Zero effort made by company to resolve customer problems
TURA: What ails the Indian state-owned telecommunications company when it comes to providing quality service is anybody’s guess.
But in Tura and other towns of Garo Hills the company is taking a beating from private telecom companies over its poor services.
Despite repeated complaints by customers the CellOne mobile service of BSNL has failed to provide unhindered service for the last many months.
Customers from the Wadanang-Chandmari-Rigrey-Upper Chandmari-Rongkhon region have been victims of repeated call drops for the last many months.
“We are not even able to make a connection when we dial a number.It is very pathetic service,” reveal customers from Chandmari region.
Interestingly, the subscribers from the affected region were among the first to take a post paid connection of the CellOne service when it was first launched way back in 2004.
While many over a period of time have moved away from CellOne, disillusioned with the erratic service, a handful of dedicated and loyal customers remain.
These subscribers have been utilising top end mobile plans of BSNL with limited service.
Rentals to the tune of Rs 225 and 325 are being deligently paid by the loyal customers who in turn are having to face repeated disruptions.
“To get through a single call we are compelled to try connecting nothing short of a dozen times. Even the internet service we receive is just the basic 2G network although we are suppose to get 3G,” complain subscribers.
By the end of the month, customers are not able to utilise the services and compelled to pay just their monthly rentals since no calls are able to get through the network.
They further lament that service has become worse before the Durga Puja holidays and no effort has been made to rectify it till date.
Some of the aggrieved customers who paid a visit to the BSNL office in Tura found no satisfactory answer to their problems as many of the employees were not at their work stations and could not be located.
The most common response being made by BSNL ground teams is that the tower at Bishop House which provides service to the Chandmari region has become congested and needs an additional tower to lift the load.
Strangely, the same tower has failed to provide proper service since the time of its inception over a decade ago.
Furthermore, with the drop in number of CellOne subscibers, many having embraced private networks such as Airtel, Aircel, Vodafone, Idea and most recently Reliance Jio, BSNL network continues to provide disrupted service to its customers.