I have got an issue with du telecommunication company and it doesn’t seem to be resolved from their side. I was a customer with them from 2014, for a mobile postpaid plan (according to them I was a VIP customer) and home service as well. Due to continuous disappointment, I made a choice to migrate from postpaid to prepaid service on May 5, 2018.
I had to pay a migration fee after four years’ of being a service user.
Within 48 hours they said the service will be changed, no issues. Of course, I also received an offer through phone call that they would give 50 per cent discount and six months no contract offer, so I can make up my mind. I kindly asked for 24 hours to think as I was really unhappy with them already. They called me 14 hours later once while I was at work so I was unable to answer the phone, it was considered done for me.
A month later during Ramadan I applied a home service relocation due to change of apartment but within the exact same community and was promised to receive a phone call for scheduling the appointment. After visiting the same and a different branch, I tried to solve it through customer service, nothing has happened, but at the same time I had to pay for the service.
So, I have decided to change to etisalat and cancel the home service as well. Again I have received a phone call with an offer to stay, otherwise I will have to pay early cancellation fee of Dh700. Early cancellation fee after four years?
After numerous phone calls and holding the phone for hours just to wait for the representative, a woman representative was amazing and helpful, I could reach to the stage where the billing department called me with different persons. One apologised for the Dh700 charge, which is incorrect; the next one told me that apparently everything is closed so I just have to wait for my final bill, and I might have to pay some fee for the mobile service and after all the closure fees and everything I might have to pay a small fee.
So my pulse went up suddenly again, why would they even charge me for the mobile service once it was cancelled already. This representative told me he cannot help now, he is just from the billing department, so I have to call its mobile department.
So I waited for the final bill, in which I realised that they had charged me with another monthly fee (from May 17 to June 17) although I had cancelled it more than 2 months ago.
I tried to call them, they have put me on hold for almost an hour when they heard it’s a complaint. Tried to use social media where I received the answer that I was called with an offer and I had decided to keep the service. Seriously? We didn’t talk.
So I called them again and asked for an appointment to speak with the manager who would be able to help, who could access phone call records to be able to prove that I have never confirmed anything but kept telling them I don’t want du anymore in my life.
I had to go back to their headquarters in Dubai Media City, and again, I have just received a ticket number, and someone will call me within a week. Now I waited for this phone call, but my fear is that they will charge me with another month if I am not able to take action against them.
Altogether the early cancellation fee, the deposit money they wanted to forget about, this additional monthly payment costs Dh1,450.
What can I do for them to manage a very simple thing - cancel a service?
From Mr Laszlo Pass
Dubai
A spokesperson from du responds: In response to Mr Laszlo Pass, the team at du investigated the case and can confirm that the customer’s number was successfully migrated to prepaid on July 18 this year. Based on the customer’s request, a clarification on the billing has been provided. We apologise for any inconvenience caused to Mr Pass.
(Process initiation: July 4. Response from organisation: August 5. Process completion: September 11. )
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.
