Airtel (Bharti Airtel Ltd.) — Attempt to cheat

Address:

Kolkata, West Bengal

From: Sidharth Saraff 11/1 Sunny Park Kolkata 700019 Phone[protected] To: Mr Gopal Vittal, Managing Director and CEO (India & South Asia) Mr Rajendra Chopra, Co. Secty & Compliance Officer Mr Srinivasan Gopalan, Director Consumer Business Mr Raghunath Mandava, Director Consumer Experience Mr Ajai Puri, Director Market Operations The Ombudsperson Bharti Airtel Ltd. Regd. & Corporate Office: Bharti Crescent, 1 Nelson Mandela Road Vasant Kunj, Phase II New Delhi 110 070 May 31, 2015 Dear Sirs Sub: Serious Service Deficiency & Selling of Telcom Product under False Representation and Assurances by BHARTI AIRTEL LTD. 4G LTE phone no. [protected] Your Chairman states that Bharti Airtel Ltd. has always practiced and maintained certain core values of ethical behaviour and appropriate conduct, that it lives by strong values of respect for customers, builds and maintains the group’s values and reputation by adhering to the code in letter and spirit; that its principles remain constant and that there is no room for improper conduct or unethical behavior; it has a strong commitment to live by principles. Your guidelines in dealing with Customers state that you are committed to providing high and consistent levels of service to customers, that you subscribe to the philosophy that the customer is the reason you exist, that you treat customers with utmost respect and courtesy; you encourage responsiveness, you wish to represent fair and correct information, you do not exaggerate the quality, features and availability of a product or service; you even go as far as to say that you endeavour to understand the issue from the customer’s perspective and try to provide solutions and would never provide misleading or false assurances or information at any time. So you say (but not practice, not always). Almost each and every assurance and commitment of yours goes for a toss. Please read on: I had applied for an Airtel 4G broadband internet connection on from 11/1 Sunny Park, Kolkata 700019, Police Station Ballygunge on 14.01.2013. You insisted that I must pay INR 4800 to be approved for the connection i.e. you made it mandatory that I need to pay the sum to purchase a 4G wifi router from Airtel only. I was advised in clear terms that the 4G service at 11/1 Sunny Park would be perfect and Airtel would offer lightning-fast speeds of communication. I paid vide cheque no. 000524 drawn on Kotak Mahindra Bank and dated 14/1/13. You provided the 4G router with IMIE [protected], SIM[protected]. As I was in urgent need for a fast connection, I did as you advised, in good faith. However, you/Airtel failed to provide me with a 4G connection at Sunny Park. In this connection, you may refer to my innumerable complaints, made since 2013, both verbal as well as in writing. The complaints of not being provided any 4G service at 11/1 Sunny Park have continued until recently. Upon Airtel not being able to find a solution nor being able to provide a working 4G connection, I have asked you – more than once – that the wifi router be taken back by you and full refund be made to me as it was not working as promised by you. You have refused to do so even though you are guilty of forcing a sale of a telcom product stating that the connection would be provided only if I purchased the router only from Airtel. After sale, you are unable to provide me any 4G connectivity. In fact, I am given to understand that – without my consent, approval, even knowledge, you have tampered with the router and/or connection and converted the original plan from 4G to 3G/4G!!! Therefore, by this letter, sent under registered post, I make my final demand of being compensated for the losses incurred by me owing to an inexcusable service deficiency of non-performance despite promises. I demand refund of: INR 4800 together with interest from date of purchase, until paid being cost of a product which has not worked at 11/1 Sunny Park, Kolkata 700019, Police Station Ballygunge; Entire rental for the entire period charged by you together with interest from date of invoicing, until paid being rental charged for no-usage at 11/1 Sunny Park, Kolkata 700019, Police Station Ballygunge; I demand that the aforesaid sums be paid to me within 21 days from date of this notice, failing which I shall have no other recourse but to petition Honourable Courts for justice. I also shall be claiming, in due course, compensation for mental harassment, extreme mental harassment, and agony, and other losses caused by your non-working product and Airtel’s failure to offer promised service at all at 11/1 Sunny Park, Kolkata 700019 Police Station Ballygunge. Your response within 7 days from date of letter is requested. In any event, I reserve my rights to proceed with legal action within 21 days of this letter. Yours truly, Sidharth Saraff c.c. [protected]@trai.gov.in; http://www.nationalconsumerhelpline.in/ComplaintFile.aspx; c.c. [protected]@bharti.in; c.c. appellate.[protected]@in.airtel.com; c.c. Nodal Officer, Bharti Airtel Ltd., Infinity Bldg., Salt Lake Electronics Complex, Kolkata 700091 c.c. Bharti Airtel Ltd., Unitech World Cyber Park, Sector-39, Tower A, 4th Floor, Gurgaon 122001 c.c. Regional Office, Bharti Airtel Ltd., 6-Hungerford Street, Regency Bldg., Kolkata 700017 Board Members, you say, only say: “The board members possess requisite skills, experience and expertise required to take decisions, which are in the best interest of the company.” Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal Mr. Shishir Priyadarshi Mr. Bernardus Verwaayen Ms. Chua Sock Koong Mr. Craig Ehrlich Mr. Dinesh Kumar Mittal Mr. Manish Kejriwal Ms. Obiageli Oby Ezekwesili Mr. Rajan Bharti Mittal Sheikh Faisal Thani Al-Thani Ms. Tan Yong Choo Mr. V. K. Viswanathan Mr. Gopal Vittal I am sure the Board does. BUT…does the Board do the right thing insofar as its customer is concerned?? Is it fair that you should compel a non-suspecting customer to buy a wifi router (sold by you) and then find that there is no 4G service accessible from the place for which you provided the connection?? Is this your sense of fair-play and integrity??