[silversteed]

Originally Posted by Xryder

Can somebody please shed some light on what to do next ?

Mail the Nodal officer, keeping the Apellate officer in CC.

Originally Posted by libranof1987

1) appellate.kk@airtel.in
+ 91 9972544865
+91 9945500121

2) nodalofficer.kk@airtel.in
+91 9972534865
+080 41218070

Go, get 'em tiger!

Sweet mails don't work btw; make your point loud and clear.

Make it as loud and as clear as possible. Do include a line or two that implies you would go public against this daylight robbery.

Call them up on the numbers given above soon after you send the mail. The nodal office and appellate office work from 9am to 6pm only, IIRC

[Xryder]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Forget the CC. Email the Nodal Officer and Appellate Officer directly.

1) appellate.kk@airtel.in
+ 91 9972544865
+91 9945500121

2) nodalofficer.kk@airtel.in
+91 9972534865
+080 41218070

Go, get 'em tiger!

Sweet mails don't work btw; make your point loud and clear.

Originally Posted by silversteed

Mail the Nodal officer, keeping the Apellate officer in CC.
Make it as loud and as clear as possible. Do include a line or two that implies you would go public against this daylight robbery.

Call them up on the numbers given above soon after you send the mail. The nodal office and appellate office work from 9am to 6pm only, IIRC

Thanks guys. Will do the same. How long would they take to resolve this issue ? Would they resolve it positively or would they play the blame game with me again just as Airtel CC did ?

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by Xryder

How long would they take to resolve this issue ? Would they resolve it positively or would they play the blame game with me again just as Airtel CC did ?

The Nodal Officer should contact you within a week's time. He/she has a lot of authority so once he/she takes some action, you can hope for a resolution.

Generally, they go about their job well; so get their attention to your problem. It should be resolved!

[Mubeen]

Originally Posted by Xryder

Thanks guys. Will do the same. How long would they take to resolve this issue ? Would they resolve it positively or would they play the blame game with me again just as Airtel CC did ?

I had a similar issue where my plan was changed without my consent due to which I was looking at additional billing of 3000 rupees.

I took up the issue with customer care. They told me I have to pay. Then Moved upto the nodal officer. She told me I have to pay. Then I moved up to the appellate officer. After a week of follow up calls & mails they have finally reversed 2500 rupees.

The games airtel is playing with the data plans of the subscribers now seems to be a well thought out strategy to increase ARP's rather than honest errors.

For those who stand their ground, like samurai & myself, they have reversed a major part of the excess amount at the same time making sure that we are fatigued with the effort put in thus far & concede a part of the dispute amount to airtel.

This is reaching epidemic proportions & someone or somebody with the appropriate resources ought to put the operator in place

[Samurai]

Xryder, contact the nodal officer. It will take about a week at least.

Mine was finally resolved with nodal officer getting back to me saying Airtel now owes me money. Now my bill is showing -1572.56 for this month. They have reversed all the overbilling since March.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by Xryder

Thanks guys. Will do the same. How long would they take to resolve this issue ? Would they resolve it positively or would they play the blame game with me again just as Airtel CC did ?

I would say you have a 50% chance of getting the issue resolved in your favour. I had a pretty bad experience - so bad that I ported out of Airtel on the day I completed 3 months in their nonsensical service

[Zappo]

I am just wondering on whether AirTel is even aware of the kind of damage they are causing to their own image and brand repute by having a thread like this on AirTel Billing Issues running on a popular board where people are making live updates on all their pains with this organization. Airtel's billing issues are nothing new. However, of late it is definitely touching some new lows. It is high time they realize that at this rate they will soon acquire the reputation of another one-time great organization that also forayed into telecom and today are in mess due to various frauds etc. If you wish to be great (AirTel evidently wishes to be there going by their ambitous moves beyond the Indian territory) you can not do so by getting mired in widespread fraud and sagging customer support. Its time AirTel wakes up to this reality.

By the way, has anyone thought of mailing AirTel headoffice (or even Bharti Telecom) the link to this page? As a matter of fact, if you search for 3 words AirTel, Billing & Fraud in google you get links to this thread and more on TeamBHP on the very first search results page (I think the 4th option). That's BAD for Bharti.

[azeemhafiz]

Hey! I thought you sign up for headache and billing issues when you go for 3g over Airtel.

I have been using Vodafone for years and have been happy with Customer service and billing.

However, because Vodafone does not have 3g in Karnataka I had to go in for a second number on airtel primarily to use my iPhone. Called up, put my self on the 2 GB / Rs 750 plan and was happy with 3g (Did this towards the end of March).

In May i get a message from Airtel stating that i have gone over with my usage and i have in excess of 12k in charges that i need to pay. I laughed. Especially since i did not have any out of country visits either during this time frame

Called Airtel, got connected to an exec (PATHETIC ONE) who kept cutting me off every time i state that these charges are invalid. As per Airtel i send a message from my phone in April stating that i would like to cancel 3g and then i was put on an EDGE plan. I laughed again.

I never had 3g disconnected and continued to receive 3g services during this period that airtel claimed i was on EDGE. Called and spoke to another exec who was equally pathetic and claimed that i'm getting good connectivity because i'm using a superior handset. I laughed again.

The issue goes to tier 2 (I guess). They say they are looking into it, and kept arguing till the time i asked them to monitor my sessions and ask to calculate if it was possible to download these many Bytes on EDGE bandwidth constrained.

They assured this to be fixed in a few days, but true to their word. They did apologize.

This experience with Airtel most definitely made me wary about doing continued business with them. The day Vodafone gets 3g in Karnataka circle, i will shift even if it means paying a premium.

Billing issues with Airtel (especially 3g) is more like Maruti cars with Rattling issues. Its expected.

Sincere advice - Please document all communication with Airtel on your issues. If possible switch to email communication, I'd rather talk to my shoes than talk to Airtel customer care again

[Mr.Boss]

We faced a similar problem, but for a rate cutter.
My brother had CUG connection for his business & had rate cutter pack for his number. His average monthly bill amount will be around 2.5k. next months his outgoing was disconnected since he crossed his credit limit (credit limit 10k) On enquiry we were informed that his call rates were Rs.1/min & no subscription to rate cutter pack.

After several followups we fixed up this issue & migrated to Pre-Paid connection.

PS: No proper response or action for complaints even escalated to Nodal officers. My outgoing in prepaid connection was disconnected for no reason & got it fixed only after 3 weeks.

[ghpk]

Thats a 3G shocker.
I would have certainly waited a few days then written to TRAI along with all proof and replies included.
This will certainly escalate the issue to highest priority possible.
Also include your previous usage from old bills to show your normal usage, it would help you win.

[arunh]

Originally Posted by T Y A G I

Hello Sir,

You please wait and watch the response after the Govt. site complaint.In case you still want to escalate then please go to the consumer court forum and I can assure you that you will definately be relieved and all your sufferings will pay and Airtel will have to pay the fine also which consumer court can impose on them in lieu of your sufferings.

But, for this you have to contact the local consumer court first.

Regards,
Lalit Tyagi

I have been a victim of the 3g billing fiasco as well. Been running from customer care to nodal to appellate authority, but it seems no one is willing to listen.

My case is that I never received their usage alert (50%, 80% etc.) which warns me of data usage. I crossed the limit, and got a hefty bill. In my view, Airtel is at fault for not warning me. (Note that there is no other way to find out your usage or balance)

After 3 months of running around, I Finally filed a case with the consumer court at Cauvery bhavan, claiming an additional compensation of 20,000.

If anyone is interested in the procedure, I'll be glad to share my experience.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by arunh

I have been a victim of the 3g billing fiasco as well. Been running from customer care to nodal to appellate authority, but it seems no one is willing to listen.

My case is that I never received their usage alert (50%, 80% etc.) which warns me of data usage. I crossed the limit, and got a hefty bill. In my view, Airtel is at fault for not warning me. (Note that there is no other way to find out your usage or balance)

After 3 months of running around, I Finally filed a case with the consumer court at Cauvery bhavan, claiming an additional compensation of 20,000.

If anyone is interested in the procedure, I'll be glad to share my experience.

I'm interested in the procedure. Please do share your experience.

[Xryder]

Have written an e-mail to the Nodal Officer keeping the Appellate officer in CC. Even called them up on the given number couple of times. Have got no response as yet. All i keep getting is calls from Airtel CC to pay my bills. I have paid the amount minus the VAS charges which they have slapped on me for the 3G service which I have not even asked for.

[arunh]

Consumer court process (in Bangalore)

There are multiple stages to the process. I am currently only at stage 1 (submitting the complaint). Here is the procedure (from what I understand):

Stage 1) Submit a written or typed application stating your case, complainant's name, address of the company that you want to complain against, etc. The format is available at http://praja.in/en/gyan/process-fili...ourt-bengaluru.

This application has to be in quadruplicate, and you need to attach all supporting evidence (bill, terms of usage etc.)

Also take a DD for 100/- favoring the President, Bangalore Urban Consumer Forum.

For claims under 1 Lakh, go to Cauvery Bhavan, 8th floor. You can submit the application at the office there. (I faced no issues, with my limited knowledge of kannada, and the staff were helpful). Once they accept the document, you need to come back probably the next day to get your acknowledgement (consumer court complain number) and the date when you need to be present in the court (usually weeks from this point in the process)

Stage 2) Admission of the case. You need to be present in the court at 11 am on the date you received from the office. Nothing much happens here, only your presence is noted and court fixes a date for the hearing. This gives time for opposite party to prepare.

Stage 3) Hearing: This is where arguments are presented and document proofs etc will be presented to the court.

Stage 4) Court Order: You get the verdict (hopefully in your favor).

Stage 5) Appeal (if required)

If you have any further questions, I can try to help. I have received my admission date, and got a date of 17th July for the admission.

-Arun

[Xryder]

Originally Posted by T Y A G I

So, if you wanna go ahead as per my knowledge book the complaint on DOT website :: Grievance Registration Form ::
select the Department of Telecommunications as the
"Select Ministry/Department " and you will definately be heard.

Regards,
Lalit Tyagi

After getting no response from the Nodal / Appellate officers despite the mails and repeated calls, I finally decided to lodge a complaint with DOT at - :: Grievance Registration Form :: ! Today, two weeks after this, I received a call from Airtel Corporate Office, one Mr.Rohit Joshi. He tells me the complaint has been received from the DOT and that he would like to know what is the issue. So I repeat the whole story. He says he will consult his "Legal" team and get back to me by tomorrow. No commitments from his side as well, but said he has reversed INR 1100/- from the total amount of INR 39thousand which was charged falsely under VAS. He said he will contact me tomorrow after consulting with the "Legal" team to notify me of the remaining amount to be paid after further investigations. I told him that as per the usage, the billing is correct, only that I had asked for 2G INR 98/- 2GB plan instead of the 3G 100MB plan which was activated. In my complaint, I had put up a link to this thread as well as the complaint threads on the consumer court website.

Not very hopeful about the outcome tomorrow. If they come at me stating that I had requested for 3G, pay up else we cut your connection, then I have no choice but to do so. I cannot afford to lose this number.