Incompetence versus bad business

[Ranting follows. You have been warned!]

Some would argue that the two points in the headline are connected. However, I am inclined to believe that they may not be. I shall once again go on a tirade against Hathway, my ISP in Bangalore. I have been a customer with them since December 2006 and have renewed my connection four times since. But the trouble one has to go through to get that done or get any information from them is simply monumental.

Getting the connection was no problem. They were prompt, helpful and efficient. That’s not bad business. But then, they went over to the other side and became plain incompetent. I wonder if there are more Hathway users in Bangalore who suffer in the same manner I do. I have to believe there are. Every renewal is a pain. Checking account status by yourself is an even bigger problem.

Most ISPs would have their website working to allow users to log in and check account status. But Hathway could not care less. Their site (www.hathway.com) has been down for at least a month and despite calls to tell them this, it doesn’t work. As a result, I cannot check how much of my 3GB package I have used up. Fair enough. So the next best way to find out the status is to call them. And then someone comes on line and tells me, “You will get a call from the renewal department in 20 minutes to tell you the status”. Big problem. If the number they give as a helpline number cannot tell me my usage, why is it a helpline number? It’s another thing that a minimum of 10 attempts are required to get through to that number in the first place. The unfriendly nature of the call centre (if it really is that) associates is another matter altogether.

Outages of the connection are almost a way of life. Once-a-week, the connection will be down for at least 2-3 hours. And that is in a good week. No warning, no email, and worse still, no reason if you manage to get through the number to talk to someone. That is incompetence.

I have chronicled my previous experiences with the service on this site and despite a variety of ways of telling the Hathway guys about my problems, the quality does not change. I won’t be surprised if I am a blacklisted customer for the number of calls I make or the amount I end up screaming. I can’t help it. There is only so much one can bear.

So you must be wondering why in god’s name I haven’t opted for another ISP. In a free market like ours and especially in a city like Bangalore, there are options. Sure but not where I stay. I am told Airtel is great as are BSNL and Tata Indicom. But Airtel hasn’t “reached the area” with their service yet. BSNL has a line snaking from Bangalore to Mysore for connections and Tata Indicom doesn’t respond when you inquire. Do these people not want business?

But coming back to the Hathway problem, their levels of incompetence are beyond my comprehension. They seem to be running a large operation, but most people seem to be out of sync with what they are doing and what they need to do. Why should my renewal request (especially if I have paid cash) take 24 hours? Why does it have to go to their Mumbai office for verification? What verification? Why can’t the unfriendly call attendant tell me how much is left in my account? Why can’t they tell me what is wrong when the connection is down? Why do they say it will be out for minimum 3 hours, maximum 5? Why can’t they live up to their service promise? I haven’t even gone on to tell you whether the 512kbps connection I have really is 512kbps. On an average, transfers of data happen at speeds of about 7-8kbps. On a good day, I have seen it reach 21 or 22 kbps, but with a 512 line, I would expect much much more. The speeds I get are available through even a Reliance PCMCIA card.

You tell me. Is this bad business or incompetence? Or is one leading to the other?

Tags: Internet, ISP, Bangalore, Free market, Bad Service