Proof that there is definitely something wrong with MTN's meterage/billing system

3

3gnut

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Sydenham, Jo'burg
Over the past few months there has been the odd occasion on which I have received an invoice on which there have been charges for extra bandwidth used when I have been convinced that I have not gone over my 2GB cap. Until now, I have had no way of proving it. My bandwidth refreshes tomorrow so I thought I would go into MTN Active and check my balance. Since Tuesday I have been using my ad hoc Vodacom data bundle. I switched deliberately after having checked MTN Active on Monday to see what the balance was, as I did not want to go over my 2GB cap. At that point, MTN Active was showing about 190MB free.

Was I in for a shock! Today, the Remaining Package Bundles reflects 1,973,450,380 used with 174,033,268 free. However, under Unbilled Itemised Calls the following is reflected: PSD Calls 2,460,534,758 with Totals showing -1, 834, 432,538 and reflecting an extra billed amount of R345,88. I know, for an absolute fact, that I have not used an extra 400 to 500MB, mostly because the MTN signal has been so erratic over the past few weeks with connections continually dropping and 3G not available at all most of the time! So, not only am I being charged for extra bandwidth that I haven't used, I am also being charged a fortune for an almost non-existent service.:mad:

I have contacted the MTN call centre but it was very obvious that the agent I spoke to had absolutely no clue what I was talking about. I would be very grateful if someone from MTN could explain this huge discrepancy.
 
I have the exact same problem. The software that goes with the card is also faulty. I refresh mine avery month and have not once gone over my 2GB limit (not even 1GB - so quite a waste).

Today my account is locked due Credit Limit. I havent used my 2GB, but now I can't connet.

Anyone know of better software for the MTN card (1.8mb er second)? I'm switching as soon as humanly possible!!!
 
I can't wait for my contract to end. Even though I ALWAYS check my bundle balance every day, my account is ALWAYS way over my contract price.
 
Yip!!!

On Pre-Paid i buy a 2GB data bundle every month. and last month i used 1GB and all was correct with my data counter and MTN billing. Then i used a further 500MB, Now when i checked my balance i had 1.5GB remaining! yes the 500MB i used got put back onto my account! weird and all billing has been correct since then.
 
Wow, seems like I should be going on pre-paid rather.
 
My MTN DATA Disgust!

I got my MTN data card in March last year, an E620 and from then until May this year my bill (inclusive of service fee / CLI / 2G bundle) is around R600, however in June my bill suddenly escalated to R2356.13 but what was really odd, is that it coincided with a sudden drastic degradation in signal. The signal had become so poor within my home that on my voice line, I could hardly connect to any number I dialled and when I did connect, it would drop within seconds and almost all incoming calls would go straight to voicemail. And as far as my data “connectivity”, I had to constantly reconnect and was running on EDGE if I was connected at all. I queried this bill with MTN’s 808 line. I was told that the query was logged and someone from Billing Queries would contact me shortly. I also logged a call with the Coverage Desk. I forgot all about it while I waited for the call and again struggled to keep connected during the month of July but finally called 808 again when I received my account for July which was an astounding R3939.81! Again I had had minimal or no connection on EGDE but my downloads were obviously increasing. I was told this time that my query had been noted but not logged in the right way so it was now done correctly, and someone from Billing Queries would call.
I then called the coverage desk again, where I repeated my whole story and logged another query. This is where the fun and games started. By September, and a number of calls to 808 later, still having no luck with the Billing Query side, I finally got a return call from MTN, I was informed that yes indeed there were coverage problems in my area – Parklands CT – as a number of base stations had been taken down in May & June due to the community’s concerns about the RF. A technician even came over to my home and did a signal test and on proving that the signal was so poor that he installed an external antennae which now enables me to be connected on 3G – albeit only with 1 bar of signal, it’s a hell of a difference! To compensate for the poor voice connection, MTN had a solution for that too – a cell extender! I signed an acceptance form for the “mushroom” booster that MTN would also come and install so that I would also be able to make and receive calls in my home. By this stage I was feeling pretty pleased that MTN noted there was an issue and really went the extra mile to rectify it – and surely the Billing Queries team would do the same. This is when I began dealing with Jay Govender – who would eventually be the final reason for my decision to end my dealings with MTN. So, just to make sure, I called 808 again to see what was happening about the charges...Needless to say, my request had been rejected and there was no credit due and despite a number of emails back and forth between myself and Mr Govender the outcome is still “Please note the usage was generated by the sim card and deemed valid”.
I then conducted my own test – which I advised Mr. Govender about – leaving my card continually connected and downloaded anything and everything I could! This still only pushed my September bill to R2458.44 and now await my October bill which I expect to be quite high as well as I have again pushed my download limits. But my question still remains the same simple question I have been asking since June – if I had little or no signal - confirmed by the MTN technician that tested it in my home, how is it possible that I could have effected such costly down loads over the period in June – August when I could not even reach those amounts when I was connected in September? Mr. Govender has refused to provide me with the details of the Network Team here in CT that apparently verified this for him and could possibly explain this to me, and his insulting lack of regard for my query have made me realize, there is no other solution but to change my data service provider and my cellular provider.
:mad:
 
Ok let me get this right if I may.

You are saying that if you download anything and everything you can at edge speed let me be generous and say 12kbps for a period of 30 days 24/7 you're saying you can not download more than 2GB worth of data ?
 
Pitbull said:
Ok let me get this right if I may.

You are saying that if you download anything and everything you can at edge speed let me be generous and say 12kbps for a period of 30 days 24/7 you're saying you can not download more than 2GB worth of data ?
Click to expand...

I'm saying that during the months of June till Aug - on the rare occasion when I could momentarilly connect on EDGE (and reconnect and reconnect and reconnect some more, sometime just long enough to send and recieve attachement-less mail) - I somehow managed to download about 5Gigs.(per each month - not in total over these months)

Now that I have 3G permanently connected, (surfing / mailing / downloading) I am battling to achieve that amount of data!
 
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marco said:
I can't wait for my contract to end. Even though I ALWAYS check my bundle balance every day, my account is ALWAYS way over my contract price.
Click to expand...
At least you can check your balance, I'm with MTN and Nashua mobile is my service provider. The only way I can check my usage is by phoning Nashua for the totals used and totals available. How backward is that?!!!
 
3gnut said:
Over the past few months there has been the odd occasion on which I have received an invoice on which there have been charges for extra bandwidth used when I have been convinced that I have not gone over my 2GB cap. Until now, I have had no way of proving it. My bandwidth refreshes tomorrow so I thought I would go into MTN Active and check my balance. Since Tuesday I have been using my ad hoc Vodacom data bundle. I switched deliberately after having checked MTN Active on Monday to see what the balance was, as I did not want to go over my 2GB cap. At that point, MTN Active was showing about 190MB free.

Was I in for a shock! Today, the Remaining Package Bundles reflects 1,973,450,380 used with 174,033,268 free. However, under Unbilled Itemised Calls the following is reflected: PSD Calls 2,460,534,758 with Totals showing -1, 834, 432,538 and reflecting an extra billed amount of R345,88. I know, for an absolute fact, that I have not used an extra 400 to 500MB, mostly because the MTN signal has been so erratic over the past few weeks with connections continually dropping and 3G not available at all most of the time! So, not only am I being charged for extra bandwidth that I haven't used, I am also being charged a fortune for an almost non-existent service.:mad:

I have contacted the MTN call centre but it was very obvious that the agent I spoke to had absolutely no clue what I was talking about. I would be very grateful if someone from MTN could explain this huge discrepancy.
Click to expand...

Well, based on this I decided to check out my balance on tuesday by calling 808 - my new 2Gig data bundle started on the 26th Oct - and was told that my account currently sits at over R700 as I have already used my whole bundle - go figure!
 
3gnut said:
Over the past few months there has been the odd occasion on which I have received an invoice on which there have been charges for extra bandwidth used when I have been convinced that I have not gone over my 2GB cap. Until now, I have had no way of proving it. My bandwidth refreshes tomorrow so I thought I would go into MTN Active and check my balance. Since Tuesday I have been using my ad hoc Vodacom data bundle. I switched deliberately after having checked MTN Active on Monday to see what the balance was, as I did not want to go over my 2GB cap. At that point, MTN Active was showing about 190MB free.

Was I in for a shock! Today, the Remaining Package Bundles reflects 1,973,450,380 used with 174,033,268 free. However, under Unbilled Itemised Calls the following is reflected: PSD Calls 2,460,534,758 with Totals showing -1, 834, 432,538 and reflecting an extra billed amount of R345,88. I know, for an absolute fact, that I have not used an extra 400 to 500MB, mostly because the MTN signal has been so erratic over the past few weeks with connections continually dropping and 3G not available at all most of the time! So, not only am I being charged for extra bandwidth that I haven't used, I am also being charged a fortune for an almost non-existent service.:mad:

I have contacted the MTN call centre but it was very obvious that the agent I spoke to had absolutely no clue what I was talking about. I would be very grateful if someone from MTN could explain this huge discrepancy.
Click to expand...

Have a look at this - seems though we are not the only ones that MTN is ripping off...http://capetown.gumtree.co.za/c-Cars-for-Sale-cars-R35K-WARNING-STEER-CLEAR-OF-MTN-W0QQAdIdZ76340841
 
3gnut said:
Over the past few months there has been the odd occasion on which I have received an invoice on which there have been charges for extra bandwidth used when I have been convinced that I have not gone over my 2GB cap. Until now, I have had no way of proving it. My bandwidth refreshes tomorrow so I thought I would go into MTN Active and check my balance. Since Tuesday I have been using my ad hoc Vodacom data bundle. I switched deliberately after having checked MTN Active on Monday to see what the balance was, as I did not want to go over my 2GB cap. At that point, MTN Active was showing about 190MB free.

Was I in for a shock! Today, the Remaining Package Bundles reflects 1,973,450,380 used with 174,033,268 free. However, under Unbilled Itemised Calls the following is reflected: PSD Calls 2,460,534,758 with Totals showing -1, 834, 432,538 and reflecting an extra billed amount of R345,88. I know, for an absolute fact, that I have not used an extra 400 to 500MB, mostly because the MTN signal has been so erratic over the past few weeks with connections continually dropping and 3G not available at all most of the time! So, not only am I being charged for extra bandwidth that I haven't used, I am also being charged a fortune for an almost non-existent service.:mad:

I have contacted the MTN call centre but it was very obvious that the agent I spoke to had absolutely no clue what I was talking about. I would be very grateful if someone from MTN could explain this huge discrepancy.
Click to expand...

Pls look at this and PM me your experience
http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthre...96#post2379396
 
why dont you just get ADSL??? Its much better and much cheaper!!
 
Niccia said:
why dont you just get ADSL??? Its much better and much cheaper!!
Click to expand...

I have :) but now I am fighting MTN to return the random R2000 (on the dot) that they just added onto my data bills
 
Oh ok :) Despite all the bad remarks aimed at Telkom, I have to say that I am really pleased with the service. If I had problems, I called the call centre, and they sorted me out right there and then. Its just so much better than cellphone providers.
 
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