619 Errors - What really happened

[davidwza]

I have posted on this forum regarding 619 errors and the fact that for a few days I was able to connect using my prepaid bundle and that over the last 10 days or so I have gotten 619 errors every time I try connecting and was very puzzled over this. Today I eventually got through to the 155 help line and the gentleman informed me that in fact I had loaded +- R400 onto my sim but the data bundle was never loaded - I have used 200Mb of data and that accounts for my 400 bucks.

What gets to me here is that I went to Vodaworld to purchase the data bundle and one of the people selling me the airtime said he would load the data bundles onto my phone so he took my sim card put it into his phone and did the nessasary. He then confirmed with me that the data had been loaded and off I went happily to use my 2gigs of data that I had purchased, please dont tell me that I have just wasted R400. I also went across to the customer services and a lady served me who did the nessasary convertions on my card or so she says because I have purchased a sim card before and I was asked to sign a form, this time I was not asked to sign a form and after enquiring wether i needed to she replied its not nessasary but you can if you want to - which I did. I am not sure where the mistake came in but i would like to know what recourse I have here.

 

[diabolus]

And you didn't bother to

a] send an SMS with 'balance' to 100
b] Dial *111# on your phone and follow the prompts
c] Go onto v4me

to check your balance yourself?

Never assume some vodashop who says your bundle is loaded actually did it.

 

[Spamhater]

I have posted on this forum regarding 619 errors and the fact that for a few days I was able to connect using my prepaid bundle and that over the last 10 days or so I have gotten 619 errors every time I try connecting and was very puzzled over this. Today I eventually got through to the 155 help line and the gentleman informed me that in fact I had loaded +- R400 onto my sim but the data bundle was never loaded - I have used 200Mb of data and that accounts for my 400 bucks.

What gets to me here is that I went to Vodaworld to purchase the data bundle and one of the people selling me the airtime said he would load the data bundles onto my phone so he took my sim card put it into his phone and did the nessasary. He then confirmed with me that the data had been loaded and off I went happily to use my 2gigs of data that I had purchased, please dont tell me that I have just wasted R400. I also went across to the customer services and a lady served me who did the nessasary convertions on my card or so she says because I have purchased a sim card before and I was asked to sign a form, this time I was not asked to sign a form and after enquiring wether i needed to she replied its not nessasary but you can if you want to - which I did. I am not sure where the mistake came in but i would like to know what recourse I have here.

Cant believe you did`nt check your ballance before using your bundle.Never trust other people ,that my motto in life.

 

[davidwza]

And you didn't bother to

a] send an SMS with 'balance' to 100
b] Dial *111# on your phone and follow the prompts
c] Go onto v4me

to check your balance yourself?

Never assume some vodashop who says your bundle is loaded actually did it.

1. I have always been a contract customer and the reason I bought the datacard was because I was having hassles with MTN regarding their pricing, I wanted to test Vodacom out and then as considering moving my account to Vodacom, i wouldnt have the first clue on how prepaid works and when someone offers their help in getting the data bundle loaded i gladley accepted.

2. I bought R400 worth of airtime and used it on access to the internet only, i didnt make one cell phone call, does it not seem odd that i would spend R400-00 on airtime and then use it only for data no calls.

All I want to know is that whether someone at Vodacom will acknowledge that a mistake has been made and will pass me a credit for 1.8Gb of data on my sim card so I can actually get what I paid for.

 

[CathJ]

And you didn't bother to

a] send an SMS with 'balance' to 100
b] Dial *111# on your phone and follow the prompts
c] Go onto v4me

to check your balance yourself?

Never assume some vodashop who says your bundle is loaded actually did it.

That would have been a good idea - but you should be able to trust the vodashop people, otherwise what are they there for?

 

[vodacom3g]

That would have been a good idea - but you should be able to trust the vodashop people, otherwise what are they there for?

Probably the best option would be to ask the assistant to tell you what to do the first time and make sure you do it right. Then you also know how to do it the next time. Otherwise do you go back everytime.

I've suggested to david that he asks for a refund.

 

[davidwza]

Ok now after having spent 2 hrs at vodacom customers services I have looged a call witht he help desk, I have a reference number -anyone know what the next step is?

 

[3G4me]

Data bundles being loaded

That would have been a good idea - but you should be able to trust the vodashop people, otherwise what are they there for?

In defence of Vodashops, I own one, and have 2 of my own lines where I loaded adhoc bundles, and was billed for them, but I was charged out of bundle rates for my usage, in addition to being charged for the bundles I loaded. The system obviously didn't see the bundles, for some reason - other than charging for them!!!! This was on the May, June, July billing. I also have many customers who were incorrectly billed, some for similar reasons, and some not connected to adhoc bundles at all. It is all very confusing and difficult as a Vodashop, to then defend the billing (which has always been totally accurate) and blame it on the client's computer.

So if your billing is "suspect", you need to log the query, as the billing "experts" can trace whether there was a problem or not on your account. It DOES take time, but at least you will eventually get your credit, if it is due! (viruses on your computer don't count, by the way...)

 

[davidwza]

In defence of Vodashops, I own one, and have 2 of my own lines where I loaded adhoc bundles, and was billed for them, but I was charged out of bundle rates for my usage, in addition to being charged for the bundles I loaded. The system obviously didn't see the bundles, for some reason - other than charging for them!!!! This was on the May, June, July billing. I also have many customers who were incorrectly billed, some for similar reasons, and some not connected to adhoc bundles at all. It is all very confusing and difficult as a Vodashop, to then defend the billing (which has always been totally accurate) and blame it on the client's computer.

So if your billing is "suspect", you need to log the query, as the billing "experts" can trace whether there was a problem or not on your account. It DOES take time, but at least you will eventually get your credit, if it is due! (viruses on your computer don't count, by the way...)

Thanks for the feedback but irrespective of wether or not my data bundles were loaded it is quite obvious that my intentions were to use the airtime I loaded as data because I loaded R400-00 and then only used data not 1 call was made - why would i purchase R400-00 worth of airtime and then blow it on data, in my opinion Vodacom owe me 2gigs - the 200mb i downloaded.

 

[diabolus]

but you should be able to trust the vodashop people, otherwise what are they there for?

Just like any other "shop" , they are usually there to SELL. Their technical/IT/Business/Personal competence is usually just a bonus as far as i've seen .

Other "assistants" that i would feel obligated "to check for myself" on whatever they tell me :

Anyone working in a computer shop, IT Shop or Telecoms Shop....in fact anyone that works in a place that can conceivably end with "shop" .

Anyone selling Insurance or Investments or providing cheap loans.

Anyone selling me a product requiring me to sign a contract .

 

[vodacom3g]

Just like any other "shop" , they are usually there to SELL. Their technical/IT/Business/Personal competence is usually just a bonus as far as i've seen .

Other "assistants" that i would feel obligated "to check for myself" on whatever they tell me :

Anyone working in a computer shop, IT Shop or Telecoms Shop....in fact anyone that works in a place that can conceivably end with "shop" .

Anyone selling Insurance or Investments or providing cheap loans.

Anyone selling me a product requiring me to sign a contract .

It's only 98% of insurance salesmen that give the other 2% a bad name.

'Caveat emptor' always applies.

But the web changed all that. If you have web access there's no excuse to make a wrong buying decision with all this info and consumer groups available. I do all my decision making on-line and then just go and buy the thing. Or order it on-line. No more incompetent sales people.

 

[ic]

It's only 98% of insurance salesmen that give the other 2% a bad name.

'Caveat emptor' always applies.

But the web changed all that. If you have web access there's no excuse to make a wrong buying decision with all this info and consumer groups available. I do all my decision making on-line and then just go and buy the thing. Or order it on-line. No more incompetent sales people.

In defence of Vodashops, I own one, and have 2 of my own lines where I loaded adhoc bundles, and was billed for them, but I was charged out of bundle rates for my usage, in addition to being charged for the bundles I loaded. The system obviously didn't see the bundles, for some reason - other than charging for them!!!! This was on the May, June, July billing. I also have many customers who were incorrectly billed, some for similar reasons, and some not connected to adhoc bundles at all. It is all very confusing and difficult as a Vodashop, to then defend the billing (which has always been totally accurate) and blame it on the client's computer.

So if your billing is "suspect", you need to log the query, as the billing "experts" can trace whether there was a problem or not on your account. It DOES take time, but at least you will eventually get your credit, if it is due! (viruses on your computer don't count, by the way...)

Based on what 3G4me posted, it appears as if there is something more to this than incompetent sales people...

IMO Vodacom needs to urgently implement a notification system, e.g. notifications via SMS, where a customer's request to purchase a data bundle [both CDB and PPDB] should be followed by 2 SMSes, the first SMS should immediately acknowledge receipt of the attempt to purchase a data bundle and also advise the customer to wait for a second SMS prior to using the purchased data bundle otherwise OOBR applies, and the second SMS should be sent as soon as the purchased data bundle is actually activated and ready for use. This should then be followed by a development effort to reduce the latency between a data bundle purchase and the actual activation of that data bundle, to the point where both SMSes would still be sent, but there should be a difference of a few seconds between those 2 SMS notifications.

 

[Syndyre]

It's only 98% of insurance salesmen that give the other 2% a bad name.

'Caveat emptor' always applies.

But the web changed all that. If you have web access there's no excuse to make a wrong buying decision with all this info and consumer groups available. I do all my decision making on-line and then just go and buy the thing. Or order it on-line. No more incompetent sales people.

Yeah, never trust sales people in any field, most of them are just after commission and turnover. 90% of the time they don't know what they're talking about, particularly with technology. I've heard them giving other people shocking "advice" before lol.

 

[vodacom3g]

Based on what 3G4me posted, it appears as if there is something more to this than incompetent sales people...

IMO Vodacom needs to urgently implement a notification system, e.g. notifications via SMS, where a customer's request to purchase a data bundle [both CDB and PPDB] should be followed by 2 SMSes, the first SMS should immediately acknowledge receipt of the attempt to purchase a data bundle and also advise the customer to wait for a second SMS prior to using the purchased data bundle otherwise OOBR applies, and the second SMS should be sent as soon as the purchased data bundle is actually activated and ready for use. This should then be followed by a development effort to reduce the latency between a data bundle purchase and the actual activation of that data bundle, to the point where both SMSes would still be sent, but there should be a difference of a few seconds between those 2 SMS notifications.

I like the SMS notification idea, and will push it, but there are a number of systems in place. If subs don't know they can do a 'balance' to 100, they probably also won't know they should get a SMS.

It's all down to education.

 

[ic]

I like the SMS notification idea, and will push it, but there are a number of systems in place. If subs don't know they can do a 'balance' to 100, they probably also won't know they should get a SMS.

It's all down to education.

Yep, true, it is down to educating Data Bundle customers, sadly most customers are likely to skip the education step and want to start using their data bundle immediately.

The problem with a customer initiating a 'balance' to 100 SMS or 'MM' to 31050 SMS or checking one's data bundle balance via *111# USSD command menu, is that the customer has to actively do one of these things to double-check whether their recently purchased data bundle is active and ready to use, and again most customers are unlikely to be educated on the need for doing this prior to connecting.

The SMS notifications I suggested, would mean that the customer does not need to actively do anything, the SMSes would be initiated passively as a direct result of a customer's attempt to purchase a data bundle, the only potential problem I can foresee, is if a customer does not receive such an SMS, e.g. due to using an older version of VMC-Lite...

 

[Csnoopy]

I like the SMS notification idea, and will push it, but there are a number of systems in place. If subs don't know they can do a 'balance' to 100, they probably also won't know they should get a SMS.

It's all down to education.

To put it in one sentence it is all about Communication & Education.

 

[Csnoopy]

Yep, true, it is down to educating Data Bundle customers, sadly most customers are likely to skip the education step and want to start using their data bundle immediately.

The problem with a customer initiating a 'balance' to 100 SMS or 'MM' to 31050 SMS or checking one's data bundle balance via *111# USSD command menu, is that the customer has to actively do one of these things to double-check whether their recently purchased data bundle is active and ready to use, and again most customers are unlikely to be educated on the need for doing this prior to connecting.

The SMS notifications I suggested, would mean that the customer does not need to actively do anything, the SMSes would be initiated passively as a direct result of a customer's attempt to purchase a data bundle, the only potential problem I can foresee, is if a customer does not receive such an SMS, e.g. due to using an older version of VMC-Lite...

1) Where does the education come from and done by whom.
As being a none VSP Vodacom user we have no access to warnings or balances accept for 1 option via vodacom4me Balances. Sad to say.
Sorry but this is still a very hurting point. No Training at all or not even a Info pamflet warning or guiding.
2) There could be an option to add a second Cell number for sms's.
3) Training needs to be given to Sales people first. The user will only do what he has been told. This is the trap that David fell into coming from MTN. From a bad experience to an even worse one. It's no good people telling David, but but but, he did not know about the but's.

 

[Csnoopy]

The SMS notifications I suggested, would mean that the customer does not need to actively do anything, the SMSes would be initiated passively as a direct result of a customer's attempt to purchase a data bundle, the only potential problem I can foresee, is if a customer does not receive such an SMS, e.g. due to using an older version of VMC-Lite...

And also those persons that have GPRS modems with NO dashboard software.
Therefore a second sms number would be an option.

 

[3G4me]

Something I noticed on my VERY high accounts (where the adhoc bundle was loaded but not recognised in terms of the data usage, but the bundle was billed for), is that when I logged into Vodacom4me/balances to check my usage, it only showed my regular monthly bundle usage, I couldn't see the adhoc data bundle usage. In active services, it did show the adhoc bundle as loaded. This was the same on our "dealerweb", I could only see the usage on my normal monthly bundle... but the adhoc bundle showed in active services and on the proposed invoice.

When I queried this, I was told the system must be having problems. Clearly that wasn't the case, since I still cannot see my adhoc bundle usage for this month - 3 months later.

So I assume I am to recieve a HUGE bill again next month!!!! This appears to be linked to the billing system also not being able to see the adhoc bundles and charging OOB rates. If I cannot see the bundle usage, then it ain't using the bundle??

So the lesson learned is to make sure I can see the data bundle balance, same goes for prepaid, you must ensure that when doing a balance enquiry, you get a data bundle balance and not just a rand value balance?

V3G, any ideas on a fix? Pretty please...?

 

[vodacom3g]

Something I noticed on my VERY high accounts (where the adhoc bundle was loaded but not recognised in terms of the data usage, but the bundle was billed for), is that when I logged into Vodacom4me/balances to check my usage, it only showed my regular monthly bundle usage, I couldn't see the adhoc data bundle usage. In active services, it did show the adhoc bundle as loaded. This was the same on our "dealerweb", I could only see the usage on my normal monthly bundle... but the adhoc bundle showed in active services and on the proposed invoice.

When I queried this, I was told the system must be having problems. Clearly that wasn't the case, since I still cannot see my adhoc bundle usage for this month - 3 months later.

So I assume I am to recieve a HUGE bill again next month!!!! This appears to be linked to the billing system also not being able to see the adhoc bundles and charging OOB rates. If I cannot see the bundle usage, then it ain't using the bundle??

So the lesson learned is to make sure I can see the data bundle balance, same goes for prepaid, you must ensure that when doing a balance enquiry, you get a data bundle balance and not just a rand value balance?

V3G, any ideas on a fix? Pretty please...?

Is this with VSP? If so, go to reports and run a detailed billing report. You'll see where you've gone OOB and will see the OOB usage records. You should be able to see from the Rand value if the data was at in-bundle, ad-hoc or OOB rates.

Please post if this worked or not?