Beware cellphone bill shock
CELLPHONE data “bill shock” remains a huge problem for consumers and even if you are aware of the risk of an uncapped contract you may not be immune.
Anitha Pillay was one such consumer, who ended up with a whopping cellphone bill of more than R9 000 and debt collectors demanding payment, despite her best efforts to avoid falling into the data trap.
Pillay said that she applied for a new contract at Altech Autopage Cellular’s Pavilion branch in March, and that she specifically asked the consultant to ensure the contract was “capped” with a monthly limit, as the cellphone was for her 17-year-old son. She wanted to make sure she didn’t end up with an open line and risk bill shock.
“The consultant stated that I could only take such a contract with MTN and not any other company,” she said. (This is not correct advice, as other cellphone service providers can place a limit on customers’ accounts.)
“After the contract was processed as a ‘top-up’ contract, I inquired whether I needed to phone the contact centre to verify if the contract was activated as ‘top-up’ and not as an open line,” Pillay said.
“I was assured that this was not necessary as this was activated by the branch, in my presence.”
Pillay anticipated that she would be liable for a R249 contract fee every month, since the account had been capped.
Instead, she was horrified to receive her first account in April for R6 840.22 for additional data used on an open line.
“The next day I went straight to the branch and spoke to the manager, who assured me the matter would be sorted out. It was not sorted out,” Pillay said.
She said she then called Altech Autopage Cellular’s contact centre and spoke to four different consultants who were not able to resolve the problem.
“The advice given was that the manager of the branch was the only person authorised to reverse the charges. I have been literally sitting for hours at the branch every week.”
Pillay said the months rolled by and the high bills rolled in and by June her account had an outstanding balance of R9 622.40.
“It is very disconcerting that I placed my faith in this store and have been treated so shabbily. I have a perfect credit rating and am now afraid that I will be unfairly prejudiced,” she said.
“I am so disillusioned that I requested the contract be cancelled and the phone returned. This matter has inconvenienced me, both physically by going to store, and emotionally (through) fear of blacklisting.”
Pillay, who has her own website, said she had been tempted to tell the world about her dilemma, but she had refrained from doing so as she had promised an Autopage consultant that she would wait for the issue to be resolved. A wise move, as it is not a good idea to post negative comments about companies’ service failures on line SPRING BALL: The Chatsworth Regional Hospice Association will host a Spring Ball on September 5 at Coastlands Hotel on the Ridge at 6pm. Call Mogie Moodley on 083 309 5187. MEETING:
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The KwaZulu-Natal Blind and Deaf Society will host its AGMon Saturday at 8.30am. Call Shamla Surjoo on 031 309 4991. without giving them the right to reply, as the tables could turn and in a worst case scenario a consumer could end up with a defamation case against them.
Pillay said the Pavilion branch manager and a staff member at the company’s legal department had assured her that since the data charges were being investigated she would not be blacklisted. She had paid her accounts for her other cellphone and tablets but had not paid the disputed data charges.
But it wasn’t long before she received the first of two calls from debt collectors Nudebt, advising her that she should pay or she would be blacklisted on the credit bureaus.
Pillay went back to the store again, but she said it was only when she contacted Consumer Watch in sheer frustration that the staff started making moves to call head office.
“I threatened to picket outside the store,” she said.
When Pillay contacted me her patience had worn thin and she was stuck in the middle, with a contact centre staff member saying that the Pavilion branch had refused to accept it was at fault, and staff at the branch denying this was the case.
I contacted Altech Autopage Cellular’s head office to escalate the matter, as it seemed the customer’s initial request to cap the account had not been implemented.
Altech Autopage general manager for consumer segments, Vivienne Geldenhuys, said the company had investigated the complaint and found that the consultant had indeed not activated the “service user limit” that the customer had requested upfront.
“The customer then incurred usage charges which escalated the account balance over a few months until she was eventually hard barred and could not use her two numbers,” Geldenhuys said.
“We have processed credits for the usage charges, and requested the limit cap to be loaded as per the customer’s initial request.”
Geldenhuys said the company had contacted Pillay to discuss the resolution and she was happy with it in the end.
When asking for a data limit to be fixed on to an account, it’s important to note this on all copies of the cellphone contract and to get the consultant to sign next to the amendment with you, if there is no space on the contract for this information.