In June, 2013, I started an eLife package with a monthly payment of Dh494. In August 2013, when I received the statement, I noticed that the payment amount due was Dh505. When I called etisalat, I was told this was the monthly payment for the receiver. I told them I had the receiver since I started the plan, and asked why I wasn’t informed that I would have to pay separately for the receiver? I did not get a clear answer. So, the monthly payment became Dh505.
In January 2014, I noticed that once again and with no prior notice, they had increased my bill by Dh10. When I contacted them, I was told that the price had gone up. So, the monthly payment became Dh515.
In June 2014, the statement showed that they had once again increased the price by Dh10. I went to etisalat in Deira and complained. I was told the same answer as before, but this time, I told them that in the future, I would have to be notified in advance before any increase for any reason whatsoever, and that they would need to get my approval if I wanted to continue. This was agreed upon. So, the monthly payment became Dh525.
In July 2016, I realised that they had yet again, with no prior notice, increased the payment by Dh32 and when I contacted them, they said it was because the sport channels had increased their price. So the monthly payment became Dh557.
In August 2016, I received an SMS informing me that six channels were going to be added to the package for an extra Dh10 per month. I called etisalat and told them that I did not want these channels added. The agent who took my call assured me that unless I tell them to add these channel, they would not be added and they promised that a note would be left on my account stating that I do not want the extra channels.
However, the next statement showed that they had gone ahead and increased the fee by Dh10 anyway. So I sent an email and when I could not get anywhere with the letter, I went to the etisalat office again, and made another complaint. A few days later, someone from etisalat called me and said that they were going to cancel the Dh10, and the monthly payment would stay at Dh557. The November 2016 statement showed that they had decreased it by Dh10.
In December 2016, just one month after accepting the cancellation of those six unwanted channels, the statement showed that, again, they had added Dh10, bringing the fee up to a total of Dh567 per month. On January 22, 2017, I went to the etisalat office and made another complaint. I was told that someone would contact me and they did, about half an hour after leaving their office, and I was told that the Dh10 increase was added again. When I asked the gentleman why it was cancelled a month ago, and was put back again now, and why my consent was not required, he did not give any clear answer.
I need help from Gulf News to understand how this works. Why do I not have a say, prior to the increase in fee? Please help me!
From Ms Nadereh Masoumeh Bayani
Dubai
The management of etisalat responds:
Thank you for bringing Ms Bayani’s concerns to our attention. There were excess charges made for eLife, mainly due to an upgrade in the system. Ms Bayani was also refunded the same amount despite the amount being nonrefundable, as it is a form of service upgrade. The customer service team has tried calling her several times to clarify the matter.
Ms Bayani responds:
I really appreciate the response.
(Process initiation: January 31, 2017. Response from organisation: February 12, 2017. Reader confirmation: February 13, 2017.)
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.
