I've been a Vodafone customer since many years right from the days it was known as ORANGE.

Last month I travelled to Singapore and Australia. I did not bother about asking for Intetnational Roaming as I had no intention of using the service there.

However, when I put my phone on in Singapore, I was surprised to see that I had network. And the first incoming message was "International Roaming has been activated on your phone. Rs. 99 has been deducted from your prepaid account as monthly rental." It was surprising because I had not asked for this service to be activated.

Now I understand that the same thing happens with National Roaming. However, National Roaming is a free service provided by Vodafone. So people don bother if it gets activated or no. But for International Roaming the company charges 99 Rs. as monthly rental.

What gives them the right to just go ahead and charge that rental when a person doesn't even ask for the service?? I never asked for International Roaming to be activated on my phone so why was it done?? It's not their problem if I've got network on my handset or no?? They just forced the service on me and deducted that rental without my permission! This is as good as EXTORTION. Why is that, just because I'm a prepaid customer and the crappy company has no money reversal policy?? They wouldn't dare do this with a post-paid costumer.

And when I pointed out these facts to the Costumer Care personnel, I was given dim witted answers like "YOU PUT YOUR PHONE ON"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don understand how an international company can recruit such dumb cows and then claim "HAPPY TO HELP". I mean HELLO!! RISE AND SHINE! In today's date a handset is not just used for making or receiving calls and messages. It is also used as a camera, a music player, a radio, a calculator, a converter and probably 100s of other things that don require any sort of cellular network. I could have put on the phone for any of these reasons. And I still use a phone that does not come on without a sim card.

Just don give NETWORK. Like it used to happen earlier. If someone wants it, LET THE BUGGER ASK FOR IT!

And the worst part is that Rs. 99 was charged again as monthly rental for International Roaming when I'm not even on International network anymore. And that was because I didn't send some ****ing message to de-activate the service. WELL I HADN"T SEND IT TO ACTIVATE IT EITHER. When I asked the hired cow to deactivate it from her end, I was told that the message has to come from my handset. MY HANDSET!! The message to activate it did not come from my handset now, did it?? So why this? Just so Vodafone can shed their responsibility? People tend to forget to do such things right? So why not keep taking money from them till they send a message from THEIR ****ING HANDSET.

If their technology is so advanced that they are always aware where the phone is and activate unasked services on them...then the same technology should also tell them that the phone is back on home network and the said service should be de-activated without waiting for a person to ask them to do it. Why give shit-ass reasons stating that a a message has to be sent from YOUR HANDSET?? Coz they don't wait for a message to activate it in the first place!!!

So twice the company has charged me Rs. 99 without my permission. They are nothing but a bunch of thieves. Just because their call and messaging rates have come down to match up with the stiff competition they have devised other methods of extorting money from their costumers. They are a cheap crappy company.

Renuka Talreja.

Mumbai.