Hi guys. Just want to share a very bad experience of mine with Reliance. I am a Reliance postpaid customer since the past 2-odd years, residing in Mumbai. Have not had many complaints in the past. I was quite happy even with the billing amount charged. Till this experience changed all my views about Reliance.
I am a subscriber of the Chat and Play plan. The plan details are as under:
Monthly charges: Rs. 100
Chat and Play Rental : Rs. 99
(The above 2 are fixed per month)
Under the plan, one has free unlimited sms to all Reliance numbers anywhere in INDIA. Also, Rs. 100 worth of local talk-time is free. As are 50 local sms per month.
I had heard about the Rs. 60 sms pack for postpaid users wherein 1000 sms to any number in INDIA are free. I wanted to activate it and hence contacted Customer Care on 22nd July 2008. I asked the Customer Care agent whether my on-going plan of unlimited free sms to Reliance numbers anywhere in INDIA would be affected if I subscribe to the sms pack. He said NO. Its only after that I gave the request for subscription to the sms pack. I again called up the next day (when it had not yet been activated. It takes 48 hours to get activated) and this time, another agent told me the same
thing i.e. my sms to Reliance numbers would continue to be free unlimitedly. I was happy because I had a few friends who were not Reliance users (how lucky !!)..
I called up the Customer Care again after 3-4 days of its activation when I found my unbilled usage was increasing rapidly from the previous day (eg: if it was Rs. 50 today, it jumped to around Rs. 110 odd the next day). I asked the agent about the break-up details. He said it is not available and also said that when the bill is generated, it will be less all the discounts. I said fine.
After my billing cycle (which is from 22nd to 21st of next month) was over, I checked my bill usage via sms. I was shocked to see the amt- Rs. 1442/- !!! I immediately called up Customer Care to know the break-down ( I had not received the bill. So, I didnt have the details.) And my worst fears came true. I had been charged for every sms I had sent above the 1000 sms limit. Now, my normal sms to Reliance is always in the range of around 2000-3000. And when I was WRONGLY INFORMED by the agent that my previous scheme would be unaffected, I had as usual sent sms to Reliance numbers.
And when I informed this particular agent that I should not have been charged for all these sms as per the information given to me, he said that once my sms exceeds 1000, I will be charged!! I called up twice again that day and got the same info!! I was fuming.. Why the hell was I given wrong info twice when I had not activated the scheme? Another agent told me that the sms pack is NOT AVAILABLE for Chat and Play users. I was like f you! I have been thrusted with a bill of Rs. 1442 due to the pack and you are saying it aint available!! Repeated complaints have only yielded "We understand your problem Sir, but you have been correctly charged". What the f. Correctly charged??!! I also e-mailed but got the same reply.
I have been a customer since the last 2 years and my bill has gone over 300 only twice. One- Rs.336 and one- Rs. 500 odd. Both times, I was in roaming. I am a student and I take care to never go beyond Rs. 300 per month
I have never ever defaulted on any of my payments. I decided not to pay this bill and accordingly, told the same to an agent in last week of Aug.
After a few days, I got a call from Umesh, a customer executive. He said that all the excess amt. would be waived off and I would be getting a revised bill. A confirmatory sms would come in 2 days. This was in first week of Sept. Till date, nothing has happened.
The due date of the bill was 10th Sept. And as I didnt pay the bill, my outgoing was barred yesterday. Thanks a ton, losers...
Another issue (though nothing in comparison with the previous one) was when my finger accidentally pressed the * button when I was calling a friend having a Rel number with a caller tune. And instantly, the tune was copied for my number. I was not even aware when it happened!! No confirmation question. Nothing. Press accidentally and lose Rs. 50 odd (Rs. 45+12.36% Service Tax).
Frankly, I was quite happy with Reliance. But this one incident made me think drastically different about it.
The good thing is the network. No issues there.
Bye Reliance. And I do think this is the way that Reliance or any other private operator earns. Give wrong information through some morons aka the Customer Care Agents and loot..
So people, beware!! Be extremely cautious. I did all I could here. Asked 2 different agents. And was given wrong info by both.
Reliance Customer Care has to be the worst in the world. Giving wrong information is their numero uno task..