Reliance Communications Ltd - 4g Wifi Pod Complaint Rating:   

I had been using a reliance 3g pro dongle since Jan 2016. I had purchased it as i was given a good plan which was 999 unlimited. According to my plan i would be charged 999+tax=Rs1148/- for which i would be entitled to 40gb data at 3g speeds. Post 40gb the speed would be reduced to 2g speeds but would still work.
in June 2016 while i was travelling i got a call from a reliance executive saying that the 3g pro dongle was being discontinued and i would have to immediately purchase the new 4g wipod which i would be getting at a discounted price of Rs 900/- I was told that the 3g towers would be getting shut down and i need to go immediately by the end of the week and get the new dongle. I was assured by the executive that my plan would not change. It would remain the same and that i would also get 10gb extra data for 1 month and the bill for 1 month would be waived off. After confirming that my plan would not change i explained that i was out of town and would only be able to go buy new wipod and sim next week. The executive insisted that i go as soon as possible as the discount on the new wipod may not last long and i need to register for it as soon as i can. Since i was told that my 3g pro would not function from next week i sent my friend to the reliance store in malleshwaram twice but both the times the wipod was not in stock. Finally in 4 days i was back in bangalore so i personally went to the store again but it was still not in stock. I managed to get the sim and register it. They asked me to try the reliance store in seshadripuram - kumara park as they would have a stock. So i went there and got my new wipod. When i was at the store i again asked about the plan and i was told that since i was an existing customer my earlier plan would continue with the new wipod. Satisfied with the reply i purchased the dongle and left from there.
The dongle did not work for almost a month even though i was told that it would be activated soon. then one day i got an sms saying that we could start using the new wipod. i used the wipod and everything was fine. in the month of august my wipod stopped working in the middle of the month. only the red led kept flashing which meant there was no network. As i wasnt travelling it didnt bother me much. It wasnt the first time i was having network issues with reliance as i have even sent an email regarding the issue to customer care in the past. but ive not got a reply or even an acknowledgment mail. Suddenly i got an email on 23rd aug saying that the new 4g plans were here. This was in middle of my billing cycle. I assumed the plans were for new customers as they had told me my plan would remain the same. and even if the plans were for me it would be from next month and give me enough time to confirm it from them. i called customercare and complained about the mail i got and they said i would get call back in 24 hours but i didnt get any call back. Next day another executive called regarding payment and again i complained regarding my issues. i explained that when i send an email to customercare i do not get a reply. She asked me to go to the reliance store as they can help me with my issues. I told her that since i'm always travelling i do not have the time to go there. So she told me she would give me the direct no that will connect me to the dongle department and requested me to make the payment. She gave me a no starting with 1800. Since she was an employee of reliance i didn't doubt her and thought i had the direct no to get my issues sorted out. So next day in the afternoon i called the no which was given to me. In language selection i chose English. and i got connected to a guy who told me that this wasn't the dongle department and that he would transfer me to the concerned department. Then i got transferred to another person who was speaking in Kannada. As my Kannada isn't perfect and i will have trouble explaining i told him i can only explain in english to which he said he would transfer me to some english executive as he could not understand english. So i agreed and waited and then suddenly i get transfered to a person speaking in tamil. I tried explaining to him and asked him to transfer to somebody who knew english but he kept repeating that he knew only tamil and i would have to cut and call again. Frustrated i cut the call and decided to go to the reliance store and speak directly to the concerned person.
Suddenly after few days i get a bill of Rs 7650/- I was shocked. I was travelling that time but in few days i came back to Bangalore and took a printout and immediately headed to the reliance store. This was on 12th sept. I went to the store where there was only one employee. i explained my situation and showed her the bills. I told her that i was not given advance notice regarding plan change. i got an email on 23rd august but my billing cycle which starts from 5th aug to 4th sept had been charged according to the new plan. i told her i want those charges cut. i want to cancel the dongle and that i want to return the wipod and get a refund. She took down my details in the register and said those extra charges on bill would be cut and i would receive an sms. She said it was not possible to take back dongle and after 15 mins of arguing she asked me to send an email to the appellate authority. She gave me the email id and asked me to send an email to them as well. she informed me the manager had stepped out for some work and would take an hour to be back. Around that time i heard the cauvery bandh had been extended and all schools and colleges were giving holiday. i couldn't risk waiting at the store while my fiance was waiting in the car outside. I left from the store as i had already given her my details and she said i would get an sms regarding my issue with the bill and that those extra charges would be cut. Same day in the evening i got a call from another reliance executive(Venugopal). I thought it was because i had registered about my issue at the store. But no. It was a call regarding my bill payment. I had to again sit and explain everything to him just as i had earlier explained to the employee at the store and to the other employee who had called 2 weeks earlier regarding payment. His response was also useless as others. He said he will take request to get bill amount reduced as per normal plan but they cannot give me refund for the dongle. But even then the charges werent dropped. I had told him that i had even sent an email to customercare and appellate authority and he said he would sms his email id and that i should mail him the same email that i had sent to appellate authority and customer care. He never sent me his email id. After a few weeks he again called me demanding i pay the bill. i told him that i had spoken to him earlier and explained my situation. But he again asked me to repeat it as he had forgotten. i told him i would send him the mail instead which explains everything. i sent him the mail and our conversation is attached. He asked me to pay 1500 and settle which was higher then usual and also refused to take back the dongle. So i refused and told him i would settle this in court. and throughout this ordeal i used to get a minimum if 2 calls everyday from call center employees asking me to pay the bill. i explained the situation to the first few but then grew impatient as they all would give same reply saying they will forward my concern to the people in charat ge. They continuously harassed me with calls everyday that i had to block their calls after a point. They refused to let me spk to their manager.
Finally on jan 24th 2017. i received a pre litigation case notice at my home and on 25th i went to the court to settle the matter. I met Mr Rakesh who did not seem to understand my issue a)and insisted i pay 50% of the amount on the notice which was Rs 6850/- After arguing that it was a mistake on the part of Rcom he asked me to give some time and he would speak to them at rcom and tell me in 2 days. he asked me to call him on 27th jan. on 27th jan i called Mr rakesh and he said he was no able to speak to them and asked me for another days time. On the same day i got a missed call from a mobile number and called back to see who it was. The person on the other end seemed to be a collection agent but started talking about my bill payment and mentioned some section 21 and pretended to be calling from a police station. He didnt even have the proper details of the bill and was trying to argue which made me lose my cool and i asked him to shut his mouth and call back when he has the proper details as they had already wasted a lot of my time after which he started threatening me saying if i speak like that he would get the senior cop to my house. i asked him to come and i would deal with him and hung up. after looking online i came across several complaints directed towards rcom as their employees pose as cops/officers and threaten customers with sections of ipc and tell them to pay bill within an hour or they will get arrested. I would like to know how a company like Reliance Communications still has a license to operate even after various complaints from customers.
Within 5 months of purchasing a reliance dongle i was made to buy another one.
I was lied to when they told me that my plan would remain the same and not change. If it was going to change i would insnt have bought the new one.
I wasnt given the extra 10gb or one month waiver either.
When i send mails to customer care i do not get a response or even an acknowledgement of my mail.
When i call on the no given by your executive it keeps getting transferred till i can no longer understand the language of the person on the other side. Or they ask me to visit store.
When i go to the store they just give me the vague generic answers like a robot and then ask me to send an email.
Even after buying new wipod and registering sim i kept getting calls for 2 weeks saying please change to 4g dongle. But when my plan was changing i didnt get even one call regarding the change.
Billing cycle is 5th sept to 4th oct. you send me a single mail on 23rd sept regarding plan change which is close to end of billing cycle and charge me according to new plan.
They do not have a customer grievance redressal
According to TRAI they should give an advance notice regarding plan change to customer via sms/call but they didnt.
Appellate Authority is required to respond in 39 days but they didnt. I managed to find the name of the Appellate officer and tried to find her number but i couldnt. (Amita Shetty - Im still not sure how somebody that has studied Bsc is suitable for this position)
Their collection agents pose as cops and threaten customers of consequences without realising that Section 170 (makes impersonating a public servant a punishable offence) can be imposed on them.
Even when they are at fault they expect us to pay.
If the consumer courts do not take action then companies like Reliance Communications will continue to squeeze their customers by overcharging and threatening. its like an organised business of misrepresenting, fraud, & extortion.
I have posted below links to my source of complaints of them threatening people in one case where a senior citizen was injured.
Most of these are posts as old as 2-3 yrs old. Its surprising that even after all this they are still at it.
http://www.complaintboard.in/complaints-reviews/reliance-broadband-recovery-agents-l68761.html
http://www.consumercourt.in/product-services/64941-threatening-calls-reliance-communication.html
http://www.complaintboard.in/complaints-reviews/rcom-l573260.html
http://www.consumercourt.in/broadband/62495-threatening-calls-smss-reliance-customer-care.html
http://www.techtree.com/content/news/1137/reliance-broadband-users-allegedly-threatened-with-arrest-for-unpaid-bills.html
http://www.consumercourt.in/broadband/47684-harassment-threatening-call-wrong-bill-payment-reliance-communication.html
http://www.consumercourt.in/broadband/45562-harassment-threatening-calls-reliance-broadband-misbehaviour.html