Complaint against Vodacom

Nicci said:
USSD - unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD is a service that allows high-speed and interactive communications between the user and applications across a GSM network. Basically, USSD allows you to request services by entering a specific short sequence of characters on the handset, such as *111#)
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You clearly googled that, because I find a hit when searching for that description.
as you needed to google, I assume you didn't really know what it meant.

my point is you claim to research data related information, yet you still didn't even know what USSD's are used for. (That's okay)

90% of people buying bundles probably still do it by plugging the sim into their phone, buying the bundle, and back into the modem again.
Now that's fine too, a minor inconvenience.... but when it comes to R20,000 bills, something is wrong.
 
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Nicci said:
Yes, I get your point, they should notify when you are out of bundle, but, it is up to each and everyone to check that, and not presume things.
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To be honest, no it isn't. You keep saying that customers cannot pass the buck, but the mobile operators are themselves passing the buck on to customers. And they are well aware that most customers are simply not tech-savvy enough to even understand the ins and outs, let alone take an interest in it in the first place.

Bear in mind, most customers are not aware that they will be charged OOB rates after a bolt-on. They just assume it won't work any longer. That is at least how it used to be amongst my family. You can't assume that the customer even knows what it is they're supposed to be researching in the first place...
 
undesign said:
The operators have the ability to calculate your prepaid data to the Mb, but can't manage to controll OOB exposure? This must be the con of the century. Is there nobody idle, bored and wealthy enough to challenge them legally?
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I think that they often settle before it goes to court because they don't want a precedent to be set.

Also, the amounts owed are usually not enough to justify legal action, what with the excessive cost of legal action.
 
Keeper said:
What kind of service costs 10 times when you use more of that same service?
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Anything that needs to be delivered or piped to you. Think water, electricity, gas, etc. Even postage and shipping, depending on the weight.
 
DJ... said:
Bear in mind, most customers are not aware that they will be charged OOB rates after a bolt-on. They just assume it won't work any longer. That is at least how it used to be amongst my family.
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Dude, when I got 3G, I didn't even know you could buy bundles!
I was going into OOB 24/7 thinking that it was how it worked.

Now I am a serious geek, i'll admit that for the benefit of this thread... so it just goes to show.
 
Keeper said:
You clearly googled that, because I find a hit when searching for that description.
as you needed to google, I assume you didn't really know what it meant.

my point is you claim to research data related information, yet you still didn't even know what USSD's are used for. (That's okay)

90% of people buying bundles probably still do it by plugging the sim into their phone, buying the bundle, and back into the modem again.
Now that's fine too, a minor inconvenience.... but when it comes to R20,000 bills, something is wrong.
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Yes, I did google it - and I would have googled it and done research had I bought a contract where I know I would be nailed for OOB data. The point I am making is that it's easy to research, read and understand these things, and to apply it. Now had I had the need to utilize these apps, I would have done so.

I also agree with you, that consumers needs to be informed when their cap is reached or ask for permission to go OOB, but this is not the case at this point in time, and until this is implemented, it is up to the consumer to read and understand the consequences of each product.
 
Jola said:
I think that they often settle before it goes to court because they don't want a precedent to be set.

Also, the amounts owed are usually not enough to justify legal action, what with the excessive cost of legal action.
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Sure, what we need is a real mother****er, that wants to challenge them on principle.
 
ginggs said:
Anything that needs to be delivered or piped to you. Think water, electricity, gas, etc. Even postage and shipping, depending on the weight.
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The economic principles do not change for any of these. Limited resources are tariffed higher as a punishment, not because input costs increase based on economies of scale.

Data is not a limited resource in this sense - if it is, I have certainly never seen it marketed as such. The fact that larger data bundles provide a higher discount refutes your point altogether. I have a lot of respect for you ginggs, but the economies of scale don't magically polarise with data providers. That is a silly argument. In fact the delivery method is already in place, ergo volume and price are inversely proportional...
 
ginggs said:
Anything that needs to be delivered or piped to you. Think water, electricity, gas, etc. Even postage and shipping, depending on the weight.
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Can you give me an examples
(where you pay for example R2 per litre of water for every litre after 10,000 litres is consumed, or similar?)

as for postage or shipping: you will not get a R20,000 bill - they will inform you of the charges beforehand.
 
Keeper said:
Dude, when I got 3G, I didn't even know you could buy bundles!
I was going into OOB 24/7 thinking that it was how it worked.

Now I am a serious geek, i'll admit that for the benefit of this thread... so it just goes to show.
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I also paid a few grand each month for OOB data because I had no way of measuring it. Or I at least wasn't aware of how it could be done. Now Vodacom.co.za can do so - a day after the fact. That is pathetic and useless...
 
Nicci said:
I also agree with you, that consumers needs to be informed when their cap is reached or ask for permission to go OOB, but this is not the case at this point in time, and until this is implemented, it is up to the consumer to read and understand the consequences of each product.
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Yes, and it's not going to get implemented unless we speak up.
Issues like this is what brought RPM to create this site, and the reason why we are all here.

If you think it's acceptable for blu to pay R20,000 because of some looping e-mail or whatnot, then you don't really have an issue here...
I on the other hand, think this con has had a good run, but needs to come to an end.
 
DJ... said:
Data is not a limited resource in this sense - if it is, I have certainly never seen it marketed as such.
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A base station has a limit to the number of people who can connect on the radio side, there is also a limit in the total bandwidth on the backhaul side.
 
Keeper said:
Yes, and it's not going to get implemented unless we speak up.
Issues like this is what brought RPM to create this site, and the reason why we are all here.

If you think it's acceptable for blu to pay R20,000 because of some looping e-mail or whatnot, then you don't really have an issue here...
I on the other hand, think this con has had a good run, but needs to come to an end.
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Off course I don't think it is acceptable for her to pay R20 000, nobody should for that matter, but I still stand firmly that we are each responsible for accepting certain terms and conditions when signing a contract. There are various other data options available as well - and perhaps a little research into that would have resulted in a much lesser bill at the end of the month.
 
ginggs said:
A base station has a limit to the number of people who can connect on the radio side, there is also a limit in the total bandwidth on the backhaul side.
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And that is reason to charge R2000 for 2GB?
why do you then pay a tenth of that when you simply dial *100# and load a bundle?
Does vodacom buy another 2GB for you?

No. it's the same data.
 
ginggs said:
A base station has a limit to the number of people who can connect on the radio side, there is also a limit in the total bandwidth on the backhaul side.
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No different to any medium of delivery. A truck can only carry so much before another is needed. Doesn't change the economies of scale in a closed delivery environment...
 
Nicci said:
Off course I don't think it is acceptable for her to pay R20 000, nobody should for that matter, but I still stand firmly that we are each responsible for accepting certain terms and conditions when signing a contract. There are various other data options available as well - and perhaps a little research into that would have resulted in a much lesser bill at the end of the month.
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Research is going to mean buggerall when Vodacom doesn't inform you that your bill is reaching R20,000.
Research is going to mean buggerall when Vodacom site can't tell you your bill (YES this happens a lot)
Research is going to mean buggerall when Adobe decides to update in the background.
Research is going to mean buggerall when you are part of a botnet

:erm:
 
Keeper said:
Research is going to mean buggerall when Vodacom doesn't inform you that your bill is reaching R20,000.
Research is going to mean buggerall when Vodacom site can't tell you your bill (YES this happens a lot)
Research is going to mean buggerall when Adobe decides to update in the background.
Research is going to mean buggerall when you are part of a botnet

:erm:
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Then all these scenarios should have been taken into consideration when researching a product, and a product that could tick all of the above boxes should have been purchased instead. There are daily complaints about service providers that overcharge, and consumers that complains on a daily basis about how big their bills are, surely, if you had purchased a similar product, you would know about this, and take any / every measure to prevent it happening to you?
 
It was speculated - not the definite problem. Find out the problem and I will give you advise.

In any case, I am not here to fight about what is right / wrong, I am sorry for the big bill and it should not happen to anyone. I hope the parties involved sees this now, and upgrade their systems accordingly to let the general public know when they are about to go OOB.
 
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