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Is Hutch disturbing you?

Of late, Hutch subscribers have been hit with a deluge of push messages peddling everything from ringtones to contests to pictures of blonde women.

I was recently informed that Hutch apparently has a Do not disturb list. If your number is on this list, Hutch promises you will no longer be the recipient of their tantalising SMS offers and notices.

"We are concerned about protecting our users' privacy. The 'Do Not Disturb' campaign is an action point to address this concern," said Mr Harit Nagpal, Chief Market Officer for Hutch in India.

If you're a Hutch subscriber and want to get rid of these messages, you can either click here and fill out the form, or you can do it via SMS:

  • Send 'DND' as an SMS to 111 (make sure 'DND' is all capital letters)
  • Hutch claims it will stop disturbing you within 72 hours of receiving your SMS

I just sent the above message and got this reply from Hutch:

We respect your privacy. Please give us 72 hours to include your number on our Do Not Disturb list. Thank you.

Get quotes of Sri Sri Ravishankar on your mobile. Dial *123*91# (Rs 15/mth)

I guess they just can't resist disturbing their customers every chance they get. The second half of that reply is highly inappropriate in the context of a "Do not disturb" list.

Well, let's see if they actually do respect customer privacy. We'll post an update here next week as to whether the nuisance messages have stopped or not.

Posted on Tuesday, June 12, 2007 at 01:58PM by Registered CommenterHrush | Comments6 Comments

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The co-founder of arguably India’s best travel website Cleartrip.com, Hrush Bhatt was born in Anand, Gujarat.An avid reader, loyal Mac user and someone who would rather spend his time with friends than watch television, Hrush Bhatt lets us know a little more about himself at Los Creador.
http://www.loscreador.com/2007/06/12/clear-and-simple-an-interview-with-hrush-bhatt
June 12, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterMrugesh
Hmm.. art of living courses for free. That's probably to minimize the tension that gets to you thanks to all the phone spam .. so they're probably going to keep on spamming you, but will help you deal with it better :)
June 13, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterSuresh Ramasubramanian
Called Hutch customer care one fine day after being harassed with at least 5 - 10 push messages on a daily basis. Apparently I had service messages enabled in my message settings which gave Hutch the right to bombard me with ridiculous offers and ads. So, disable 'Service Messages' immediately if you're facing the same problem.

Next, I wanted an explanation for the automated promotional calls I was getting. Customer care informed me that these calls were made by Hutch but there was no way to disable this 'service'. Besides since they call you only once from each number everyday (btw, a call is counted only if you answer it) they think charging Rs. 3 to disable calls from each number is reasonable. This after you've already requested to be put on the DND list. Unbelievable!

Someone please slap a fat lawsuit on them!
June 14, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterVarun
I am a UK citizen working in India. (3 years). I have a Hutch PAYG mobile sim. The junk calls are now so bad I leave the phone off until I want to make calls. Do not use this crap service. I am switching suppliers.
September 7, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterBob Wright
they are really annoying. they disturb me all tyhe time
September 25, 2007 | Unregistered Commenterkasi
Follow these, it works

1) Send 'DND' as an SMS to 111 (make sure 'DND' is all capital letters)

2) You will get a sms from hutch to confirm, reply with ACT DND to 111

3) you will get the confirmation details, with in 24 hours ( i got in couple of hours)

Now i am bit relaxed...
November 17, 2007 | Unregistered CommenterPrem

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