[sumannandy]

I took a Tikona connection for my home about 18 months back.

Last 4-5 months the connection quality was really poor or there used to be downtime. Finally from Dec 7 it completely stopped working. I lodged a complaint online. The customercare rep after diagnosing online concluded that the device needs to be replaced and they would send their service person.

But the service personnel never showed up.

Finally after multiple followups on Dec 10 I decided to disconnect the connection and moved on to Airtel 4G wireless router. Accordingly, I placed a disconnection request to Tikona and started using the Airtel connection.

The customercare rep told me that somebody from billing would call me to confirm. I also got a mail that according to Tikona system, I need to give them 10 days time to rectify service. If there is usage within this 10 days time the service would be retained. Fair enough, I thought, my router was anyways disconnected and there was no chance of usage as the device was also not working.

After couple of days, when no call came, I inquired with customercare and they told us that apparently they tried to call me but my phone was unreachable. They also told me that they detected usage from my connection so the service cannot be disconnected. I told them clearly that the device is not connected so there is no chance of usage and that I am calling from my registered number and that I sent a mail also from my registered email id, so what else proof do they want. If they want I could also go physically to their office. But they declined saying it has to be done over phone pnly.

This drama went on for two more months. My wireless router was not even connected and they kept on saying usage is detected and nobody could contact me. I threatened to go to Consumer Court, they asked me to go ahead, finally one day one rep did disconnect the connection, but not before sending 2 months bill which I did not even use.

Then I get another mail saying that I need to return the device else I have to pay 1500. They provided number of some Adi associate.

Adi associate never picked up call and I started getting notice from some legal department that they reminded me multiple times to return the device but I did not so I have to pay 1500.

When I respond back to email most of their email ids such as customercare, billing etc. does not work.

[NetfreakBombay]

Have you tried escalating it to Appellate Authority of tikona?

http://www.tikona.in/for-home/contact-us

Usually they would be more sincere than customer care.

In this case, "intention" itself does not seem to be clear. So delaying the disconnect might be a standard procedure. If that is the case, you might have to escalate to TRAI after Appellate.

[Akshay1234]

Don't get me started on Tikona. I was dealing with them on behalf of a friend, FRAUDSTERS is an understatement for them.

Similar situation as you, tried to disconnect and everytime we would tell the customer care to disconnect the phone would magically get cut from their end. Finally after a few days I got a service number for the same. Thought the ordeal is over (before this the local Tikona guy said the connection was cancelled, and only after about 2 months did they tell us to call the customer care to cancel).

So even after cancelling they detected some usage when the router was disconnected and added up bills for 2 months further. They would keep calling to ask for payment. Another day a call came and they said if you don't pay up they will file a case against my friend. I said go ahead.

Nothing happened after that, until first week of Jan. A person posing as an advocate from the Delhi Tees Hazari court called my friend. She got scared so gave that person my number. I realized that this is a hoax after asking the so called advocate a few questions. But this also made me realize the kind of distance Tikona would go to, and harass someone. Since the amount wasn't large, I paid it off and told them never to call again.

After that I emailed Tikonas management with the whole ordeal. I got a call 2 hours later from some person in Mumbai who agreed to look into it. I said this was fraud and threatened them saying I have recordings, and that they were impersonating Goverment officials. I am now getting Rs.1500 back from them.

Do note Tikonas management seems to be in on this, and I would strongly urge anyone here to avoid Tikona with a bargepole unless they have extra time to waste in these kinds of stupid things.

[nareshov]

Raise it at http://pgportal.gov.in. Went through a similar back-and-forth some time in the past two years.

[alpha1]

Originally Posted by sumannandy

Adi associate never picked up call and I started getting notice from some legal department that they reminded me multiple times to return the device but I did not so I have to pay 1500.
.

You think in this country's pathetically crawling law and order situation the where even criminal cases go on for decades, the court will have an incentive to decide super fast on a civil matter of Rs 1500?

Usually these cases are done via consumer court where the onus will be on them to defend themselves. If you have written or email proof of your actions, just smile at the nincompoops called the "legal department" of tikona.

BTW, does anyone else realize this - the whole business of customer care via call center means that there is no recorded evidence of any transacted words between the buyer and the seller. Especially from the buyer's side.

What happens in the court then?

[raghu.t.k]

Originally Posted by alpha1

....

BTW, does anyone else realize this - the whole business of customer care via call center means that there is no recorded evidence of any transacted words between the buyer and the seller. Especially from the buyer's side.

Not just that, there is no escalation mechanism. If you request them to escalate the issue, you can hear another person claiming to be the supervisor. I am not sure if anyone is available in the call centre who is empowered to take decison. Many a time its like talking to the wall, then the only alternative is write to the seniors, which has immediate effect.

[mandyrana]

Mod Note : There are several spelling & grammatical errors in your posts. This negatively affects the forum experience for other readers.

Kindly ensure that you proof-read your posts prior to submission. Also, it would be a good idea to use spell-checkers.

[Zappo]

My first reaction to these fly-by-night kind of operations is always the same... "Tikona who". First of all, why go to such shady operations when there are so many standard operators available with much better service? Even if you have some liking for this cable internet thing you can opt for better renowned names like Beam or Hathway. They should be better than most of these back-alley operations.

As for fraud of the kind mentioned, do not get cowed down by such stupid acts. Challenge the "Mr Law Department" to go ahead and let them know that there are at least 2-3 cases that you are aware of with respectable people in their spheres where the exact same modus operandi was used by them. Tell them you can easily put an adv in a nationalized daily and put it in the social media aswell to get another few 100s of similar cases together. And after that it will be a PIL against them (our rough equivalent of a class action lawsuit). Ask them to choose their path wisely. Often such shady companies look for easy meat. The moment they realize that you are not the one to budge so easily they decide to wind up.

Coming back to the choice of internet service provider, the best option is to choose one of the all-in-one kind of ADSL connection. Almost zero downtime (even when there is no power for 2 hours) and assured speeds (this patchy connection thing rarely happens). Trust me on this. Organizations that need people to be available at a short notice and provide a work-from-home option as well also many a times insist that the internet connection should be an ADSL one rather than fiber to home type.

[PetrolRider]

An advocate calling from the Delhi Tees Hazari court is a joke. Never fall for this. A lawyer notice shall always be in term of registered letter and not over a mobile phone. Just ask uncle google for the number of our advocate from Tees Hazari court and you would know it.

As a customer we are not bound to pay whatever amount is thrown at us. Please raise a billing dispute if you believe you have not used your connection. You can ask them IP address, machine ID number, website visited, time, duration etc from the operator for such bills. Generally bills are waived off with a email stating that you should be thankful to the company.

Regarding returning of device, never bother. This is not like BSNL, where you return you handset and that is being issued to someone else. Here, the device cost is already covered from you in terms of your monthly charges (either hidden or as rent), the agency who is supposed to collect is just a recycling company( read e-waste management). I had same issue with a renowned brand, where device is not collected and they keep on calling me to pay 1500/-. I told them to pay me 30000/- as rent for maintaining their device with me for two months even after connection got disconnected and never received any call again. The device went to my neighborhood scrap dealer.

[pixantz]

Tikona is a 100% scam. Their online metering system is so totally fraud, it would make Telgi proud!

[Jakku]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Have you tried escalating it to Appellate Authority of tikona?

http://www.tikona.in/for-home/contact-us
--------
If that is the case, you might have to escalate to TRAI after Appellate.

I recently moved to a different service provider (ACT) when I faced this issue. I faced an outage of 5 days in October and decided not to press for a refund. However, in January I again faced this issue. I wrote a mail to customer care and their appelate authority as per the "contact us" section. Nothing more than an auto reply (from CC and appellate authority) was received, I followed with a daily mail and this ritual (auto reply) for 3 days and then I received a call. Asked them to correct it and finally ran out of patience after 8 days (all these days, I used to send a mail to CC and appellate authority with a screenshot of speedtest). On 9th day I called the customer care and requested a disconnection and insisted for a ticket number and out of mere intuition, I wrote back to CC and appelate authority with this ticket number. Within 3 days, I had another call from "retention dept." and now followed by an email from "disconnection dept.". Now I have to wait for another 10 days (as per the mail I got) to get this disconnected. No idea what all frustrations I have to further go through.

Originally Posted by akshay1234

----
So even after cancelling they detected some usage when the router was disconnected and added up bills for 2 months further. They would keep calling to ask for payment.
-----

This is really scaring and I am getting mentally prepared for a long innings with them now.

Originally Posted by nareshov

Raise it at http://pgportal.gov.in. Went through a similar back-and-forth some time in the past two years.

Has anyone used this and have got any positive opinion?

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Jakku

Has anyone used this and have got any positive opinion?

With surprisingly good results: related thread!

[ampere]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Do note Tikonas management seems to be in on this, and I would strongly urge anyone here to avoid Tikona with a bargepole unless they have extra time to waste in these kinds of stupid things.

Its not just Tikonas. Every one does that I think. When you close a connection, the best is to walk in to their office or support centre, get the connection closed and carry back any amount of red tape documents which they give (Esp the No Dues Certificate). And make sure you scan it and keep it for at least 3-4 years minimum!

I had a similar experience with Reliance and since I knew this happens I preserved all the documents. I got a court order after 3 years. All I had to do was to email the scanned documents and the court order to their nodal office and they did not harass me again.

[sidhu_hs]

Originally Posted by GTO

With surprisingly good results: related thread!

+N to that based on my personal experience. And the portal covers a whole gamut of functions of government agencies.

[sumannandy]

Lodged a complaint with pgportal. Waiting for any update.