Vodafone / Postpaid Mobile Connection — [protected] - Pathetic Response Time, Archaic processes and Additionally levied charges

Address:

Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh

Below is the letter I wrote to Vodafone Customer Care which has details of my complaints.

Hi,

My details are as follows:

Name : Subhani Shaikh
Mobile # : [protected]
Organization : Accenture.

First I would like to inform that I am totally unhappy with the Vodafone Service. Be it various obstacles for simple requests, ambiguous rates and total non-response from the executives. I was using Airtel in Bangalore but when I migrated to Hyderabad I wanted to try out Vodafone. Based on the ads and promotions, I thought I would get a better deal and greater satisfaction with Vodafone. But I am totally appalled by the service. The thought of moving to other operators has also popped up in my mind. I am a Manager who moves around different place, calls up Clients abroad. Service & Integrity is what I value the most.
Here are the issues I face :


1. Delayed Activation, Faulty Sim and Additional charges levied for the same -> I was issued the faulty SIM card by your Sales executive Vasanth at the Vodafone booth in Accenture office. The SIM did not get activated for 3 days. I had to depend on my Prepaid "DOCOMO" number for important business calls during this duration. After 3 days, a different SIM was issued citing that earlier one was faulty. First of all, I faced a situation of No - Connectivity for 4 days and then issue was resolved. Now when the bill has been generated, I see an additional amount charged as "Replacement of a resource" for Rs. 50. This is heights. First you issue a faulty SIM and then charge me extra to give a working one. This way I guess you can make your entire business issuing faulty SIM's, replacing them and charging the customers for the same! I want the charges rescinded along with Service Tax levied on Rs 50 before I make my Bill Payment.
Apart from the "newly" issued SIM was activated on 10th Feb but I am being charged rental from 8th Feb. For your delay, Do I need to pay the additional rental? I want this rescinded as well.

2. Callertunes -> Charges 3 days -> Rs. 30. Callertunes are charged at the rate of Rs. 30 per month. I activated for the same on 25th Feb. Rs. 30 should be charged from 25th Feb to 25th March else it should be charged on pro-rata basis. But none of this was followed. I dont believe any other operator in country does this. In Airtel, I had applied on 28th for Callertunes and in the bill they charged me for 3 days of the month. Even your site mentions it as Rs. 30 per month not as Rs 30 "per billing cycle"

3. ISD & Roaming activation -> As you understand I am a corporate customer. I need the SIM to make national & international calls daily. So I expect all the services to be activated from Day 1. With Airtel, I had all the services (including GPRS) activated from Day 1(without any deposit). But on the day of my important Client Call, I find out that ISD is not thr in my number. I approach Customer Care & Sales executives who tell me that I need to cough up Rs 2000/- deposit to get the service activated or wait till 3 months and ay the bills of 3 months to get the service activated. Which age are we living in? You need to wait 3 months to build trust and get ISD activated. That too on a Corporate Connection. I cannot expect this from an aspiring Service Provider! After innumerables calls, Sending my payslip and convicing innumerable executives the services was activated in record 6 hours. Thanks to that I missed my Client Call as well. Corporate Customers was such a sarcasm here.
Then when I was in a meeting in Bangalore the next week and was going to make an ISD call, I again got the rude shock the ISD has not been activated for Roaming. Now this is totally unacceptable. Almost childish. Do you expect me to get activation for each and every number I call? Can the executives be so dumb to activate ISD after so many delays but not do the same for Roaming. I dont understand what processes you follow. But you'll need to improve on these archaic processes if you want to achieve anything close the Customer Satisfaction.

Seriously when you provide service the Corporate Customers, time and service are of the essence. You dont need me to teach you that. For every service or activation, there are additional steps and hurdles. Additional charges levied for your own fault and then service tax levied on top of that! On top of that the I call up Customer Care to lodge the complaints for 3 days and they tell me some "Server" is down, applications are not working so I need to call each day to confirm if the services are "UP".
Then applications are working, Customer Care tells me because I am the privileged "Corporate Customer" he cannot solve my problem but I need to send a detailed mail on a weekend taking out time for the Service Provider. Just the Icing on the cake.

With Airtel in Bangalore, any issues I faced or misunderstandings would be resolved in moments or minutes the least. When some additional charges were levied, just a call was enough to explain and get the money rescinded and paid back to me. But I am not sure how your system works.

I want solutions or visible steps taken for the complaints I have lodged.
Your reply would define what steps I need to take to ensure my satisfaction.

Thanks,
Subhani Shaikh,
Project Manager,
Accenture.