Is Cell C stealing airtime and data?

[Creag]

This is quite a simple conclusion for me. Either it's theft or incompetent computer systems. Pick one.

Regardless of the choice, my SO was left without airtime or data this evening. On 14/08/2015 I bought R 150 airtime for her phone. This morning she had +/- R 70 left. As she is not a big user of her airtime and virtually only uses WiFi for data, the entire caboodle "disappeared" from her profile.

From what I can tell, this is not an isolate incident:

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/747776-Cell-c-STOLE-my-MONEY

This may or may not be similar. I have run a check on the phone using Ook's suggestion. Nada.

I read this over the weekend:

http://www.techcentral.co.za/single-complaint-about-disappearing-data/59333/

Rapid mobile data depletion has become a hot topic in South Africa this month, with complaints streaming into radio stations and on social media.

...and article quotes Vodacom & MTN. Nothing Cell C in there.

Then there are these:

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/cellu...ng-data-are-vodacom-and-mtn-cheating-you.html
http://ewn.co.za/2015/08/21/The-mystery-of-disappearing-cellphone-data

My SO is quite frugal with her calls and prefers to use data related services. Today she used WiFi at home and work.

The thing that irritates me most is the operator, like MTN and Vodacom in the above Tech Central / Fin 24 article, will blame the user.

 

[Peon]

Yep, i have a client on Vodacom LTE and data is just disappearing. I know they not using it as they are like church mouses when using the internet.

So im going to prove it with a Mikrotik RB + Attix5 Traffic Monitor. Record the results and head off to the NCC. Vodacom..."expect us"

McT if you would like me to help you with the same process then PM me.

 

[The_Unbeliever]

@peon : VC will get it dismissed as your tests was done over wifi.

Will be interesting to know what traffic and its destination/origin though.

 

[Peon]

Please explain.

All traffic in the house will be routed behind the RB. Meaning all traffic in the house will be accounted for. As I see it, it wont matter if the traffic comes through the ethernet cable or from the wireless AP, it still will need to get processed before breaking out into the VC network.

 

[reactor_sa]

If she is on the 66c option, then at R2/MB of data out of bundle, that's only 40MB=R80!

I think people don't realize how quickly out of bundle rates can screw you over, not providers deleting your bundles.

 

[Cell_C]

This is quite a simple conclusion for me. Either it's theft or incompetent computer systems. Pick one.

Regardless of the choice, my SO was left without airtime or data this evening. On 14/08/2015 I bought R 150 airtime for her phone. This morning she had +/- R 70 left. As she is not a big user of her airtime and virtually only uses WiFi for data, the entire caboodle "disappeared" from her profile.

From what I can tell, this is not an isolate incident:

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/747776-Cell-c-STOLE-my-MONEY

This may or may not be similar. I have run a check on the phone using Ook's suggestion. Nada.

I read this over the weekend:

http://www.techcentral.co.za/single-complaint-about-disappearing-data/59333/



...and article quotes Vodacom & MTN. Nothing Cell C in there.

Then there are these:

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/cellu...ng-data-are-vodacom-and-mtn-cheating-you.html
http://ewn.co.za/2015/08/21/The-mystery-of-disappearing-cellphone-data

My SO is quite frugal with her calls and prefers to use data related services. Today she used WiFi at home and work.

The thing that irritates me most is the operator, like MTN and Vodacom in the above Tech Central / Fin 24 article, will blame the user.

Hi HcT

This is a matter for investigation. Please provide the affected number via PM and our team will look into it and provide feedback.


^AM

 

[MagPie2012]

This has been happening to my dad also. He only ever uses whatsapp and BBM on his BB and the odd call or sms but in the last week R100 has disappeared out of his prepaid BB. I've read some things online about WASPs but how would you even check if something like that is happening? Please assist as my dad is a pensioner and every cent counts!

 

[cavedog]

This has been happening to my dad also. He only ever uses whatsapp and BBM on his BB and the odd call or sms but in the last week R100 has disappeared out of his prepaid BB. I've read some things online about WASPs but how would you even check if something like that is happening? Please assist as my dad is a pensioner and every cent counts!

Easy. With Cellc they really made it easy to see exactly where your money went.

To check if you are subscribed to any content simply dial *133*1#

For detailed info and I mean detailed each kilobyte that was charged you can login here
https://www.cellc.co.za/my-account
and navigate to "Call History Search"

It will allow you to search for content subcriptions,sms charges,call charges,data charges and just about ANYTHING you did on the line. You will find your answer there.

 

[Cell_C]

Easy. With Cellc they really made it easy to see exactly where your money went.

To check if you are subscribed to any content simply dial *133*1#

For detailed info and I mean detailed each kilobyte that was charged you can login here
https://www.cellc.co.za/my-account
and navigate to "Call History Search"

It will allow you to search for content subcriptions,sms charges,call charges,data charges and just about ANYTHING you did on the line. You will find your answer there.

Hi cavedog

Thank you.

Your information is spot on.

Regards
Cell C | BM

 

[MagPie2012]

Hi. Thanks so much. No subscription services active, so now just to go check on the web...

 

[And-I]

My wife's phone has the same issue.
She has been complaining that her data is being used up very quickly. Shes on an iPhone 5S.
So I turned off just about every app that uses data, I have turned off background app refreshing off on every app. I have turned off Wifi assist on iOS9 as well.
Still data is disappearing...

So she has now run out of data again, so I have turned off the usage of cellular data as a whole, yet data is still being used.
I have just bought a 500mb bundle, turned off cellular data, 30 seconds later she has 450mb left. She has not subscribed to anything. This has only started in the last month and half.

Cell C, if its not your calls dropping every 2 minutes its now the data disappearing.
I really hope I get some answers from th

 

[sajunky]

What about iCloud?
It is iPhone. Another 500MB and she will be notified that iOS9.x is ready to install on this phone. Consider Windows 10 is even worse on this. Somehow a new trend in industry.

 

[Cell_C]

My wife's phone has the same issue.
She has been complaining that her data is being used up very quickly. Shes on an iPhone 5S.
So I turned off just about every app that uses data, I have turned off background app refreshing off on every app. I have turned off Wifi assist on iOS9 as well.
Still data is disappearing...

So she has now run out of data again, so I have turned off the usage of cellular data as a whole, yet data is still being used.
I have just bought a 500mb bundle, turned off cellular data, 30 seconds later she has 450mb left. She has not subscribed to anything. This has only started in the last month and half.

Cell C, if its not your calls dropping every 2 minutes its now the data disappearing.
I really hope I get some answers from th

Hi And-I

Kindly refer to http://mybroadband.co.za/news/cellu...nd-airtime-getting-drained.html#disqus_thread.

^SM

 

[asiv]

My point of view(solution) is, deal less and less gradually with corporate entities that ignore overwhelming complaints and more with smaller businesses you CAN challenge and receive adequate protection from. And you should have less problems and losses. The less spent supporting companies who produce poorly explained losses of clients money will eventually cause them to fail. That's the power of the individual.

The cell companies in South Africa have fed us to the sharks and they have the law on their side because lets face it, SA is still in 'training'. Fortunately, deceit will always expose itself.

From the amount of updates that devices need these days, these corps should have done away with those overpriced R2 per Mb rates totally a long time ago. R2 per Mb equates to R2048 per GIG (and they say they love us!?!?) This would ensure people don't feel cheated. And secondly, they should never have opened the doors to those x rand per day subscriptions, that most of us feel and some of us know, can scam us unknowingly.

 

[ITNewbie]

HELP! Data disappearing in seconds!

Hi And-I

Kindly refer to http://mybroadband.co.za/news/cellu...nd-airtime-getting-drained.html#disqus_thread.

^SM

Sorry to hack someones post but....My data is disappearing and I have no idea why.Please can someone give me some suggestions.I checked out the link on Cell C and that didn't help at all as I have checked/done all that.
First, my data was already low since the middle of the month, so I have been buying around 100mb at a time as I don't normally use that much.But this month it has gone quite fast but I narrowed that down to facebooks new automatic loading of clips etc.
Now, I ran out of data this past Saturday.So with all apps turned off except clash of clans and whatsapp, I bought 100mb of data from FNB as I usually do.I got the notification that it was loaded and then about 30 seconds later I got another notification that I had less than 15mb left and then 2 sec after that I got another SMS saying the data is finished completely.
I have no automatic updates running, all apps were turned off bar the two mentioned about which were closed.We have no wifi so I dont use wifi assist.
So I tried again on the Sunday and the same thing happened.All 100mb gone in less than 30 seconds.ALL apps off except for whatsapp (I bought a R5 whatsapp bundle on Sat as I cant be completely disconnected from the world!)
I have not changed any settings or got new apps, all apps were off.This has never happened before.
I am sure Cell C will say its user error but I'm not so sure...
Any other suggestions? :erm:
Thanks

 

[sajunky]

These days operating systems are downloading updates without user approval.
It include Windows, Android. iOS only over WiFi. Which one do you use?

 

[gambi]

Could I be cellc's quickest leaving client?
Went to a cellc store on Friday, bought a pay as you card, loaded R500 "air time".
Was told that I now also have 1.5Gb of data to use before the end of the month.
Today (Wed), I plug my phone in to download a custom rom at 1.2G size.
The download failed to complete.
Tried calling someone only to be met with a message that I don't have any airtime.
My first call to the call centre resulted in them putting the phone down on me after asking me to "please hold".
Phoned back again only to be met with an arrogant agent who in his mind explained everything just fine - obviously not in my mind.
He said that I didn't have any additional data and my R500 "air time" was used up by downloading 600Mb of data.
Now if only cell c didn't lie to their clients, oh well, I can dream sometimes...
When I buy "air time" I am expecting that to be "voice" time not data time, if I want data then let me buy data!!!

bye bye cell c - will never go back or recommend you

 

[sajunky]

Went to a cellc store on Friday, bought a pay as you card, loaded R500 "air time".
Was told that I now also have 1.5Gb of data to use before the end of the month.
Today (Wed), I plug my phone in to download a custom rom at 1.2G size.

Recharge bonus data is a short term, usually few days. You can check T&C on Website for your tariff plan, as it depends on the recharge value. If your bonus data should really last to the end of month, PM to Cell C rep on the forum, they will assist.
Before starting a large download I always check my available data balance. I never trust an attendant. Sorry for your (possible) loss.

 

[gambi]

Recharge bonus data is a short term, usually few days. You can check T&C on Website for your tariff plan, as it depends on the recharge value. If your bonus data should really last to the end of month, PM to Cell C rep on the forum, they will assist.
Before starting a large download I always check my available data balance. I never trust an attendant. Sorry for your (possible) loss.

Thanks sajunky - I just find it so frustrating that nothing can be taken at face value anymore and then when you query it you get this pathetic attitude as though you are supposed to know everything about THEIR business - I suppose the old saying of "better the devil you know than the one you don't know" stands true here.

 

[sajunky]

Yip, know your devil, I always start Internet session with checking balance, no matter which network it is.