I would like to highlight an issue which I have been facing with du telecommunications company. In April 2010, I bought a new iPhone and along with it, I got a post-paid du connection with a monthly plan of Dh500, which allows me to use the internet for free for one year. In April 2011, I went back to the du office on Hamdan Street, Abu Dhabi, and changed the connection to their Elite 250 Plan.
I didn't find any issue with their billing for April, May and June. By the end of June, I went on annual leave to India for a month. I was not using the connection in India and when I returned to Abu Dhabi at the end of July, my connection had been cut on the ground that I had exceeded the credit limit. I was confused and paid Dh500 at a du counter in the Abu Dhabi Airport. However, even after paying the amount, the service was not restored. Once I reached home, I paid more and the service was then restored.
In August, I paid a large amount again and by the first of September, I decided to monitor my bill. On September 10, I paid the entire bill, including the unbilled amount, and started monitoring via my balance rewards. I did not exceed any of my rewards, which I can use free as per the Elite 250 plan.
On September 27, I received a message from du stating that I had reached 90 per cent of my credit limit and was requested to pay Dh1,849.22 immediately. I called du's customer service and they ordered me to pay the amount immediately. After a few minutes, my service was disconnected and in the evening, I visited their office on Hamdan Street.
The counter staff informed me that the total amount due was Dh2,349. When I tried to explain the issue, they were not ready to register a complaint and they forced me to pay the amount.
After showing all the text messages I had received from du, they realised that there had been a problem with du billing and registered my complaint. After two days, I received a call from du and they admitted that their billing was wrong and informed me that the amount due was Dh893.89. I disagreed with the new amount and asked why I should pay more than Dh250 since I had not exceeded the credit limit.
The staff couldn't give me a proper answer and asked me to wait until I received their detailed bill.
Even after I got the detailed bill, nobody called me. Later, I called du's customer service and explained the story from the beginning. They registered another complaint and after a few days, I got a call from them regarding my complaint, enquiring about the details. At the end of the conversation, it was understood that the fault was at their end.
When I had shifted my plan in April 2011 to Elite 250, they did not close the old plan. The staff member admitted that it was du's mistake and said they would reverse the excess amount which they had billed me in July and August, plus they would rectify the September bill. This was agreed at the end of October. He asked me to start using the number and that he would restore the service.
From November 1, I started using the connection again and on November 3, I received a message from du stating that I had exceeded my credit limit and the connection was cut.
I went to the Hamdan Street office, but the front desk officers were not ready to listen to me. I then met one of the customer service supervisors who listened to my complaint. He also agreed that the error was from their end and told me that he could not take another complaint as my previous complaint was not yet closed. He told me that I would receive a call from du soon to solve the issues.
I waited all month, and at the end of November, I got an e-mail, a pre-legal notice, from a legal consultant acting on behalf of du to settle the amount immediately or face legal action. After two days, I got a call from du asking me to pay the whole amount. I informed them that I have already registered a complaint regarding their bills and gave the complaint reference number. The representative told me that she would call me back after checking the complaint, but I haven't received a call back up to now.
After a week, the legal consultant called me and I explained the entire story. He asked me to e-mail the complaint reference number and that he would speak to the du management. I provided him the complaint reference number and later got a couple of warning messages about settling the amount quickly, else a legal case would be filed.
I request Gulf News to get involved in this issue and help me get justice.
The management of du responds
In response to the issue raised by our customer Shabeeb Thairanil, the du customer care team got in touch with him to take him through the details and explain the charges applied. We are pleased to note that the conflict points have been settled amicably to the customer's satisfaction. We regret any inconvenience caused and assure the customer of our service support whenever called upon.
Editor's note: If you have similar consumer complaints and wish to raise them with the newspaper, e-mail us at readers@gulfnews.com
