The credit card receipt from Reliance
The wealthier one is, the greedier one tends to be. You have only to observe how the wealthy sections of our societies tend to increase their wealth at the expense of other less privileged people. But we wouldn’t, normally, expect an office like Reliance’s to indulge in blatant swindling.
Ten days ago I visited the Reliance World office in South Extension, New Delhi with a complaint about my Reliance Data card. The salesman told me that my Data card had become outdated and it could not possibly be repaired. Replacing it with a new one would imply buying a new connection altogether. So why not buy the latest 3G technology? I accepted that logic. He told me the 3G card would cost Rs2000. I paid the amount. It was a prepaid connection and the salesman gave me a recharge for 2GB for which he charged Rs799.
It’s only when I came home I noticed that the price tag on the data card was apparently tampered with. The price could not be read. So I logged on to the Reliance website which said that the card cost only Rs1699. I returned to the Reliance office the next day to question the salesman. He explained that there was no data card available when I asked him for one and hence he had to get it from a dealer and I was charged the dealer’s price. The explanation did not sound honest at all. But it was clear that the person was not going to give me any other answer.
On my way out of the office I took a brochure from their brochure rack which said that the cost of the recharge for 2GB is Rs749. That means the salesman had cheated me of Rs50 on that too.
I wrote about the entire transaction to Reliance customer care. They promised to look into the matter. But a week has passed and it appears that no action will ever be taken. A friend of mine says that Reliance is not better than a street vendor when it comes to swindling. For example, many persons, according to him, receive occasional phone calls from Reliance insurance about adding a certain sum (for example, Rs10000) to their existing insurance policy in order to be eligible for a certain bonus. This is mere fraud, according to this friend. Reliance does not have any such scheme and if you complain about such phone calls they will merely promise “to look into the matter.” Apparently, the fraud is taking place in connivance with Reliance itself.
A few days after I had terminated my old data card connection, I received a phone call from Reliance office to confirm my termination of the service. The caller tried his best to persuade me not to terminate the connection. He promised to replace my old card with a new one; he suggested that a family member or a friend could use the connection… To what extent will Reliance go to add a few hundred rupees to their Himalayan capital?
Matheikal's Blog 
Matheikal,
Why in the world did you expect Reliance (of all corporates!) to be up front in any matter? Didn’t you know how DA amassed his starter kit to play in the big leagues?
The poor man’s problem is he does not have enough money. The rich man’s problem is he does not have ENOUGH money!
RE
Yes, Raghuram, I should have been wiser. My problem is I take it for granted that there is basic business etiquette in the ‘big’ offices where every employee is courteous even to the extent of being obsequious.
I can understand DA doing certain things to circumvent the license raj of Indira Gandhi, and when he was struggling to become a corporate leader. But why should AA indulge in such things as starting a firm abroad with the explicit intention of cheating the GOI through fraudulent practices in the stock market when AA is already one of the wealthiest persons in the world? Yeah, you’ve given me the answer: “The rich man’s problem is he does not have ENOUGH money?”
The poor man’s problem is he does not have enough money. The rich man’s problem is he does not have ENOUGH money!
Hah! Well said Raghuram
The bigger the company, the more remote is their management from the customers, and of course, the main point is how to increase their earnings ..
Reliance can surely increase their earnings without taking recourse to unethical measures!
Schemes that don’t exist, charging extra – sounds dishonest to me. Are there no other service providers? Wonder if others have been through similar experiences
There ARE ther service providers. It’s just that I happen to be a Reliance customer for a long time and I simply continued the service. But I have decided to change to some other service as soon as it is financially viable for me. Reliance is a buch of cheats, as far as I am concerned.