[Resolved]  Airtel — Deletion of number without notice or communication

Address:

Karnataka

Email sent to Airtel Ombudsman, Nodal Officers and Appellate Officer,

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Summary
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Airtel has deleted my number [protected] without any notice and with highly improper communication. I am being penalised by Airtel for their poor procedures and their appalling & misleading communication. Further, Airtel has taken my money for a SIM card and for a recharge and has not let me utilise the services I have paid for.

The facts below clearly show my attempts to solve my problems with my non-working phone number and the lack of a proper response from Airtel. Many claims are being made after the fact with no explanation of why these were not communicated to me earlier. I contacted Airtel multiple times for help and was not given any of these reasons.

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Facts
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1. Mobile number [protected] purchased on 25th August 2010. All documents required by Airtel were submitted.

2. Calls have been barred since end of September without any communication whatsoever from Airtel.

3. On 2nd October, I contacted Airtel customer service. Airtel customer service claimed that I had locked the phone by mistake. An unlock code was given to me. However, using the unlock code did not fix anything.

4. Airtel customer service also indicated that it could be due to low balance. So, I recharged my phone with eRecharge for Rs.360--I still have the confirmation message on my mobile phone. This was in addition to the Rs. 150 or so that was already in my account. This brought my balance to Rs. 500 talktime.

5. On 11th October, 18.34 pm, I received the following message from "AD-SERVICE"- [protected]. This is still stored on my mobile phone: "We were unable to verify details of your Airtel number through Telephonic
verification. As per Govt.of India directive services on this number will be restricted." Please note that there was no communication from Airtel of WHAT to DO or WHEN to DO it.

6. Around the 13th of October, my wife contacted Airtel once more over phone. Again, Airtel customer service claimed that I had locked the phone by mistake. Another unlock code was given to me. However, using the unlock code did not fix anything.

7. On 23rd October, I went to the Airtel relationship centre at Indiranagar, Bangalore. This was the first time I was told I had to resubmit the documents.

8. On 26th October, I submitted my documents again to the Airtel relationship centre at Indiranagar, Bangalore. The acknowledgement number given for this was K97203.

9. On 29th October, I followed up my document submission with phone calls to Airtel. I was told the number had been "deleted" and was "back in circulation". I spoke to at least 5 different people about this issue.

10. I finally escalated this to Mr. Madhu at [protected]. He said he would call back within 48 hours. No call was received.

11. On 5th November, my wife again tried to contact Mr. Madhu at [protected]. She then spoke to Mr.Vijith, Apellate Officer. He said he would call back by the end of the day. No call was received.


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False claims by Airtel and my dispute
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On 29th October, we were given the following reasons for deletion by Airtel:

1. "Phone verification was not successful. "

I strongly dispute this for the following reasons:
--> A. I have not been able to receive calls on this number since September and the phone has been in my possession all the time. How and when was this phone call made? It is up to Airtel to provide proof of this.
--> B. What was Airtel doing when we contacted them 2 times over the phone. Why was there no mention of verification?
In fact, the fact that I made these phone calls proves that I was in possession of the phone.
--> C. If this was the case, why did Airtel take my recharge on 2nd October?

2. "Documents were not submitted in time."
This is highly improper of Airtel, not to mention misleading and fraudulent, to create an arbitrary deadline and not inform the customer.

--> A. Why was there no mention of this so-called "deadline" in the SMS received in 11th October, 18.34 pm?
--> B. Why was there no mention of this so-called "deadline" when we contacted them 4 times: two times over phone, twice in person at the customer care centre?
--> C. Why did Airtel take my documents and issue a receipt at the customer care centre?

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The resolution I want
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I would like Airtel to issue me a new SIM with Rs. 500/- talktime
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Please respond to this email by the end of day on 8th-Nov-2010. If I do not hear back from you, I will need to take this up with the government appointed ombudsman and or the consumer court. I will also be posting this on all consumer websites and blogs, as well as contacting various media outlets.

Regards,
Kumara
Contact number: [protected]