Unethical 3G billing practices at Airtel.

**karteek** · 10-12-2011, 01:50 AM

Hi All,

I have been using Airtel Postpaid connection for the past 7 months, mobile Number is 9742889519. The first month when 3G services were launched by Airtel,
I had subscribed for 3G and my bill came out to be around 1200 for 3G services alone. It was my mistake, I didn't know about the data plans and I used the
internet on the go, hence I paid the entire amount. Then I subscribed to the Rs.100, 100MB plan on 26th March 2011. After having a bad experience, I made
sure I asked complete details about this plan. When I enquired as to how would I know when my free data usage will finish, I was told that I will be receiving an SMS whenever I cross the 80% and 100% of my free usage. Please refer to the call logs that you might have saved whenever I called up the Customer care, for more clarification. I was told this on 5 occasions.

However on 4th of August, when I was using the 3G services, I had crossed the 80% as well as the 100% limits and I never received an SMS. So obviously any sane person would be under the impression that am operating well under my data usage plan. However I received an SMS on 5th August stating that my data usage as on 05th August is Rs.1478.

When I had raised a complaint with the Customer care, I had to explain this issue to 4-5 different people and finally they came back to me telling that
nothing can be done by them and I have to contact the nodal officer. So I called up the nodal officer on 2nd September and informed her about the entire
situation. There was no response however. I was told that the concerned team would get back to me. I again called back on 7th September because 8th
September was my due date for bill. I was told that the concerned team would get back to me. I was also promised that the late fee would be deducted from my bill once the issue gets resolved. That didn't happen either.

On 15th September I received a message that my outgoing calls would be barred. I called up the customer care and told them that I have raised certain issues regarding the billing and requested not to bar my calls till the concerned team gets back to me. I was promised nothing would happen. On the next day, my outgoing calls were barred!

I again called up customer care and I was informed that his manager would call me in next 4 hours, which did not happen. On 17th September, I had to call the nodal officer again to get a status on my grievance and the response I get is pretty hilarious.

I spoke to the nodal officer, Ms. Bhavya, and she delivered a gem: "Sometimes, you may not get a message sir!" Are you kidding me?

On 5-6 occasions the customer care assures me that I would definitely get a message when I cross 80% and 100% and at the end once the billing is done, this is the kind of response I get. Everybody from the customer care to the nodal officer has the audacity to question why am not paying the bill, but not one of them has the minimum courtesy to accept the fact that there is an issue with the system and a huge disconnect between what I'm promised and what I'm being delivered.

Had I got the message that I have used up 100% of my data usage, I would've never used the excess data as I already am aware that they charge exorbitant rates and have had a good experience in my first month itself!

Airtel went ahead and barred my outgoing calls, leaving me with no other option but to change my number. I had then shared my new number with the Airtel Nodal Officer and Applette thinking something good would come out of it. I had a telephonic conversation with Mr. Barun Kumar Sharma, who said would look into this issue and get back to me in 24 hours. However nothing happened and he came up with a lame attempt by just blatantly mailing me that the charges levied are correct. I asked him to explain me why did not I get a message when I cross 80% and 100% limits as I was promised, there was no response for the past 20 days. Now their collection agent is behind me as if its my wrong doing.

I was also told that the late payment dues will be removed from the bill if the issue was not resolved on time, but even that did not happen and they are now asking me to pay a bill of Rs. 5034, with no explanation from their end of course.

The mental torture and agony continues. I would grateful if someone can help me on how to resolve my case.

**Airtel_Presence** · 10-14-2011, 09:57 AM

Dear Karteek,

This is to inform you that your concern listed on 12 Oct 2011 has been noted and our team is working on a resolution. At the outset, we apologize for the inconvenience faced by you. We will get in touch with you for further details of your concern as the need arises.

Regards
Rakesh Kumar
Airtel Presence (Airtel Customer Service Team)
Bharti Airtel Ltd
airtelpresence@in.airtel.com

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**Airtel_Presence** · 10-17-2011, 08:03 PM

Dear Karteek,

We would like to inform you that your concern listed 12 Oct. 2011, has been resolved. Should you have any queries please contact Airtel customer service at 121 or write to 121@in.airtel.com

Regards
Rakesh Ranga
Airtel Presence (Airtel Customer Service Team)
Bharti Airtel Ltd
airtelpresence@in.airtel.com

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**karteek** · 01-10-2012, 01:33 AM

Hi Mr. Rakesh Ranga Sir!

I seriously do not have the patience to write down the entire story here. So am pasting an excerpt from the mail I have dropped to 121@in.airtel.com.

***
Dear Sir/Madam,

This case was closed long back in October. I had certain concerns regarding billing (no intimation of crossing the 3g limit) and I had posted the same in consumer court forums. I was then contacted by an executive from Airtel Phone No. (9900052377, Mr. Ram) and had made a settlement of this case and had asked me to Pay Rs. 2186 in presence of my friend and right outside my Office in Electronics City. The executive had my Airtel bills and had calculated the new amount that I had to pay, after the settlement.

I had made this payment on 14th October and below is the snapshot of the same. Mr. Rakesh Ranga from Airtel has also confirmed on 17th October that the issue has now been addressed and resolved. PFB the link for more details.

<< The same URL>>

The airtel executive told me that once I send him a confirmation that I have paid the bill, he would close the connection. I sent him a message the same day that I had paid the bill and there was no correspondence for the next 3 months, until a few days back when all of a sudden an amount of around 4000 is claimed to be pending. This is totally unacceptable and unethical, since the connection was disconnected, neither the sim was working nor did I use the service- even before clearing the settlement amount.

Request you to look into this issue and close the loop. I've had the worst time of my life running behind everyone to get this matter settled. Request you to take this issue to closure and give me a much needed peace of mind asap!!

On-line Payment Receipt

__________________________________________________ ___________________

Thank you. Please quote this receipt no. for any queries in future related to this transaction.

Transaction Details

Receipt No.	44205516
Customer Name	Karteek T
Account Number	1023010396
Mobile Number	9742889519
Transaction Reference Number	347134
Payment Date and Time	14-Oct-2011 17:19:01
Amount Paid (Rs.)	2186.00
Payment From	Self Care Payment - Debit A/C Bill Desk

.................................................. .........Thank for using Airtel on-line payment services.......................................... .................

***

The executive said that the connection would be closed and it's not closed yet. Now a random collection agent who doesn't know the head or tail of the issue wants me to pay the entire amount for a connection that had all sorts of calls barred. Frankly speaking, I cut the sim card into two and flushed it down the toilet the day the executive told me that the connection will be 'Closed' in 24 hours.

Request you to please look into this issue and take it to closure. I don't want a random agent calling me up 3 years from now and asking me to pay the so called 'dues'. If your executive has promised me something and he doesn't deliver what he promised, why should I pay from my pocket for a service that I didn't even use?! Doesn't it sound ridiculous?

Thanks,
Karteek T

**Airtel_Presence** · 02-03-2012, 11:36 AM

Dear Karteek T ,

This is to inform you that your concern listed on 10 Jan. 2012 has been noted and our team is working on a resolution. At the outset, we apologize for the inconvenience faced by you. We will get in touch with you for further details of your concern as the need arises.

For any queries you may have you can also get in touch with us at airtel: About bharti airtel: Feedback

Regards
Rakesh Ranga
Airtel Presence (Airtel Customer Service Team)
Bharti Airtel Ltd
airtelpresence@in.airtel.com

Connect with us 24X7 and we will be happy to assist you with a swift resolution to your queries on all our products and services

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**Airtel_Presence** · 02-11-2012, 05:29 AM

Dear Karteek T ,

We would like to inform you that your concern listed 10 Jan. 2012, has been resolved. Should you have any queries please contact Airtel customer service at airtel: About bharti airtel: Feedback

Regards
Rakesh Ranga
Airtel Presence (Airtel Customer Service Team)
Bharti Airtel Ltd
airtelpresence@in.airtel.com

Connect with us 24X7 and we will be happy to assist you with a swift resolution to your queries on all our products and services

Twitter - Twitter
Facebook - Airtel Presence | Facebook

Unethical 3G billing practices at Airtel.

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