Telecoms cheating us - customers

By Chris Kiwawulo

Several mobile telephone subscribers have accused telecommunication companies of cheating them by making unauthorized deductions of their airtime.

Subscribed whom New Vision talked to said the companies make deductions when calls fail to go through, when messages are not delivered or through imposing packages like ringtones on clients and tricking them into subscribing for them.

Subscribers also said some firms deduct money when they call toll free lines and sometimes just out of the blue.

Sheilah Nabukeera, a customer, says she was charged for calling the company’s helpline (123) on December 15 last year and other times, when she sent messages, they would not be delivered yet money would be deducted.

Vincent Mwijukye says Warid Telecom deducted sh500 off his airtime on December 9 last year, reportedly for renewal of ‘MaBeat’ package. But Mwijukye said he had never subscribed to the package.

Kala Ramesh, an Indian businessman shares similar experiences with other complaining customers. He explains that sometimes he is charged even if the phone calls have not gone through. He claimed he once complained, but was told to visit a customer care office, which would be costly in terms of transport.

Yakubu Makawa, a Mbale-based businessman, who is subscribed to both Warid and MTN, says: “I am on corporate subscription. I load 15,000 every month and because I have to call other networks, I load more money.

“But to my surprise, I usually find money worth a unit deducted without me making any call.”

Last month, he reveals, sh1,300 was deducted  and when raised the complaint, they stopped cutting off the money.

“When I went to Warid, they claimed I could have subscribed for some kind of package.”

These are just a few of the many complaints from subscribers mainly against Warid and MTN, many of which have also been sent to New Vision’s Letters section.

Attempts to get a comment from Warid were futile.

Technical issue

But Justina Ntabgoba, the MTN corporate affairs manager, says the problem is technical. “These are systems. Something can go wrong. We have over seven million customers, so, until one flags off a complaint, we sadly cannot know.”

“But if a customer raises a complaint about a wrong deduction, we refund the airtime.”

She says they address complaints as they come and that they usually apologize to the subscribers through announcements and by SMS in case of a general problem.