Airtel not changing billing cycle

My number is 080-42002516.

I had requested Airtel to change my billing cycle to the 1st of every month. To this, the only answer I keep getting is that this cannot be done as the cycle is "predetermined" and there is some "policy" because of which this cannot be changed. Their customer care, nodal officers and even appellate of Airtel keeps giving this message. How can this company call itself a national player if its systems and policies are not able to accommodate a simple request like this? Looks like they are intent on losing customers. Below is a transcript of my communication with them...

To top it all, they require 72 hours to reply to each mail sent to each level..72 hours to send one bland template ?...sheesh...one of the worst services I have encountered in recent times !!!

Any ideas anyone..? or do I have to terminate and renew the services again with them..?
_____________________

Sent: Friday, November 04, 2011 6:28 PM
To:
Poornachandra Upadhya
Dear Mr. Upadhya,

Warm greetings from airtel Telemedia Services.

We regret for the delay in responding to your e-mail.

With reference to your e-mail dated 04/11/2011, you have expressed concern regarding bill cycle change for your airtel account number 16066213.

Please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused. We value the relationship built with you and trust that one odd, unfortunate incident will not come in the way of this association. We would like to reiterate that we share your anguish and have taken adequate action to ensure the non-occurrence in future.

We wish we could do this for you however, as per the policy we regret to inform you that we would not be able to process your request for bill cycle change.

It is our privilege to have you as our valued customer and would like to thank you for your continued patronage. We look forward to a very warm and fruitful association with you.

Nodal Office.
airtel Telemedia Services

Assuring you our best of services
Yours sincerely
Jaishree


---------Original Message----------
Me
Sent: 04/11/2011 05:08:07 PM
Subject: FW: REGARDING PHONE / BROADBAND FOR 080-42002516 [|BAL|Qrc23110111410346373296|]

Hi,

I do not understand what policy is being referred to here?

Is the customer supposed to cancel the services again with Airtel, and get
airtel services again to get a convenient billing cycle?

Thanks and regards,

.................................................. ..............................
.................................................. ..............................
............................



Poornachandra Upadhya



Airtel
Subject: Re: REGARDING PHONE / BROADBAND FOR 080-42002516
[|BAL|Qrc23110111410346373296|]



Dear Mr. Upadhya,

Warm greetings from airtel Telemedia Services.

We regret for the delay in responding to your e-mail.

With reference to your e-mail dated 31/10/2011, you have expressed concern
regarding bill cycle change for your airtel account number 16066213.

We wish we could do this for you however, as per the policy we regret to inform
you that we would not be able to process your request for bill cycle change.

We regret for the inconvenience caused to you

It is our privilege to have you as our valued customer and would like to thank
you for your continued patronage. We look forward to a very warm and fruitful
association with you.


Assuring you our best of services
Yours sincerely
Deepa

---------Original Message----------
Me
Sent: 31/10/2011 02:54:59 PM
Subject: FW: REGARDING PHONE / BROADBAND FOR 080-42002516
[|BAL|Qrc23110110910436364820|]

Hi,

So far everyone related to Airtel is expressing regrets but not providing
concrete reasons as to why this cannot be done. Please advise.

I intend to take Airtel to consumer court on this one if flimsy reasons are
provided again.

The policy mentioned by Airtel is applicable to all the subscribers who have taken their connection in Inda. They cannot change the billing cycle according the the wishes of a particular subscriber.

These officials receive numerous emails in the form of complaints every day. It is only natural for them to take some nominal time to reply to your emails. Take solace in the fact they are at least responding to your emails - unlike some of the the other service providers in this country who plainly ignore them!

I am afraid you will have to accept it as a fact and continue using the connection. Else, there is always an option to opt for the services of other service providers plying in your area...

Originally Posted by cool_techie_tvm

....... They cannot change the billing cycle according the the wishes of a particular subscriber.

Thank you.

I certainly do not expect an exception. It is just a matter of budget and convenience for many customers. A bill sent on 25th / 26th is not paid most of the times either because the customers overlook the bill because of its untimely arrival or because the customers lack funds close to the month. This also triggers harrassment calls and mailers from corporate airtel. Hence, if Airtel was really interested in addressing customer issues, they should be perceptive to these things.

Originally Posted by cool_techie_tvm

.......
These officials receive numerous emails in the form of complaints every day. It is only natural for them to take some nominal time to reply to your emails. Take solace in the fact they are at least responding to your emails - unlike some of the the other service providers in this country who plainly ignore them!

It is really indeed a sad state of affairs firstly because Airtel also receives so many complaints these days, and secondly that we as customers have begun to accept their mediocrity as a benchmark for other providers. Airtel, if it is really a big player in this industry, should have systems in place to track the complaints, and not have very lax turn around times of 72 hours - reminds me of the olden days when I had to stand in line to book a railway ticket.

I understand the predicament which you are facing. There has been numerous occasions when I forgot the pay the bills due to the reasons mentioned in your post. But then, when they are not willing to adapt, we must adapt. They usually hold on to a "leave or suffer" attitude towards the customers. These days, they do not even make an attempt to retain the subscribers who have been with them for many years (when plenty of people are not happy with the stringent fair usage policies introduced on most of the plans threaten to cut their Airtel broadband connection).

Lack of competition is a bane to the broadband industry in this country..