steveapple
Active Member
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2013
- Messages
- 53
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Following poor service from one cellphone company, I recently ported my wife's number back to MTN. Pending conversion to a post-paid contract, it is presently on a "pay as you go" prepaid service. In the very recent past I have bought R90 (1 May), R60 (11 May) and R60 (31 May) worth of airtime, each supposedly valid for 30 days. That is: R210 worth of airtime in the last month for a person who makes very, very few calls.
What is more alarming is that suddenly today she gets a message to say that her airtime has "expired" and has been blocked because the bundle has run out! A USSD balance inquiry indeed reveals that she now has zero airtime. It is simply impossible for her to have used that much airtime in less than a week - she hardly ever calls anyone. Furthermore, it is not yet 30 days since I purchased the last two lots of airtime.
It would therefore seem to me that MTN is simply expiring and appropriating airtime at month end, willy-nilly. That in my view constitutes theft - perhaps even fraud. She has purchased a product and now has been taken away and she is denied the use of it. This is like buying clothes from a shop and having them suddenly strip you naked and repossess those clothes after a prescribed period (like 30 days) of the shop's choosing! How is this "airtime" expiry and forfeit mechanism legal? One is not renting airtime, but purchasing it. The term "recharge" means just that in my view - similar to recharging or refilling an LPG gas cylinder wherein you purchase the gas; it becomes yours to keep forever if you wish.
I would welcome an explanation from those in the know. Thanks in advance.
What is more alarming is that suddenly today she gets a message to say that her airtime has "expired" and has been blocked because the bundle has run out! A USSD balance inquiry indeed reveals that she now has zero airtime. It is simply impossible for her to have used that much airtime in less than a week - she hardly ever calls anyone. Furthermore, it is not yet 30 days since I purchased the last two lots of airtime.
It would therefore seem to me that MTN is simply expiring and appropriating airtime at month end, willy-nilly. That in my view constitutes theft - perhaps even fraud. She has purchased a product and now has been taken away and she is denied the use of it. This is like buying clothes from a shop and having them suddenly strip you naked and repossess those clothes after a prescribed period (like 30 days) of the shop's choosing! How is this "airtime" expiry and forfeit mechanism legal? One is not renting airtime, but purchasing it. The term "recharge" means just that in my view - similar to recharging or refilling an LPG gas cylinder wherein you purchase the gas; it becomes yours to keep forever if you wish.
I would welcome an explanation from those in the know. Thanks in advance.