Prepaid airtime and OOB data pricing

[mcclod]

Scenario
Say I buy R150 prepaid airtime (CellC 99c package option) on the 1 October, and buy a R7.50 data bundle with that, I will be charged at R0.15 per MB for the next 30 days.

If I use up all that airtime, through a combination of voice calls at 99c per minute and data usage at 15c per MB, and I purchase another R150 airtime on the 10 October. Will I have to purchase another R7.50 data bundle in order to benefit from the lower 15c per MB price, or will it go back to the standard 99c per MB, or will the original data bundle purchase made on the 1st October still have the effect of being on the 15c per MB price?

How can I tell for sure that I am indeed on the 15c per MB pricing?

 

[Vlad]

How can I tell for sure that I am indeed on the 15c per MB pricing?

from my experience, there is no predicting what you'll get charged once your bundle runs out, regardless of the 30 day window

 

[CellBel]

Don't try the OOB option, you may be in for a big surprise.

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/466001-Overcharged-on-OOB-data

 

[Diego Tristan]

plain thievery

Don't try the OOB option, you may be in for a big surprise.

http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/466001-Overcharged-on-OOB-data

CellBel I'm on the verge of jumping to Cell C for their R0.15 a meg out of bundle (obviously had to have loaded a bundle and depleted it first for the 15c to come into play) rate, but ive seen your struggles as well as "charlh"

so I wanted to know if there was any restoration of the overcharge and if the 15c has now been corrected and fixed ?

please be reason I do not make a mistake and jump ship in light of Cell C's deceit

 

[CellBel]

CellBel I'm on the verge of jumping to Cell C for their R0.15 a meg out of bundle (obviously had to have loaded a bundle and depleted it first for the 15c to come into play) rate, but ive seen your struggles as well as "charlh"

so I wanted to know if there was any restoration of the overcharge and if the 15c has now been corrected and fixed ?

please be reason I do not make a mistake and jump ship in light of Cell C's deceit

No refunding for me up to now, and i keep on buying bundles cos there system are inaccurate. I have no trust in them anymore, but if you stay away from OOB you should be OK.

If the 15c has now been corrected and fixed ?

I'm not keen on testing this, cos i was surfing @ 15c OOB the one day and the next morning @ R2 OOB.
This happened on the 1st Oct on a bundle that was 25 days old, and on the 5th Oct on a bundle that was 3 days old.

Check your data usage as well.

 

[charlh]

so I wanted to know if there was any restoration of the overcharge and if the 15c has now been corrected and fixed ?

I have about 4mb left on my latest bundle, so I will be able to see if that issue is sorted out today or tomorrow. I have also not heard anything back from Cell C since my last complaint.

 

[Diego Tristan]

hey friends, many thanks for getting back to me... I still feel nervous about porting... been with MTN for 1 month short of 10 years. admittedly I am skeptical. my biggest thing is that I've never bought MTN data bundles so been paying R2 a meg for life. I also want to know if you CellBel and charlh , feel the voice rates are competitive at 99c a minute all day where MTN is 2.85 a minute peak and I think less than R1 per minute MTN to MTN OFF peak, as my whole family are with MTN. my signal with MTN is edge here at home and with a smartphone it is not the greatest. but we have an iPad with the 2gb smardarta cell c, and my golly does she Sprint on her HSPA+ ! I've seen people testing the Vodacom 4G and it is going towards 60mBit downloads so my concern is that cell c are gonna be stuck on 10mb max... MTN will surely react shortly. so should I stay, or should I go ?

thanks for the help.

 

[Diego Tristan]

I guess the prices per meg will remain the same in spite of greater speeds... so though I could go faster with 4g, I'm still stuck with astronomical prices. oh and don't buy a Samsung GS III, the local manufacturers have removed the 4g capability on the original release :-o

 

[CellBel]

hey friends, many thanks for getting back to me... I still feel nervous about porting... been with MTN for 1 month short of 10 years. admittedly I am skeptical. my biggest thing is that I've never bought MTN data bundles so been paying R2 a meg for life. I also want to know if you CellBel and charlh , feel the voice rates are competitive at 99c a minute all day where MTN is 2.85 a minute peak and I think less than R1 per minute MTN to MTN OFF peak, as my whole family are with MTN. my signal with MTN is edge here at home and with a smartphone it is not the greatest. but we have an iPad with the 2gb smardarta cell c, and my golly does she Sprint on her HSPA+ ! I've seen people testing the Vodacom 4G and it is going towards 60mBit downloads so my concern is that cell c are gonna be stuck on 10mb max... MTN will surely react shortly. so should I stay, or should I go ?

thanks for the help.

Get yourself a CellC 99c for real prepaid starterpack & test the waters.

 

[Diego Tristan]

Get yourself a CellC 99c for real prepaid starterpack & test the waters.

I have just ported so waiting a few hours to give cell c a go. Either way, everything is cheaper and above all signal is strong in my neighbourhood. Will load up a bundle as soon as I'm connected, then will deplete it and see the OOB rate. Im not too scared about being charged R2 a meg OOB, coming from MTN nevertheless cell c have to honour their 15 cent claim !

 

[charlh]

I have just ported so waiting a few hours to give cell c a go!

Has your port gone through? I did the sms port request on another number of mine on Tuesday, and still nothing today.
I am too scared to phone them, in case I have been flagged as 'that stingy b@sted who keeps complaining about being overcharged'.

 

[CellBel]

Has your port gone through? I did the sms port request on another number of mine on Tuesday, and still nothing today.
I am too scared to phone them, in case I have been flagged as 'that stingy b@sted who keeps complaining about being overcharged'.

AFAIK It takes 24hrs.

 

[Diego Tristan]

Has your port gone through? I did the sms port request on another number of mine on Tuesday, and still nothing today.
I am too scared to phone them, in case I have been flagged as 'that stingy b@sted who keeps complaining about being overcharged'.

Hey charlh, got it rica'd at 5pm yesterday. smsd the portme thing at 6pm got two cell c messages instantly. At 7 got a "welcome to da family" /italian accent/ message from cell c but still had signal on my MTN so waited . at 8pm the signal died and so started my cell c trek

phone those buggers bro, I got fidgety within hours, couldn't imagine since Tuesday !

 

[chrisc]

I am a pre-paid CellC customer. The balance on my SIM on 15th Sep was R 181,40. I went into hospital for 2 weeks and only switched on the phone on 30th September. A message came up that my airtime had expired but was "being kept for me" and I should buy some more. So on 1st Oct I bought R 30,00 airtime. On 3rd Oct I got the same message again, so bought another R 30,00 airtime. My balance was now R 239,40. This lasted until 9th October and I am cut off again. The CellC customer care gave me a long convoluted explanation about airtime windows and elegibility, and basically told me that unless I buy a substantial amount, I will only get at best 7 days use.

Is there a straightforward explanation for this? I have now R 239,40 airtime but am unable to use it, unless I buy yet more. I don't use the phone much, as you may have gathered.

 

[Diego Tristan]

I am a pre-paid CellC customer. The balance on my SIM on 15th Sep was R 181,40. I went into hospital for 2 weeks and only switched on the phone on 30th September. A message came up that my airtime had expired but was "being kept for me" and I should buy some more. So on 1st Oct I bought R 30,00 airtime. On 3rd Oct I got the same message again, so bought another R 30,00 airtime. My balance was now R 239,40. This lasted until 9th October and I am cut off again. The CellC customer care gave me a long convoluted explanation about airtime windows and elegibility, and basically told me that unless I buy a substantial amount, I will only get at best 7 days use.

Is there a straightforward explanation for this? I have now R 239,40 airtime but am unable to use it, unless I buy yet more. I don't use the phone much, as you may have gathered.

that is really odd... unfair I might add ! try pm the cell_c rep.I thought the airtime window was roughly 90days at the very least 30 days ! Aside, if cell c has a "me to you airtime transfer" service, use it and send a substantial amount to your loved ones; once your balance is zero then load up airtime again. If it then persists try some further action against cell c. it is laughable of cell c mind you !

 

[charlh]

Hey charlh, got it rica'd at 5pm yesterday. smsd the portme thing at 6pm got two cell c messages instantly. At 7 got a "welcome to da family" /italian accent/ message from cell c but still had signal on my MTN so waited . at 8pm the signal died and so started my cell c trek

phone those buggers bro, I got fidgety within hours, couldn't imagine since Tuesday !

It's not that serious- this no. is mainly for incoming calls. But I did give them a call today, but as most 'service departments' nowadays, the can only help me on weekdays between 8 and 5
And now, for something completely different- My data bundle ran out today, and so far it seems I am being charged 15c/meg. But that might change tomorrow...

 

[ajax]

I am a pre-paid CellC customer. The balance on my SIM on 15th Sep was R 181,40. I went into hospital for 2 weeks and only switched on the phone on 30th September. A message came up that my airtime had expired but was "being kept for me" and I should buy some more. So on 1st Oct I bought R 30,00 airtime. On 3rd Oct I got the same message again, so bought another R 30,00 airtime. My balance was now R 239,40. This lasted until 9th October and I am cut off again. The CellC customer care gave me a long convoluted explanation about airtime windows and elegibility, and basically told me that unless I buy a substantial amount, I will only get at
best 7 days use.

Is there a straightforward explanation for this? I have now R 239,40 airtime but am unable to use it, unless I buy yet more. I don't use the phone much, as you may have gathered.

That's not right. R5 recharge should get you 2 weeks. Log a hellopeter complaint.

 

[Cell_C]

That's not right. R5 recharge should get you 2 weeks. Log a hellopeter complaint.

good day

please PM me your number and i will get this rectified for you

regards,
bas