Billing Dispute – 45 Days & No Resolutoin – Services Barred

Location/place: Vizag/Hyderabad

Name of company/service: Tata Teleservices Limited

The following is the complaint I had already wriiten to the Appellate AP – Sridhar Nandiraju to no avail. Even their Executive Directors Promise you find on the tatadocomo.com website did not get any response. Please find my email to them below:

“The following are my essentials for the further pursuance of the matter:
Name: Srinivas Duvvuri; Mobile No. : 9246586854; Account No. : 201106954
Complaint Ref. provided by Call Centre: 350076581; 355814047
Dispute: Billing issue. The package “CMO Talk US Canada @ 50Ps/min Pack Monthly Re” has not been effected for calls made to the USA.

I must first inform you that I have been a loyal and appreciative customer of TATA Indicom (now Docomo) since Mar’04. I pay my bills regularly and I have also referred a few of my friends your way.

Let me get into the matter. I have taken an add-on package wherein I pay an amount of ` 49/- every month and I am charged ` 0.50/min for international calls – made to the USA & Canada.

During Feb’13 I have made a series of calls to the USA. I had even been getting warnings on the mobile phone about my usage nearing the credit limit. I had not bothered as the billing waives off that amount at the end of the cycle under discounts (normally). But then, I was slapped with a bill of ` 8,873.29. The bill(s) are attached.

I have contacted the customer service first on the 22nd Feb 2013 and had to plead my case to the call centre agent, who was not even listening and kept on saying “there is nothing wrong with the billing”. When I had clearly explained the matter to her, she took a complaint. I was away to Tirupati after this until the 28th Feb and my phone was not in range – during which time, the billing dept. had apparently tried to contact me. When I later followed up, I was again informed by the call centre person that I was “billed correctly and there is no discrepancy”. At this point, I had asked to be put across to a supervisor. This person (cannot remember any of the names – pardon) had assured that should would resolve the issue should I give her 48 hrs to look into the matter. After this, nobody had called. I waited for a few more days and I had again contacted them – the same denial had repeated. I was then informed that the discount is not applicable as I had called Alaska State. I had explained that Alaska is as much a state of USA as Andhra Pradesh is for India. Another 2 days was asked of me and then no one got back.

Now they have barred my services. Today (1st April 2013) I had again called the customer care. The call first landed in Mohali and then in Jharkhand. Most do not have a perspective of issue, even if I provide them with the previous complaint numbers. Even today I heard the same “billing is correct”. I had again taken time and explained the matter – this time in Hindi. The person again took a complaint and provided me with a resolution time by 11 AM tomorrow (2nd April morning). I had asked the supervisor to restore my call making for the mean time. He said he would but didn’t. I called later to inquire on this and the lady said that the phone will only be restored if I paid the bill.

Below is the case in a nut shell:

 If you say as part of offering this package – US & Canada both in letter and mouth, I would assume it would be the entire country.

 I cannot know of any exceptions unless and until I am told explicitly that I CANNOT take advantage of the discount if I called to a particular state or territory.

 I have already paid an amount of ` 4120 (excluding the calls to USA for last month and total bill amount for this month) against the total outstanding of ` 10717. The remaining ` 6597 is what I am disputing. I have ignored the ensuing service tax for the bigger amount – for the minute.

 This was MOST DEFINITELY not told to me. I am a sensible enough person and I would never spend INR 9 a minute to make a call when I can use cheaper means such as Skype or Nymgo.

 IF there is a place (even in fine print) where such a clause – that excludes Alaska or any other territories or the USA or Canada – is mentioned and if I have missed it, I would humbly accept this as a mistake and will pay the bill in totality.

 I have asked them to show me a place where I can see that such an exception has been mentioned. They have not provided me with a satisfactory answer, nor were they able to direct me anywhere.

 I asked them to at least explain if there is a fair usage limit. I got no answers.

As if this were not stressful enough, the collection people now call me at least 3-4 times a day. Each time, a different person asking me to explain the issue – when I say my bill is in dispute. They too are not any different – except that they were offering a ‘settlement’ where “at the most they can provide me a discount of ` 500”. When I ask them to put me to their manager. They say “our manager will call you back” and that never happens.

I find the offer of a settlement very insulting. I am ready to pay the full amount if anyone is able to show me that I am wrong. Instead of explaining it to me,

1. I get placed on hold for endless time
2. They keep saying “the billing department says that you have been billed correctly”.
3. They do not put me across to the billing department.
4. They hang up on me (or the call gets dropped – who knows).
5. At least 10 different collection people with NO IDEA WHATSOEVER on what the matter is keep talking to me. The calls start at 8:30 in the morning. I lose count. This is harassment.
6. Insult me by offering a settlement. I do not want a settlement or mercy. I want resolution. PLEASE explain to me and tell me I am wrong and I will pay the money.

There was an instance in the past where I had called for a billing dispute. The Supervisor said she would waive that disputed amount off as I am a preferred customer. I later on went through the bill with her, understood that I was wrong and did not take the waiver I paid the amount in full. I do not have a problem paying for what I use. But the way the matter is being handled, it is making me wonder if this is TATA I am dealing with. If you were in my shoes – I am sure you would agree with me that the whole deal – to say US & Canada and not mention exceptions – and then not honouring an offer or keeping one’s end of the bargain – seems fraudulent.

I hope you do understand the frustration and disappointment I am going through after the whole ordeal. This matter has become like the order of my day – where I should be going about a normal day doing things and worrying about my life. I expect that you at the capacity you serve, would resolve the matter to a (my) satisfactory closure.

Sincerely,

A very very grieved and disappointed customer,

Srinivas Duvvuri”