| Address: Bangalore, Karnataka |
I had bought an Airtel corporate connection for my office, Under an unlimited plan of Rs. 3,999/month which gives 2 mbps speed without any usage-policy.
I bought the connection thinking i will start my office in few days, but due to some other issues, I was unable to start the office. So i thought of placing my number in safe custody so i wouldn't get billed as per the plan I'm subscribed to.
I called up Airtel customer care, told them i would like to place my number in safe custody and the executive said I'll be charged Rs.400/month until i request to release my number from safe custody, I agreed to pay Rs.400/month and asked him to place the number in safe custody, he confirmed the same and told me the number has been placed in safe custody and from the next bill I'll be getting Rs.400 bill instead of my plan charges.
Since the office wasn't started and i didn't go to my office location for about a month or 2, Airtel had generated bills and sent to my office address as per the plan i was subscribed! I had no idea the bills are being generated as per plan and are being sent to my office address until i got a call from collection agency asking me to pay the outstanding amount of Rs. 4,000 (Approx. including taxes.etc.), I told them i had placed the number in safe custody and how can they generate a bill as per the plan. They said they will check and get back to me. I kept on getting calls for about a week, Random people calling from collection agency and asking to pay the outstanding amount, I had to explain the same thing to all and they were all saying same thing "they will check and get back to me". But no one ever got back to me with the details of safe custody request i had placed.
Then suddenly i stopped getting calls from Airtel collection agency and i thought they checked my request i had placed for safe custody and this is why I'm not getting any calls. This went on and Airtel generated another bill for another month of Rs.4,000 (Approx. including taxes.etc.). Once again I'm not aware of the bill being sent to my office address as i was not going to the site and was busy with my other work.
After few days, Once again i started getting calls from Airtel Collection agencies asking me to pay outstanding amount of total Rs. 8,000 (Approx. Including taxes.etc.) for 2 months bill. I told them the same thing about my safe custody request i had placed on my account and they were saying the same thing that they will check and get back to me but no one ever got back, then finally i was bomber-ed with lots of calls from airtel (like 3-4 per day at wrong timing) and this time threatening me to take legal action if the outstanding is not paid and the connection was already disconnected, I never used their line even once and in spite after placing the request for safe custody they repeatedly generated bills as per the plan and continued to call me and ask me to pay them.
Since the time was going and i didn't pay the bill all because of their collection agency telling me they will look into this matter of safe custody request and get back to me as soon as possible, Once again another bill was generated and a total sum of Rs. 12,000 was my outstanding and more calls started this time and one of them even scammed me!
I asked them how much i need to pay to get the connection activated, they said i need to pay only Rs. 6,000 and they will activate my line again, After few calls (They wanted to discuss with their seniors), I agreed to pay the amount they asked me and they agreed to activate, when they sent their person to my place to collect the payment, I paid him cash and he called up his manager to confirm and that manager spoke to me and promised to activate the line within 24 hours or i can call him up if it doesn't get activated.
48 hours pasted, I kept on waiting and then i called up customer care to see if the payment was updated and when the connection will be activated. The executive confirmed the payment and here's the shocking part, he told me i still have an outstanding amount of Rs. 6,000 and the number will never get activated until i clear the remaining outstanding amount on my account, I explained him everything about the conversations i had with that manager, executives who called me up to ask for the outstanding and about the safe custody request i had placed but they still generated bills. He took note of everything and placed a complain and told me one of their executives will get back to me on this matter.
He gave me request number, i noted that and was waiting for their call, I never got any call, so i thought of calling up CC myself and follow-up on my request i had placed. When i said i had placed a request about my matter (Had to explain him everything all from start), he said there is no request on my account, I quoted him my request number and he said the number shows no results and there is no request placed whatsoever.
I was so pissed of this and he took the request again and told me I'll get a call within 7 working days, Same thing happened again! No call from airtel and now i started to get calls from other collection agency for the remaining amount and this time i spoke directly to the manager from start and he said I'll get a letter from airtel saying the outstanding is settled and there is no balance against the number i had, I had to explain him everything about the previous manager and the amount i had paid and he just said the number cannot be activated until the payment is cleared and if i don't clear, they will take legal action against me. Now I said I'll talk to the other manager and get back to them. I called up the old manager several times and he wasn't picking up any calls, after trying repeatedly for few days, he finally picked up my call and when i explained him about this another outstanding amount airtel is asking, he said he doesn't know anything about this and he has just uploaded my funds and had forwarded the request to activate my number.
Again i was pissed because of all these things happening and airtel never got back to me on this matter but those collection agency used to call and trouble me, I decided to clear the outstanding amount as i didn't want any legal issues because i usually have to travel abroad for my current business and if i had this legal case, then i wouldn't be able to go and everything would have been messed for small amount, When this manager called up and gave me guarantee saying they will activate the line and I'll get the settlement letter from them and there will be no problems hereafter. I agreed to just end this matter by paying the amount, so i asked him to send his person to my place with the letter copy and i had told him to mention that they will activate the line after the payment is cleared in the letter, he said he will mention and when i got the letter, he didn't mention they will activate the line and it had just mentioned the payment is fully cleared and there is no outstanding, seeing this i called up that manager and asked him why he didn't mentioned and he said this is a settlement letter and that cannot be mentioned and he takes guarantee for activation and all the stuffs, After disagreeing to him as the other manager had told me the same thing, He started talking roughly and threatened me saying if i don't clear, I'll end up in a legal action and they know how to collect the payment from a legal way, As i mentioned early i didn't want to get into any legal fights, so i just paid him and again same thing happened, the line never got activated and 1-2 months went by but no one is there to care, when i called up CC, one says different story and another says something else, some guys used to say the line will be activated after i place the request over the phone, so i placed the request and they give their so called request number which are just fake, this went on and after following up with them after 14 days (they had told me within 14 days the number will be activated from the day i place the request), quoted them with my request number and again there is no history and no request, I just wonder what these CC people do, either they don't know how to place the request properly or the whole system is built to cheat customers by simply generating fake request numbers which have no history as per other CC executives.
So yeah, I had to place another request and i got no response for my request. When again i called up CC, this is the time when i came to know the number has been fully removed from my account and it cannot be activated whatsoever. I was pissed once again to know that i ended up wasting time, calling them and even paying for the number i never used. Since the payment was cleared, the guy told me they can give me a new number if i request them. I had no other choice other than placing this request and anyhow the number was not distributed to anyone, so that was really not a problem for me, He placed request and told me within 3 working days they will send their people to my place to collect documents again!
It took them over a month just to call me for the new number, but anyway the office was not yet started, so i was not in hurry and the delay was fine with me. They sent 2 guys to my location and these guys collected my documents, submitted and it got processed normally like a new connection and I got a call from installation guy to config the BB. I asked him to visited my office in evening time as i was busy with my other work. He visited my office and the BB was activated, then as usual airtel called me up to confirm he installed and asked few questions and at the same time, I once again told him i won't be using this number and would like to place this in safe custody, he once again explained me same thing (Rs.400/month charges..etc.) and this time i had subscribed for Rs.1399 plan as the corporate plan was withdrawn. So the person who had called me up asked me if he has to place the request for safe custody and he can do it if i tell him to do so. So i said okay place the number in safe custody and he said he has successfully placed the number in safe custody and they won't generate bills according to the plan but will charge Rs.400/month.
So once again, The office is not yet started and i don't usually go to the site, Bills were generated by airtel as per the plan (Rs.1399), they had sent 1 month bill and since i wasn't knowing they were sending the bills, the due date for the first month crossed and I was still unaware of this. They generated second bill and this is when i came to know as airtel started to call me and ask for the outstanding amount, I asked the amount and i thought it would be Rs.800 or around that including taxes.etc. because i had placed the number in safe custody, but the lady told me it's around Rs.2,000+ I was confused at that time and told her I'll first talk to CC and then pay them. When i called up CC asking them for more details on how many months bill it was and why it was Rs. 2000+ they said it's as per my subscribed plan. This is when things started to go wrong. I explained him about the safe custody request and once again same thing happened and he said there is no request in my account and this is when i really came to know the process of safe custody!
He explained me i need to first clear the payment, then go to airtel outlet and give them written request and then only the number will be placed in safe custody, I told him the first guy never explained me this process and he had told me he has placed my number in safe custody and then i told him i would like to file a complain against this matter as this was the second time they attempted to leach money from me and he said i have to email airtel at [protected]@in.airtel.com, I sent an email explaining the whole matter and this time i threaten them to take legal action if they don't resolve this issue.
I got a call from a guy called Anoop and he seem to be nice and then explained me the whole process and i explained him the old matter and this current issue with them and he said there is no request for safe custody hence the bills are normally generated and there is no issue with my account and i told the guy whom i spoke to at the time of installation didn't explain this process and just told me he has placed the number in safe custody, He wanted me to prove him, He said he can't help me if i don't get any proof for that request i had placed, Now i never thought they would do this again and scam me, otherwise i would have just recorded the call between me and the person whom i spoke at that time.
Their whole system is built to scam people!
Summary:
1. They won't explain the process properly to place your number in safe custody and just ask you if you would like to place it or not and if you tell them to place the request, they say they have successfully placed the request and they will also give you fake request number (Though i never got any request number from them for safe custody, but for any other requests, they give you the number and when you follow-up, there is no history on their systems)
2. They will generate bills as per the plan you are subscribed and if you explain them and tell them you had placed the number in safe custody, they will just waste your time saying they will check and get back to you, this is their tactic to generate another bill, they do their best to make sure they generate as many bills as they can to leech more money from you.
3. If you don't pay the amount, the collection agencies will trouble you full day asking you to pay and if you explain them the matter, they simply don't care about anything and just say they will check and next day same thing repeats and you yourself end up paying the amount after they threaten you to take legal action and you get pissed of getting so many calls from them.
4. If you threaten them to take legal action and ask them to resolve the issue, they ask you for the proof and tell you there is no request on their system, since the systems are owned by them, controlled by them we can't do anything and just end up having no proofs and even if they give you their so called request number, they won't have any history, So basically they scam and then clear the history and blame you only saying you didn't place any requests.etc.
The above issues is still going on and I'm still getting calls, now i just decided to clear the payment and just disconnect their service, since i have nothing to proof (obviously they didn't explain me the process correctly and on top of all this, they blame me only saying that's not how the safe custody request is placed and asking me to prove them.)
Conclusion: STAY AWAY FROM AIRTEL, THEY ARE THE NUMBER OF FRAUDSTERS IN INDIA AND YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING UNLESS YOU HAVE THE WRITTEN PROOF.
P.S. If they want written proof of your request, then why the hell they have Customer Care in first place! And If they call you, they don't record your call and if you call them and place the request, they do record but they will never give you the clip if it proves them wrong, but if you're wrong, then they will bring up all the call logs/recorded clips/account history.etc. and prove you wrong.
Aug 13, 2020
Complaint marked as Resolved 
![Indian Institute of Natural Resources Management [IINREM]](/thumb.php?bname=1&src=indian-institute-of-natural-resources-management-iinrem.jpg&wmax=182&hmax=300&quality=90&nocrop=1)
AirTel — about wrong charges
i am distributor of bharti airtel limited. i have fos no [protected] when i call a2a the charge taken fromdedicate account 1 but there is 1 no [protected] when i call on this no the charged taken from dedicate account 5. by this way about 150 rs was wrongly charged from dedicate account 5. any of airtel executive can not solve problem. every time i call [protected] airtel business support center they reply me differently and reply me that plz hold and after 30 minutes they disconnect my call. and tell me who is sushil sharma? i called him on 25-9 at 6.52minute evening and he tell me that when u r dedicate account 5 is 0 every calls charge will taken from dedicate account 1 but problem not solved today.