Thursday, August 29, 2013
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Fighting Third World Customer Service for a First World Internet Connection
Monday, July 29: Arrival in Hyderabad. One last stay in the
old Aparna apartment with an internet connection to announce our safe
arrival and catch up on emails/facebook.
Tuesday: Move to Indu Fortune Fields villa. No internet connection.
Wednesday: Visit Indu office for list of approved vendors. Called provided Airtel number about five times. No English.
No internet connection.
Thursday: Mustafa (our driver) tries the number and finds out that the other end was as confused as me: wrong number. Mustafa tracks down the right number and we schedule Airtel to arrive later in the day.
Airtel arrives at villa. They demand multiple pieces of paperwork and try to run off with Nadia's passport. They ask for a six month deposit and leave to process paperwork. They return and say no deposit necessary and explain that the team will come tomorrow to instal the connection.
Still no internet connection
Friday: Airtel calls to tell us they can't send the installation team until we have paid our six month deposit. "Fine, we'll pay a six month service deposit." They promise to come to the villa and collect in one hour.
One hour later....nobody there.
I call to ask where they are: "we are waiting for you to confirm that you will pay the deposit." I tell them that Nadia is leaving the villa and they need to come to school for the deposit. I text directions and wait. I wait some more and then get a phone call for directions. I give the phone to security who explains the directions and soon two men with no paperwork, receipt or any information show up for the deposit. I remember "this is India" and I give them the money anyway. They promise installation the next morning.
Still no internet.
Saturday:
Nobody shows up in the morning.
I call the Airtel rep again and he says they are coming. An hour later the Airtel rep shows up, in person, to tell us the installation team is coming. He realizes I'm an American and decides I'm a perfect target for his new venture: QNET.
"What's QNET?"
"You work for me and have people work for you and we make lots of money"
"Okay, but what service or product do we provide?"
"It's a business."
"Yes, but what does it sell?"
"I'm at the top but you can get others to work for you and make lets of money."
"I understand that part, but what does QNET sell?"
"Uh, you should look at the website."
"I don't have internet!"
"That's okay, I promise you the installation team will come this afternoon."
Feigning interest as an effort to keep him engaged in his effort to get my internet, I tell him I'll look it up later (they sell a number of products including the "Amezuca Chi Pendant" that protect ones organs from elecrosmog while also supplying endless energy).
We waited all day and the installation team finally showed up. After a nearly two-hour installation process (it was dark when they left) we finally had internet and a landline phone, which we didn't want. They called someone on the phone to tell me my number, explain my plan, and ask me to confirm. That person then passes me to somebody else who repeats the same information and asks me to confirm. They than pass me to a third person who confirms that the first two had been kind in their confirmation of my information. "Yes, very kind."
Internet!
7 days of blissful internet joy: Netflix, Facebook, Minecraft, AppleTV, MLSlive, etc...
Saturday, August 10: An email warns that we have used 80% of our allotted MB for the month. Really? I asked multiple people about our usage and the plan they offered. They all said we would be fine.
I then purchase additional "smartbytes" online to maintain our speed.
Friday, August 16: Another email: "You have already consumed 100% of your built in limit..."
Meanwhile, we start getting the calls and texts to let us know that we have also reached our credit limit on the account. So, I look up the account and we owe over 9,000 rupees!
Saturday: More account credit warnings. I call the rep and ask why our six-month deposit is not showing up on our account. He must be wearing his Amezuca Chi Pendant because I'm not happy, at all, and he is pretty chill about the whole thing. He replies by text: "Sure i will get ths chkd n wil get back to you on this"
I explain, via text, that as far as I can tell he sent two friends on a motorcycle to steal over 7,000 rupees and that I'll be reporting such to the Indu management and Airtel.
Sunday: No internet
Monday: After a few calls and texts: "It will taje some time sir."
Internet returns in the evening. No change in my billing.
Thursday: Text: "Good morning sir. Payment of Rs. 7555 has been updated in ur account now."
So that's where we stand. Internet as back and everyone is happy but I suspect my adventures will continue.
Tuesday: Move to Indu Fortune Fields villa. No internet connection.
Wednesday: Visit Indu office for list of approved vendors. Called provided Airtel number about five times. No English.
No internet connection.
Thursday: Mustafa (our driver) tries the number and finds out that the other end was as confused as me: wrong number. Mustafa tracks down the right number and we schedule Airtel to arrive later in the day.
Airtel arrives at villa. They demand multiple pieces of paperwork and try to run off with Nadia's passport. They ask for a six month deposit and leave to process paperwork. They return and say no deposit necessary and explain that the team will come tomorrow to instal the connection.
Still no internet connection
Friday: Airtel calls to tell us they can't send the installation team until we have paid our six month deposit. "Fine, we'll pay a six month service deposit." They promise to come to the villa and collect in one hour.
One hour later....nobody there.
I call to ask where they are: "we are waiting for you to confirm that you will pay the deposit." I tell them that Nadia is leaving the villa and they need to come to school for the deposit. I text directions and wait. I wait some more and then get a phone call for directions. I give the phone to security who explains the directions and soon two men with no paperwork, receipt or any information show up for the deposit. I remember "this is India" and I give them the money anyway. They promise installation the next morning.
Still no internet.
Saturday:
Nobody shows up in the morning.
I call the Airtel rep again and he says they are coming. An hour later the Airtel rep shows up, in person, to tell us the installation team is coming. He realizes I'm an American and decides I'm a perfect target for his new venture: QNET.
"What's QNET?"
"You work for me and have people work for you and we make lots of money"
"Okay, but what service or product do we provide?"
"It's a business."
"Yes, but what does it sell?"
"I'm at the top but you can get others to work for you and make lets of money."
"I understand that part, but what does QNET sell?"
"Uh, you should look at the website."
"I don't have internet!"
"That's okay, I promise you the installation team will come this afternoon."
Feigning interest as an effort to keep him engaged in his effort to get my internet, I tell him I'll look it up later (they sell a number of products including the "Amezuca Chi Pendant" that protect ones organs from elecrosmog while also supplying endless energy).
We waited all day and the installation team finally showed up. After a nearly two-hour installation process (it was dark when they left) we finally had internet and a landline phone, which we didn't want. They called someone on the phone to tell me my number, explain my plan, and ask me to confirm. That person then passes me to somebody else who repeats the same information and asks me to confirm. They than pass me to a third person who confirms that the first two had been kind in their confirmation of my information. "Yes, very kind."
Internet!
7 days of blissful internet joy: Netflix, Facebook, Minecraft, AppleTV, MLSlive, etc...
Saturday, August 10: An email warns that we have used 80% of our allotted MB for the month. Really? I asked multiple people about our usage and the plan they offered. They all said we would be fine.
I then purchase additional "smartbytes" online to maintain our speed.
Friday, August 16: Another email: "You have already consumed 100% of your built in limit..."
Meanwhile, we start getting the calls and texts to let us know that we have also reached our credit limit on the account. So, I look up the account and we owe over 9,000 rupees!
Saturday: More account credit warnings. I call the rep and ask why our six-month deposit is not showing up on our account. He must be wearing his Amezuca Chi Pendant because I'm not happy, at all, and he is pretty chill about the whole thing. He replies by text: "Sure i will get ths chkd n wil get back to you on this"
I explain, via text, that as far as I can tell he sent two friends on a motorcycle to steal over 7,000 rupees and that I'll be reporting such to the Indu management and Airtel.
Sunday: No internet
Monday: After a few calls and texts: "It will taje some time sir."
Internet returns in the evening. No change in my billing.
Thursday: Text: "Good morning sir. Payment of Rs. 7555 has been updated in ur account now."
So that's where we stand. Internet as back and everyone is happy but I suspect my adventures will continue.
Qutb Shahi Tombs -- aka WE'RE BACK!
We've been back in India for a few weeks; moving in to our new house, battling the local internet company, and getting ready for a new school year.
This morning however, we put all the boring stuff aside, piled into our (new!) car, and took a trip over to the Qutb Shahi Tombs. They are also referred to as the Seven Tombs, because of the seven main tombs. (Some of favorites ended up being the "lesser" tombs.)
It was a beautiful, sunny day -- something that has been in short supply during the last few months of monsoon season.
The first of the tombs was built by Sultan Quli Qutub Shah, who is generally considered the "father" of Hyderabad, and is responsible for the building of Golconda Fort.
We broke down and hired a guide, who was a very enthusiastic photographer.
After we ditched the guide, we enjoyed a lovely stroll around the beautiful gardens, explored dark corners and basked in the sunshine.
It felt great to take a few hours to enjoy and appreciate this amazing place we get to call home.
(Oh, and of course, we had to take the obligatory cannon photo.)
This morning however, we put all the boring stuff aside, piled into our (new!) car, and took a trip over to the Qutb Shahi Tombs. They are also referred to as the Seven Tombs, because of the seven main tombs. (Some of favorites ended up being the "lesser" tombs.)
It was a beautiful, sunny day -- something that has been in short supply during the last few months of monsoon season.
The first of the tombs was built by Sultan Quli Qutub Shah, who is generally considered the "father" of Hyderabad, and is responsible for the building of Golconda Fort.
We broke down and hired a guide, who was a very enthusiastic photographer.
After we ditched the guide, we enjoyed a lovely stroll around the beautiful gardens, explored dark corners and basked in the sunshine.
It felt great to take a few hours to enjoy and appreciate this amazing place we get to call home.
(Oh, and of course, we had to take the obligatory cannon photo.)
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
India: Where Up is Down
For the first four months that we have been in India, we have lived in a three bedroom apartment. The location of the complex is wonderful, and the amenities and utilities are reliable. That being said, we don't much care for the apartment itself. The square-footage is a tad small for our family of five. The bathrooms are challenging. The kitchen is closed-off and uncomfortable to work in. And the ceilings. Oh, don't get me started on the ceilings.
One strange quirk that we've noticed while living in this complex is that people seem to have a hard time figuring out how to use the elevators. Let's take a moment to consider how an elevator works. If I am on the 5th floor, and want to go down to the ground floor, I push the DOWN button. If I want to go up to the 12th floor, I push the UP button. (Regardless of where the elevator might be.) In our building, people seem to have a hard time grasping this concept. For example, if our neighbor were to want to go down to the ground floor from the 5th, but saw that the elevator was currently at the second floor, he would push the UP button to call the elevator. Or, if they wanted to visit the seventh floor, again from the fifth, but the elevator was currently at the 10th floor, they would push the DOWN button, to call the elevator. They push the button the corresponds to the direction the elevator needs to go to get to them. Oftentimes, they'll just push the up and down button simultaneously. This leads to many interrupted elevator rides, stopping at levels that no longer have anyone waiting at them, and endless confusion as people accidentally get off on the wrong floor.
When we get back from our vacation, we'll be leaving our apartment here and moving on to bigger and better digs. No more slow elevator rides for us. But, we'll miss the store manager in the basement who has quickly learned to send cases of Diet Coke up to us. He's pretty great.
One strange quirk that we've noticed while living in this complex is that people seem to have a hard time figuring out how to use the elevators. Let's take a moment to consider how an elevator works. If I am on the 5th floor, and want to go down to the ground floor, I push the DOWN button. If I want to go up to the 12th floor, I push the UP button. (Regardless of where the elevator might be.) In our building, people seem to have a hard time grasping this concept. For example, if our neighbor were to want to go down to the ground floor from the 5th, but saw that the elevator was currently at the second floor, he would push the UP button to call the elevator. Or, if they wanted to visit the seventh floor, again from the fifth, but the elevator was currently at the 10th floor, they would push the DOWN button, to call the elevator. They push the button the corresponds to the direction the elevator needs to go to get to them. Oftentimes, they'll just push the up and down button simultaneously. This leads to many interrupted elevator rides, stopping at levels that no longer have anyone waiting at them, and endless confusion as people accidentally get off on the wrong floor.
When we get back from our vacation, we'll be leaving our apartment here and moving on to bigger and better digs. No more slow elevator rides for us. But, we'll miss the store manager in the basement who has quickly learned to send cases of Diet Coke up to us. He's pretty great.
Saturday, June 22, 2013
A Trip to the Old City
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| Local fashion goes door-to-door by bicycle. |
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| A glimpse of Charminar |
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| Porticoes at Chowmahalla Palace |
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| Peace and quiet. In stark contrast to what we would experience soon after. |
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| We always have to play with cannons. |
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| Window of the Khilwat Mubarak -- the central "throne room" of the palace. |
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| View from above the throne room. |
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| Climbing to the top of Charminar |
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| View of Old City Hyderabad in the rain. |
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| Maren thought this was really cheesy. |
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| Charminar. This was the best view we could get in the rain and the crowds. |
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| The kids were really impressed when I started pushing people out of my way so I could get this photo. I guess I'm getting used to India. |
Our adventures were cut short by the monsoon, but we left excited to see more and look forward to many return visits to this fascinating part of town.
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Strike Up the Bandh
Bandh: originally a Hindi word meaning "closed", is a form of protest used by political activists in South Asian countries such as India and Nepal. During a bandh, a political party or a community declares a general strike (Wikipedia).
The rumbles of a Telangana bandh for Friday or Saturday started rolling around school on Thursday afternoon. We checked on the news from other schools but ultimately decided to stay open for Friday. A few families kept kids home but most students showed up. We had our international finance person in town so decided to continue with our meeting with a school board member to discuss plans for the future building. The drive to Secunderabad had the standard slow traffic for Hyderabad rush hour (10:00 am) and we saw a lot of police presence but nothing surprising.
As the meeting went on my phone started to buzz over and over. Things had heated up near the Andhra Pradesh legislature building and they had decided to close school. We quickly headed to the car. We slowly made it back to school. Traffic had gotten even worse. We spent about 30 minutes in very slow traffic getting a few strange looks from the cars and motorcycles around us as we made it through a stretch to an intersection to find that the only option was a U-turn. I suggested to our driver David that we U-turn back and try again. He chuckled. Then he found another route. Once back to Banjara and Jubilee Hills traffic lightened up. There was still a lot of police around and the riots did indeed get a little crazy at the state legislature building with protesters climbing up the building and threatening to jump if a Telangana state wasn't established on the spot.
The conflict highlights the great diversity here in Hyderabad where we have a large population of Hindus and Muslims and the city is split between the Hindu and Telugu speakers. The Telengana activists want to partition Telengana, Hyderabad and it's immediate surrounding, into its own state. This would leave some major challenges for the rest of Andhra Pradesh which is significantly less well developed.
For us, it mostly meant an early dismissal on Friday and a quiet evening at home. Our Indian version of an early dismissal snow day.
For the full story of the bandh you can visit the link here: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130614/news-current-affairs/article/telangana-agitation-trs-mlas-climb-legislature-building
The rumbles of a Telangana bandh for Friday or Saturday started rolling around school on Thursday afternoon. We checked on the news from other schools but ultimately decided to stay open for Friday. A few families kept kids home but most students showed up. We had our international finance person in town so decided to continue with our meeting with a school board member to discuss plans for the future building. The drive to Secunderabad had the standard slow traffic for Hyderabad rush hour (10:00 am) and we saw a lot of police presence but nothing surprising.
As the meeting went on my phone started to buzz over and over. Things had heated up near the Andhra Pradesh legislature building and they had decided to close school. We quickly headed to the car. We slowly made it back to school. Traffic had gotten even worse. We spent about 30 minutes in very slow traffic getting a few strange looks from the cars and motorcycles around us as we made it through a stretch to an intersection to find that the only option was a U-turn. I suggested to our driver David that we U-turn back and try again. He chuckled. Then he found another route. Once back to Banjara and Jubilee Hills traffic lightened up. There was still a lot of police around and the riots did indeed get a little crazy at the state legislature building with protesters climbing up the building and threatening to jump if a Telangana state wasn't established on the spot.
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| I didn't see this exact barrier but did pass a few on the way back to school. |
The conflict highlights the great diversity here in Hyderabad where we have a large population of Hindus and Muslims and the city is split between the Hindu and Telugu speakers. The Telengana activists want to partition Telengana, Hyderabad and it's immediate surrounding, into its own state. This would leave some major challenges for the rest of Andhra Pradesh which is significantly less well developed.
For us, it mostly meant an early dismissal on Friday and a quiet evening at home. Our Indian version of an early dismissal snow day.
For the full story of the bandh you can visit the link here: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130614/news-current-affairs/article/telangana-agitation-trs-mlas-climb-legislature-building
Monday, June 10, 2013
Iron Age Meets Digital Age
One of the constant themes we experience here is the contrast of old, traditional ways of doing things and the sleek, modern ways of the 21st century. At times the juxtaposition is a clash. Signing up for a cell phone connection can't be done without going into an office, submitting multiple forms with a signature, waving around many official papers, and waiting a few days for a visit at home to verify an address before the SIM card is activated. Then after all that bureaucracy, BOOM, I can suddenly communicate with anybody around the world by pushing a few buttons.
It's just a short drive around the corner from our apartment complex with its emergency generators, treated water, and 24 hour security where my morning drive often passes the women beating out the stains of their families laundry on a slab of concrete with water delivered twice a day by a tanker-truck and collected in any watertight plastic vessel that can be gathered.
The K/1 class in school was recently scrolling through pictures as of homes and cities. They had to say which was modern and which was old. It was an easy exercise until they came to a picture of a road with cows crossing it. Textbook cognitive dissonance. It's not uncommon to see water buffalo clogging traffic under the Hi Tech city flyover which is in the shadow of Cyber Towers and just blocks from Google, Facebook, Dell, and many other tech companies here in Hyderabad.
Tonight I had another great one. I came home to find that our wireless router was shot. Dead. I decided to race the oncoming black clouds of the monsoon and ran down the street to Chroma for new router. The store had about 6 options to choose from. I paid with a credit card and before I got home I heard a beep on my phone announcing the the arrival of my digital receipt. With my mission accomplished and the rains not falling yet I decided to take a slower stroll home. I bought 4 mangoes and 5 bananas from the flatbed carts at the corner for just over a dollar and watched as people easily slipped on and off buses that never come to a complete stop. But the greatest contrast between the seamless electronic transaction for a little box that allows me to zip billions of bits of data to and from every corner of the earth through thin air was this, less then 100 yards away:
I've seen them here before with a charred goat carcass nearby and assumed this was some sort of pit barbecue. Nope. He was making an axe head by pounding away with a hammer on an anvil. They noticed my photo snapping and proudly posed for a second photo.
It's just a short drive around the corner from our apartment complex with its emergency generators, treated water, and 24 hour security where my morning drive often passes the women beating out the stains of their families laundry on a slab of concrete with water delivered twice a day by a tanker-truck and collected in any watertight plastic vessel that can be gathered.
The K/1 class in school was recently scrolling through pictures as of homes and cities. They had to say which was modern and which was old. It was an easy exercise until they came to a picture of a road with cows crossing it. Textbook cognitive dissonance. It's not uncommon to see water buffalo clogging traffic under the Hi Tech city flyover which is in the shadow of Cyber Towers and just blocks from Google, Facebook, Dell, and many other tech companies here in Hyderabad.
Tonight I had another great one. I came home to find that our wireless router was shot. Dead. I decided to race the oncoming black clouds of the monsoon and ran down the street to Chroma for new router. The store had about 6 options to choose from. I paid with a credit card and before I got home I heard a beep on my phone announcing the the arrival of my digital receipt. With my mission accomplished and the rains not falling yet I decided to take a slower stroll home. I bought 4 mangoes and 5 bananas from the flatbed carts at the corner for just over a dollar and watched as people easily slipped on and off buses that never come to a complete stop. But the greatest contrast between the seamless electronic transaction for a little box that allows me to zip billions of bits of data to and from every corner of the earth through thin air was this, less then 100 yards away:
I've seen them here before with a charred goat carcass nearby and assumed this was some sort of pit barbecue. Nope. He was making an axe head by pounding away with a hammer on an anvil. They noticed my photo snapping and proudly posed for a second photo.
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