Really disappointed with Docomo in Karnataka

[Sunil Umesh]

I was using a Vodafone connection which was excellent, and ported to Docomo in July 2013 for the sole reason that Vodafone's 3G licence was withdrawn in Karnataka. I wasleft with two options (Airtel and Docomo) which were the only ones having native 3G license in Karnataka. I avoided Airtel because I had used it before, and although Airtel's netwrok is good, they are big time frauds and cheats. I had no idea about Docomo, but since several people told me that Docomo has a pretty good network in Karnataka, I decided to port my number to Docomo.
All was well for a few days, and then the problems started. Docomo's netwrok is fine with respect to normal 2G voice calls, but its pathetic with respect to data. And the customer care too is not at all satisfactory. Let me explain in detail.
1) I have a Nokia Lumia 920 handset. I usually keep my data connection turned off, and only turn it on when required. I have noticed that 9 out of 10 times, I never get the data connection even after turning it on the settings. This is true irrespective of whether I turn on 2G data or 3G data. I have to turn the data connection on and off multiple times, and if I'm lucky, I get the connection after a lot of attempts. I contacted customer care regarding this issue in the beginning of August. He told me to change the access point name from TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET to TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNETHVC, and this change would resolve my problem. I made this change, but noticed no improvement because the problem still persisted. I called customer care again the next day to tell them that the solution they provided didn't work. To this, the person told me that he has registered a complaint, and I would get a call back within 24 hours to either acknowledge that my issue has been resolved, or to let me know when it will be resolved. That was in the beginning of August, and until today (September 25th), I never got any call from Docomo, and the problem still persists.
2) Second thing is with respect to the language. Although I have clearly set my IVR language as English, I always get connected to the Kannada or Hindi customer care department whenever I choose the option to speak to a customer care representative. They told me that whenever the English department is busy, I get connected to either the Kannada or Hindi department. I specifically told them to change my settings so that I always get connected to the ENglish department, and I don't mind waiting for some time if the lines are busy. The person told me that my issues will be resolved within 24 hours, and after that, I will always get connected to the English department from my number. This was during the second week of August. But until today, the issue hasn't been resolved, and I still get connected to only the Kannada or Hindi departments.
3) Since I was having these issues and wasn't getting any solution by calling customer care, I thought of registering a complaint via the official Tata Docomo website. But for that, I needed to create an acccount and the site never allowed me to crate the account. The problem was that while creating an account, I'm asked to choose a password with a 'special character', but the supported special charaters are never mentioned. I tried passwords with all the special charaters available on my keyboard, but I always got an error which said that my passowrd doesn't contain a special character. This effectively prevents me from ever registering a complaint online.
4) My final issue is with respect to online recharge. The website asks me to enter my number in order to show me the available recharges, but when I enter my number and click 'submit', I always get a message which says 'No topups are currently available for your number'. So to recharge online, i always have to go through the tedious proicess of searching through the available recharges and then selecting the one I require.
If these problems continue, I would have no choice but to port to another operator once I have completed the mnimum duration with Docomo. Since I'm unable to get solution to my probelms in any way, I posted it here so that someone from Docomo might see it and improve their services.
Here are my details, just in case:-
Number:- +919880144504
Email id:- sunil_u123@hotmail.com
Sorry, i have no alternate number.

 

[TATADOCOMO]

I was using a Vodafone connection which was excellent, and ported to Docomo in July 2013 for the sole reason that Vodafone's 3G licence was withdrawn in Karnataka. I wasleft with two options (Airtel and Docomo) which were the only ones having native 3G license in Karnataka. I avoided Airtel because I had used it before, and although Airtel's netwrok is good, they are big time frauds and cheats. I had no idea about Docomo, but since several people told me that Docomo has a pretty good network in Karnataka, I decided to port my number to Docomo.
All was well for a few days, and then the problems started. Docomo's netwrok is fine with respect to normal 2G voice calls, but its pathetic with respect to data. And the customer care too is not at all satisfactory. Let me explain in detail.
1) I have a Nokia Lumia 920 handset. I usually keep my data connection turned off, and only turn it on when required. I have noticed that 9 out of 10 times, I never get the data connection even after turning it on the settings. This is true irrespective of whether I turn on 2G data or 3G data. I have to turn the data connection on and off multiple times, and if I'm lucky, I get the connection after a lot of attempts. I contacted customer care regarding this issue in the beginning of August. He told me to change the access point name from TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET to TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNETHVC, and this change would resolve my problem. I made this change, but noticed no improvement because the problem still persisted. I called customer care again the next day to tell them that the solution they provided didn't work. To this, the person told me that he has registered a complaint, and I would get a call back within 24 hours to either acknowledge that my issue has been resolved, or to let me know when it will be resolved. That was in the beginning of August, and until today (September 25th), I never got any call from Docomo, and the problem still persists.
2) Second thing is with respect to the language. Although I have clearly set my IVR language as English, I always get connected to the Kannada or Hindi customer care department whenever I choose the option to speak to a customer care representative. They told me that whenever the English department is busy, I get connected to either the Kannada or Hindi department. I specifically told them to change my settings so that I always get connected to the ENglish department, and I don't mind waiting for some time if the lines are busy. The person told me that my issues will be resolved within 24 hours, and after that, I will always get connected to the English department from my number. This was during the second week of August. But until today, the issue hasn't been resolved, and I still get connected to only the Kannada or Hindi departments.
3) Since I was having these issues and wasn't getting any solution by calling customer care, I thought of registering a complaint via the official Tata Docomo website. But for that, I needed to create an acccount and the site never allowed me to crate the account. The problem was that while creating an account, I'm asked to choose a password with a 'special character', but the supported special charaters are never mentioned. I tried passwords with all the special charaters available on my keyboard, but I always got an error which said that my passowrd doesn't contain a special character. This effectively prevents me from ever registering a complaint online.
4) My final issue is with respect to online recharge. The website asks me to enter my number in order to show me the available recharges, but when I enter my number and click 'submit', I always get a message which says 'No topups are currently available for your number'. So to recharge online, i always have to go through the tedious proicess of searching through the available recharges and then selecting the one I require.
If these problems continue, I would have no choice but to port to another operator once I have completed the mnimum duration with Docomo. Since I'm unable to get solution to my probelms in any way, I posted it here so that someone from Docomo might see it and improve their services.
Here are my details, just in case:-
Number:- +919880144504
Email id:- sunil_u123@hotmail.com
Sorry, i have no alternate number.

Dear Customer,
We have received your complaint and we will ensure it is resolved soon.
Thanks and Regards,Customer CareTata DOCOMO.

 

[TATADOCOMO]

I was using a Vodafone connection which was excellent, and ported to Docomo in July 2013 for the sole reason that Vodafone's 3G licence was withdrawn in Karnataka. I wasleft with two options (Airtel and Docomo) which were the only ones having native 3G license in Karnataka. I avoided Airtel because I had used it before, and although Airtel's netwrok is good, they are big time frauds and cheats. I had no idea about Docomo, but since several people told me that Docomo has a pretty good network in Karnataka, I decided to port my number to Docomo.
All was well for a few days, and then the problems started. Docomo's netwrok is fine with respect to normal 2G voice calls, but its pathetic with respect to data. And the customer care too is not at all satisfactory. Let me explain in detail.
1) I have a Nokia Lumia 920 handset. I usually keep my data connection turned off, and only turn it on when required. I have noticed that 9 out of 10 times, I never get the data connection even after turning it on the settings. This is true irrespective of whether I turn on 2G data or 3G data. I have to turn the data connection on and off multiple times, and if I'm lucky, I get the connection after a lot of attempts. I contacted customer care regarding this issue in the beginning of August. He told me to change the access point name from TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNET to TATA.DOCOMO.INTERNETHVC, and this change would resolve my problem. I made this change, but noticed no improvement because the problem still persisted. I called customer care again the next day to tell them that the solution they provided didn't work. To this, the person told me that he has registered a complaint, and I would get a call back within 24 hours to either acknowledge that my issue has been resolved, or to let me know when it will be resolved. That was in the beginning of August, and until today (September 25th), I never got any call from Docomo, and the problem still persists.
2) Second thing is with respect to the language. Although I have clearly set my IVR language as English, I always get connected to the Kannada or Hindi customer care department whenever I choose the option to speak to a customer care representative. They told me that whenever the English department is busy, I get connected to either the Kannada or Hindi department. I specifically told them to change my settings so that I always get connected to the ENglish department, and I don't mind waiting for some time if the lines are busy. The person told me that my issues will be resolved within 24 hours, and after that, I will always get connected to the English department from my number. This was during the second week of August. But until today, the issue hasn't been resolved, and I still get connected to only the Kannada or Hindi departments.
3) Since I was having these issues and wasn't getting any solution by calling customer care, I thought of registering a complaint via the official Tata Docomo website. But for that, I needed to create an acccount and the site never allowed me to crate the account. The problem was that while creating an account, I'm asked to choose a password with a 'special character', but the supported special charaters are never mentioned. I tried passwords with all the special charaters available on my keyboard, but I always got an error which said that my passowrd doesn't contain a special character. This effectively prevents me from ever registering a complaint online.
4) My final issue is with respect to online recharge. The website asks me to enter my number in order to show me the available recharges, but when I enter my number and click 'submit', I always get a message which says 'No topups are currently available for your number'. So to recharge online, i always have to go through the tedious proicess of searching through the available recharges and then selecting the one I require.
If these problems continue, I would have no choice but to port to another operator once I have completed the mnimum duration with Docomo. Since I'm unable to get solution to my probelms in any way, I posted it here so that someone from Docomo might see it and improve their services.
Here are my details, just in case:-
Number:- +919880144504
Email id:- sunil_u123@hotmail.com
Sorry, i have no alternate number.

Dear Customer,As per our discussion over the call, we at Tata Docomo always strive to introduce products that are in sync with Customer requirements while ensuring that such products provide optimum value against the amounts spent by our esteemed customers. Such products, especially the data/internet usage products are dependent on various factors for accessibility and continuity, some of these factors being in our control and others beyond. Some factors beyond our control, but which hugely and adversely impact data usage can impact on the network and signal strength and therefore affect connection speeds/ continuity. At peak times when many people are using the network, connection speeds, and quality suffers. Also as with any network based on radio technology, handset quality or local conditions may prevent or interfere with network reception within coverage areas. However we do understand and regret the fact, that you have not had a favorable experience with the said product.We request you to send the screen shot of webpage where in you are unable to login to My Account and unable to recharge your number to listen@tatadocomo.com which will assist us to proceed further.For further assistance, write to us at listen@tatadocomo.com.Thanks and Regards,Customer CareTata Docomo.

 

[Praveenkumar M G]

Dear Customer,As per our discussion over the call, we at Tata Docomo always strive to introduce products that are in sync with Customer requirements while ensuring that such products provide optimum value against the amounts spent by our esteemed customers. Such products, especially the data/internet usage products are dependent on various factors for accessibility and continuity, some of these factors being in our control and others beyond. Some factors beyond our control, but which hugely and adversely impact data usage can impact on the network and signal strength and therefore affect connection speeds/ continuity. At peak times when many people are using the network, connection speeds, and quality suffers. Also as with any network based on radio technology, handset quality or local conditions may prevent or interfere with network reception within coverage areas. However we do understand and regret the fact, that you have not had a favorable experience with the said product.We request you to send the screen shot of webpage where in you are unable to login to My Account and unable to recharge your number to listen@tatadocomo.com which will assist us to proceed further.For further assistance, write to us at listen@tatadocomo.com.Thanks and Regards,Customer CareTata Docomo.

If this is the solution you guys are providing then do ask your retailers to Post a big boarding in which above lines are written and also write "We are not responsible for your internet connection or any other problems, We just want people to buy our service and pay for the same, irrespective of the complanit being resolved or not"

 

[Babhishek]

ohh, cmon - let me add a few points :
i have a lumia on docomo and i face problem 1 a lot of the time, dont face it on other phones though... also stop switching on and off your data connection!
are you on prepaid or postpaid? assumed, prepaid since you talk about recharges... if you need better service, english as the language, switch to postpaid..
if you are on prepaid, life's cheaper; service is not necessarily better in terms of your point nos 2 & 3. wait for kannada and talk in english, i get assisted anyways!
in the end, docomo is the cheapest service and they have decent voice and data!

on point 4, i prefer choosing my packs, doing my reading and then putting in my number.. not everything in the world will work as YOU want it to...

 

[armaan_99]

I ported to docomo 45 days back and I did not read this review and had a terrible experience with Docomo. I had a issue where in I had disconnection of 3G/2G and it was taking at least 10 15 mins to reconnect. I sent a mail about my problem and they confirmed that every 40 mins data will disconnect to avoid any huge cost of data and also received a call from them regarding this. I even asked to not have disconnection for my number for which they replied it is mandatory for all customers. I agreed to it and asked why it is taking 10-15 mins to reconnect for which they advised to get immediate reconnection restart my mobile or wait 15 mins for reconnection. They can't register any further complaints for my problems anymore as they say that's how data connections works in Docomo. It's a joke to be with Docomo, waiting eagerly for another 45 days to port out.

 

---

[TATADOCOMO]

I ported to docomo 45 days back and I did not read this review and had a terrible experience with Docomo. I had a issue where in I had disconnection of 3G/2G and it was taking at least 10 15 mins to reconnect. I sent a mail about my problem and they confirmed that every 40 mins data will disconnect to avoid any huge cost of data and also received a call from them regarding this. I even asked to not have disconnection for my number for which they replied it is mandatory for all customers. I agreed to it and asked why it is taking 10-15 mins to reconnect for which they advised to get immediate reconnection restart my mobile or wait 15 mins for reconnection. They can't register any further complaints for my problems anymore as they say that's how data connections works in Docomo. It's a joke to be with Docomo, waiting eagerly for another 45 days to port out.

Dear Customer,
Kindly provide us your 10 Digit Tata DOCOMO number, your alternate contact number and email ID so that we can get in touch with you.
Thanks and Regards
Customer Care
Tata DOCOMO.

 

[dextermorgan]

^ Are you fucking kidding me?? I've called customer care and they themselves confirmed that data would stop around 40mins and restart. But when it disconnects, it takes around 30~40 mins for me to connect back up. Have used just 100mb out of 1GB. Just sticking with docomo since ive had this number since 3~4 years. I now use idea 3g and it works perfectly.
@admin ..why dont you ban this bot since all it does is just post the above copypasta

 

[arfu143]

ok here is my tata docomo experience
i used their number almost an year
if u recharge 250 which gives u 250 talktime and 1gb data then u r bound to face this disconnection
if u recharge normal 3g where they dont have free talktime u will have much much much better speed and connection
i tried this and it worked for me
u dont need to put HVC in normal 3g recharge

 

[Vishal45]

if you are on prepaid, life's cheaper; service is not necessarily better in terms of your point nos 2 & 3. wait for kannada and talk in english, i get assisted anyways!
in the end, docomo is the cheapest service and they have decent voice and data!

 

[Sunil Umesh]

^ Are you f**king kidding me?? I've called customer care and they themselves confirmed that data would stop around 40mins and restart. But when it disconnects, it takes around 30~40 mins for me to connect back up. Have used just 100mb out of 1GB. Just sticking with docomo since ive had this number since 3~4 years. I now use idea 3g and it works perfectly.
@admin ..why dont you ban this bot since all it does is just post the above copypasta

I agree with you 100%. Check out this updated post https://broadband.forum/topic/73120-docomos-3g-service-is-a-big-joke/ which I made yesterday.