Title: Extremely disappointing Airtel service, rude staff & money loss due to MNP timelines
I am sharing my recent and very frustrating experience with Airtel regarding prepaid service and mobile number portability (MNP).
My Airtel prepaid plan expired on 20 Feb 2026, and since my home Wi-Fi sometimes fails, I rely on mobile hotspot for office work. But Airtel hotspot has repeatedly failed me, so I finally decided to port out to BSNL.
I have ported several times before (Airtel → BSNL → Jio → Airtel), and earlier the porting was quick—even if I lost some balance. But now, because of the new TRAI MNP rules, the porting process takes over 5 days, and during this entire period, I had no network service at all. I was unable to do official communication or bank transactions for these days.
I tried cancelling my port request, and I received an SMS saying I could cancel until 24 Feb, 10 AM. But the system didn’t allow me to cancel, saying the cancellation window had passed.
To make things worse, I then tried recharging my Airtel number, and the payment was accepted (₹650), but it still said that my porting will happen tomorrow as scheduled! So now I have lost:
✔ ₹650 to Airtel for a recharge that won’t be used
✔ ₹250 to BSNL for port-in SIM
This is unacceptable.
When I went to the Airtel Store near Velachery Vijayanagar Bus Stand, hoping for help, the staff was extremely rude, unprofessional, and dismissive. The representative simply said “use this link if you want to complain” and refused to assist me. This kind of behavior is shocking from a major telecom provider.
I tried calling customer care through IVRS over 15–20 times, but I was never able to reach an actual human being. No support, no guidance, nothing.
Overall experience:
Poor mobile service
Unhelpful & rude staff at Airtel store
Recharge accepted even when port-out is active (misleading system)
Zero customer support access
Money lost due to flawed TRAI timelines + Airtel policies
My message to others:
Please be cautious when initiating MNP. Plan properly, because if your plan expires during the porting window, you will have no service for several days and may lose money. The current system does not protect customers, and we end up suffering.
This experience has caused me unnecessary stress and financial loss. I genuinely hope Airtel improves its customer service, staff training, and transparency.
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