Worth pulling Airtel in consumer court for STB refund?

Spacescreamer

Spacescreamer

ex-Mod
Right, Long story short:


1) Purchased a TV in 2010, got an Airtel STB coupon as offer. No mention of STB on TV bill. No extra deposit paid by me. (Offer said 2k worth of STB included with the TV purchase)
2) Got the connection in Dec 2010
3) Didnt use the STB much, Airtel's division asked to return the Box in 2012. Hadnt signed any EULA with Airtel iirc vis a vis the STB iirc. Airtel's recovery division called saying the cheque worht 2000/- (deposit) will be sent after box inspection at their center.
4) Guy comes, collects the box, hands a recipt. No mention of how much refund is due.
5) No cheque arrived till date.
6) In 2013, another recovery division's call arrives, their record wasnt updated. Offered 1500/- as refund. This call i recorded.
7) Box returned on 16th Dec 2012
8) Sent a mail this month to Airtel asking about refund. Stupid reply comes in claiming that the STB is a property of Airtel, no refund on balance is paid unless >Rs 55.
"We would also like to inform you that we do not charge any security amount and the initial payment made is for the installation/activation and for free subscription of the subscribed packages (depending on the offers subscribed)."


Question
1) Is there any chance of filing a consumer court case over this?
I have the coupon for STB, Recovery agent's reciept, TV Bill (no menition of Airtel Scheme), Phone call recording
Have printouts of similarly treated customers and their working phone numbers.

2) Will it be worth it? Consumer court for Noida has been moved (shrewdly) to Greater Noida, which ll mean 60KM of round trip for me.

@chiragsthakur , @gmano
 
If you are looking at monetary benefit then it's not worth it. But if it is for teaching them a lesson then yes. If you know someone in the media then it's still better like, icing on the cake.

Here I assume that you have the required correspondence and offer letters as proof of whatever you claim it to be.
 
Not worth the effort, 60KMs and you'll need to waste a day. The fact is Airtel knows all these things that people don't have the time to spare and that's the reason they mess with the customers. Anyhow this may sound lame but you didn't pay for it, it was a scheme so no monetary loss atleast. Rest is upon you.
 
I did spoke to a lawyer, and he mentioned that unless i have a proof of purchase, the case wont stand as Failtel will cook some stories up. I am kinda unconvinced on this as i have the CPE Reciept, and most importantly the phone call recording. I even have a pic of that agent who came to collect the box. But to be honest, i feel that these can actually be fabricated if some person gets down to it.
In the need of more experienced members' input on this.



paarkhi said:
Anyhow this may sound lame but you didn't pay for it, it was a scheme so no monetary loss atleast.
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As far as i know, no scheme comes with 'free'. They all include the cost of the offers in the final price.

manoja2k said:
Here I assume that you have the required correspondence and offer letters as proof of whatever you claim it to be.
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Yes i have the proofs which i have mentioned in the first post. The 'offer letter' as i understand is the proof of STB offer ? I dont have that unfortunately as there was nothing of the sorts.
 
Spacescreamer said:
As far as i know, no scheme comes with 'free'. They all include the cost of the offers in the final price.
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yes, but the box you got was under a scheme, even without box the price of TV would have been same or was it cheaper? if it is same then it is free else you paid a hidden cost for it, sorry for assuming otherwise.
 
Better to hit them on FB or a rant against them on twitter. Now-a-days they are more active on social websites. If you go to the consumer court I believe that you wont be benefitted by anything, it will be a sheer waste of time and money (assuming 60kms travel). Another option is to go to a local airtel gallery (customer service desk). I think this might work as well.
 
What's going to happen is that they don't even attend the consumer court session and if your case is credible, the judge will order Airtel to refund, but they won't bother at all with whatever order/notice is sent to them. They will just ignore it.
 
Lord Nemesis said:
What's going to happen is that they don't even attend the consumer court session and if your case is credible, the judge will order Airtel to refund, but they won't bother at all with whatever order/notice is sent to them. They will just ignore it.
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Wont airtel be then eligible for some criminal proceedings?
If they ignore consumer court order, wont that make the whole thing a farce?
 
Airtel can't disobey the consumer court's order. They may ignore it for some time, but one reminder from consumer court will set them alright. Only thing that they can do is keep on appealing. But this does not make business sense. They may like to settle the matter rather than running around for some piddly amount. I have already gone through the consumer court twice and I am voicing it from my experience. If you are going through consumer court make sure that you claim for mental agony etc. should be at least 5 times the arbitrated amount. Ultimately you are likely to get 20 - 25% of the arbitrated amount as compensation for mental agony unless you have clear proof of the damage caused by this incident.
 
@manoja2k, how much did you get and for which product did you go to Consumer court and how much time did it take?
I'm sure apart from me it'll benefit this thread, I've never gone to Consumer court (not knowing the process) even though I've faced 1 or 2 such instances.
Thanks
 
One was against Whirpool refrigerator and claim was for door padding, provided by the dealer, had gaps (it was some 7 years back). I had not noticed this but the cooling was not up to the mark. After around 8 months one my friends pointed it out and asked me to replace the padding. Dealer charged me around 1500/-. Dealer said the padding was out of warranty after 6 months. I did not argue and paid it. Later another friend insisted on filing a complaint in consumer court. Half heartedly I submitted a typed complaint along with copy of all proofs. After three months they called me. I went there and attended a half an hour Q & A session and a representative from the dealer agreed to pay the amount. I think it was around 3000/-. He paid me then and there and I signed a receipt. Case over. Lawyer was not mandatory, but there was a person in that office who claimed to fight my case w/o any charge. He said if I win, to put lawyer expenses as 500/-. If court agrees then I can pay it after collecting money from the dealer. I paid him 500/- and as a token of appreciation we had a beer each.
2nd one was in medicine shop. I bought Rabipur injection and took home. When I opened it the liquid syringe was broken. 4 years ago it was around 600/-. The shopkeeper refused to replace or return. I got obsessed with teaching the fellow a lesson. I filed a complaint in consumer court. The retailer actually settled out of court by replacing the syringe and paying me 500/-
 
Spacescreamer said:
Elaborate please?
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I don't have first hand experience. But I have gathered some understanding by discussing with various groups and reading materials. This is what my understanding is: Take my case about the medicine (broken syringe). What happens if I claim 1lakh as mental agony? That will be unreasonable from court's point of view. Court will likely start looking at scenarios where I could have actually suffered because of that incident
Let's extend this a bit further. Let's say the patient died in between this altercation. Can I claim for this mental agony? I don't think so. Unless you are able to prove that the death occurred solely because of this specific incident.
What I have seen in a few cases with friends and acquaintances, court usually tries to evaluate the actual agony suffered because of such incidents.
 
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manoja2k said:
What I have seen in a few cases with friends and acquaintances, court usually tries to evaluate the actual agony suffered because of such incidents.
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The problem is, that when i discussed the case with a lawyer who has been issuing the notices to firms who use pirated copies of software etc, he mentioned that since i do not have the proof of purchase for the STB explicitly, the case weakens by a good measure. On top of that, i cannot really claim mental agony here (something which i have read a lot in the newspapers for cases won by consumers), so the case i have loses many points.
On top of that, the lawyer said that to counter the phone call recording or even the receipt, Airtel will go about making many stories and it ll become your word against theirs. I am still unconvinced that a call recording and receipt will not hold any value and the bill/written offer will be the only key for compensation.
 
I believe lawyer is correct.
Since there is no direct proof of yours purchasing the STB nor any proof regarding you having paid the money directly or indirectly to the vendor (service provider) for providing you with STB there is a strong possibility that court may decide that this is not under its purview.
I'd suggest to drop it.
Also remember the Q & A session is like a mediation process (at least as per my experience). One mediator is present and representative of both the contesting parties are present. Mediator keep on asking questions and after some time the mediator says this or other party is correct and should be compensated for some amount. Then other party negotiates. Ultimately when both of them agree a formal document is made on which both the parties sign. I have not experienced any elaborate procedure like in actual court. I believe it is just a kind of negotiation with some authority behind it.
 
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Spacescreamer said:
On top of that, the lawyer said that to counter the phone call recording or even the receipt, Airtel will go about making many stories and it ll become your word against theirs. I am still unconvinced that a call recording and receipt will not hold any value and the bill/written offer will be the only key for compensation.
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Call recording is illegal in india without informing the other party
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_recording_laws#India
 
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