This is with reference to my mobile number 9980561913. I have been holding this number under Airtel Karnataka for a long time and have been paying my dues on time always.
Last year, ie. on the 31st of March I purchased an iPhone from Airtel. This phone was supposed to be locked under Airtel network for a period of one year despite Airtel not having subsidized its price as per the international practices and also the practice prevalent in Airtel currently. Nevertheless, I was assured that the phone will be released from the Airtel network at the end of one year ie. April.
After one year, when I tried putting another SIM in my iPhone, it did not accept it. I called Airtel few times and casually requested them to release my iPhone from their network. That did not happen. I too did not pursue it much as I neither had any intention of switching over to another network nor was I travelling abroad.
Later this year, I had a plan to go abroad ie.to the UK in mid September. On the 5th of September'11, I lodged a complaint with Airtel over the phone regarding unlocking my iPhone from their network. This was followed by a mail on the 7th, 9th and 10th of September as well as numerous phone calls reminding them of my request. In the mails, and also over phone, I informed them that I was leaving for UK and would use a local SIM in my iPhone as I will also be driving over there and would need a GPS for guidance. On the 11th I flew to Mumbai and even contacted the local Airtel in Maharashtra, reiterating my request. I constantly reminded Airtel that I will have no option but to use the Airtel SIM on international roaming if my iPhone was not unlocked from the Airtel network.
Despite their assurance nothing happened and I flew for UK on the 14th of September. I even tried putting a local SIM of Lycamobile UK (which I had acquired in Bangalore itself, before leaving for UK) and another SIM from UK mobile operator '3' when in UK, but it did not work. I duly informed Airtel about this and even told them about the difficulties I was facing due to not having a local SIM in my iPhone and reiterated my resolve not to pay for any international roaming charges. This was done through an email sent on the 18th of September'11 and followed by another mail on the 23rd of September'11.
All along, I was being told that the matter is being looked into and it would be resolved by evening or by such and such time or date. On a couple of occasions I was told that there is a technical fault due to which the matter is being delayed. I constantly reminded them of my visit abroad and the inevitability of using the Airtel SIM if the phone was not released from their network. I also expressed my intention not to pay any charges incurred during international roaming, as it was their fault.
An interesting feature of my email correspondence had been the Acknowledgement Mail by Airtel which stated that they were unable to process the request either because the Mobile Number was not mentioned in my mail or because it was not in the correct format. This, despite the fact that all my mails had my mobile number clearly mentioned in the 10 digit format which conformed to their prescribe format. Much later, ie on the 19th of October'11 that I got a reply stating that for mobile related assistance, I needed to send a mail to another mail id ie. [email protected] instead of [email protected], a mail id on which I had been communicating from the beginning! None of the Acknowledgement Mails sent by Airtel mentioned that the mail id has been changed, before the 19th of October'11!
I have even made a part payment of my international roaming charges ie. from the 14th to the 16th of September'11, as it was included in my last paid bill. Now Airtel is insisting that I pay the unfair charges levied on me during international roaming during the 17th to 26th of Septermber'11 despite their own admission that my iPhone was under Airtel network lock till the 2nd of October'11 (though earlier they had claimed through a mail that they had released the phone on the 14th of September itself!)
I am willing to pay my bill provided the international roaming charges are removed from it as they have been forced upon me by Airtel due to their own incompetency and due to keeping my phone locked under their network illegally well past the contracted period. Airtel is now threatening me with disconnection and trying to arm twist me into paying this unfair bill which got inflated due to their own incompetence, whether by mistake or intentionally. In fact, a large part of my international roaming charges has been incurred during my desperate calls to their helpline from UK, where I was facing considerable difficulty in driving without a GPS, despite having a wonderful device like iPhone with me for which I had paid through the nose.
They are constantly refusing to acknowledge the reason for the international roaming usage ie. their technical incompetence due to which they could not release my iphone from their network even 5 months after the contracted period. They are simply emphasizing that the sim was used on international roaming, which, incidentally, I too am agreeing. But what led to that usage, they are trying to avoid that reason. They have already discontinued services to a secondary number which was under the same billing and would perhaps discontinue the primary one too soon.
I really regret having sung paeans to this company as one of the most customer friendly companies of India. They are the worst, perhaps.
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