Currently, I am using the one-country international calling plan: Dh150 for approximately 2,000 minutes to a single country.
I was told that I would get notifications when my usage reaches 75 per cent, 80 per cent and 90 per cent. However, I did not receive any notifications on my mobile, through SMS or email.
Since I was not notified about my usage, I continued making calls to India. I didn’t realise that I had crossed the limit, and I was charged Dh376.80 for my usage. When I raised my concerns with etisalat and asked for a refund, they told me: “Yes sir, you will receive notifications on your usage. Alternatively, you can call us to know your usage limit.”
Now, they are telling me that since I did not receive notifications, I should have called them to know my usage. I would have definitely done that if I was told that it was the only option available. As I was expecting a notification, I didn’t do so.
I told them that I did not receive any feedback on my mobile number or through email, stating that I had reached the limit. I really feel cheated now, as I am being asked to pay for something due to their faulty system.
I received a call saying that the complaint will be closed. How can the complaint be closed without a resolution? The representative who called me, did not at all try to understand my concerns.
Earlier, I had a similar problem and the charges were reversed. So from then on, I thought the notifications would come.
I need Dh376.80 to be reversed. I told the representative not to close the complaint and take it to the next level. I cannot pay more. If you stop notifications and let the customer use the service, you cannot expect the customer to pay extra. This is really annoying.
I do not know what etisalat is expecting. Do I need to note down every minute of my usage for 30 hours? Either they should notify me or they should disconnect the facility. How can they charge customers for a fault in their system?
From Mr Satya Vivek Vardhan Kanduri
Al Ain
The management of etisalat responded:
Kindly note that the customer issue was resolved on September 6.
The customer is disputing the charges for International Direct Dialing (IDD) calls over usage out of Home Voice unlimited IDD package. The customer claims that they never received any SMS or email notification for the 80 per cent to 100 per cent usage. The account has been refunded with the total amount of Dh376.80 due to system error. The customer has been updated, he is satisfied and no further actions are required.
Mr Kanduri responds:
I got a call from etisalat and was told that they verified the case and refunded my money. Thanks a lot for the help, I really appreciate Gulf News’ intervention.
(Process initiation: September 4. Response from organisation: September 6. Reader confirmation: September 7.)
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.
