Thread: Reliance Broadband gmail & blogger problems.

This is a log of an unresolved problem that customer service has acknowledged to be nation-wide:

Problem Description: Every day, starting around 9AM IST, blogger.com and all blogger sites become inaccessible. Also, other google sites sites as gmail behaves flakily - also, you cannot download gmail attachments either. The problems started on the 22nd of June 2011 in the afternoon.

Customer Service Experience so far:

1. I attempted to call customer service on the 22nd of June 2011 and described the problem. I eventually had to hang up because the customer service repeatedly came back and said the issue is with the site I am browsing in spite of my pleas saying the sites are up as indicated by google status.
2. On the 23rd, I was finally able to get a complaint number (155511330) and they said the issue will be resolved within 24 hours.
3. Called the local service rep (Jitin) and he asked for the issue number. A customer service guy showed up at our house around 1:30PM. They confirmed that their local office cannot access the sites as well and that their competition (Aircel, etc) could. At this point, he said he will escalate the issue.
4. On the 24th, Got through to their local (Chakkaraparambu, Cochin) customer service head (Sreekumar). He acknowledged that the problem is nation-wide and they do not have an ETA.
5. On the 28th, a local service rep (Satheesh) again showed up at our house. He asked for a description of the problem - he then said it was escalated yesterday - surprise, surprise. He seemed to think the issue had to do with Reliance blocking some sites and in the process erroneously blocking google sites as well. A case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing...
6. Today is the 30th, a week after logging the issue with no change in status.

On a related note, if anyone has any recommendation with regards to choosing a good reliable broadband service in the Kakkanad area in Cochin, please reply to let me know.

Regards,
John.

Here is an update:

The problem (complaint #155511330) is still not corrected and it has been 10 days. Today, a reliance rep offered a workaround as a solution. He wanted me to try accessing gmail in html mode and then attempt to download attachments. I tried it and even that did not work. Blogger.com and all blogger sites are still not available either. Truly pathetic service - especially jarring is the fact that they freely admit the problem is nationwide...

If anyone know of a good alternative to Reliance for reliable broadband service in Kakkanad (Cochin), please reply and let me know. I have been unable to work for the past 10 days because of these issues and so I am seriously considering alternatives. I am hoping to upgrade in the Rs1-2K per month price range.

Regards,
John.

I use google services fairly extensively and have not come across any problem any time of the day so far.

Here is an update:

On July 7th, a full two weeks after reporting the issue, it was corrected. I have been able to access blogger sites as well as download gmail attachments from that point on. But, for my work purposes, what I have is inadequate. I have checked out a couple of alternatives (BSNL & Tata Indicom) but apparently they are not much better either. So, what I am looking at currently is to keep the Reliance connection but use a postpaid plan from Tata Photon Plus (or similar) for use at times when my Reliance connection have problems. If anyone reading this has alternate ideas for a reliable net connection at good speed for Rs 1-2K per month in the Kakkanad (Cochin) area, please let me know.