ACT Fibernet — intentionally delaying action on service requests for disconnection and fraudulently charging my credit card

Address:

560095

Account_ID:[protected]

Hi,

My name is Harish Kumar Nair and I am forced to write this complaint after repeated attempts to get my ACT broadband connection deactivated. The customer service I experienced in the last few months have been a nightmare to say the least and nothing short of harassment. It all started when i placed a service request on 2nd Jan, 2018 for deactivation/suspension of my internet connection as I was relocating to a new area within the city. I did not want to pay the relocation charges so i decided to forego the existing connection and take a new one at my new residence. I was told that they will take action within 48 hours on this service request, but that was the start of the nightmare. After this i received multiple SMSs saying that the service request has been closed, but I kept seeing that my internet account[protected] was still active. I kept following up with the customer care team and they would raise a fresh service request each time (SR[protected], SR[protected], SR[protected] and kept giving me the same response that they will take action, however nothing seemed to be happening on the ground. I told them that for their delay in disconnecting the connection, I will not pay any money for services that I did not use and they told me that I am not supposed to pay anything.

After this, on Jan 29th, 2019, I get an SMS saying that my Fibernet service has been deactivated due to moving from existing address and that the invoice amount and due amount is Rs 0 (please see attached). I thought finally the matter is closed, but to my surprise I get another SMS on 3rd Feb, 2019 saying that my Feb month bill has been generated and the due amount is Rs 1279.39 (again can be seen in the screenshot). I again called up the customer care and registered a strong protest and they once again took a fresh service request (SR[protected] and again repeated the same usual response that they will get this sorted out and I can ignore the SMS. After this the service request gets closed on 4th Feb, 2019 but i still find my old account active and this continues for some more time and in spite of following more than 10 times I still did not see any satisfactory action on my service requests. Now to my shock, I receive a message on 8th Feb, 2019, that the bill amount of 1279 Rs will be processed as per the standing instruction i have issued when i never issued any standing instruction. I immediately called the customer care once again and this time the executive told me that they will proceed with disconnection and I will not be charged anything and I can ignore that message since it's a system-generated message. After going through so much, I did not believe a single word they said and kept wondering what if I have my card details saved on their app and they charge it without my authorization and to my horror it happened today, Feb 14th, 2019.

To describe it as fraud and extortion would be an understatement as they have no right to debit this amount using saved details of my card and call it standing instructions when none was issued to ACT by me at any given point in time. I did not expect ACT Fibernet to stoop down to this level when they are in the wrong from the very beginning and if this is the way they treat their customers then time has come to teach them a lesson. I am not going to stop until those who are responsible for this fraud are punished and fired and even if it means taking this to court and get TRAI/DoT to suspend ACT Fibernet's license. This extortion has to stop and people who are harassing customers like this have to be punished. I have all the evidences that prove that I had done my best to get my internet connection disconnected and had communicated the same well in advance. However, in spite of multiple service requests and especially after getting an SMS communication from ACT that there is 0 Rs due amount, I was fraudulently charged for the bill that was generated a month after the disconnection request was first raised. I am also going to send a copy of this complaint to the top management and CEO of ACT Fibernet so that they know what pathetic customer care service they have and how they are extorting money from customers in various ways. Moreover, this complaint will also be posted in all public forums so that everyone is aware what kind of customer service ACT provides and why it's time to call out this fraud loud and clear.

Thanks,

Harish
Mob: [protected]