Automatic Renewal: I tried out Airtel's comics on mobile VAS and readily paid Rs. 10 for the service in October and for reading them. But I was not informed that the subscription would be automatically renewed for November. Airtel's website for the Comics only offers the procedure for subscribing and not for unsubscribing. On receiving an SMS from 54321 informing me that Rs. 10 has been deducted automatically and not offering me any information on unsubscribing, I was shocked. TRAI has clearly said that telecom operators can NOT automatically renew VAS without intimating the subscriber and asking his/her permission clearly.
VAS Subscription Without My Permission: I have also suddenly been subscribed to Airtel ClubZone for Bollywood pictures without my knowledge, which are costing me Rs. 5 per day. That makes it Rs. 150 per month!!! It says -- "You have been renewed for ClubZone subscription service from Airtel. You have been charged Rs .5 Bollywood Pics everyday - *321*555#."
Start/Stop Service Does Not Work: When I want to see which VAS services I have subscribed to by sending Stop to 121, it informs me that there are none. Yet i am getting SMSs daily informing me that Rs.5 is being cut?
IVR Issue: I called up Airtel IVR on 121 and bore the extremely frustrating and badly functioning IVR (it does not allow you to skip to the next step without listening to the monologue and then asks you to retype your choice thrice at every step, plus the secret key for the conversation four times.) to get to the VAS part. The IVR then informs me that "this facility is unavailable right now".
Pathetic Customer Care: It appears that Airtel is complacent and is not afraid of Mobile number portability, else why would its customer care be so unresponsive? Customer care informs me that I havent subscribed to any services, but is not sure if I have been billed or not. The executive offers me a complaint number and promises to call back, but does not do so for 2 days. When I call back, they hang up!
I call back yet again, am put on hold for an hour and then nothing is promised. They do not allow me to talk to a supervisor/ floor manager saying designations are not shared. They transfer me to an unnamed person and since he does not pick up, I have to disconnect and go through the entire process to talk to a customer care executive. They do not have the decency to let me know that the person is unavailable or transfer me to a person who is available??? It has been over 2 weeks now and nobody at Airtel has been able to solve my problem despite all my attempts. After mailing them at [email protected], they called to say they will fix it, but have not yet. I still get the SMS every day without fail. What's going on!???
Online Unsubscribing: I visited Airtel.in and logged in, seeking to unsubscribe from all my VAS online, and it again did not give me a list of VAS that I have subscribed to. When I clicked the option to unsubscribe, the site informed me that all my VAS services would be deactivated in 45 days. Why 45 days? Who decided that that is a good amount of time for VAS to be deactivated??? I need these VAS to be unsubscribed immediately, not whenever the operator can get down to it.
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