etisalat subscriber says 056 prefix inconvenient

Dubai: Etisalat's unpublicised launch of the new mobile phone prefix 056 is causing a lot of confusion, say subscribers.

The telecom provider has started selling numbers with the 056 prefix before familiarising the public with the new code through an awareness campaign.

Australian national Irshad said people who have his new 056 number would not call on it, assuming that he had given the wrong number. "I've been applying for jobs but no one calls saying no such prefix exists," he said.

Repeated requests by Gulf News for a comment from etisalat went unanswered. Etisalat subscribers regularly complain about the poor customer support.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority approved the launch of the new prefix for one million etisalat numbers last December.

Subscribers' woes

etisalat subscribers who have been issued phone numbers with the new 056 prefix say lack of awareness about the new number is causing them a lot of confusion and inconvenience.

Aside from a press release, etisalat has not publicised the new prefix. A previous prefix launch, 055, was followed by major awareness campaigns.

Australian businessman Irshad said he came to Dubai to look for a job but was not getting calls from recruiters on the 056 number because "no one knew about it".

"Recruiters would call on my landline saying I had submitted the wrong mobile number," he said. Aside from the inconvenience, he said the new number would not receive international text messages.

"My wife and I regularly send text messages to each other. It's cheap and convenient. I had to buy another 050 number. Now I have two etisalat numbers," he said.

Irshad said he tried to call etisalat "at least twenty times" to have his problem sorted but was told in all cases that he would be called back by a technician. "No one ever called".

etisalat subscribers regularly complain about customer service.

Do you have this prefix number for your mobile phone? Has it caused you problems? Or is it working well for you? Tell us.

Etisalat Customer Service? Do they actually know the meaning of customer service.I live in Sharjah and I had applied for internet connection in January and I am still waiting. My calls to etisalat either gets transferred from one person to another endlessly without any concrete answer or no one picks up. After being sick of calling the customer service,I decided to go to etisalat and personally follow up.Now,this one is icing on the cake,when I went to enquire about my connection they asked to me call customer service,I told them they are not picking,so pat comes the reply from them that I should keep calling them even if it takes them a month to pick my call.
Yumna
Dubai,United Arab Emirates
Posted: July 15, 2008, 09:04

Because of the stiff competition from du, Etisalat doesn?t know where to focus and thus is losing customer confidence. May it be the customer service or Product Awareness they are losing there credibility in all aspects.
Saju
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 15, 2008, 09:02

Lets be fair, comparing etisalat to some international telecom company in lets say USA or UK is not fair. etisalat is doing its best to develop the telecom sector in the middle east. Small thing like a marketing camp. for 056 numbers is silly and I am sure it will be looked after once the message gets to etisalat.
Tim
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 15, 2008, 00:04

It came to me as a surprise just as most of you did. Never knew "056" ever existed. Etisalat is loosing their customers' confidence. They should be open to foreign competition in order to see a change, for the good. The lame competition by DU is only spoiling the spirit. As customers, having no option, we can't do any better than remain a spectator.
Robin
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 14, 2008, 16:11

I remember seeing the prefix 056 recently somewhere and obviously thought someone had mistakenly written the '0' like a '6' !! They should have definitely conducted proper awareness campaigns targeted at the new prefix before launching it and introducing utter confusion.
Sonia
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: July 14, 2008, 15:59

Without any hesitation I could say that the service from Etisalat is on very poor standards and, to pay one of the bills (for renewal of the web domain) I have visited 4-5 times to Etisalat office and still I am following them to receive the payment. They have informed us that the system is not working and we are helpless. I have asked them if the payment is not paid in time will you disconnect the service? They said that it may happen.For such disconnection they are very accurate.
Unnikrishnan
Al-Ain,UAE
Posted: July 14, 2008, 15:00

I pretty much gave up reporting problems to Etisalat customer support as it is useless. If I have an issue with my phone or internet, I either try to workaround it myself or live with it. Things won't change until there is a real competition in the telecom sector.
Mark
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: July 14, 2008, 14:28

I do not have the new prefix. But I wanted to take this opportunity to voice my extreme displeasure at Etisalat's services. Overall they are slow, backwards, unaccommodating, impractical and pretty expensive compared to the rest of the developed world. Etisalat is highly dependent on its monopoly of the local market (Du is a joke). And has no reason to develop its prices and services. The TRA should seriously look into this matter.
Khaled
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: July 14, 2008, 12:24

The customer service at Etisalat is appalling. The number of times I have tried to have them fix the roaming issues I experience around the world... They always say they will call back, but guess what. Nothing happens.
Casper
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 14, 2008, 12:12

I was surprised a few days ago that my Wasel line was disconnected. I called Etisalat service number to inquire and they said that they have disconnected my line because I have failed to pay the annual renewal fee. Etisalat has disconnected my service without giving any kind of notification or reminder and without a single day of grace period. I hope this issue could be addressed due to the great inconvenience.
Anas
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: July 14, 2008, 11:57

well, I just want to add here that at least my complaint was listened to from Etisalat, I had some problem in my landline for no reason, I made a complaint in the evening and with in 12hours it was rectified. so I believe Etisalat is still the best .
farhat
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 14, 2008, 09:58

I got a 056 number almost two months ago. I am unable to get any international SMS from day one. Also many people locally are unable to contact me. I have complained to Etisalat at least 5 times and every time I am told that they are working on it and a technician will contact me. I am still waiting for a call. Will Etisalat replace my number with a 050 number at no cost?
Krishna
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 14, 2008, 08:49

Out of blue a prefix has popped up from Etisalat, My friend came to Dubai for the first time and he had bought 056 prefix and gave me the number, I thought he was kidding with me and I called on 050 prefix but could not reach him, I never thought that 056 prefix is out in the market?????
Safi
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 14, 2008, 08:34

Etisalat customer support is very poor and once you call the number 101 they will keep it in hold for several minutes and also we will not get proper solution for our question.
Rafeeque
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 14, 2008, 08:20

Etisalat service is no more up to the standard as it was before 3-4 years.
Lasani
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 14, 2008, 08:18

Ideally etisalat and du should list down all available numbers in the net so that buyers who want them online can choose, pay and book.
raj
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 14, 2008, 04:54

Etisalat needs some real competition - not some lame duck competition in the form of DU. Communication in wireless area lags most parts of the developing world... You pay through your nose and still get pathetic service.
Amin
Seattle,USA
Posted: July 14, 2008, 04:33

Thats true so many time I had made a complain for Etisalat about there customer services and they always tell me that a technician will call me between 24 or 48 hours but at the end they never call or a person call just to say sorry. We just need to wait and wait and wait for them to call
Abdulrehman
Dubai,UAE
Posted: July 14, 2008, 03:09

I've heard of this new phone number. My cousin got the new number on June. He said that it's pretty amazing but the only thing is that everyone is confused about the 056. It used to be 050 but 056, come on now Dubai has actually changed their way of phone numbers.
RT
Dubai,U.A.E
Posted: July 14, 2008, 02:03