Stop this plan

I need help to stop the unwanted bills I have been receiving every month for a 5GB data plan from etisalat — I never subscribed to this through their website or by phone.

The problem started on August 31, 2014, when I received the first SMS from etisalat on my mobile phone, which said: “Dear customer, thank you for subscribing to 5GB monthly plan services. Your request is under process and you will be notified once the service is active.”

Within seconds, I received another SMS from etisalat that said: “Your subscription to 5GB monthly plan is activated.”

I immediately called that day to their 101 help line and launched a complaint that the 5GB data plan was never asked for and that this service was activated on my phone. Etisalat’s customer service noted my complaint, gave me a complaint number and sent me a confirmation by SMS.

On September 2, 2014, I received another SMS that my complaint was still under investigation.

The next day, I received an SMS that etisalat would offer me the amount of Dh100 to be credited to my account for the coming three months, starting September 1. This amount could be used for international calls and it would expire in 30 days.

Then, on September 3, 2014, I received another SMS that said: “Dear valued customer, your complaint has been resolved. Please verify and in case you are still facing the same problem, please contact 101. We are always at your reach.”

Two days later, I received the same SMS.

I submitted another complaint to the billing department of etisalat and told them not to charge the bill amounts for the 5GB plan, to which I have never subscribed.

Etisalat confirmed the complaint through SMS and replied on September 7: “Your complaint is registered and under process. You will be updated promptly upon resolving it.”

In short, the above problem and complaint is still pending in the etisalat billing department. I regret to inform you that I am still receiving a bill from the months of September, October and November, 2014, of Dh249 per month and the total bill so far is Dh747.

I visited the etisalat business centre many times and also visited their head office to make a request to solve my problems, but I have seen no result or progress so far. I have launched my complaint several times by calling the 101 etisalat customer care centre, but there has been no update so far.

I request Gulf News to please help me contact etisalat’s management to resolve this problem as quickly as possible, so that they will stop sending bills every month to my account.

From Mr Hansla Vijay Kumar

Dubai

 

The management of etisalat responds:

Kindly note that the customer’s issue was resolved.

 

Mr Kumar responds:

I received a call on December 25 from etisalat’s billing department and I was informed that the 5GB data plan issue has been solved and etisalat has credited Dh747 (the past three months charged). I am very thankful to Gulf News, as the newspaper has sincerely helped me solve a problem that I have tried to resolve on my own for the past three months.

 

Mr Kumar updates:

Further to my mail dated December 29, 2014, I was informed that my problem was solved after receiving a call from etisalat. I regret to inform Gulf News that the etisalat billing department continued billing me for this in December, 2014. The December bill clearly showed a credit of Dh747 and new charges of Dh249 again for the 5GB plan for the month. I request the newspaper to contact the etisalat billing department once again to stop issuing unwanted bills to my account.

 

Editor’s note: We have forwarded this complaint to etisalat for comments. However, its management failed to respond.

(Process initiation: December 20. Response from organisation: December 29. Process completed: January 27.)

 

Editor’s note: Do you have similar issues that you would like to raise with us? You can write to us at readers@gulfnews.com.