Search This Blog

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Helmets

I initially thought helmets were mundane things. Turns out they aren't!

It all began when I bought one about an year ago. It was simple. The shop I went to had a very limited set, so it was a simple selection for me. I was then briefed in office about the whole range of helmets, along with demos!

Best places to go in Bangalore are

  • Near Lalbagh, Urvashi Theater
  • Yamaha showroom, opposite Forum mall
And for biking gear
  • The 2 places mentioned above
  • Cramster, Cunningham road
Learnt a few things along the way
  • Don't believe whatever is said or written. Even though most helmets have ISI mark stamped, they may not be authentic or genuine
  • Test it out in the showroom itself - for example, by stressing out the visor to see if it will break/crack easily. If the shopkeeper is telling the truth, he won't stop you from testing :)
  • My experience: I hadn't tested properly when buying & had to replace the visor pretty soon
  • Check for any scratches on the visor - don't take if it's even slightly scratched. It just means it attracts scratches easily & in a few days your view would be foggy. Best to go for scratch-resistant ones, although a bit expensive
  • The helmet must fit snugly - don't take extra large ones, your head won't grow that much to fit into the helmet! Also, full face helmets provide best protection
  • It should be well ventilated, even when the visor is down. For example, if it's cold outside, your breathing shouldn't fog the visor
  • Make sure steel of the buckle is not exposed. You'll have trouble if it is exposed, since usually it's just iron that'll get rusted after a while. Better go for buckles encased in strong plastic
  • If involved in an accident & if the helmet has sustained some damage, better replace it. You might use it as a temporary backup helmet (in case you lose the new one, or the new one gets damaged)
  • An interesting link: http://gizmodo.com/5966412/finally-an-actual-innovation-in-helmet-technology

Saturday, January 07, 2012

Adios Airtel Broadband

The last straw has struck, camel's back is broken.

I've had enough. Thanks to their absurd reasons & deteriorating service to the customers, I can't take it anymore. Terminating my Airtel Broadband connection, after being a loyal customer for about 4 years.

So, what's up?
I had taken an inaugural plan when I'd first taken my connection. It was one of the best at that time among  unlimited download plans. Overall, it wasn't great compared to other ISPs. However, at that time reliability & service provided by Airtel had no match. Hence opted for Airtel. Their service was good, i.e., I've never had random disconnections or interruptions. All this was until about an year ago.
1. Service
Recently few people moved into a place opposite ours. Turns out they too got an Airtel connection. The Airtel guys cut my connection & wired it to them! What the ... were they thinking? I complained a couple of days later that my connection wasn't working. And they took another couple of days to resolve it. To fix, they wired a new line for me.
Two years ago, this wouldn't have happened. Firstly, they'd have wired the correct connection to our neighbors instead of just rewiring by giving my connection to them! I shouldn't have had to call in the first place. Secondly, they wouldn't have taken 2 days to resolve.
2. Bill plan
I was charged more than double my bill plan in the recent bill. Was it a new year gift? They had migrated me onto a new plan by themselves & didn't even inform me! On top of that, put an extra Rs. 100 as migration charges. I hadn't asked for the migration! Whatever plan was there, however pathetic it was, I was fine with it.
3. Customer service
Called their customer support 4 times over the past 1 week.
a) First time: He said I was intimated via email about the plan migration. I later checked & found no emails. He lied. I'd also requested to get my phone/broadband line fixed.
b) Called them again next day, same time: The guy who was supposed to fix the line did dramas & didn't turn up. So requested to really send someone & get the line fixed. I think they took it seriously this time & fixed yesterday.
c) I've had enough by then, called them up today morning asking for any other reasonable explanation to the plan migration. This time the guy said I was sent an SMS regarding the plan migration. I didn't get any SMS either. They again lied! What the ... do they think? Anyways, it seems my plan wasn't offered anymore & I had to choose from any of the other existing plans. He started telling about some other ridiculous plan. I simply asked to put me back to whatever plan I had & revert the extra charges. He said that wasn't possible. So I asked to terminate the connection - enough is enough, I thought. My call was diverted to another department. He asked for some details such as address & last mode of payment. After giving the details, he kept saying "Hello... hello..." several times & then went silent. I could hear him well. Don't know what really happened. Seemed like it was deliberate! Was this how they handle customer calls now. They even charge extra money to call their support! @$$#Ωζ$... Disconnected & called again to confirm they took down the request
d) This was the confirmation call, following up on previous one. It seems they did take down the request to terminate the connection & will action in 7 days.

Update(2 months since the above post):
Got another call next day after the earlier confirmation call. The guy apologized vehemently & offered to temporarily give a Rs.850pm with 10GB FUP plan for 3 months. And then promised they will migrate me onto an even better plan later. I agreed for then.
After a few days, I raised a request to relocate the connection to a different place. They came back in a week saying it's not possible to give a connection in the place I was asking to relocate.
After a couple of weeks, I raised another disconnection request stating the relocation wasn't possible & I have no choice now. They persuaded me to at least transfer the connection to someone else, but I said that's what I tried to do 2 weeks ago!
Anyways, after several confirmation calls from then on for the next 2 weeks since my disconnection request, they finally gave in & accepted my request.
Unfortunately for me, they billed for an additional 2 weeks 'after' I returned the instrument, which was the same day I requested the disconnection! They initially said I won't be charged anything from the day I lodged the request for disconnection. At the max, for a week, maybe. But charged for 2 weeks? What the hell do they think?!
I didn't want to waste my time and energy anymore. Just left it alone thinking this is what you pay for dealing with those douche-bags.

Finally, it's all over now. Adios AirTel Broadband.