Notifications don’t work
I’m an etisalat customer and have been a subscriber of its eLife service since August 2013. Apparently, since April 2015, etisalat has changed their billing policy in such a way that customers are no longer prepaying for the eLife service. Instead, they are paying for their service after the end of the month. This was the explanation I received from the customer service representative when I inquired about their “one time charge”.
I’ve always paid my etisalat bill once the amount approaches Dh1,000, to prevent the account from being disconnected. For as long as I can remember, I’ve never paid month to month. I found this method of paying more convenient.
However, these new terms of payment were not announced by email or SMS, although the customer service representative insists that a bulk SMS was sent out to notify all customers about this change in payment policy.
I did receive my eLife bill on September 7, and noticed that in addition to my eLife charge for the month of August, I’ve been charged a “one time charge”, as my account was disconnected for non-payment for the months of June, July and August. I paid the pending balance of Dh897 the day I got back from my vacation.
According to the customer service representative, when asked why no late fees were levied for the month of June and July, he had no explanations.
I’m not a fan of late fees and have never had to pay one for as long as I can remember, as I always update myself on the terms and conditions of any contract or obligation that I’ve undertaken.
However, this new payment policy from etisalat has not even been posted on their website and the explanation that I’ve received for being levied this charge is an absolute farce.
I would like to get this one time charge refunded to my account, as I have not received any SMS or email from etisalat regarding changes in account payment terms and conditions. Bulk text messages are unreliable as a means of mass communication, as most times, they are a hit and miss — some customers get it and others don’t.
I would also suggest etisalat management to post a PDF file on their website, notifying customers of any change in terms and conditions, to reduce any confusion among long-term customers, such as myself.
I would like to request Gulf News to please get in touch with etisalat management and help me get this refund of Dh25.
From Mr Joji J. Oommen
Dubai
The management of etisalat responds:
Kindly note that the customer issue was resolved and the customer has been updated.
Mr Oomen responds:
The whole process has a twilight zone feel to it, especially since I can ascertain with a high degree that etisalat customer service has no idea what’s going on. Let me be more specific, customer service refuses to accept the fact that there is anything wrong on their side. They also insist that all the information can be found on the etisalat’s website. They reiterate that their new billing policy (which states that a customer can only keep a balance of Dh100) is common knowledge, although when I spoke with a few of my colleagues, no one was aware of such a policy.
Regardless, I got a call from one of their representatives recently, stating that the Dh25 I was charged was done in error, as the system overreacted, rather than just barring my outgoing call facility on the landline for 14 days, which is usually what happens in such cases. When I proceeded to ask him that all the customer service agents I spoke to earlier insisted that the fault was mine for maintaining a high balance on the account, he continued to insist that it was a system error.
So I would just like all Gulf News readers to know that etisalat has a new billing policy, whereby any customer can only maintain a balance of Dh100 in a billing cycle and not Dh1,000, as it used to be.
Thank you once again for all the help. And, yes, etisalat’s statement is true and this case can be considered closed.
(Process initiation: September 9. Response from organisation: September 15. Process completion: September 21.)
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.
