Credit not uploaded
I was due to travel to Pakistan on July 22, 2010, before which I thought of uploading some credit from the etisalat machine in the Dubai International Airport. The transaction was made at 23:57:57 on July 22. I put Dh100 in the machine and got a receipt, but to my dismay the credit was not uploaded to my number. Desperate to upload my account, I put another Dh50 into the machine at 00:03:09. [I received] the receipt for this transaction, [but] the amount of Dh50 was also not uploaded.

Frustrated, I had to go and buy a pre-paid card as I was getting late to board my flight. After my return to the UAE, I called 101 from my cell phone and registered a complaint on August 8, 2010. I was given a tracking number and a complaint number. I even scanned the two receipts and emailed them to etisalat. I have made continuous calls to 101 and tracked the progress, but each time I have been brushed off by the representatives I have spoken with, saying that it is not in their hands and that my complaint has been forwarded to the accounts section and that they are the ones who are delaying the entire process. At one time I was also given a second reference number. I am still waiting for the credit of Dh150 to be uploaded to my number. It has been months now and I still haven't received the credit, or a call from etisalat, updating me on the matter.
From Mr Abdullah Qureshi
Abu Dhabi

The management of etisalat responds:
Kindly be informed that Mr Qureshi's issue has been resolved.

Mr Qureshi responds:
My issue with etisalat has been resolved. I thank the Gulf News team for helping me out.

Billing issue
I have lived in Dubai for almost 33 years and since January 2010, I have noticed that my Dewa water bill has risen by 300 per cent. I notified Dewa and they said I should pay and take it up with the complaint department. I lodged a complaint and in February they changed the water meter without notifying me because it was faulty, according to Dewa's staff. The water bills started coming even higher than before and again I complained. Dewa gave me a complaint number, but nothing was done. On March 20, I had to leave the country due to an emergency situation and was away for a month. The house was empty, but I still received a water bill for Dh4,969 for the time I was away. On my return, I lodged another complaint and was given yet another complaint number and again nothing was done. In May, my mother passed away and I had to leave again. This time the water bill while I was away came up to Dh9,349.43. A Dewa employee noted the extreme charges and told me to go to the billing department as these high water charges were unbelievable. I went to Dewa's head office and met with a representative who said it had nothing to do with Dewa and that it was the developer's problem.

I contacted the developer and they came to my house with their team and conducted extensive tests to find the cause for the high consumption, but found no leaks anywhere. I went back to Dewa's head office and met with the same representative, who this time referred me to several departments to establish the reason, and still refused to commit to any fault on their end.

I enquired about the technical report they got from the three water meters they had removed from my property and he told me they were all okay and now installed in other locations. After spending six hours in the Dewa head office on Sunday, October 10, 2010, I was told that a Dewa team would visit my property on the following Tuesday. Yet another complaint number was given to me instead of any Dewa personnel visiting the property as promised.

I got an independent contractor to check for any possible leaks. They checked extensively and found no leaks anywhere and gave me a report to that effect. Even the Dewa report confirms that when they visited my property the previous month to remove the water meter, there was no leak. I do not know what to do, what with an average Dewa bill of Dh7,000 coming every month to a person who lives alone and has no garden or swimming pool.
From Ms Howaida Gorton
Dubai

Editor's note: The complaint was sent to the management of Dewa. However, despite repeated reminders they failed to respond.

Installation delay
I applied for an etisalat internet connection in July, 2010. I was told the internet would be connected within three weeks, but I am still waiting for it to be installed. Please help me and please install my internet connection.
From Mr Nicola Davison
Abu Dhabi

The management of etisalat responds:
Kindly be informed that Mr. Davison's issue has been resolved.

Mr Davison responds:
Thank you, yes it was finally resolved.

Reconnection problems
I have been living at Jumeirah Lakes Towers in Dubai for over a year now. The only telecommunication service provider there is du. They also provide us with the internet and cable television. In the past year I have had more than seven issues with them, and to get any issues resolved I have to call or follow up with them at least ten times. I would like to highlight two instances that have occurred.

The first was some months ago when there was a disruption in all their services. In spite of calling du's customer service number numerous times, the problem wasn't resolved. Finally in desperation I called the person who installed the phones for us. Only after he argued with the du staff internally did my service issues get resolved. The second and most recent concern is that my phone services have been disconnected, as the phone bill wasn't paid.

It was not that I couldn't make the payment, but because of the du's inability to debit my card. They should have at least informed me before disconnecting the phone line.

I had made the payment on December 9, 2010 and was assured that the phone line would be connected. But up until now the line hasn't been connected. I have called the customer service centre, answered a dozen questions, held the line for no less than 30 minutes on each occasion and received repeated assurance that the matter would be resolved. I have even spoken to a manager, who assured me that the problem had been resolved and that the only thing I had to do was unplug the phone and reconnect the same. But the phone line still remains dead.
From Mr Rollin D'souza
Dubai

The management of du responds:
With regards to Mr D'souza's grievance over his du landline service, we would like to confirm that the issue has been resolved and the landline is back in operation.

The customer's credit card had expired, hence could not be debited.

Our team has now updated the new details for ensuring automatic payments in future. The customer is satisfied with the solution put forth by the du team and no further problems have been reported. We regret the inconvenience caused and would like to assure him of our continued support in future.

Overcharged
I am facing an issue with du. I availed a mobile internet connection with a monthly charge of Dh150 per month. But with the usage of two days, they had billed me the amount of Dh8,273. And they deactivated my internet connection, stating that I had exceeded the limit of usage. In this regard, I request du look into this matter, as they have not taken any positive action to rectify this.
 From Mr Francis Felix
Sharjah

The management of du responds:
With regards to Mr. Felix's grievance over his mobile internet service from du, we would like to confirm that the issue has been resolved.

The customer's internet service has now been activated and the disputed billing issue has been corrected by the du team. We regret the inconvenience caused and assure him of our best support in the future.

Editor's note: If you have similar consumercomplaints, raise them with us atreaders@gulfnews.com