Past 10 days have been highly eventful; not just because of Diwali that had me grounded because of exams the very next day of the break, but I have had one of the greatest experiences in life. I have been introduced to manipulation techniques unknown to me; cheating at a level which can shock us all and the degree of dishonesty that business empires can showcase for money. (though this is what we discover, the tip of the iceberg always applies to such scenarios!) AirTel has made me wiser than I was a few days back and this is one journey worth sharing so that the losses I have incurred and the deceit I have faced can be avoided in atleast few other cases and the process of unmasking AirTel's mass cheating campaign can be furthered.
I had purchased my SIM 4 years back, August 2007 Pune in a general scheme (in the context of our discussion, a scheme which users would prefer if they have significant non-AirTel calling rather than A2A calling) Suddenly around 20-25th Oct 2011, without any intimation, my account started witnessing a daily `1 deduction around this range of dates in addition to a fair SMS scheme deduction already in place. Naturally, being habitual to such games, I thought this was another gimmick of VAS. I called up Customer Care (CC) and reported this issue. I was promised I would be refunded and all VAS services wrongfully activated would be stopped. As it did not happen and the deduction continued to the next day, I tried calling up CC again but was unable to connect which in retrospect I realize was purposeful blocking of my lines to CC so that I cant complain within the stipulated time frame under some stupid policy of theirs and they can rob me at will. So, after a day or two when I was unable to reach them, I travelled personally to an AirTel Relationship Centre (ARC) in Thane and connected to CC from there where my complaint was noted and I was again promised there would be a refund for the VAS. Similar to earlier case, it did not happen; but by then I had returned to Mira Rd and was busy with my exams and lectures. It took me some time to locate the ARC @ Mira Rd (while all the time I was charged unfairly; the phase also saw me requesting friends to call from my behalf and explain to the Customer Care Executives (CCEs) my predicament) This time I was informed that this is no VAS deduction but my general scheme has been shifted to friends scheme (a scheme which benefits users who have greater A2A calling unlike me) and hence this scheme was not at all beneficial for me and I protested that how can AirTel shift me across tariff plans without me knowing and bypassing me, the user, totally. This is against the TRAI guidelines as my study has revealed. This "Friends" excuse was just one of the explanations I was offered and for the sake of this blog staying short, I won't present a detailed version but would just mention that 'n' CCEs gave me 'n' different explanations about my problem and their 'n' different solutions among which none worked. With all this happening, I was driven to the point of going crazy - I was losing precious time, incurring monetary losses via unfair balance deduction and fuel costs while travelling 6 kms to and fro multiple times from the ARC; add to that the mental and physical strain and we have more! I had already threatened them that I would disconnect my AirTel service and get a transfer to some other network where CCEs can atleast speak English properly or communicate decently even if not in English! Now, the CCE asked me to recharge by a `41 voucher to reconvert my card to general scheme and then recharge for whatever tariff plans for calling and SMS I would want which would take up the total cost to around `80; add to that my daily deductions and we have roughly `100 as AirTel's unfair business from me as the user in these past few days. They were simply refusing to re-credit the amount and were asking me to visit their Vasai office for further complaints. The costs I would have had to incur then would be greater so I decided I will re-charge by `41 in the meantime assuming it was indeed a technical fault and take up the matter with the Nodal or Appellate authorities later whenever it was feasible for me without bunking my lectures. To obtain a confirmation regarding this recharge, I decided to verify it and hence called back CC to talk to some other CCE and get him/her to share the same info before I go for the recharge. Now, this was where Karma kicked in - this was supposed to be my last call to CC and they informed me that the card was never in my name and nor is it now - Blank Shock !! I wondered how can it be so that for 4 years I have used this card and was not informed of this anomaly? How was it that my card was verified and activated if I never was its owner? I was told that the card was activated on 1st Jan 2008 (In place of the actual date of August 2007) and was always under the friends scheme (which in effect was always general and the daily friends deduction started just a few days back) The Nodal officer passed the buck to the retailer claiming that the retailer must have messed it up while submitting documents. So, if the number I was using was indeed in someone else's name then my logic said that the number someone else must be using would be in my name and if that particular person were to engage in any criminal activity, it would be me who would have to face the music. I was informed that since my connection was prepaid, I cant get a name transfer (Huh?!) and hence I arrived at the conclusion that the only plausible course of action would be to stop using the current connection and register a complaint about it asking AirTel to free me of any liability if any AirTel card is being used in my name. With the need for a new connection arising, after talking with my father, we agreed to use his old AirTel card of nearly 8 years purchased in the Goa Maharashtra circle. Before I could start using it, I asked him to confirm whether that card is in his name or not; and I went on to receive the 2nd Shock of the day when my father informed me that even he was told that the number he has been using is not in his name. This got us thinking in overdrive and we arrived at a point where we could make a few guesses. To test the hypothesis, I was on the Internet till 2am in the early morning of 3rd Nov 2011, the day after these shocking revelations and I have found data which I believe validates our hypothesis and provides deep insights into the entire manipulative mechanism of extortion conducted by AirTel in an attempt to forcefully retain customers and rob them through and through.
I had purchased my SIM 4 years back, August 2007 Pune in a general scheme (in the context of our discussion, a scheme which users would prefer if they have significant non-AirTel calling rather than A2A calling) Suddenly around 20-25th Oct 2011, without any intimation, my account started witnessing a daily `1 deduction around this range of dates in addition to a fair SMS scheme deduction already in place. Naturally, being habitual to such games, I thought this was another gimmick of VAS. I called up Customer Care (CC) and reported this issue. I was promised I would be refunded and all VAS services wrongfully activated would be stopped. As it did not happen and the deduction continued to the next day, I tried calling up CC again but was unable to connect which in retrospect I realize was purposeful blocking of my lines to CC so that I cant complain within the stipulated time frame under some stupid policy of theirs and they can rob me at will. So, after a day or two when I was unable to reach them, I travelled personally to an AirTel Relationship Centre (ARC) in Thane and connected to CC from there where my complaint was noted and I was again promised there would be a refund for the VAS. Similar to earlier case, it did not happen; but by then I had returned to Mira Rd and was busy with my exams and lectures. It took me some time to locate the ARC @ Mira Rd (while all the time I was charged unfairly; the phase also saw me requesting friends to call from my behalf and explain to the Customer Care Executives (CCEs) my predicament) This time I was informed that this is no VAS deduction but my general scheme has been shifted to friends scheme (a scheme which benefits users who have greater A2A calling unlike me) and hence this scheme was not at all beneficial for me and I protested that how can AirTel shift me across tariff plans without me knowing and bypassing me, the user, totally. This is against the TRAI guidelines as my study has revealed. This "Friends" excuse was just one of the explanations I was offered and for the sake of this blog staying short, I won't present a detailed version but would just mention that 'n' CCEs gave me 'n' different explanations about my problem and their 'n' different solutions among which none worked. With all this happening, I was driven to the point of going crazy - I was losing precious time, incurring monetary losses via unfair balance deduction and fuel costs while travelling 6 kms to and fro multiple times from the ARC; add to that the mental and physical strain and we have more! I had already threatened them that I would disconnect my AirTel service and get a transfer to some other network where CCEs can atleast speak English properly or communicate decently even if not in English! Now, the CCE asked me to recharge by a `41 voucher to reconvert my card to general scheme and then recharge for whatever tariff plans for calling and SMS I would want which would take up the total cost to around `80; add to that my daily deductions and we have roughly `100 as AirTel's unfair business from me as the user in these past few days. They were simply refusing to re-credit the amount and were asking me to visit their Vasai office for further complaints. The costs I would have had to incur then would be greater so I decided I will re-charge by `41 in the meantime assuming it was indeed a technical fault and take up the matter with the Nodal or Appellate authorities later whenever it was feasible for me without bunking my lectures. To obtain a confirmation regarding this recharge, I decided to verify it and hence called back CC to talk to some other CCE and get him/her to share the same info before I go for the recharge. Now, this was where Karma kicked in - this was supposed to be my last call to CC and they informed me that the card was never in my name and nor is it now - Blank Shock !! I wondered how can it be so that for 4 years I have used this card and was not informed of this anomaly? How was it that my card was verified and activated if I never was its owner? I was told that the card was activated on 1st Jan 2008 (In place of the actual date of August 2007) and was always under the friends scheme (which in effect was always general and the daily friends deduction started just a few days back) The Nodal officer passed the buck to the retailer claiming that the retailer must have messed it up while submitting documents. So, if the number I was using was indeed in someone else's name then my logic said that the number someone else must be using would be in my name and if that particular person were to engage in any criminal activity, it would be me who would have to face the music. I was informed that since my connection was prepaid, I cant get a name transfer (Huh?!) and hence I arrived at the conclusion that the only plausible course of action would be to stop using the current connection and register a complaint about it asking AirTel to free me of any liability if any AirTel card is being used in my name. With the need for a new connection arising, after talking with my father, we agreed to use his old AirTel card of nearly 8 years purchased in the Goa Maharashtra circle. Before I could start using it, I asked him to confirm whether that card is in his name or not; and I went on to receive the 2nd Shock of the day when my father informed me that even he was told that the number he has been using is not in his name. This got us thinking in overdrive and we arrived at a point where we could make a few guesses. To test the hypothesis, I was on the Internet till 2am in the early morning of 3rd Nov 2011, the day after these shocking revelations and I have found data which I believe validates our hypothesis and provides deep insights into the entire manipulative mechanism of extortion conducted by AirTel in an attempt to forcefully retain customers and rob them through and through.
This is a background in brief as to what has happened with me. My enquiries have led me to cases where similar injustice has been doled out to other AirTel customers as per their comments and posts on the consumer forum but not many long-term customers as myself have seen the case where they have been informed that the number they have used since years as never in their name but nevertheless, all these tricks are part of the same strategy and what that strategy is I will share in part II of this blog which would be uploaded shortly. We have to know when someone is fooling us and we have to be prepared so more of us do not have to go through the kind of ordeal I had to go through and many more have before me as can be seen on the internet forums. I consider it my duty to share my experiences in the hope that other users, of not only AirTel, but also other networks guard themselves against fraud. In the meantime, I have drafted a letter to the Ombudsperson of Bharti AirTel Ltd. I have given a 24 hour deadline for them to take note of my request, reply to me and reimburse and compensate for all losses tangible and intangible that I had to bear. If not complied with, I will be registering a complaint with TRAI and maybe a RTI if necessary given the proportions of the heinous crimes AirTel is committing which might not be apparent now but part II of this blog would shed some light on the matter. So, for my detailed guess as to the clandestine move by AirTel backed with substantial data, quality articles and statistics, please await my next blogpost in the hope that it drives atleast one nail into the coffin of AirTel and safeguards consumers from this cheat of a company....
Till then....
Jai Hind!
2 comments:
There was some problem with AirTel services @ Pune. It was in d news around Diwali time only. May b they are collecting Diwali contribution from all of their Preveilaged customers!
Even my Dad lost around 500 bucks as Vodafone added some stupid plan to his blackberry without telling him...
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