• Home

Dh 500 Wasel Card lasted one week

But when he asked the Etisalat Call Centre, he was told that Dh500 had been spent in only one week. One minute for the received calls of Wasel cost him Dh12.

He said that before he bought Wasel he was told that 1 minute costs only Dh2.50 in addition to 15 per cent.

Reply

AMIR Riadh from the Etisalat Contact Center 101, told Khaleej Times that the customer has to check the matter with Etisalat, if his son calls him from the UK to the UAE, Wasel will be charged 11.31 dirham per minute, but if the call is from the UAE to the UK, then the father will be charged from his mobile as internal call, not international. But Dh5.70 will be taken from the Wasel card as charges for each received call.

Expats are victims of rent hikes

SUMESH, a resident of Karama called up Khaleej Times Hotline complaining about the trend of increasing rent in the emirate. "The landlords in Dubai, especially in Karama, are increasing the rent without any concern for tenants and empathy with them. Residents, largely expatriates, are the victims of this constant rent hike," he complained.

Reply

KHALEEJ Times has highlighted the issue several times in its columns earlier. When contacted, an official from the Rent Dispute Committee at Dubai Municipality said: "We are trying to tackle the issue of unreasonable rent hike in the emirate. If anybody is facing problems with their landlord about erratic rent increase, they can contact us and we will help find a solution."

Tuition fee for subject not taught

SWATI, a student of Hilal Education Institute in Sharjah, called Khaleej Times Hotline complaining that she has been charged her tuition fee for subjects which the institute does not teach. "I have enrolled at the institute for a two-month vacation course in which they have offered to teach me four subjects — Mathematics, Social Science, Science and Technology and English — for grade 10.

They have charged me a total fee of Dh500 which is Dh125 per subject. But I learn't later that they have not yet appointed the faculty to teach one of the subjects, that is Social Science being offered at the institute," she disclosed.

"When I questioned the management, they assured to deduct the fee for one subject not being taught currently when I paid the next month's fee. But this month, when asked for the deduction, I was informed that the institute has increased the fee for each subject to Dh150 and so the excess amount will be adjusted. How can they behave in this way and hike the fees erratically? Swati asked.

Reply

WHEN Khaleej Times contacted the Institute, an official said: "Actually the fee for the entire course is Dh600 for three subjects. But we offered a discount to this student.

However, the staff member who offered a special discount to Swati is currently on leave and no other staff from the institute was aware of the discount.

This caused a misunderstanding between the student and the institute but we have now discussed the matter with the student and have resolved the problem, the official said.

• UAE