[Resolved]  Vodafone India — overcharging

To whomsoever it may concern,

I have been a vodafone customer for the past 5 years. I had pretty okay experience up till now. I am okay with the usual call drops, connectivity issues, slow speeds etc. Recently i went abroad and like a good customer i went your site and activated my international roaming pack, much against the advice of my hubby who told me about getting overcharged or ripped, i believed these things don’t happen to loyal, timely bill paying customers like me (What was i thinking).

My flight to paris had a brief stopover at kiev (Boryspil airport) during which i used my phone for two calls and a little bit of internet. I reached paris and my phone stopped working. Later a message popped in saying i had over spent my limit.

After series of calls to all toll helplines which ended utter confusion as they could not figure out what had happened. My calling and internet was the still barred. From there on things on really went downlhill because the very next day i got a message which said i had raised an unpaid bill of 1.44 lakhs. Yep that’s not a typo. Shocked and outraged, i again tried several helpline numbers none of which was of any help.

Every vodafone telecaller had the same reply ‘ma’am, your billing date is on 20th without the bill being raised we can’t tell you the reason for a charge.’ to which i said then why are my calls being barred to which they put it on some server glitch or something. Through the entire weeklong trip i had to go without calling and internet. I decided to sort it out once i come back to india (Again, what was i thinking). They even refused to change the billing date so that i can get the bill and resolve the issue at the earliest.

The moment i landed, i started calling the helpline even before i reached home or called family to inform we have landed. Every call had the same reply – 1st – they can’t give me any information till my bill is generated and that it could be a server glitch. On asking why can’t they then resume my services, they were a little clueless till i asked repeatedly (Talked about customer care) to which they replied it will be done in the next 2 to 4 hours.

After 2 days of calling and the tele callers at your end raising more tickets than a bus conductor. I had to go to your centre and talk to the executive who had the same reply, though later he gave me some info after escalated my concern along with my decibel level.

Looking at the half-baked information he shared with me, i asked him about my activated the international pack. To which he promptly said was only to keep my services on and not for calling or internet (Are you serious?) aghast but still trying to make a sense of things i asked him about why didn’t they stop at 6400 rs. Which was set by me as my upper limit?, he was clueless (Seems to be part of the crm policy) then he gave some gyan about being on international roaming and all.

Finally he again gave me the line – your bill has not been generated so you have to wait till then. To which i asked to change the billing date so that i can get the bill and resolve the issue at the earliest. The request was obviously refused.

The good news – my bill finally got generated for a whopping 1.74 lakhs that is more than the cost of my entire paris trip (Including my +1).

And now my services have again been barred.

Once again, one calling them i got the same response ‘ma’am, the bill is too high so we can’t do anything about it.

I have had serious business implications because of my phone not working from 22nd january. I hope you guys have a contingency plan in place to repay me for lost business.

So dear (Whosoever in vodafone has an iota of a clue) person (S), please tell me how to solve this issue. Let me reiterate -

-why not specify that you international roaming pack does not include calling or net usage and that it is only for keeping your services on?

-why was i not informed when i crossed my set limit of 6400 rs? (Why didn’t you barr my services then). The messages you sent me attached here with nowhere specify the cost. How am i supposed to know or keep a tab?

- the charges might be genuine as your customer care executive has been trying to make me believe from last one month but they have crossed the limit of billing which was mutually set. So i don’t see it as a fault of mine. Your bank stops letting you make transactions moment you reach your limit. They call and inform you. But i didn’t get any info that i have spent more than 20 times my limit.

-why do you leave your service executives clueless and ill-informed and as lost as a customer in distress? Or why can’t they keep to their words that they will get back to me in 3 days. They rather choose to react in an accusatory manner if i raise a new issue.

-why is customer bill detail such a top secret issue with you guys?

-why are not as quick in activating my roaming pack as you were in barring my services?

I would not even consider the bill generated by you guys legit till you answer of these questions. I am on the verge of taking a legal recourse.

Yours truly,

A deeply annoyed soon to be lost customer