Consumer Complaints Solved

MNP = Mobile Number Portability or May Not be Practical

The telecommunication sector has undergone phenomenal changes in the last decade. From mere calls making hand phones to 3G data connectivity to number portability, consumers have been receiving tempting packages from all those competing telecom companies. It is very common to find people using services of more than one service provider, thanks to the invention of the dual sim phones! In fact a study shows that

Damodaran, one such consumer owned three different numbers under the same service provider. He wanted to switch all three numbers to another service provider, using Mobile Number Portability (MNP). Well, the whole process was not as easy as it is being claimed to be. There were formalities involved, he had settled all the bills and amounts payable as was required. His attempts to change the service provider were in vain as his MNP request was rejected thrice for various reasons and each time a new reason. The ‘consumer is king’ only as long as he stays with the service provider, the moment he decides to leave, he begins to get a step-motherly treatment.

 After several failed attempts to get the issue resolved, Damodaran came to CAG for assistance. CAG took up the matter on his behalf with the service provider and soon all the three numbers were ported immediately. Though companies are competing to reach unimaginable heights in terms of providing technological superior facilities, they seldom realize that it is in vain if there are no consumers who want to experience it.
 

Navigating your way through a consumer dispute

The one thing more difficult than driving in today’s traffic is, finding your way through the small streets and the crowded lanes without proper indicators on the roads. It is no surprise then, that a navigator is a clever buy, especially with the emerging one ways and numerous blocks due to various development activities happening around the city.

Accordingly, Mr. Gomez procured one 3 years ago by paying Rs.14, 000/-. Recently, it became faulty and when he approached the company requesting to rectify the problem, they said it was an obsolete piece of technology, and advised him to go in for a new product called Road Pilot II, the cost of which was Rs.6500/-.  A meager discount of Rs.1500/- was given and he was asked to pay Rs.5000/-. Negating this, the Gomez wrote to the company stating that he would pay only Rs.1000/-. The company refused to entertain his request.

Aggrieved by this, Mr. Gomez approached CAG for assistance. The navigator was purchased just three years before and had cost much more then. Moreover, if the company had repaired it, Mr. Gomez would not have been compelled to go in for a new one. Nevertheless, the company’s inability to rectify the problem forced him to consider the exchange offer, which was totally unfair. CAG highlighted this fact and asked the company to resolve the matter to Mr. Gomez’s satisfaction.

Within a few days, the company offered a replacement with no cost to Mr. Gomez!

So, if any of you experience a problem like this, when you are entitled to a replacement and do not get it, you now know what to do!

 

Car key ki sawari…

The crownless king today, the consumer, needs to simply think about making a purchase, whether (s)he has the funds is immaterial, thousands of financial institutions come forward to ‘help’ the consumer achieve his/ her ‘dream’. Loans are available with different combinations like easy EMI, 0% interest etc to help the consumer buy vehicles, homes, study abroad, travel, etc., While making the offer for the loan, they fight among themselves in making the consumer feel on top of the world, like the king, like the one and only important person. But where does all this treatment disappear once the loan is sanctioned and payments are made? 

Mr. Venkatraman, availed a car loan from a bank and paid the EMIs diligently, at the end of a year when the loan amount had been entirely paid, he approached the bank for the RC book of the car and the duplicate car key. He made atleast 10 trips to the bank which was at his door step when he had wanted to decide on the loan. After several such visits when he was made to run from the bank to the car dealer and back to the bank. Even after one year of purchase of the car and upon paying all the EMIs regularly, he had to face such an ordeal. After making him run around for a while and giving false promises, the bank informed him that his duplicate keys and the RC book were misplaced and the executives had asked him to file an FIR with the police, saying he had lost the essential documents.

 Utterly dejected by the appalling service of the bank, Mr. Venkatraman approached CAG. After a lot of negotiation the bank agreed to resolve the issue amicably.

 

Dangling doors!

Getting the home redone or changing interiors boosts up ones morale and the feel of the house. A lot of efforts go into planning interiors whether it is for a new house or a refreshing uplift you are giving for your old house. Planning placement of furniture by itself is a big task and making the right kind of investment is also key. After a lot of research and planning, with so much of excitement, the last thing one wants is a faulty product.

Mr. Devadas purchased a wardrobe worth Rs 10,500 from a dealer and was highly disappointed when the door of the wardrobe broke on the very first week itself. He immediately contacted the store and paid visits several times. The store on its part sent a technician who advised them to get the doors changed or get a replacement. When this was communicated to the store there was no further response from their side. Once Mr. Devdas asked for a refund, there were evasive responses.

Mr. Devdas came to CAG with his grievance and even after CAG’s intervention they were reluctant to refund the amount. CAG was persistent in persuading them to be fair and after rounds of mediation with both the supplier and dealer, the dealer agreed to refund the amount. The journey to achieving this was not easy, it took 3 months to evoke a response from the dealer.
 

A touch away!

Technology has become so advanced that these days many services are just a touch away! It is the era of Gadget gizmos and from a hand phone to a home PC everything today has the highest level of sophistication with banking services, bill payment, loan payment, money transfer, all these, just a touch away. But redressal of grievances still remains one such area that far from even leap away.

Mr. Mohan fascinated by the varied applications offered by the smart phones decided to buy a higher version of Nokia Lumia at a leading store. The much enthusiastic Mr. Mohan was disappointed to discover that the hand phone he had purchased was clearly a defective one and been giving him trouble from day 1. He had to make atleast 10 visits to the store in a period of 25 days after which he got a replacement for the phone. The story didn’t end there, the replaced phone too had similar problems and after a great ordeal, Mr. Mohan handed the phone over to a Nokia Center. They were also not able to fix the problem and his attempts to get a full refund from the store were in vain.

After having spent a couple of thousands on a phone that promises everything a touch away, redressal still seemed far away for Mr. Mohan. After having found no respite in his efforts to find a usable phone worth the penny, Mr. Mohan approached CAG. Understanding the case of the aggrieved consumer CAG closely followed the case with Nokia and pointed out the mental agony and exhaustion Mr. Mohan underwent simply for having chosen to buy a smart phone. CAG insisted that it was the responsibility of Nokia and the store to refund. The problem was resolved in a few days.
 

AMCs and After sale services

Product and services marketing has been changing with the changing times, today, consumers are approached in may ways directly, through tele-marketing, internet based marketing etc. In all this, consumers are provided with the choice of products, true, but how much of the information provided and most of all ‘promises’ made are correct? With product advertisements on one side the promises made for after sale services have sky as their limit, and all this is only till the sale of the product. No one knows where the entire band wagon disappears after the sale is completed!

Mr. Somakanthan was one such consumer, who had a terrible experience with a leading company. He bought a water purifier which came with a fancy pack of an Annual Maintenance contract provided by the company. Like all machines that function absolutely well till the warranty period, this product also did. After some days the machine stopped working (a technical problem!). With ‘pure’ water being a rare and expensive commodity these days, Mr. Somakanthan lodged a complaint with the company and despite repeated phone calls made, almost everyday, no one attended to the problem for atleast 10 days.

He was greatly aggrieved and approached CAG for assistance. CAG spoke to the company’s executive and was told that the problem would be solved immediately. However 2 more calls had to be made for the issue to be amicably resolved.

Lofty promises of after sales service is far from reality amongst many companies and when the rule is Caveat Emptor we consumers have to be careful in making the right choice.
 

Shop till you pop! (Online shopping: risk or comfort?)

Shopping online has now become the in thing! With websites offering services such as pay on delivery, return if you don’t like etc., It saves you the trouble of going to a store(s), finding a parking space if you own a vehicle, buying sometimes more than you had planned… etc., Well, every coin has two sides, so when it saves you a lot of trouble it also brings a set of surprises with factors such as corporeal and geographical anonymity. This is wisely used by online vendors who take the consumers on a roller coaster ride.

Mr. Antony Gomez got a Fujezone Tablet delivered home from one of the reputed online stores only to find the manual missing and product, a defective one. To add further, the Tablet did not have the 3G facility it claimed on their website. He was deeply disappointed that he was misled by their wrong information and marketing. To top it all, the indifference of the customer care officers was appalling, they asked Mr. Gomez to bear the expenses of shipping to get a replacement.

He approached CAG for assistance and we aided him in pointing out their unethical tactics in marketing. CAG dealt with the officers by pointing out their deficiency of service and also harassment by the customer care executive. The vendor later agreed to refund the whole amount to the Mr. Gomez.

This case is not to discourage you to shop online, it is a mere pointer to make you aware of problems you are bound to face.
 

Loan + Insurance scheme = super offer!

Suraj was offered an insurance scheme and upon payment of post dated cheques for EMIs he found that he was not eligible under the scheme….

Whether you keep a check on your age or not Life Insurance companies definitely do! Companies brilliantly club loans and insurance schemes for maximum benefit. (Who is the beneficiary???) They are strict about whose life they want to insure and whose they don’t and are especially very smart when it comes to collecting premiums.

 
Mr. Suraj, aged 50, availed a personal loan from a finance company to buy an air-conditioner. An Insurance scheme was offered along with the loan where Suraj was required to pay the premium in 12 EMIs. He accordingly gave 12 post-dated cheques.

However, when Suraj received the welcome letter he was surprised to find that he was not eligible as the age limit for the insurance was 45 years. He clearly remembered writing his date of birth in the application form and hence was surprised that the company even processed his insurance application. He immediately wrote to them stating the essentials and asking them not to present the cheque for clearance. But, by then, one cheque was already sent for clearing. Repeated attempts by Suraj to contact the concerned officers and his letters requesting to resolve the issue turned out to be futile.

Suraj approached CAG for assistance and upon looking into the merits of the complaint, CAG took up the matter and wrote to the company. CAG pointed out that knowing well the ineligibility of Suraj, the company offering the policy and deducting premium was an unfair practice and that the callous approach adopted by the company in not redressing the complaint despite repeated reminders from Suraj amounted to deficiency in services. CAG urged the company to settle the matter immediately.

Realising the seriousness of the issue, the company responded at once by canceling the policy, refunding the amount and also paid Suraj the costs incurred by him towards the complaint.
 

Peek-a-boo! Hidden charges game

“Hidden charges”, quite popular amongst the Telecom service providers, a tactic to hike the bill and earn more. This may be something that many of us know and choose to ignore because of its quantity or may be something that many of us are not even aware of.

In January 2012, Mr. K. Balamanikandan wanted to downgrade his monthly package, the Cable operator asked him to pay Rs. 40 for doing so. He did not think that was right, so he questioned the operator who did not justify the claim properly. He enquired about any regulations on such charges.

TRAI’s regulations say, “The option of choosing the package with reduced charges or the package with replaced channel has been given to the subscriber.” This means that the consumer has the right to choose the kind of package one wants and there is unmistakably no mention or even reference to any such charges that can be levied.

In this regard, Mr. Balamanikandan sought CAG’s help to learn about the regulations by TRAI related to such charges. CAG shared TRAI’s regulation and sent a mail to TRAI stating the complaint against the leading DTH operator. We then got a positive reply from them by asking the DTH operator to refund Rs 40 to Mr. Balamanikandan. So, ask questions whenever you have to pay money, you never know, there may be times when you don’t have to pay at all!

No Refund for Seats Once Sold!

According to the UGC’s norms, in case a candidate withdraws before the commencement of a course, a student from the waiting list (every college is required to maintain one) should be given admission. Also, the entire fee collected from the student should be refunded after deducting merely the processing fee which would amount to nothing more than Rs.1000.

Ms. Soundarya (name changed) from Mumbai faced tough resistance from a reputed management institute that refused to return the admission fee of Rs.50, 000 upon withdrawal of admission much before the course started. She called the institute, mailed them and also personally visited them but she had nothing but disappointment.

In this case, as per UGC norms, Ms. Soundarya is entitled to the refund of Rs. 49, 000 (deducting, say the processing fee) as there is no service rendered. CAG quoted the UGC’s norms and insisted a refund to Ms. Soundarya. Only after much ado did the institution refund the money. So if you are one who has experienced such a problem, you now know what to do!