[Resolved]  Vodafone India — Incorrect charges and unethical behaviour

Address:

New Delhi, Delhi

I have a post-paid mobile from Vodafone India in New Delhi. My mobile number is [protected]. I purchased a pack of Rs 177.42 per month. I then bought one Internet pack on 5th Aug 2016 from Vodafone India website of Rs 250 for 1GB for one month. But, I did not receive any sms to confirm my purchase.

I then did a customer service chat with them and then told me that the pack I bought was for Red customers only and I am not a Red customer. The agent then asked me to buy another pack for Rs 299. I asked them to activate this for me.

I then started using the internet on my mobile but after few minutes; I received a sms saying I have charges of Rs 499.71. I immediately had another chat with their customer service guy named Franklin. He said that this is internet data charges. I explained him about the situation. He replied that I will not be charged but he cannot do anything until the bill is generated.
I then waited for bill to be generated. On 27th Aug 2016, I received one sms saying that I have Rs. 1174 charges on my account and have to pay it if I want to enjoy uninterrupted service.

I did not receive any bill on email I registered with them nor did I get it by post. I did a customer service chat with them on this issue. They said that it takes 7 days from generating the bill to send it by email and further 4-5 days to send by post. Then the customer has 10-11 days to pay it in full else the services may be interrupted.

I had a chat with guy named Suresh. He gave me the below charges details:
1. One Time Charges is Rs.250. (for RED pack which was not applicable/suitable for me and I couldn’t use it)
2. Monthly Charges is Rs.476.42. (Plan Rental is Rs.177.42 and data plan rental is Rs.299)
3. Usage Charges is Rs.499.71. (Since the Rs 250 plan did not work, Vodafone charged me for using data before they activated my Rs 299 plan)
4. Other Credits / Charges is Rs.205.69. (This was the credit on my account which is also incorrect but they have raised complaint on it and will reply me later)
5. S Tax @14% + SBC @0.50% + KKC @0.50% is Rs.153.06

I tried to explain him that the charges for Red Rs 250 pack is wrong because it was not applied to my account as I am not a Red customer. His reply was that he cannot reverse it as I asked for it and whether it applies to me or not and whether I can use it or not, they will still charge me for the same.

Then I asked them why to charge Rs 499.71 if you are already charging me for Rs 250. Again, his reply was that Rs 250 was not applicable to my account so they are charging me data uses until the Rs 299 pack was activated.

So, they charged me for Rs 250 even though this was not applied to my account and I was not eligible for that and then they charged me for the data used also for Rs 499.71 plus they have charged me tax of 15% on these charges.

They have denied to raise any complaint on the above issue so I cannot take it further internally with Vodafone and not sure who to speak with.
I am a retired person and this is the first time I have taken out a post-paid connection. When I bought the post-paid connection in the shop, they said it’s going to be a cheaper plan but through such scams where they don’t clearly explain the packs on their website and when the plans are not eligible for specific accounts, they charge for it.

I am not sure what to do and how to get them remove these charges from the bill. They are said that I have to pay else the services will be interrupted.

Could you please look into this and get it resolved please?

Many thanks
N N Pandey