Got To Glow

Updated September 2026: in 2019 I requested a port-out from my postpaid plan because of high bills, and a retention call persuaded me to convert to prepaid instead. I have rewritten it into a guide to choosing between postpaid, prepaid and switching operators, with what to check before you decide.

My original complaint was high postpaid bills. When I generated a porting code to move to another operator, the retention team called within minutes and suggested converting to prepaid on the same network, including my child's number. The offer sounded sensible, and I stayed. The decision I faced is one many households face, so it is worth setting out properly.

Is prepaid actually cheaper than postpaid?

Often, but not always. Prepaid plans with long validity usually cost less per month for similar data and calls. Postpaid plans can come out ahead for families, because a single bill with add-on connections shares data across members, and some include streaming or roaming benefits. Compare your last three months of actual usage against both, not the headline plan price.

What changes when you convert postpaid to prepaid?

• Billing: you pay upfront for a validity period instead of monthly in arrears.
• Outstanding dues: any unpaid postpaid bill must be cleared before conversion.
• Family add-ons: each add-on number usually has to be converted separately into its own prepaid connection.
• Benefits: bundled subscriptions and priority support on postpaid plans typically end.

Conversion is normally done through the operator's app, store or customer care, and you keep your number.

When is switching operator the better move?

When coverage or network quality is the real problem, not price. A cheaper plan on a network that drops calls at home is not a saving. Porting your number to another operator is done by generating a unique porting code by SMS and taking it to the new operator, with your number staying the same. Check the new network at your home and office for a few days, with a borrowed SIM if possible, before porting.

Should you accept a retention offer?

Only if it solves the problem that made you want to leave, and only once you have it in writing. Retention teams can often offer a better plan or a conversion quickly, and that can be a good outcome. Ask for the exact plan name, price and what happens to every number on the account, and wait for the confirmation message before cancelling your port request.

What should you check before deciding?

Your real monthly usage, the number of connections in the family, network quality where you spend your time, and which bundled benefits you actually use. With those four in hand, the choice between staying postpaid, going prepaid or porting out is usually obvious.

Keep reading

• Airtel Prepaid Support: How Bots and Bias Fail Customers
• Usage-Based AI Pricing and Your 2026 Software Budget
• DTH Android box or streaming stick: which one to keep

Updated September 2026: this 2019 post described my colleague's farewell, and how I ended up paying for her gift myself when no one else sent their share. I have rewritten it into practical advice on organising a farewell collection at work.

When my teammate and friend moved to another team in 2019, I was the one at her location, so organising the gift and e-voucher fell to me. By the last day, nobody had sent their contribution. I did not want to spoil her farewell, so I paid for it myself. Many people who organise office farewells have a story like this.

Who should organise a farewell collection?

Ideally someone with a little time and a close working relationship with the person leaving, and never only the most junior person by default. Agree it with the manager so it is clearly the team's initiative. If you are asked and do not have the time, it is fine to say so.

How do you collect contributions without chasing?

• Announce early: at least a week before the last day, with a clear deadline two days before it.
• Suggest an amount, not a fixed fee: "around ₹200, whatever you are comfortable with" keeps it voluntary.
• Make paying easy: share a UPI ID or payment link in the same message.
• Send one reminder the day before the deadline, then buy with what you have.

What if not enough people contribute?

Buy a gift that fits the money collected. A card signed by the team and a modest gift is better than an expensive one subsidised by the organiser. If you do choose to top it up yourself, make that a deliberate choice, not a last-minute surprise. Nobody should end up quietly out of pocket for a team gesture.

What makes a good farewell gift?

Something personal rather than expensive: a signed card with short notes from each person, a gift voucher for something they actually use, or a book or item connected to what they talked about at work. For remote colleagues, e-vouchers and digital cards work well, as long as someone collects the messages in time.

How do you handle being the one left behind?

The farewell is often harder for the person staying, especially if they are now alone at a location with more work and no replacement planned. It is worth raising the workload with your manager the same week, while the change is fresh, rather than waiting for it to become a problem.

Paying for that gift myself was a small thing, and a farewell done properly matters. A deadline, a payment link and a gift sized to the collection would simply have made it fair.

Keep reading

• Handling Ad-Hoc Requests From an Old Project
• Managing Your Bandwidth When Several Teams Want You
• Buy Now Pay Later Refunds in 2026: Your Rights Compared

Updated September 2026: in May 2019 I wrote about a week when two opportunities collided with my planned day off, and one team kept adding me to calls without asking. I have rewritten it as a guide to managing your bandwidth when several teams want your time.

That week in 2019, an old team pulled me back with tight deadlines just as my current opportunity announced it would close within a week, on the very day I had planned off with my family. I told the new team my support would be limited for a few days, and they agreed. Then they looped me into every call and update anyway, without checking whether I had time.

Why does this happen so often in IT services?

Because people are allocated to opportunities, not to hours. Each team sees you as fully theirs, and nobody sees your whole week. Unless someone makes the overlap visible, each team keeps asking as if it is the only one.

How do you tell teams your bandwidth is limited?

• Put it in writing to each team, with dates: "I am on the X renewal until Thursday; from Friday I can give you mornings."
• Copy your manager, so the allocation decision is theirs, not yours to argue alone.
• Name what you will not do, such as attending daily status calls, so the team can plan around it.

What if a team ignores what was agreed?

Decline the calls you did not agree to, politely, pointing back to the email: "As agreed on Monday, I am limited until Thursday; please send me the notes and I will pick up actions then." Being added to invites is not the same as being expected to attend. If the team insists, that is a conversation for your manager and theirs, not something to absorb by working late.

How do you protect planned time off in a week like this?

Mention it early and repeat it in every bandwidth message. Offer a handover point before the day off and name who will cover any closure activity. A closing date that falls on your leave is a reason to hand over, not a reason to cancel, unless you are the only person who can do the work.

What should you ask for afterwards?

A simple allocation view: which opportunities you are on, at what percentage, for how long. Many managers keep this only in their heads. Asking for it after a week like mine is reasonable, and it makes the next collision easier to spot early.

The frustration I felt in 2019 was fair. The fix, though, was not patience; it was a written bandwidth statement that nobody could claim not to have seen.

Keep reading

• Handling Ad-Hoc Requests From an Old Project
• Running an Offshore to Onsite Handover Call
• Scoping a Service Request When Requirements Keep Changing

Updated September 2026: this 2019 post described finding out, after days of unanswered calls, that my usual Ford service dealer had shut down. I have rewritten it as a guide to what to do when your car's service dealer closes, which is a situation many Ford owners in India have faced since.

In 2019 I tried to book my Ford's routine service with the dealer I had always used. The online booking went nowhere and every phone number rang out. Eventually a sales contact told me the dealership had closed over management problems, and I had to go to a newly opened dealer with less equipment. The car was past its service interval, so I had little choice.

How do you find out whether a dealer has really closed?

Check the manufacturer's official website or app, which lists authorised service centres by city, rather than relying on the dealer's own phone numbers or map listings. Old listings often stay online long after a closure. The manufacturer's customer care line can also confirm which service centres are active near you and whether your service history has been moved.

What happens to your service history and warranty?

Service records are usually held in the manufacturer's system, not only at the dealer, so an authorised workshop should be able to see past services. Ask the new service centre to confirm this on your first visit. Keep your own copy as well: the service booklet, invoices and job cards. If you ever sell the car, a complete record supports the price, whichever workshop did the work.

How do you judge a new service centre?

• Ask what the service includes before you hand over the keys, and get an estimate in writing.
• Ask about equipment for anything beyond routine work, such as wheel alignment, diagnostics or air-conditioning repairs.
• Request old parts back when something is replaced. It is a simple check that work was actually done.
• Read the job card at delivery and question anything you did not approve.

Should you consider an independent garage?

For an older car out of warranty, a well-regarded multi-brand workshop can be a sensible option for routine maintenance, and often costs less. For cars still under warranty, stay with authorised service so that a claim is not disputed. This question became common for Ford owners after Ford ended manufacturing in India in 2021, when many dealers wound down.

Is it worth waiting for a better centre?

Only by a short margin. Going somewhat past the service interval is rarely a problem; going thousands of kilometres over, especially on oil changes, can be. If the only centre available looks under-equipped, use it for the routine service and take anything complex elsewhere. That is the practical middle ground I would take today rather than the grudging all-or-nothing choice I felt I faced in 2019.

Keep reading

• Phone Screen Broken? What to Do in the First Hours
• Buying an Apple device in India: what a repair really costs
• AI Agent Bought It Wrong: Keep, Return Or Resell