Questions on TATA Sky DTH policies

[himavaris57]

Here's my recent experience with TATA Sky:
I was seeing "NO SIGNAL" error on my TV for a couple of days. I chatted with TATA Sky rep. online and he told me some manual steps to try out. Those didn't work.
The rep asked me if he can send a tech representative to my house or not. I am not sure if there was any other option to resume watching TV so I said yes. I asked if it's free. He mentioned that my Set Top Box warranty is only for 365 days (which is over) so I would have to pay Rs. 170.
I wanted to escalate because neither me or him could confirm this was a set top box issue. He connected me to his manager. I explained the problem and she said that the concerned Technical team would take a call on the amount. I requested to send a tech person.
The tech rep. came, turned the TV on. After seeing the error he wanted to go to terrace. I accompanied him. He opened a cable, checked the signal strength and put it back. We came down to my flat. On the way he told "signal is fine, no issues, problem is somewhere else". When we turned on the TV in my flat, to our surprise, it was working.
I requested him to charge correctly as the "fix" wasn't too complex. He nodded.
To my surprise, I noticed I had been charged Rs. 170 from my TATA Sky balance.
I raised a complaint again. When the rep. called I explained the problem. He said that's the policy and after a lot of cross-talk for 15 minutes he told he will send the feedback to concerned team. I wanted him to check with the tech rep. who came (to my house) on the amount of work done. He mentioned that there are no such records and there is no way to verify.
I have faced the same situation earlier too. Some channels were not showing and they asked Rs. 170 charge to fix that. I told them not to come. Within a few weeks they were working on some cabling throughout metros and a rep came from their side to reset the signals. He fixed the channels too. Free of cost!
I would like to get a feedback from other Reddit India visitors on this. I am sure there are other people facing this.
The questions I have are:

1. How can TATA Sky put a fixed charge only based on Set Top Box warranty? I am paying on a daily basis for viewing channels too.
2. Where is the service definition for the daily amount I am paying to view channels? If I am not able to view the channels and I do not want to pay for a tech rep coming to my house, how can TATA Sky keep charging me (once I have notified) [because I am not getting what I am paying for]?
3. How can they fix a charge of Rs. 170 for every problem? On what basis are they charging?
4. When you provide a live service on a daily basis, isn't it your responsibility to ensure that the service is healthy? If it is, why does the customer have to pay to initiate the problem check?

 

[Abhinav]

1. How can TATA Sky put a fixed charge only based on Set Top Box warranty? I am paying on a daily basis for viewing channels too.
2. Where is the service definition for the daily amount I am paying to view channels? If I am not able to view the channels and I do not want to pay for a tech rep coming to my house, how can TATA Sky keep charging me (once I have notified) [because I am not getting what I am paying for]?
3. How can they fix a charge of Rs. 170 for every problem? On what basis are they charging?
4. When you provide a live service on a daily basis, isn't it your responsibility to ensure that the service is healthy? If it is, why does the customer have to pay to initiate the problem check?

You are paying on daily basis for the services which you have opted for on your own choice. If any item is outside of warranty period then ofcourse you have to pay the service charges. Sending a technician to someone's home costs something, you may be living in a metro city but the price of technican visit is same for those also who are living in very remote areas.

If you are not able to view channels simply suspend the account for a week or more until the issue gets resolved. Temporary suspension is free of cost and account can be reactivated earlier also.