Despite their brilliant advertising claims, Vodafone India has made a mess of it’s customer care. Why doesn’t it translate into effective delivery at the ground level?
I had made a payment for my mobile phone elsewhere; outside from the home circle. I was assured that the billing system would be updated. As luck would have it, the system didnot update the payment and I started getting messages and calls from female “recovery agents” to pay my dues. Surprisingly, they have a knack of calling in at such odd hours; they start off without even extending basic courtesies. I insisted that I had paid for the amount and I directed them to enquire from their Vodafone Store where I had paid the cash. They did not make any effort to trace the amount but instead chose to lay the entire blame on me.
All said and done, they barred my outgoing calls and I had to make the payments under duress. Although, the phone was working again after much cajoling; they took an entire day to get it “activated”.
My credit limit is more than sufficient and they made me run around like a scared rabbit. What is clear from the entire episode is that despite their claims, they did not bother to check their backend (literally and figuratively) and rectify the issue. It could have been very simple to call up the dud on the other line (through proper channel in their parlance) and find out the billing details as well as the payment made. Although, in the routine cases it sounds audacious because they have to take care of “millions of customers” but the fact is that they cannot afford to loose loyal ones. I have remained with Hutch for over 3 years now only because of their talk plans. So far, I have not had much of the issues with their billing per se but this one off incident has shaken my faith in the company. So much so, that its more of a hurt than anger that’s bothering me.
There are many other stories like these replicated day in day out across the country. With an ineffective regulator and lack of awareness, most of these nitwits are having a free run.
This is the problem with having oligopolies. The customer isnt the king any longer.
UPDATE: I have been updating on the forums as well. So far, no reply from the company.
They had disconnected my phone to due non-payment of bills. Its not because i cannot afford the 3k bill, its because i dont get time for paying it before the specified date. Project deadlines and seminars hardly give me anytime to make the payments on time. Hence i got this custom of making a payment of 500/- every week. Means instead of paying the whole 3k or 2k in lumpsum, i make the payment in parts of 500/- every week….
Some days earlier, i made a payment of 800/-. I wasn’t provided a receipt for the transaction. The cashier mentioned that i would be getting a message by sms. Didnt have the time to argue with him and left them for good. The next day, while traversing along the highway, the car developed some problem and stopped abruptly. The service center number was on a sticker in the front pane, and i decided to give them a call. It was then that i realized that they havent credited my account with 800/- which i had paid earlier. And i was stranded in the highway for 2 hours. And the amount was credited to my account only after 18 hours and my outgoing was released an hour after that.
That evening i terminated my postpaid corporate account…
These days am with good old BSNL Prepaid …
They had disconnected my phone to due non-payment of bills. Its not because i cannot afford the 3k bill, its because i dont get time for paying it before the specified date. Project deadlines and seminars hardly give me anytime to make the payments on time. Hence i got this custom of making a payment of 500/- every week. Means instead of paying the whole 3k or 2k in lumpsum, i make the payment in parts of 500/- every week….
Some days earlier, i made a payment of 800/-. I wasn’t provided a receipt for the transaction. The cashier mentioned that i would be getting a message by sms. Didnt have the time to argue with him and left them for good. The next day, while traversing along the highway, the car developed some problem and stopped abruptly. The service center number was on a sticker in the front pane, and i decided to give them a call. It was then that i realized that they havent credited my account with 800/- which i had paid earlier. And i was stranded in the highway for 2 hours. And the amount was credited to my account only after 18 hours and my outgoing was released an hour after that.
That evening i terminated my postpaid corporate account…
These days am with good old BSNL Prepaid …
yes even i too agree with you / the problem i am facing with vodafone is that i have been charged for stock alerts which i had cancelled 6 months back, when i call customer care they tell me to send some message but again in the subsequent months i am also fed up and i want to cancel the connection or i want to go to consumer court
yes even i too agree with you / the problem i am facing with vodafone is that i have been charged for stock alerts which i had cancelled 6 months back, when i call customer care they tell me to send some message but again in the subsequent months i am also fed up and i want to cancel the connection or i want to go to consumer court