‘How can a bill be generated on a cancelled connection?’

Customer baffled on being asked to pay bill a year later while another faces trouble in using app to pay utility

Bill on cancelled line?

I have been using eLife Triple Play with internet, land line and television channels, for over a year. When I decided to close the connection on May 2015, I discovered I could close it in June only.

I walked into one of etisalat’s main offices in Deira, Dubai, on June 1, 2015, in order to close my account.

I was advised by staff to clear my entire outstanding balance, along with June’s payment, in order to close the connection. I was asked to pay a total outstanding balance of Dh952, as calculated by the system.

I obliged and did a spot credit card payment and still hold the receipt of the payment.

I asked etisalat’s staff twice if my account would be closed, and the agent said ‘yes’.

She also assured me that no bills would be generated. I also returned the set-up box, cables and remote control.

I received an e-bill from etisalat on June 7, 2016, stating that a new bill had been generated for the period of June 1 to 31, which was due to be paid by July 15.

My question to the concerned department is — how can a bill be generated on a cancelled connection?

I was assured by their staff that my connection would be cancelled, the total final amount for closing was Dh952 and no bills would be generated. I went to the same office and came to know that the connection was already allotted to some other person and the amount in the bill generated has to be paid.

I also called up their customer care on 101 and spoke to an agent, who explained that this was as per etisalat’s policy and I would need to pay my balance.

I got in touch with his superior, who also said that it’s their policy and I would have to pay the balance on the closed account.

This is like saying, if you stayed in a flat for one month, paid the rent and left the flat, after one week, the real estate office can ask you to pay the current month’s rent as well.

Now, I have been receiving final demand notices, SMS and calls from etisalat’s collections department. Please ask etisalat to change the way they handle this issue. From Mr Aju Nitturkandy Dubai

The management of etisalat responds:

Thanks for bringing Mr Nitturkandy’s concerns to our attention. Etisalat Customer Care would want to apologise for all the inconvenience caused. Mr Nitturkandy’s connection is cancelled and the case is closed.

(Process initiation: August 9. Response from organisation: August 29. Reader confirmation: September 15.)

Where is it going?

After calling National Bank of Abu Dhabi’s (NBAD) toll free line, and a conversation with a representative, I decided to lodge a formal complaint so that the bank does something about the problem rather than blame the customer or just not address the problem and end the entire ordeal silently.

This is the second time I used the ‘Pay your Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) bill’ facility via my bank account from my smartphone.

At first, this was ideal, as I could pay the bills even while I was on holiday.

Now, I think there is a glitch in the system or perhaps the payments are done manually.

The last time I tried paying, the money was transferred to a different account.

This was surreal, as my details were already in the system and when giving them instructions to proceed with the payment, the bank machine gave out the correct Premise Number.

So, after constant follow-ups over a course of two months, the bank quietly transferred the amount to my Dewa account and it appeared as if that this mess never happened. I was just glad it was over.

Now, again, I decided to use the ‘pay bill’ feature and concurrently, the same thing has happened. The bank does not seem to know why this is happening, especially when I mentioned that my details are already in the system and no new entry was made. I am still stuck with calling them everyday.

Can someone call and give me an explanation as to why they keep paying to the wrong account, when they have the correct Dewa Premise Number and contract information? From Ms Hina Makhtar Dubai

The management of NBAD responds:

Thank you for your constant cooperation and communication with us in the endeavour to best serve our customers and resolve their issues. We have investigated Ms Makhtar’s complaint and below is our feedback.

Ms Makhtar used our interactive voice response (IVR) to make her Dewa payment in April 2016 and the payment did not go through since she entered an incorrect Premise Number. Upon receiving Ms Makhtar’s complaint, we investigated the matter and were informed by Dewa that the Premise Number entered by the customer was incorrect.

We requested Dewa to credit the amount to the correct Premise Number. We couldn’t inform Ms Makhtar about the error she had made, as she had changed her mobile number and was not reachable on the mobile number registered on our systems. She made the same error in July 2016 and again raised a complaint that her payment was not credited to her Dewa account. She also contacted Dewa and was given her correct Premise Number.

Ms Makhtar contacted us again and provided us the correct number and we informed Dewa to credit the amount to the correct Premise number.

We have contacted Ms Makhtar and have addressed all her concerns and have requested her to update her new mobile number by visiting one of our branches. Thank you once again for forwarding the complaint to us. Our Customers Experience is very important to us and we are thankful for the opportunity to respond.

(Process initiation: September 19. Response from organisation: September 21. Process completion: September 22.)

Editor’s note: Do you have similar issues that you would like to raise with us? You can write to us at readers@ gulfnews.com.