The Background

Once upon a time (circa 1994), in a land far away, a developing nation (India) opened its doors to private telecommunication providers, thereby giving birth to Mobile Telephony.  It took a few years for the market to reach critical volumes, but things kept progressively improving for the "customer".  Call rates dropped from the astronomical level of Rs. 16.8 per minute to the present Rs. 2 p.m.  Call centres sprung up to address the plethora of customer queries.  Brand differentiation started carving niches in the market, with customers exhibiting their preference for one brand over another… All in all, there was progress.

One of the earliest players in this market was a company that went by the name of Hutchison Whampoa (now Hutchison Essar), operating under the brand name : Orange.  Its very popular tag line?  The future’s bright, the future’s Orange. 

"Orange" was as classy and sophisticated as a cellular service could get.  Its executives were more smartly dressed and spoke better English than those of its competitors.  Its services were technically more advanced than others.  Its tieups with local partners were more in-line with its ‘upmarket’ customer base.  Naturally, for many of us seeking to become mobile (or "upwardly mobile"), Orange was the cellular provider of choice.

Nothing lasts forever.  And soon, others began offering better things… BPL Mobile’s network was superior, Airtel’s new services were fun, Dolphin’s low call rates were tempting… Orange was no longer the best.  But most of its customers stayed on, because number portability was still not on the horizon.  If you wanted to switch operators, you’d have to change your mobile number – the one that you’ve been giving out to all your contacts for the last several years!  So you stayed put.

In fact, some of us (like me), also bought another connection from Orange for a member of the family – partly because connectivity between operators was still not as smooth as it should be.  So, if you needed to reach someone in the family, you might as well be on the same network!

Cut to Present Day

This week, when I tried to switch my mom’s post-paid (billing) plan to pre-paid, I was in for a surprise!  "Customer service"  had really moved up in the past few years…

1. Mom’s mobile usage was very less, so there was no sense in continuing with a billing connection with higher rentals.  But moving from post-paid to pre-paid needed a trip to the local "customer care centre".  Of course, the name is a misnomer because in such outlets, no one really cares much about the customer.
2. After registering my need at the desk, I patiently waited for 20 minutes before their customer executive would see me.  There, I found myself offering a detailed explanation on why I wish to switch to a prepaid plan – it was their policy to seek a lengthy explanation; a concise one would not do.
3. The existing plan had a security deposit of Rs. 500, which Orange owed me.  It also had some outstandings on my current month’s bill, which I owed them.  For some strange reason, their "policy" did not permit settling outstanding dues against monies that are owed to me, and bill me for the remaining amount.  They would not even be able to adjust my deposit against the purchase of the new SIM card for my prepaid plan.  I would need to pay them all the dues, and apply for a refund on the deposit, which would come to me (by snail mail) after a week!

Telling them that I have been a valued customer with them for over 4 years was no help.  Telling them that I was a corporate customer was also no help.  That was their new policy.

Frustrated by the second-grade treatment, I asked for an immediate disconnection of my existing subscription.  And, guess what?  If I chose to disconnect my subscription altogether, they would be happy to adjust my deposit against my outstandings, and bill me for the remaining amount!  But, not if I continued using their services!

It doesn’t end there. Two days after that, having purchased a new prepaid plan from the market (and losing the old mobile number), I get a call from the Customer Retention department of Orange.

"In view of my long-standing relationship with the company, they are willing to waive-off 66% of the fees on my rentals, for the next 12 months, if I wish to retain my subscription with them"! 

By this time, of course, it is too late.  The future’s NOT bright.  And, it’s certainly not Orange!