My Ordeal With Reliance. Review on Reliance Data Card

After I resigned from my previous company, I had to return my Net Datacard to the company & since I have had above average experience of using the Reliance Data Card, I decided to buy a personal connection from Reliance.

If you think it is easy to get a connection, then think again because this is what happened to me.

Address Proof - I wanted an unlimited download connection, which would cost me Rs. 1800 as one time payment followed by Rs. 750.00 per month for the unlimited usage. The sales person at the counter like a parrot explained the product in well rehearsed lines & I was asked to give them my address proof.

The first address proof was my bank statement, which was not accepted by Reliance because the account is in a Corporate Bank & they will not consider the address in the statement as address proof.

I gave them second address proof, which is my Vodafone cell bill, again this was not acceptable because bills for cell number are not considered as address proof.

Then I gave them the third address proof, which was a receipt for the property tax paid to the government by me a couple of month's ago, which unfortunately was not accepted as address proof either.

Finally I asked them what else can I produce as my address proof? I was asked to give them copies of first 3 and last 2 pages of my apartment's sales agreement because they will accept it as my address proof. Finally I gave them what they wanted & paid Rs. 1800.00 as the one time payment for the data card. This was on 28th-July-2011.

After Sales Service - The job doesn't ends once the sale is made because the services rendered after the sales is very important as this is what satisfies the customer. Did Reliance live up to it? Well, NO. They failed miserably.

I was assured that within 24 hours I will not only get the modem & data card from Reliance, somebody will come from Reliance to verify the address given by me & the connection will be activated immediately after the verification is completed.

Till 30th-July-2011 nobody bothered to visit my place for verification though I went to Reliance store to remind them on 29th-July-2011. I told them that I was going to my hometown on 31st-July-2011 early morning hence it was very important for me to have the connection because I will be completely out of touch with people without the internet.

Unfortunately I had to go without the data card, though I was promised that the very next day it will be delivered at my place. I was told to leave some proof with photo, so that the verification can be done & the data card can be handed over to my sister. I left a copy of my PAN card at home & explained my sister to show them this proof when asked.

I returned Mumbai on 19th-August-2011 only to find that neither the modem nor the data card was delivered to my place. I went to the Reliance store again & after listening to some lame excuses, I was assured that by evening the needful would be done by them. Because they have not yet received the modem, but someone will hand carry it with him & deliver it to my apartment.

Now the time is 10 PM on 22nd-August-2011 & I am yet to receive the modem & the data card from Reliance.

Questions to the Reliance Management -

1) Please advise why the address in the statement of accounts of a Corporate Bank cannot be accepted as address proof? Because with the same document I had taken cell phone connection from Vodafone. When it is accepted by one service provider, why not by other?

2) Or, is it that the staff hired to run the Reliance stores are not properly trained as to which document is acceptable & which is not acceptable?

3) Why the receipt issued by the government for the property tax cannot be accepted as address proof? After all it is issued by the government not by any corporate body.

4) Is there anyone monitoring the after sales performance of the stores? If yes, then why have I not received the connection yet?

Final opinion of the Customer - I have nothing against the product otherwise I wouldn't have opted for it but the way things are being handled by Reliance I have lost my confidence in you & would certainly not recommend it to anyone.

There is a lot that Reliance need to do with their stores & they must start from scratch one because this will bring forward the loop holes in their system, which they can later plug in with rock solid policies adopted to suit the customer's satisfaction. Because that is what matters at the end of the day, the end user for whom the product is manufactured should be happy & satisfied.

The rating of 3 stars is only for the product's performance, which I have used for almost one year but the after sales response have forced me not to recommend the product to anyone.