Beware! You could be buying a used e-voucher

Beware! You could be buying a used e-voucher
By Rayeesa Absal, Staff Reporter GULF NEWS Last updated: December 23, 2007, 16:00

Abu Dhabi: Purchasing etisalat's e-vouchers from unauthorised dealers can cheat you of your money.

etisalat's prepaid telephone cards printed from a dispenser machine are called e-vouchers and allow customers to recharge credit for their Wasel accounts. However, they are also available at unauthorised shops who trick customers, especially tourists, into buying used pre-paid telephone vouchers.

"I purchased a telephone card worth Dh25 from a mobile shop at Hamdan Street yesterday. After returning home I entered the pin number but heard the automated reply that the number I entered was wrong", said Hazeef Haneef, an Indian draughtsman, who came to the country a few weeks back.

Haneef contacted the etisalat customer care division to find that the first call using the card was made hours before he purchased the card from the shop.

"The customer care official asked for the serial number on the print out and confirmed that the first call was made at 10 am in the morning while I bought the card at 1 pm", Haneef said. "It was later that I realised the printout showed the date as December 21 and the time as 6.30 pm, he added.

A grocery owner, who requested anonymity said, "Unauthorised shops who do not have the etisalat dispenser machines purchase evouchers in bulk from shops that have the machine. They staple these printouts together and sell them at the counters."