Billing after termination and forced to pay

[dr madhusoodanan 0]

I had been using an internet wireless connection from Reliance some time back. After my travels which is when I needed it, i had got the connection terminated.

I was however, getting billed after termination. When I spoke to the local guys they said not to worry and their system was getting updated.

After a few months we get a tel call from a lawyer in Rajasthan saying that unless the bill is paid we will have to face legal proceedings from Reliance in Rajasthan. No amount of explanation was getting thru to him. This person increasingly became extremely rude. Being senior citizens and not in a position to take on the mighty corporate, we decided to pay and then claim the refund.

After accepting the payment and scrutinizing our documents---the termination paper signed by Reliance, the guys said they were sorry, and since the manager was not there, they could not refund the money.They also said that we will receive an sms and the refund within a week. NO such thing happened.These guys are not available on the phone. Visits to them again found the manager not available.Visits also cost us petrol and time which we cannot afford at this age.

We have been sending emails to reliance --several by now. All of them evoke a standard Government of India kind of response-"your email has been fwded to the concerned department and they will get in touch you.."All with names of people who have sent the emails who have copies of the termination, bills paid after the termination etc

It has been one of the most frustrating experiences with loss of money, time and mental harassment from a lawyer of Reliance.

Wonder if the members of this forum could help us.

Thanks in advance.

Dr Madhusoodanan

[Arun 795]

Claiming a refund will be a nightmare as usual. Can you try sending the complaint (explaining what you have gone through) to "Rcomnodalofficer.GJ@relianceada.com" and "Rcomappellateauthority.GJ@relianceada.com" with CC to "corporatecentre.customercare@relianceada.com" since you had already complained to Customer Care and got no resolution? As per DoT, the nodal officer should give a resolution within 10 days and Appellate Authority within 3 months. If that also did not yield any result then next step is to approach the Public Grievance Cell of DoT: http://www.dot.gov.in/pgcell.htm

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Feel really sorry for you that you have to go through this harassment.

Actually you should have never paid them despite legal proceedings threats as this are just threats. They actually never launch any legal proceedings because of the following,

-The lawyer's fees are always higher than the amounts involved which in the case of telephone bills are never more than a few thousand.

-This will be a Civil Dispute and it takes years in India for a Civil Dispute to be resolved.

They just engage Lawyers who usually draft and send legally threatning notices and this Lawyers are paid by the no. of notices they send.

However i can understand people who do not have much knowledge of Law are always aprehensive about this legal things.

Now you writing e mails to them will not work. It will get lost in their complex maze and will never lead to a resolution. I do not know what is the amount involved. If it is very substantial, approaching a Consumer Court is one option but then since you are a senior citizen, the hassles would be too much.

As per Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, every Telecom Operator needs to have the following structure in place for addressing customer grievances.

1st Point of Contact-Customer Helpline.

2nd Point if the grievance is not resolved-Nodal Officer. (This are designated for each circle)

3rd Point if the grievance is not resolved at Nodal Officer.- Appellate Authority.

Thereafter you can lodge complaint with TRAI also.

I suggest the following course of action to you,

-Make a complete set of documents including your request for termination, termination letter signed by them, subsequent bills received by you after termination, Lawyer letter, Your payment details, Receipt etc..

-Draft a detailed representation in chronoligical order which finally should say your grievance in the matter which in this case will be the amount of refund which you are asking.

Send the same to Nodal Officer of Reliance Comm. for Gujarat Circle. The Contact details are,

RELIANCE COMMUNICATIONS GUJARAT CIRCLE NODAL OFFICER

Mr.Sudhir Bhaduri, Reliance Communications Ltd, Reliance ADAG House, 100 ft. Road, Prahlad Nagar Road, Ahmedabad- 380051.

Email : Rcomnodalofficer.GJ@relianceada.com

Telephone No. 079-30331424

Fax No. 079-30331502

You can also personally go and meet him and give your documents and grievance.

The timings are from Monday to Saturday (excluding public holidays, 1st & 3rd Saturday and national holidays) between 9:30 am to 6:00 pm.

If this is still not resolved, following is the detail of Appellate Authority of Reliance Comm. for Gujarat Circle.

Mr.Chetan Madhani,Reliance Communications Ltd, Reliance ADAG House, 100 ft. Road, Prahlad Nagar Road, Ahmedabad- 380051.

Email : Rcomappellateauthority.GJ@relianceada.com

Tel. No. 079-30331523

Fax No. 079-30343546

Hope you get a resolution and do post your experience.

[raccoon 53]

I had been using an internet wireless connection from Reliance some time back. After my travels which is when I needed it, i had got the connection terminated.

I was however, getting billed after termination. When I spoke to the local guys they said not to worry and their system was getting updated.

..................

Dr Madhusoodanan

Well, you made a huge mistake by paying them in the first place. And your hope of trying to get a refund after paying will now just bring more harassment to yourself. Now your only hope is to write to the addresses given by Arun and seek redressal from a Consumer Forum, if it does not work.

[KumaarShah 143]

@dr

Since you have already terminated your account, and if the amount is more than a 4 figure amount, then pursue the matter, if it is below Rs 1000 or so, then the amount of money spent on fuel, time, energy is a sheer waste.

Alongwith the above email IDs mentioned by Arun, also send one detailed email to contact.chairman'soffice@relianceada.com. The email ID is exactly as I have mentioned.

[rajanmehta 4,056]

@dr

Since you have already terminated your account, and if the amount is more than a 4 figure amount, then pursue the matter, if it is below Rs 1000 or so, then the amount of money spent on fuel, time, energy is a sheer waste.

કુમારભાઈ અમદાવાદી ૧૦૦૦ રૂપિયા જતા કરે એ વાતમાં માલ શું?

Translation: Will an Amdavadi let go Rs. 1000/-, Never.

Just joking to lift up Dr.'s spirit

[KumaarShah 143]

Jokes apart, what I wanted to convey was that the effort to recover less than Rs 1000 (compared to the efforts that are required) from RCOM is a sheer waste not only for a Amdavadi but also for everyone else. The net result will be you will recover the money, but also spend so much time, energy, health etc for the recovery and this will cost much more. I am speaking from my over 7+ years experience with RCOM, other's experiences may be very different.

The above holds good for not only RCOM, but even other cellcos / telcos companies.

[raccoon 53]

The above holds good for not only RCOM, but even other cellcos / telcos companies.

Well, not necessarily. I had mentioned somewhere before - a friend of mine got refund from Idea (deposit plus other charges, totaling around Rs. 1,500). without even asking (through courier). In fact that was after 1 month, and he had even forgotten that Idea owed him anything. Well, I'm not sure if everyone has had similar experiences with Idea... but nothing is impossible. Thats just an eg. But then here we are talking about the new AirHELL infested RCom. I bet its not going to be half as easy for the Dr.

[KumaarShah 143]

Exceptions are always there. Even BSNL does not pay up is what I will say...

[drmadhu 87]

રાજનભાઈ : અમદાવાદીઓ ને બદનામ કેમ કરો છો.

Edited October 7, 2010 by vijaymalhotra_2007

[dr madhusoodanan 0]

Many thanks to all of you -Arun, rajanmehta,KumaarShah,raccoon,vijaymalhotra_2007 for your kind suggestions/advice.

I appreciate your promptness and concern.

I have written as suggested.

Will definitely keep the forum posted.

Thanks again to all you folks.

Regards

Dr Madhusoodanan

[rajanmehta 4,056]

રાજનભાઈ : અમદાવાદીઓ ને બદનામ કેમ કરો છો.

:winko:

Just to bring a smile!! LOL!! In fact Amdavadi's are very resilient, very hard working, fun loving, large hearted people.

[sagarbn 0]

Dr. its really a pain getting the things getting done from reliance. I myself an franchisee for reliance cant help for so many friends. Its always better u talk to the people before making the paymetn

[sougatadc 358]

I've a similar issue with Reliance Insurance. My brother flew to US on 22nd Sep. I was paying for the travel insurance of his family. The process failed after the payment and the policy didn't generate. We were in a hurry, and I bought a fresh policy against a new invoice. But I'm yet to receive the amount which I paid but the policy was not generated. It was supposed to be reverted within 48 working hours. In similar failed transactions earlier, I got my money back from IRCTC or MakeMyTrip etc.

The Toll free line is not helpful, leads me to blind lane and the complaint cannot be lodged.

[raccoon 53]

Not surprising. Reliance and ICICI insurance have the worst reputation in the insurance sector. ICICI has the worst reputation in the banking sector too.

[Arun 795]

Many thanks to all of you -Arun, rajanmehta,KumaarShah,raccoon,vijaymalhotra_2007 for your kind suggestions/advice.

I appreciate your promptness and concern.

I have written as suggested.

Will definitely keep the forum posted.

Thanks again to all you folks.

Regards

Dr Madhusoodanan

thanks for the update, wish you good luck!

[Pankaj Verma 0]

Dear

You can try to send all your complaints to ada@relianceada.com and cc to ap@trai.gov.in

[dr madhusoodanan 0]

Good news after a loooong struggle.

I got the refund after a prolonged communication battle with Reliance.They did try to avoid paying.Finally chairman's office responded and gave me a cheque--without interest !!!

thanks to all the folks here for their suggestions.

dr madhusoodanan

[Karthik R 246]

Justice delayed but finally delivered. This should serve as a motivation to customers who are fraudulently charged, to contend it and pursue the matter without losing heart.

[pasumark 51]