I have been reading Gulf News for the past 20 years, and hands down, it is the best newspaper in the UAE. I especially appreciate the Complaints section, where the newspaper helps people. I never thought I would require such help, as I regularly pay all my bills on time, but this time, I noticed an unusual extra charge in my du postpaid bill.
Du charged me around Dh400 in December 2016 and January 2017 bills. When I asked them what it was for, they said it’s for the extra third party services I had booked. When I told them I hadn’t booked any such service, their customer service staff was rude and said I did book all of the services, and that I would need to pay.
They said they had proof that I had subscribed to these third party services. But it happened at odd times, when the average person is fast asleep — at around 5am and 3.45am. This is clear proof it has to do with some technical glitch or hacking, as I am never awake during such hours.
They said the subscriptions I made were for video songs and audio files from websites, whereas I don’t have a single application or website related to this, except for YouTube, on my phone.
First, they said I subscribed to these platforms via SMS. They said it wasn’t just one SMS that went through by mistake, but hundreds of text messages, each worth Dh1 or Dh10, which doesn’t make sense, as any sensible man would remember if he had sent 100 text messages to du for these services. Later, they said that I subscribed through online flashcards, which everyone knows are fake.
Why is du’s network so weak that anyone can breach its security system and then send messages using their network’s number? Why should I pay for it when it’s a clear-cut case of their security issues, not mine. Why doesn’t du have even a single confirmation SMS for all these services, especially as these are third party services, and no knowledgeable operator would allow such third party services to just use their customers’ account? It’s only possible if du has teamed up with third party services so they can earn their fees, otherwise how is it possible for such small-time hackers to hack their system?
From Mr Ahsen Shoaib Rana
Dubai
A spokesperson from du responds:
With reference to the query of Mr Rana, our team has looked into the details. We have explained the details of the third party services to the customer and have reached an amicable solution pertaining to the disputed charges. The case is closed from our side. We regret the inconvenience.
Mr Rana responds:
I am unhappy to say that no solution has been given by du. They called and apologised for it and confirmed that they ‘also’ earn from these text messages. They suggested they could return around Dh250, which is du’s charges for the text messages, but no action has been taken so far. It has been more than a month now.
Du responds:
With reference to the query of Mr Rana, we have looked into the details. The charges will be adjusted against the March bill of the customer, and this has been explained to the customer to his satisfaction as well. We regret the inconvenience.
(Process initiation: January 16. Response from organisation: March 22. Process completion: April 12.)
Editor’s note: Do you have similar issues that you would like to raise with us? You can write to us at readers@gulfnews.com.
