than Virgin. :)

Another feature where Docomo scores is - free SMSs. 1st SMS of the day is charged and then 100 local & national SMS free per day. So, you can send a local sms @ 60paise at the beginning of the day and after that send 100 free STD SMSs. That's like 'treasure chest' for me. :O

Another feather in its cap is couple of features, that are 'chargeable' on other networks are now free on Docomo. They are - Missed call alerts and Voicemail Service.

Missed Call Alert comes pre-activated on your TATA DOCOMO. This service enables you to know the phone number of the person who called you while you were out of coverage area or when your mobile was switched off.

TATA DOCOMO provides you free Voicemail service at no monthly rentals, no deposit or retrieval charges. You can divert your calls to your voicemail box when you do not answer or are not reachable and the caller will be able to leave a voicemail for you

What more could you ask for...!!?? I was badly tempted to get my hands on this new baby. Got myself one this Saturday for Rs. 49 only. That gave me Rs 5 worth talktime and lifetime validity. And with that Rs 5, I talked to a friend in Calcutta for 3-4 mins and sent some 20 national msgs. So much for 5 Rs. But the amazement ends there.

I don't have prior experience with 'new born baby' networks, so can't really say how they behave during their early days. But, I'm not eager to accept that as an excuse for Docomo's dismal performance. After all, it is backed by Tata Network, which is already operating Tata Indicom and virgin. So, I didn't even imagine that Docomo will have network issues. But to my utter disgust, it fails in both call and sms department.

Most of incoming calls are dropped. I tested it on local and national level. My brother tried calling me and found that 'the number is busy' for couple of hours [multiple times through out the day], when my cell was actually not in use. My girlfriend was disgusted due to the same reason. 'Who were you engaged with for so long'...?? Had a nasty fight. I'm wondering if I can sue Docomo for that. :P

Same fate of SMSs. Luckily, my SMSs to her are getting delivered but not the other way around. I'm receiving only the 1st SMS from her. There after, non of her SMS are delivered on my number. Moreover, the 1st SMS itself is getting delivered 10-20 times. For example, she sent me her 1st SMS @ 9:30 PM. I kept getting that msg repeatedly till 3 AM, again and again. Bloody irritating.

Exactly opposite is happening in case of SMS to bro. There I'm receiving msg from Bro, but my msg is not getting delivered to him. In short, sms communication on Docomo is totally unreliable. So much for 100 free SMSs...!!! X-(

Adding salt to the wound is the 'Customer Care' service. Calls to '121' are rarely connected. On the rare occasions when the call goes through, the IVR is still patchy. First option 'Offers of the week' fails due to 'technical reasons'. [Update: fixed now] Pressing '9' to talk to a representative is useless. Call is placed on hold forever and you're mocked at by the Docomo jingle tune. Service is no better even at 3AM or anytime during the day.

After using Docomo over the weekend, I'm totally irritated. Hoping that they will improve their network quality, reduce/eliminate call drops and hire some real people as representative so that '121' is operational. Once these issues are taken care of, Docomo is gonna rule.

Update 1 : * STD – First 27,000 seconds charged at 1 paisa per second in a month, beyond that 2 paisa per second in that month.

Update 2 : Looks like they are not in a mood to listen to customer complain / feedback. There is this Feedback form in their website, but its impossible to submit the form. Midway through filling the form, the page reloads and you are not able to select the city, without which, you are not allowed to submit the form.

I even sent them a mail at listen@tatadocomo.com. I got an auto-reply that they will get back to me within 24 hours. But even after 2 days, no response.

First 121, then feedback form and now this. All ways of communicating with Docomo is faulty. I wrote them another mail today, that follows. If they don't respond to this and if the issues are not addressed, I'm seriously thinking about lodging a complain in consumer court.

to : listen@tatadocomo.com
date :Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 1:33 PM
subject Re: Worst network ever

Hi,

Well, I never heard back from you guys. So, here's another reminder for you.

The different issues that I'm facing are -

• National outgoing SMS are not getting delivered to any number except for one airtel number in Calcutta.


• SMS messages from that very number is not getting delivered on my docomo number. That too, is a special case as explained in next point.


• Only the 1st SMS of the day sent from that number is delivered to me. But multiple times, even 4-5 hours after the SMS was originally sent.


• I don't get automatic 'call cost' and balance updates after I make a call or send a SMS.


• Most of the times, when someone calls my docomo number, they hear a 'busy tone', when in reality my phone is not busy.


• Since last two days, whenever I try to call any number, I constantly get 'network busy'. To make a single call, I have to try at least 10 times.


• All the customer care numbers are useless. Call to 121 or 9036012345 are rarely connected. Most of the time, it is 'route is busy'.


• On the rare occasion it is connected, all we get is IVR. Pressing '9' to talk to representative is useless. The call is put on hold and docomo jingle tune is played like forever. I once stayed online for 6 minutes, but no one picked the call.


• Calls to 080 - 65393402; 66689643 [ provided on customer service page ] are also useless. First number is always switched off. Calls on second number is never picked up.


• The Customer complain & Feedback form on your website is no better. After selecting the 'Circle', the page reloads and the drop down menu to select 'city' is frozen. I'm unable to select my city and as a result, am unable to submit my complain from there.

I'm having serious problems due to all these. What irritates me most is the inability to reach someone to get my grievance addressed. You have people monitoring 'tweeter' but you don't have people to answer call to 121...!!!! That's utterly disgusting.

I hope to hear back from you soon. Please improve your service quality and customer care.

Regards,

Bikram Agarwal

Update 3: Well, the 4th point is resolved now. At least I'm getting to know my call charges and remaining balance.

Update 4: 17th July. My call to Customer Care was picked up this morning, after waiting on line for 6 minutes. I lodged a complain and got a reference number. I am told that they will resolve this and get back to me within 28 hours. [ Yes, it's not typo. It is 28 and not 24. ] But that was the only chance I got lucky. Since then, customer care is again unreachable. Calls to them behave so weirdly that I can write a whole post on it. Check this out.

Update 5: Ok, it's been quite some time since I wrote my complaint mail to the Docomo people. Since then, most of the issues that I faced are resolved. Both incoming and outgoing national SMSs are getting delivered now. I'm getting the balance update flash msg after every chargeable call or sms. It's a bit easier now to call and connect 121. The Customer complain & Feedback form on Docomo website works now. So, in short, things are looking up. The few things that are still bugging me include -

• Most of the times, when someone calls my docomo number, they hear a 'busy tone', when in reality my phone is not busy.
  I had lodged a separate complain for this and just yesterday I was told by them that it is resolved. Since then I haven't faced this issue. But still, it's too early to give them a clap. Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that this is really resolved.



• There's a new problem of the lines going almost dead during night sometimes. Like, just day before yesterday, I had to call my bro but the phone just won't connect. It won't even squeak. I press 'call', I get 'calling Bro' on my screen. But there's "Silence of the Lambs". No dial tone, no busy tone, no nothing. After a while, it cuts. And not just Bro's number. Any number I dial, it's the same story. It's not become a 'regular feature' though. I hope not.

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