[Resolved]  Vodafone — Excess Billing & other issues

(Without Prejudice)

To,
Ms. Suvarna S (Nodal Officer)
Vodafone Essar Limited, 2nd Floor, Skyline Icon, 86/92, Andheri Kurla Road, Marol Naka, Nr Mittal Industrial Estate, Andheri East, Mumbai 400059 India


Dear Ms. Suvarna,

I have been billed Rs.10, 000/- odd (USD$208) for usage of Blackberry in one night on 31st Jan2009. I had requested for a reversal vide letter dated 9/Feb/2008 which is also attached. The reply was a stereo type letter which is attached.

I have been a customer of Vodafone from the inspection till today under various numbers & I am very much aggrieved by the bill of Rs.11154.90 (bill attached) for blackberry usage out of which Rs.10, 000 has been billed in one night of 31/Jan/2009.

There is no way I could have used Rs.10000/- worth o[censored]sage on Blackberry on one night while actually I was sleeping. I would like to have the details of the usage of the blackberry for the whole billing cycle & also the sites visited, the download done from each site individually in KB, duration of visit to each site in the billing cycle etc. If this is how Vodafone operates, all efforts should be made to block the 3G license as the complaints shall be multi-fold after the introduction of this service by them.

Also let me know your auditor from the panel who has certified your metering & billing system with their email ID so that I can also send them a cc of this email.

I would be the first to have my number transferred from Vodafone once Number Portability is started in June 2009 as:

a) Without any written consent the my billing account was linked to a Vodafone CITI Credit Card (co-branded) which was not subscribed to, there was no application made for the Credit Card, the Credit Card was never received. After tremendous follow-up with CITI bank as well as Vodafone & threatening emails, I was able to cancel a credit card never issued to me & now I am getting a bill for services not used. The account opening forms, written consent to debit the bills etc asked from Vodafone & Citi bank have not come till date. It seems that there is a tactic employed suo motto to raise high bills & pass them to credit card companies who issue credit cards without any consent of the subscriber for such a service.
b) After two & a half years the network coverage issue in my office was sorted out.
c) The hard copy of the bills were stopped unilaterally & email bills in soft copy started without my consent. This had to be complained & then only the printouts started from this billing cycle.
d) My Vodafone account is deactivated. Why should the same be deactivated if not used for a certain time. I was unable to assess the account even when I tried to do so & I had to pay the bills by cheques instead of online which I usually do.
e) The waiting time to get through to the help numbers is too much.

I am a Chartered Accountant in practice for the last 25 years & a responsible citizen of India. I have a track record of paying all the bills in time & enjoy credit limits of Rs.27900/- with Vodafone.

As written earlier I would not be paying for the blackberry usage of 31/Jan/2009 amounting to Rs.10, 000 odd & would request you to kindly issue a fresh bill without this Blackberry usage so that I can pay the other outstanding on the account. I shall be paying Rs.4622.20 i e Total Bill Rs.17055.89 Less (Rs.11154.90+ Service Tax @ 12.36% of Rs.1378.75) before the due date as the dues for this bill till the receipt of the corrected bill. So please reverse the charges accordingly.

Till the complaint is not taken to its logical conclusion, all the services to the telephone numbers in the account should not be disconnected, no interest / penalty should be charged on the outstanding.

I have already discontinued the Blackberry services by SMS on 03/Feb/2009 @ 9.45 pm and subscribed to the 10p SMS on 3/2/2009 @ 10.11pm. Pl confirm if the changes have been done in the billing cycle starting from 4/Feb/2009 as I have been informed that the SMS @10P has not been activated. I would like to know the reasons for the same & also why it was not informed to me that the effect was not done. The billing in this cycle has to be done @ 10p for SMS made from 4/2/2009

My request for the Complaint number on help desk was not entertained a few days back & the operator discontinued the call when it was asked.

Even the reply give by Customer care dt 11/Feb/2009 in response to my written complaint does not bear a complaint Number which is very surprising.

I am sure that all the users of Vodafone Blackberry would be delighted to know how Vodafone unethically bill genuine customers while they are asleep. I think I have better things to do rather than lodge complaints on Valentine day.

If the complaint is not resolved with the details asked before end of day of 16th Feb 2009 and with the reversal of fictitious charges of Rs.10, 000 odd under intimation to me, I reserve my rights to publish the above email in the newspapers having vide circulation in India & various forums at your risk, cost & consequences, which please note.

Aggrieved Customer,
CA Rakesh Nanda