I have been a Vodafone customer for more than 15 years in different states as BPL mobile, Hutch, Vodafone. Still a Vodafone post-paid customer in KA and I never had this kind of a pathetic experience from anywhere else but Vodafone Kolkata.
I happened to take a Vodafone prepaid connection from Kolkata. I went straight to the Vodafone store(Vodafone store, wipro ssk, block DM, SECTOR 5, SALT LAKE CITY, KOLKATA.) and filled up the application wherever the representative asked me to and submitted the documents. Got the number activated in a days’ time, did recharge for 3G and voice(Total Rs. 550) and I was happy. In a week’s time, while in roaming, I found that the number has got deactivated.
I tried several calls to customer care from my alternate number and wasted money and time- all were either mere idiots or trained to be so. So I emailed customer care.
The reply gave me the first shock.
- It says that since I’m a foreigner I need to get back to the same Vodafone store and provide my passport details. For the first time in my life my Indian nationality has been questioned! I even thought that they would have misplaced the document that I have submitted.
I emailed with explanation and then comes the next weird response.
- I need to send sms to Vodafone from my “deactivated” number to register my email and only then can they take any request!
I escalated the matter to the appellate authority with good hope and they responded with something else…
- Now they say that I haven’t entered the local reference contact number in the application form and so I need to go to the same Vodafone store and submit all the documents again.
Obviously I cannot do that since I’m travelling and out of the state.
They even say that my alternate number is not getting connected.
To my repeated explanation replies, I have so far received emails 4 emails with the same message.
Each time I have replied that I don’t want Vodafone Kolkata’s service or connection anymore, but I want my money that they have robbed from me for no service.
Finally in the last email, after copy-pasting the previous mail they have added a line “We are unable to refund the money”.
Why did you activate my service for a week in the first place if any information missing? Only to take money from me in the form of recharge? No one has answer to that.
The tone of the reply and the fact that they copy- paste the same message to reply me each time clearly indicate that they hardly care about what I’m saying and are unwilling to compensate their staffs error. They are even shameless to lie in all the emails that the alternate number doesn’t connect.
They very well know that after a while the customer will get fed up and give up since it is comparatively a small amount.
These are the names signed on the emails to me - Moumita Sarkar, Kristina Peter, Snigdhadev Paul, Rohan Bhattacharya
Vodafone correspondence reference # 1098256757, 1093111561, 1096465055, 1098256757.
I wish there is a single soul in that organisation who thinks and acts like a normal human being.
I also wish I had the time and convenience to escalate this to TRAI or consumer court.