Teething problems in Indane’s new IVRS liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) refill booking number launched on Sunday left many customers fuming. Many were unable to make bookings from Monday since the system did not let them complete the process.
“Though I tried several times, I could not go beyond selecting the language from my registered mobile number (RMN). I then tried my gas agency’s phone number so that I can ask them to make the booking but that was busy too. Hopefully, the issue will be sorted out in a few days,” said Sivan, a senior citizen.
Many agencies saw irate consumers flocking to their premises. “We got around 200 people today and when the numbers grew, they ganged up. They started cursing us, asking why the earlier IVRS had been disconnected without the new one becoming fully operational. We were asked to make the bookings on their mobiles,” said a distributor in the city.
Not toll-free
Consumer activist T. Sadagopan said the new IVRS was not a toll-free facility and consumers had to pay for every call.
“The least that they could have done is provide a free calling facility. They should have made the system to automatically transfer the calls to the new number when consumers dial it,” he said and added that this was not the time to change the number since Deepavali was around the corner.
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. sources said the issues were being sorted out with the private telecom operator. “Our field officers and distributors called us and we kept a constant watch on the bookings. We usually get around 2.3 lakh bookings a day and on Monday by 6 p.m. we got 1.52 lakh bookings, which is a normal figure,” said an official.
WhatsApp number
Meanwhile, many Indane consumers took to making bookings via the company's WhatsApp number 7588888824.
“Consumers are being asked to switch over to WhatsApp. They have to save the number on their mobile phones and type Refill along with their 16 digit consumer ID. It is easy and free,” said a distributor.
