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26/02: Stay Away from BrainNET's DSL Service!
Maverick on WCCK Forums reports that BrainNET is using false advertising to lure potential customers to its unlimited home DSL packages when in fact, these packages are capped at 3GB per month. If you require more bandwidth you are charged more or else, your account is locked.Maverick's post is quoted below as a matter of record and so that the reader's understand this matter better:
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Sadly I have come to know after a bitter experience lasting 10 days that Brain Net gives you only 3GB of downloads even though they advertise unlimited downloads....That's correct folks regardless of what anyone else says Brain Net reserves only 3GB for their 'unlimited' advertised accounts.
So I am in day 12th today and early in the morning I receive an sms message that my account was due for Rs. 2300. Confused I called up the local office only to be advised that the message is erroneous and that I should ignore it. Around 1pm my internet got disconnected and wouldn't connect again, Modem error message was "Authentication Failure"!
Called up the office again only to be told that they will fix it, 3 hours later I called them again and I was quite upset this time, demanded their address and told them I will pay them a visit to which they provided me the number of their toll free number and told me that they too contact the same number as the troubleshooting is only done in Lahore.
Called up the toll free number and the CSR told me that my account was blocked because of non payment, I told him it was impossible as I had already paid in advance for the whole month which started only 12 days ago, He checked again and then told me that my downloads had exceeded the set limit consistently hence the account was locked. The guy told me that he will restore the connection within 10 minutes.
Pretty upset with all the nuisance I called up the regional head of sales department, Mr. Ayaz told me that I was downloading too much and that they cannot keep my account any more. I told him that they had advertised unlimited downloads to which he gave me stupid excuses:
Ayaz: You are not downloading like a home user rather like a corporate user
Me: It does not matter how I download as you have advertised unlimited downloads.
Ayaz: But we have a 3GB Limit for home users (30GB for 1:10 shared connection)
Me: Then why haven't you mentioned the same and why do you advertise unlimited downloads?
Ayaz: 3GB Downloads are enough for any household that is why we advertise unlimited downloads. What do you download anyway?
Me: I download HD Movies off torrents, why do you not advertise a 3GB download limit? Why do you misguide customers like me, why do you think I pay almost Rs. 2400/month for a 2MB connection?
Ayaz: All ISP's do the same, your downloads will be restricted regardless of which ISP you use.
Me: That still does not justify your false advertisement which attracted me to you in the first place. Be also advised that I am an active member of quite a few Forums and I will post about your LIE. Please refund me for the days remaining.
Ayaz: Let me arrange that when I get back to office.
Brain Net advertisement about unlimited downloads is a fucking lie, Beware!
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What makes it all the more alarming is that BrainNET seems to be doing this deliberately. Proof of this is found when one looks at its website describing the packages available. You can go to the package details page by clicking here. There is no mention of any volume limit for the packages. On another page, they advertise these packages as being "24 hours unlimited". I would call this a clever use of words to state that the connections remain connected 24/7 which is sort of an implied meaning of a broadband connection. However, the potential customer (most not understanding a lot of English) takes this to mean that the packages don't have any volume limitation. Even on the above linked page, there is no mention of any bandwidth/volume limitations for the end user. The customer is thus deliberately misled into believing that the packages have no volume limitations.
In the quoted conversation with the regional head of sales department, Mr. Ayaz lies blatantly and unashamedly to Maverick. First, home users these days download huge amounts of data. This is evident with the increasing popularity of video sites like YouTube and MetaCafe which consume a major portion of internet traffic these days. In fact, I would venture very confidently to say that in Pakistan's scenario a corporate connection generates less traffic than one installed at homes of any avid internet user. 3 GB download is not enough for any household. With increasing size of web pages, and increasing multimedia content in websites, most often one finds that the [non-advertised] volume limit is crossed quite easily. Calling a 3GB limit package unlimited is lying to the customers and false advertisement.
Amongst all ISPs in Pakistan providing broadband connections, it is well assumed that they will be unlimited in both connectivity and volume. Out of all the Pakistani ISPs I have read about (and I read about them quite a lot), Nayatel is the only one providing FTTH which has volume limited home packages which makes their packages unappealing and utterly crappy. Other Wimax packages from Wateen are also volume limited for the most part. Take any of PTCL, LINKdotNET, Micronet, Maxcom or other popular ISPs providing DSL service. All offer home DSL packages which have no volume restrictions. This proves that the contention of Mr. Ayaz regarding other ISPs "doing the same" is another lie.
This underhanded maneuver by BrainNET is a patent example of how to defraud a customer. I would recommend to potential DSL subscribers currently looking for a new connection to stay far away from BrainNET's service until this issue is satisfactorily resolved either way. You can trace progress of this issue on Wired Pakistan Forums, WCCK Forums or on PKFORUM.
Stay alert and protect your rights as a consumer.
Everyone who uses BrainNET or any other internet service provider is welcome to share his or her experience in the comments section below. Good luck to you all in finding the internet service provider which provides internet packages fitting your needs at a reasonable price and great after-sales customer service.
Edit [1/7/2009]: Maverick adds:
Hey Asad, do you know I wrote that post on wcck about BrainNET, the one your turned in to a blog and have in your signature They refunded me 2 weeks later as their GM was out of the country and no refunds could be made before his return (well actually the CS at the office paid me earlier but out of their own pockets which they told me will be refunded once the GM returns!).
All's well that ends well. Congrats to Maverick for getting his money back.
