Location/place: KOLKATA, WEST BENGAL
Name of company/service: BHARTI AIRTEL
On 22 Jan 2013 — I took an Airtel Landline+Wi-fi connection: number 033-40031782 and Account No. 7006069991.
Bill cycle — 11-10th of each month.
Plan — Rs.999 a speed of 2mbps for the first 9GB download and speed of 256 kbps the rest of the month.
FIRST PROBLEM — After high-speed period I got a speed of only 32 kbps, not the promised 256 kbps.
I tried to find out if anything was wrong by calling their call centre. That day I spoke to no less than 5 people, and only one person told me the truth — that Airtel has a policy of giving only 1/8th of the promised speed, to get consumers to pay more for ‘smartbytes’ or a higher plan. It became clear to me that 256kbps was not an option with them and since another company gives the promised speed of 256 kbps, I wanted to cancel my account with Airtel. The call centre executives told me to send an email, apparently until I had paid my first bill I wouldn’t be able to cancel through the call centre. First, they gave me the wrong email address — [email protected]. After sending 3 emails in vain I found another email address ([email protected]). This email I was able to send on 10 February 2013. I got a call on 11 February. From 11 February till 17 February I got a call every single day from a different Airtel executive asking me the same questions — the reason I want to cancel, insisting that a technician will be able to resolve the problem even though I told them that their technician did everything he could but nothing worked and he finally told me I had no option but to pay more money for a higher plan. Finally on 17 Feb 2013 I was told that my request for cancellation had been recorded, and that the cancellation would take effect within 7 days. Yet I got an SMS from them that Airtel would revert to me on 4 April 2013. I wrote more emails. Each time, I got a call from a different person asking me the same questions over and over again, and each time after I had answered their questions they would insist that I not cancel my account. When I refused to change my mind, they assured me my request had been taken into consideration and that someone would come within 7 days. Just when I thought I’d gotten through to them, I’d get another message, stating that my request has been noted on 21 Feb 2013 and Airtel would revert by 28 Feb 2013. Again, wondering if there had been a mistake, I’d write another email. Again the same thing kept happening. I noticed that I never spoke to the same executive twice, and when my emails were answered, it was a different person emailing me with no clearer designation than ‘customer care’. I have all these emails and texts. When on 25 Feb 2013 I wrote a relatively forceful email calling their behaviour ‘harrassment’, an Airtel employee Soumen Gupta called me to say that it takes time for complete cancellation to take place — he did not give a reason — and that for me it would happen on 7 March 2013. He asked me what my bill cycle was, drawing my attention to the strange attitude Airtel executives have of acting like they have not read my account details before calling me. Each time I have to re-hash every reason, every phone conversation and repeat my request, which each executive receives like it is a new request. On 28 Feb 2013 I disconnected the Airtel connection wires at my end, in my house. On 2 March 2013 I called Mr. Gupta to confirm that someone from Airtel was indeed coming to cancel my account 100%. He said yes he will look into it. I told him that even if they didn’t cancel the account, I was not liable to pay any money beyond the Feb-March bill cycle. He said he was on leave and he would call me back in the evening with details. He did not call back. I have called him many, many times over 6 march and 7 march, the day the Airtel person was supposed to come, and even today, 8 March 2013, and the phone keeps ringing, he doesn’t pick it up. Meanwhile, I paid the Jan-Feb bill. What really shocked me and led me to this consumer forum is the last two times I spoke to Airtel executives. The first one told me that it is stated in my record that my problem has been resolved. I said it was an outright lie — if the problem were resolved then I wouldn’t be looking to cancel. The second person I spoke with, who called today, just before I came to this website, told me that it is stated in my record that I have agreed to stay on as an Airtel customer. I was so shocked I shouted at him, told him that it was an out-and-out lie, and that he should delete that from my records immediately. Of course, I don’t think he did. Most of the executives who called me were very unsmart, I do not think they have any power to resolve situations or be honest with the customer’s records. I suspect they have been trained to trick customers into spending more money and staying on. At the call centre they do not even have the right information about where a customer might pay a bill.
A customer care employee has written to me stating that I will not be charged beyond the Feb-March cycle. I have been told that on the phone by an Airtel call centre employee. But obviously, I have no reason to trust what they say or write to me.
PLEASE HELP in getting my account cancelled. There is no money involved at the moment, but if I allow them to force and trick me into staying on, it might become highly problematic in the future. First they have an anti-customer policy, and then they insist the customer stay on. To me, that’s plain and simple wrong.
Thank you for reading this, and thank you even more for looking into it.
Regards,
Bidisha Ghosal
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