[Resolved]  Vodafone East Limited — Activation of 3G data Plan without permission based on ambiguous offer message

respected sir, This is regarding activation of 3G Data Plan without my permission in respect of my Vodafone Mobile No.[protected]. On 15/04/14, i.e., on Bengali New Year’s Day ‘Poila Boisakhe’, at 7.50PM one Text Message was sent to me from VK611112. The exact message is reproduced hereafter, “POILA BOISAKHE 3G internet OFFER Only For You. 300MB 3G data at only Rs.100/month. To know & activate dial *121# NOW!!”. As stated in the said message to know the details of the offer I dialled *121# soon after on 15.4.14, but no one responded. 15th May’14 was a National Holiday and on that day I was at my residence where there is no Vodafone 3G Internet service. On 17th May’14 when I came to my office at Howrah, where there is Vodafone 3G Internet Service, the mobile internet indicator sign changed to ‘H’ from, ‘E’. I immediately contacted Vodafone Customer Care Service, and they told me that a 3G Pack has been activated on 16.4.14, and the 2G Pack has been discontinued. I was also told that the pack had been activated as per my request as I have responded to the message by dialing *121#. It was clearly mentioned in the offer message that “To know & activate dial *121#”. The phrase itself is very ambiguious. The same number to ‘know’ and to ‘activate’? The paradox in the phrase gave birth to the misunderstanding in me. But as the word ‘know’ comes first and then comes the word ‘activate’, because without knowing how can one take a decision whether to activate or not, I dialled *121#, to know about the plan, but Vodafone directly activated the plan without detailing the pos & cons of the offer to me. I requested the Customer Care Executive to immediately deactivate the 3G Pack which had been activated without my explicit permission and to activate my subscribed 2G Pack, as there was no such request from my side and I only responded to the message to know about the offer in details as was stated in the message. Soon after the 3G Pack was deactivated on 17.4.14. On receipt of the above bill I noticed with great surprise that an amount of Rs.395.50/- has been charged being 3G internet usage charge, over and above my subscribed Data Plan Charge. I have contacted The manager, Customer Service, Vodafone East Ltd, DLF IT Park, Block AF, 15th Floor, 08 Major Arterial Road, New Town, Rajarhat, Kolkata-700156, through email, detailing the fact on 15/5/14. The reply received from their end is given below: “... Dear Mr. Kar, We have received your email dated 15/05/14 for your Vodafone Mobile Number [protected]. Based on your email below, we would like to inform you that for the above number 3G plan at Rs.100 was activated on 16/04/14 as per your consent received on *121#. Hence, on activation of the 3G plan, the previous 2G plan of MI_C_V_155_30d_D1GB_MO_2G was deactivated. Again post your request at the helpline, the 3G plan was deactivated and the previous 2G plan was activated on 17/04/14. As the data plans were activated and deactivated in mid bill cycle, prorated rentals have been charged and prorated discounts have been levied accordingly. Please note that usage beyond free permissible limit is charged at 2p/10KB, downloads are charged as per content and website, while MMS is charged at Rs.3. There is no inconsistency in the charges levied and data pack activations as it was clearly mentioned in the SMS “to know & activate dial *121#”. We thus regret our inability to process any reversal towards genuine charges levied. The service registration number assigned for this correspondence is[protected]. In case you need further assistance, please do call or email us. We'll do our best to help you. Happy to help, Tanumoy Banik Contact Numbers ...” It is clear from their reply that they are not agreed to waive the 3G charge, but how can they activate a different plan in my mobile connection without my explicit permission, based on such a ambiguous message. I have sent another email to Vodafone in reply to their response above. But they have reiterated the same reply on 20-5-14. The due date for payment is 24/5/14, after which I have to pay penalty. Kindly look into the matter urgently. Sincesery yours, Himadri Sekhar Kar