Airtel Wireless Closes its Doors and Cuts Service to Cell Phones (2/23/2009)

Airtel Offices in Missoula's Southgate Mall had a closed sign posted on the door.

At approximately 12:00am Saturday morning, Airtel Wireless went out of business. At 12:01 am, anyone with an Airtel cell phone also had no cell phone service.

No warning was given to their customers, which left several people baffled as to why there phone didn't work. Later Sunday morning, people who drove down to Airtel's Southgate Mall location discovered a nondescript closed sign on the door.

Calls to AirTel's Customer Support number (800) 234-8889, are answered by an automated message saying "We regret to inform you that Airtel has gone out of business and closed its doors. There are many other cellular providers in the state that may fit your needs. We regret any inconvenience. You may leave a message after the tone."

As of Monday morning the AirTel web site was still functioning normally, and had no visible sign that they had gone out of business. By 3pm in the afternoon, the web site had been replaced with a similar out-of-business message.

Several customers were fairly upset with Airtel, because they had paid for service ahead of time. Some called the Montana Public Service Commission's Customer Complaints hotline at (800) 646-6150, but were told that the PSC doesn't have any jurisdiction over cell phone companies.

Our calls to the Montana Public Service Commission & Airtel Wireless were not returned by the time we posted this article.

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