MTN: WHEN YOU CAN’T GO EVERYWHERE
By Ikem Okuhu
I have been on the MTN network for over
six years and have not bothered to even give another network a try ever
since. But I am sure that the arrogance of the past two weeks has
reached such a scale that even if I can’t do anything to them, I could
at least come to the public space to, if nothing else, make my problems
known.
My problem actually multiplied when I attempted to solve it. I had, in
2006, seen an MTN advert in which it promised subscribers who migrated
to its BizSmart platform reduced tariffs and other value addeds. Being
someone that makes a lot of calls, I quickly subscribed to the N12,500
per month variant of the plan.
In this plan, MTN promised that the amount paid shall be the maximum
spend for the month and that in case one exhausts the prepayment,
recharge cards could be used to top up until the time of month when a
new payment would be made.
As one month gave way for another, MTN simply got worse. There were
several times when after exhausting my N12,500, I tried to load ordinary
recharge cards of N1,500, only for MTN to take the money but fail to
give me value. This prompted several visits to their Marina and Saka
Tinubu service centres where I was told once that I could go to another
network if I can’t “be patient.” Other efforts to call MTN on their
post-paid line, 188, failed as the recorded response is usually; “the
number you have dialed is incorrect…”
This happened several times and because I have been enslaved to my phone
line and MTN (changing to another network would take months of
sensitizing all my contacts and that cost money), I remained helpless.
Then came another advert that there have become an “extraeverything” on
all MTN packages; ExtraConnect, Extravalue, ExtraHeartache, you name it.
I applied to be migrated to the Extravalue package sometime in November
2006 and was not migrated until February 2007 and that came with even
more problems, the type that only God can help me solve. I went to MTN
on February 8,2007 and made my monthly down payment of N12,500 (BizSmart)
but waited for over 24 hours without getting value. This, without doubt,
adversely affected my business as I could not reach anybody. I called
188 service line but got the usual answer. Meanwhile, in the morning of
the 8th, I had gone and bought a recharge card as a bridge to enable me
reach out but MTN had suspended my line. At night, I tried to check my
balance and the reply shocked me. MTN had, without my permission,
migrated me back to ExtraConnect (the new equivalent of PayAsYouGo).
Meanwhile, I got a text message from the same network thanking me for
being such a (foolish?) post paid customer.
How can anyone reconcile this? A prepaid subscriber getting text message
from the post paid platform? Is it possible for someone to go to Ghana
and thank their citizens for being such good citizens of Nigeria?
But they also, in this text message provided me with an email access to
them. The following day, when I still did not get value for my N12,500,
I sent an email message to them. A reply came apologizing and several
exchange of mails began and continued until I was migrated to the new
ExtraValue platform.
I also eventually got the value for N12,500 I paid a couple of days
previous and thought my problems are over. But over it was not to be.
On the 10th of February (at 7.04.44pm) I checked my balance using the
new mode of 3001 and was told that I had N11,370.73 in my account. I
felt like Armstrong on the moon and was sure that at the low tariff of
27kobo per second, I was still very much on. But the following
afternoon, I checked the balance again and was told I was N1,674.38 in
the debit. My N11,370 gone in two days? Incredible.
Being a weekend, I was helpless and had to wait till Monday when I sent
a very angry email to MTN and after some exchanges, someone was kind
enough to send me a bill in which it was stated that I was owing MTN
over N12,210! I was alarmed. I also sought to know why and how? Till now
no one has been kind enough to do that very simple customer service act.
Where is the age old maxim that makes the customer king? Not for MTN.
I need to make a few things clear here. When I was on the BizSmart
platform, I was not aware that there was any credit allowed for
customers. I pay per month and when my balance runs out, I buy recharge
cards to top up my balance. I never knew MTN allowed credit on that
mode. Anyone that tells me I was owing would be telling a lie or else
the element of full disclosure was missing in the contract, meaning
someone was playing with best practices and full disclosures that has
become global standards in contracting and other business relationships.
What is even killing my spirit is that no one is ready to explain to me
why this is happening? I wrote and even threatened to exit the network
and everyone ignored my email. And that tallies with what one Uju from
their customer service told me when I had problems with my BizSmart and
had gone for help. In a very down to earth manner, Uju had advised me to
ensure I bought another line from another network so that when MTN
failed, I would have a fall-back option. Can you beat that?
As I battled to find out how I ran up such a huge bill, MTN staff,
perhaps to express their displeasure against my incessant mails
suspended my line and I have not made a call ever since. My business has
continued to suffer and my relationships, weakening because of their own
ineptitude.
This type of arrogance cannot continue. Is it not unfortunate that a
company should treat its customer like a piece of something despicable?
As I have said earlier, I have little or no choice than to keep using
MTN, at least until such a time when I have sufficiently sensitized all
my contacts that I have been asked to exit MTN network by wait for it,
MTN itself!!
But before then, someone must explain to me how I incurred debts that is
not my own. My platform does not allow for credits, how come I am owing?
And owing so much? If this is not wickedness, then someone must have
given the word a new meaning.
Ikem Okuhu
080323362300
