Airtel Prepaid Mobile... avoid!

timmy

I bought an Airtel prepaid SIM card in Delhi for my phone only to find out it was pretty much useless.

The pack clearly states "All Incoming Calls: Free"

Not true. While this applies to incoming calls in Delhi it doesn't apply when you are roaming to other states, where a Rs 6/min charge applies. The pack does not mention this at all.

The pack also states Airtel supports roaming to 14 other states.

...yet makes no mention that it only accepts incoming calls and does not allow you to call out.


So if you are travelling in India and want to use your GSM phone I'd recommend you try another service (possibly Hutch, who seemed to be everywhere).

flamingo2004

Yeah - I noticed that, when I did a bit research on the web-sites of Hutch & Airtel. It could also be that you ended up with the wrong card.
Generally most of their cards acts like you are in different states. I.e. you travel around Europe: Denmark is different from Germany - and in India: Rajasthan is different from Gujarat etc.
There should however be some better all-India cards than you ended up with, but as I opted out of getting a card I cannot remember which/who was best. It would also depend on where you are going.

beach

You need to pay for incoming call if you are outside your ‘home’ range. If you are outside this range the caller will be paying up to your home range. And from there to your present location will the charged on you. Typically the home range is a full state or something like that. All the operators are working this pattern. Select the operator based on their coverage than anything else. As the cost among them are not too different.
The state owned BSNL has the largest and coverage. But may be a bit difficult to get the SIM (there is a booking period and all) in comparison with Hutch, Airtel, RIM, Orange, IDEA, etc ….

If you can get a BSNL, nothing like that as they have wider coverage than anyone else

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oldhippie

Does anyone know the current rates for GPRS Data?
I just bought a Treo 600 in the States and plan to use it in Mumbai.

Thanks
Bill

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timmy

Uh-huh... be that as it may, the packaging for this card states clearly and unambiguosly that all incoming calls are free... which is, of course, a blatant lie.

I was just very disappointed that I bought the card so my friends in Australia could call me on a single number as I travelled (i.e. convenience) as well as being able to make calls myself. As it turned out, my remaining credit disappeared on a single incoming call which was disconnected with a recording telling me my credit was too low. I'm left wondering how the hell I got charged for a supposedly free incoming call, and not even able to call Airtel customer service to ask.

All very disappointing and inconvenient.

beach

Out of curiosity I've checket at their site. There they say

" Incoming calls are free only in home network and not while roaming." I'm not sure if this is printed on the pack/brochure you've refered.If it is there I'm sure it would be printed with very very small font for obvious reasons

Check here www.airtelworld.com/ap/prepaid.htm for the rates, coverege etc.

I use Hutch. Suffering only a very little with the "customer delight" activities. At times I get some spam sms from them.

timmy

Actually I did try to visit their site from Varanasi, however the home page got stuck trying to load some silly movie or something, and there was no "skip this" option, so I gave up. As I've said repeatedly, there is absolutely no mention of roaming charges in the prepaid kit, apart from quoting the Rs 45/month roaming fee, which was promtly deducted upon leaving Delhi.

You are right that this type of charge is normally found in the fine print, indicated by an askerisk next to the word "free". I've worked in marketing, so it's either pretty sloppy or deliberately misleading to leave out this important fact.

Anyway it's no big deal to me, just wanted others to be aware so they might make a better choice than me.

"It could be that my only purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others."

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beach

flamingo2004

You could try to let that funny looking cat avatar loose at them - that is scary ;-)

jpvs

Its all about familiarity to local things

Give the airtel card to a Hundred Indians here and they will never misunderstand it Everyone will know that Roaming charges will apply once outside the home network.

So probably the card itself was designed by some Indian chaps for the indian market. Expecting a foreign tourist to pick them up must have been the last thing on thier mind.

Did you have to submit any identification documents to 'enable' the sim card?

timmy

Just used my passport for ID and they took a photocopy of it at the shop where I bought the pack.

Jeroen

Now you're here anyway, can you list the price of receiving incoming calls from a romaing area, please?

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timmy

It turned out to be Rs6 per minute for incoming when roaming... so the remaining Rs100 on the card didn't last very long at all.

Jeroen

Thanks. I find that price very acceptable though, but not if it's not written on the tin of course!

Can you buy recharge cards for the SIM card outside the 'home area', or do you have to get these from Delhi (or recharge by credit card)?

flamingo2004

Again - try to read on their web-pages. They do have different possibilities. And when you decide to buy you should probably get the sim card in the phone companys own shop, so you are sure you get the most updated card.