Discounts 'deleted' on Cell C accounts
THERE'S little that infuriates consumers more than to be fobbed off by a cold, corporate response to a valid complaint.
Rodney Partridge e-mailed Cell C's customer care division two weeks back when he returned from leave to discover that both his December and January accounts didn't reflect the discount his contract entitled him to.
"My December account was only discounted by R34.09 instead of R 75.44 and my January account no longer reflected any discount - I paid the full R115.
"So he called the network's customer care line on January 11. The consultant agreed that the discounts were "missing" and told Rodney he'd investigate and get back to him.
"I e-mailed Cell C twice after that, requesting an update and then last night (January 15) I got an SMS that read: "Case resolved, your discounts have expired. R29.00 x 24 months, Regards Cell C".
He e-mailed back, protesting that his contract only expired in April 2007. And then he e-mailed me.
"I really do not understand these cell phone companies," he wrote.
"They think because you have had a cellphone number for four years that you will stay with them and continue to renew the contract every twoyears." I took up Rodney's case with Cell C. Two days later, Rodney received an e-mail from the network's client liaison executive Nazeem Marshman, apologising for the "inconvenience and frustration" and offering to credit him the discount shortfall for the four remaining months of his contract, as a once-off payment.
The total? R264. Rodney accepted, adding: "It's just such a pity that a customer has to phone and fight and send e-mails to newspapers before getting a resolution in matters like this."
My thoughts exactly.
It seems Rodney is not the only Cell C subscriber not to get his full discount in December and January. "Mark H" logged a complaint on consumer website hellopeter.com on January 12, saying: "Got account for January '07 - discount on contract missing. Checked last month's (December '06) statement - only got R12.91 discount instead of R66.67. I am thus owed R120.43."
He hadn't had any joy from the call centre.
In response, Cell C posted a response, stating that he'd be credited on his next invoice.
So, if you're a Cell C subscriber, it might be worth checking your December and January statements to make sure that you were given the discount your contract entitles you to. If you didn't, and you can't get any joy from the network, let me know.
Note: If you take up a cell-phone company's offer to renew your two-year contract four months early - in the 20th month - don't make the mistake of presuming that this cancels out that original contract. It doesn't.
At the end of the new two-year period, you will be charged the subscription fee which applied to your first contract for the next four months.
And that almost always means your bill goes up.
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Knowler's Consumer Watch column is published twice weekly.
