May 26, 2004 02:12 PM
2948 Views
(Updated May 26, 2004 03:21 PM)
Dear Reader,
I am an Account Executive working for an ad agency in Chennai. I have a BSNL connection and I have used a range of mobile services.
I took my Samsung handset from Reliance in July 2003 in the Rs.501 scheme. All the fancy ads and their vain promises must have gotten to my head, little did I know that I was doing one of the worst mistakes of my life.
It is a well known fact Reliance purchased these handsets @ Rs.800. But they give it to customers priced at Rs.10000!!! The samsung battery and the mobile charger they offer are all doubly priced.
After taking the connection, I did not get my monthly bill for the next 3 months. One fine day, I get a call from Reliance Customer Care stating that I owe them around Rs.5000/- which is far more than what I spent on my AirTel connection. Only in November did I get a bill which I cleared by cash through their Web World franchisees. Apart from my talk time charges, I am charged heftily for the rental and something else what they call 'Club Charges'. I still don't know what this means.
In December, I got a bill for about 2000 rupees, for which I dropped a cheque in their cheque drop box. In my next bill, the amount I paid by cheque was shown as an outstanding. I immediately called up Reliance Customer Care and the executive told me that my cheque had not been credited to their system I had to take my ORIGINAL bank statement to the Reliance Web World if I needed to sort the problem out.
The Bank statement clearly showed that the amount had been debited from my account, but people from Reliance seem to have no idea about it. So I did take my bank statement to the Reliance Web World and they told me that the issue would be settled in my next bill.
I began to get the feeling that my billing here was getting on the higher side, so I decided to cancel my subscription - but then they tell me that I have to pay up Rs.3000 extra if I want to do that! They would not give me an itemized billing statement for my local calls! The Internet access system is damn slow and browsing the net by it is just a test of your patience - and they sell that Internet cable for 1200 bucks!
What more...a thug like looking person came to my residence and inquired my wife about my whereabouts on a Sunday afternoon when I was away. When asked who he was - he seems to have said that he was from a Reliance Associate company and that he had come to collect my outstanding charges. When my wife told him that the amount had been paid by cheque - he seemed to turn a deaf ear and said that he wanted to talk to me.
After coming to know that I was not at home, he seems to have used vulgar words while conversing with my wife and asked where I had gone on a Sunday leaving my wife alone at home! I decided to put an end to this issue and took my Bank statement to Reliance Web World for the second time and showed them what was going on. I also told them not to send any more thugs to my house - but they tell me that it is standard procedure!
Now I have shelled out the extra 3000 rupees plus all the extra charges and club charges and so on and surrendered my mobile - and believe me - I am happy. If you think that Reliance Mobile is cheap and is going to bring your bills down...then please know this - you are going the wrong way in life this time.
They have got lots of hidden charges, the bill dispatch system in one of the worst in the industry and their outstanding amount collection executives cannot be described by decent words from the english language. You cannot even surrender the phone as and when you want - it is something like a parasite - once hooked on to you and you are done for.
