Little did I realise when I bought RelianceBIGTV last year that I was making yet another BIG mistake after having had experience with Reliance Mobile service.
I made my BIG mistake on 08.09.2009 when I bought the Set-top box with a BIG promise from the dealer that installation and activation would be done in 3 working days. Alas, it took 42 phone calls to the contact centre and 17 days for them to install and activate the connection. Apart from ‘small’ technical problems like set top box not responding to the remote, a 10 digit code blocking the screen every now and then, etc. etc., a small guy I am is now faced with SMALL hol in my pocket made by BIG TV people.
I had, out of lust to watch movie channels for a month, recharged my BIG TV account with Rs. 84.00(Rs. 28.00 per pack X 3 packs) through Rs.100.00 scratch card(now I am scratching my bald head!) by calling the contact centre for activation of the movie channels. The movie channel packs were valid only for 1(one only) month. Towards the end of the one month period I had become a proud recipient of hourly warning SMSs from BIG ‘your recharge is soon going to be over please recharge the same to enjoy uninterrupted viewing(of movie channels)’. I ignored the SMSs blissfully as it was clear that movie channels would stop automatically once the validity period was over.
Now I am being informed that my account balance instead of Rs.+16.00(Rs.100 - Rs.84.00= Rs.16.00) is Rs.-70.00. The reason given by BIG people is that they with their BIG hearts had provided the movie channels for some time even after the expiry of validity period.
Not only BIG people have devoured Rs. 16.00 from my pre-paid account without my concurrence but also had gone on providing the channels without my permission and debited charges towards the same from my account. Nastiest reply on this is that ‘it is customer’s duty to call up the contact centre and request to stop the channels’. If I go for monthly subscription they will conveniently debit Rs.70.00 from the subscription money.
While admitting that I am a one BIG fool to have walked into Reliance’s(please read un Reliable) trap again after I had lost Rs. 49.00 from my Reliance Pre-paid mobile account for receiving unsolicited Cricket update SMSs, I really wonder if there is any element of honesty any reliability in the BIG business empire of Reliance(both the groups).