Monthly Expiring Data

LCBXX

LCBXX

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If you buy data, lets say 2-Gigs, why on earth does it expire after 30 days?? Who came up with this condition? I remember it used to be the case with Voice-Airtime as well in the beginning, yet that was silently abolished. If I pay an ISP for 2-Gigs of data, I should be able to use it at my leisure, over 6 months if I like. I paid for it, didn't I?

I am unable to comprehend the logic different providers use when selling broadband data and having spoken to mates and colleagues who've used DSL/3G/Wireless, in specifically European countries, I'm starting to think more and more that SA's providers are scamsters, albeit with a legal twist to it.

In European countries, purchased data is valid for as long as it's available. They do have clauses where the data does expire if left unused for 12 months or so, but in this country the data expires weather you use it non-stop or not!

I'm imagining stuff like Petrol/Diesel falling under the same banner - You fill up for R450 at Engen and after 30 days, regardless weather you have 45 or 5 liters left, the remaining fuel evaporates! This currently happens with data, unless you use Virgin Mobile or pay-as-you-use packages, but the latter is like paying R15/liter petrol and having the pump constantly filling you as you drive.

If someone from Telkom/SAIX, MTN, CellC, Vodacom, Sentech or IBurst can give me a valid explanation for this bizarre 30-day Data Expiration condition, I'd gladly shut up and never complain about data being too expensive. Yes, I know that if I don't like it, you'll say that I'm more than welcome to disconnect and find data elsewhere, but it would be really nice to know where this ridiculous idea comes from as I, the consumer, is constantly bombarded by you guys with slogans like "touch tomorrow, C for myself, using the favorite network, whispering in the wind, etc, etc".

Funny, those slogans never made sense, a lot like those of Afrikaans primary/secondary schools?
 
savage said:
Do your research before bitching and moaning, and you'll see that there are actually ISPs that allow this...
Click to expand...
I'm talking about the concept in general as the majority of ISP's do not.
And I'm not talking about a "feature" (often for a fee) of "rolling over" data, I'm talking about having it as standard, not an option.
 
They do it because they like to force you to use 3GB per month.

They also like to encourage you to do whatever it takes to use your fully allocated 3GB, so that you begin to use the high-throughput services, and so doing, you'll probably consume more than 3GB and therefore make them richer as you start to see what the internet can really provide. They are counting on you beginning to enjoy these high throughput services, so that they can prime you for toher high-throughput subscription based services that they will punt to you later. ALA Internet TV.crap.

In short ... if petrol were sold like this .. .we'd probably spend more time driving to far destinations at the end of the month. And then .. probably be forced to buy more petrol to get back where we don't budget properly.

LAWL

Suckers we are.
 
Suckers perhaps, but it's rather difficult not to be if you kinda have no choice.
I've just thought about the current concept and the more I think about it, the less sense it makes to be forced to chuck away something you didn't use quick enough (something un-organic, before Savage Ninjas me and says I should do research).
 
When it first came out ... there was no limit.
Peeps then jumped on and raked up throughput like nobody's business.

So .. instead of punishing the high-end-users, they punished us all.
 
stoke said:
When it first came out ... there was no limit.
Peeps then jumped on and raked up throughput like nobody's business.

So .. instead of punishing the high-end-users, they punished us all.
Click to expand...
I reckon Telkom saw international ISP operating with ADSL and said: "Hmm, how can we do the same and still screw the consumer?"
 
lcbxx said:
I'm imagining stuff like Petrol/Diesel falling under the same banner - You fill up for R450 at Engen and after 30 days, regardless weather you have 45 or 5 liters left, the remaining fuel evaporates! This currently happens with data, unless you use Virgin Mobile or pay-as-you-use packages, but the latter is like paying R15/liter petrol and having the pump constantly filling you as you drive.
Click to expand...
Attention mods - can this part of the post be deleted before Engen/Sasol/etc see it?

:p
:D @ lcbxx
 
lcbxx said:
I reckon Telkom saw international ISP operating with ADSL and said: "Hmm, how can we do the same and still screw the consumer?"
Click to expand...

Exactly.

Hmm. The BOSS from Help Desk probably has a clone working at Telkom.

(One of you graphic artists should start a webcomic on the SA telecoms industry...)
 
lcbxx said:
If you buy data, lets say 2-Gigs, why on earth does it expire after 30 days?? Who came up with this condition? I remember it used to be the case with Voice-Airtime as well in the beginning, yet that was silently abolished. If I pay an ISP for 2-Gigs of data, I should be able to use it at my leisure, over 6 months if I like. I paid for it, didn't I?
Click to expand...

Have a look at the PREPAID accounts from Axxess. Expires after 12 months ;)
 
m0zy said:
Have a look at the PREPAID accounts from Axxess. Expires after 12 months ;)
Click to expand...
Fair enough, but why is prepaid more expensive than the ADSL-Basic? R119 vs R139 for 2GB at Axxess? I would be paying R20 extra...for what exactly?
 
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