I thought I had written about this, but, apparently, not.
Part 1: The Cunning Plan: Wherein I solve all of my going-abroad-to-India problems by renting a MiFi from XCom Global (just like I did for Italy), for $80 for unlimited data, to go along with my smartphone and tablet. Huzzah.
Part 2: Wherein The Cunning Plan Fails Not-So-Cunningly: Miffy could never successfully hook up the data network while there. (Full story in Part 3).
Part 3: In Which Dave Sends a Chiding Missive: In returning Miffy to XCom, here’s the letter I included:
Dear XCOM support / billing department –
Because of the non-functioning of this MiFi unit, I expect no charges to be placed on my credit card.
I received my MiFi from you on schedule, Friday, 14 September, and flew to India the next day. I arrived in India the night of Sunday, 16 September (local time), and found that while my WiFi devices could connect to the MiFi, the MiFi was not connecting to the local data network, showing alternating blue and green lights. Working through the control panel, I could get a “Connect” button, but when I clicked it, it would highlight briefly and then go back to normal, not connecting (it never changed to “Disconnect”).
I contacted XCOM support from India, and left messages over the course of Monday. The condition continued throughout that day, India time, both at the Hyatt Regency at the Mumbai airport and at my company’s office in Mumbai. On return to the hotel Monday night, I tried again, and went through all the diagnostic steps in the booklet included in the MiFi package, including a reset and reconfiguration per the instructions. I also set up the MiFi on the window sill, in case that was an issue. Nothing helped.
I realized, as I got to Monday night, that XCOM support coverage didn’t begin until 9 a.m. PDT. And, appropriately enough, some time after 10 p.m. IST I received a call-back from Dean from XCOM (I also, while I was on the line with him, got a call-back from Karen from XCOM).
With Dean we walked through various diagnostic steps. He confirmed that the alternating blue and green lights meant it wasn’t connecting to the local network. Finally, he was unable to confirm any problem, and said he’d have to contact the Indian telco to make sure that the phone number the unit was using (see subject line) was activated.
Because of time zone differences (despite weekday XCOM service supposedly being 24-hour), he said it could take 24-48 hours to confirm this. I told Dean that I would be flying home in 48 hours (Wednesday night, local time). He suggested I include a letter such as this to the billing department when I returned the unit, so they were aware of the problem.
I never heard anything further back from Dean or XCOM, though you had my mobile phone number.
I am very disappointed in this experience. We rented a MiFi from you for an Italian vacation a year ago, and I and my friends found it so handy that it seemed an obvious way to make business trip much more effective. Because the MiFi was non-functional while there, though, my data access was restricted to borrowing a PC while in the office, which was less than satisfactory.
In addition to the charges for this unit (which I assume will be reversed or not made), I am out [omitted table including $32 for my roaming phone call with Dean, and another $7 in roaming text messages with Margie instead of using Google Talk like I’d planned]. Please let me know how I will be made whole for this additional cost due to the non-functioning of the MiFi unit.
I am certainly interested in your service, and would like to consider it next time I am traveling on business or pleasure, but after this experience I am concerned how reliable I can consider it to be.
Part 4: In Which Dave Receives a Reply and Reponds: So today I got an email back from Yuko at XCom Global:
Upon receiving your device return, we have performed several tests to identify the cause of the problem happened during your trip.
The result is that the device works fine and the SIM also seems has no issue. We assume that this carrier did not have a good coverage at the location to get strong enough signal for usage. We understand the unstable signal environment in India and we are sorry for the inconvenience it has caused you. Moreover, we sincerely apologize for us to fail follow-up with your problem.
Although we cannot reimburse the cost for calling us, we will full refund your order.
The refund transaction will be made today, however please allow 5-7 business days before credit shows back on your card.
Again, we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience we have caused you.
To which I replied (which I assume is the end of it for now):
Thank you. While I’m disappointed about the service call costs, I appreciate the refund for the order.
For your notes, this unit failed to connect in Mumbai (both at the airport Hyatt Regency and several miles away) and in New Delhi (in the Nehru Park area). You might consider working with a different carrier, if such significant areas are not well supported. Unfortunately, since it sounds like it was the carrier you use, not the device, it makes it difficult for me to consider renting a device from XCom Global for India travel in the future.
Thanks again for your response.
Part 5: The Conclusion of the Tale: So, there’s the story. I didn’t really expect them to refund me for the service call, though I was hoping they would. They are making good on refunding for the MiFi rental, which is a positive thing, and the main point.
But it does leave me with a dilemma — next time I go to India, unless they’ve changed their carrier, I really can’t rely on this service. I’m not 100% convinced that was the problem, but taking them at their word it was. There are other providers, but they seem to be significantly more expensive. I could pony up for the hotel WiFi, but that’s godawfully pricy, too. (And, yes, it all goes on the expense report — but I manage the budget it comes out of.)
At any rate, noted here on the blog, for the record (and for the next time the subject comes up).