Skeptik
Banned
Vodacom's charge of R102 a minute for calls made via satellite from Madagascar to a ship at sea must be explained logically before he will pay, says Derek Serra of Cape Town.
"I am sure that an error has occurred during the billing procedure, but Vodacom staff seem uninterested in investigating the matter," he told Argus Action.
Vodacom said yesterday that calls originating from a cellphone and terminating on a satellite phone consisted of a roaming charge, the satellite termination charge, and Vodacom's handling fee.
"It is important to note that the charges levied to satellite phones fall outside the published Vodafone world flat rate per minute charges, which only apply when making calls to other cellphones or fixed lines," said Dot Field, chief communications officer at Vodacom.
But Serra says Vodacom's statement is "an admission that they charge a R60-a-minute handling fee for calls to satellite phones".
"I intend lodging an official complaint with ICASA (the Independent Communications Authority of SA), on the basis of gross overcharging by Vodacom" he said.
Serra has withheld R2 000 of his R5 800 bill from Vodacom. He said he was becoming increasing frustrated with the cellular company's refusal to explain what he described as "an apparent R60-a-minute markup' and this had convinced him to change to another network.
"I also intend exposing overcharging by Vodacom in an article I'm writing about porting, with the message being that there's never been a better time to roam from Vodacom to another network.
The contempt with which Vodacom treats its customers is shocking. After two months of trying to sort out the matter amicably, I have decided to move my business," he said.
Vodacom, meanwhile, has barred his phone, forcing him to use a pre-paid service.
This is the third time since the dispute that my service has been suspended. On the the previous two occasions, it was restored when I pointed out that the account was under investigation. Now someone in the accounts department has decided to bar my service altogether," he said.
Serra said he had calculated what Vodacom's roaming charges would be from Madagascar, in addition to the satellite charges for phoning his fiancee, who works on a ship at sea.
"Vodacom's website publishes the rate from Madagascar on Worldcall at R19 a minute, which already includes the standard markup. Satellite charges are R21.56 a minute from South Africa.
"Adding these figures up, I estimated a charge of roughly R40 to R45 a minute at most. But I was charged from R100.90 to R102.56 a minute," he said.
The only response from Vodacom to his several letters was a copy of a brief internal e-mail saying: "The customer needs to understand that calls to satellite are not billed at a flat rate as the other Worldcall bands ... These calls are charged at the foreign network charge, plus mark-up. I have looked at the customer's bill and we added our mark-up correctly"
In reply, Serra wrote asking Vodacom if the mark-up on the satellite portion of the call cost was R60.
A search of all published reference to such exorbitant call charges," he wrote. He said Vodacom's refusal to explain how it had calculated the charge has violated his consumer rights.
Instead of an explanation, he has been ordered to pay the full bill and, if an error was made, the overcharge would be refunded to him.
"I have gone to great lengths to try to get some sort of understanding of what is going on. They have never bothered to phone me. As a long-standing customer I have been treated badly .
"I think consumers anywhere in the world would query a bill for $15 a minute. I spend on average R1 000 a month on my Vodacom contract and have been doing that for the past 10 years. For a R2 000 dispute they are willing to lose their client," he said.
He plans to change his number and port my number to another service provider, because they inisist I owe them R2 000."
Field said it was standard practice to lock a cellphone until the debt was settled.
{Argus Action}
"I am sure that an error has occurred during the billing procedure, but Vodacom staff seem uninterested in investigating the matter," he told Argus Action.
Vodacom said yesterday that calls originating from a cellphone and terminating on a satellite phone consisted of a roaming charge, the satellite termination charge, and Vodacom's handling fee.
"It is important to note that the charges levied to satellite phones fall outside the published Vodafone world flat rate per minute charges, which only apply when making calls to other cellphones or fixed lines," said Dot Field, chief communications officer at Vodacom.
But Serra says Vodacom's statement is "an admission that they charge a R60-a-minute handling fee for calls to satellite phones".
"I intend lodging an official complaint with ICASA (the Independent Communications Authority of SA), on the basis of gross overcharging by Vodacom" he said.
Serra has withheld R2 000 of his R5 800 bill from Vodacom. He said he was becoming increasing frustrated with the cellular company's refusal to explain what he described as "an apparent R60-a-minute markup' and this had convinced him to change to another network.
"I also intend exposing overcharging by Vodacom in an article I'm writing about porting, with the message being that there's never been a better time to roam from Vodacom to another network.
The contempt with which Vodacom treats its customers is shocking. After two months of trying to sort out the matter amicably, I have decided to move my business," he said.
Vodacom, meanwhile, has barred his phone, forcing him to use a pre-paid service.
This is the third time since the dispute that my service has been suspended. On the the previous two occasions, it was restored when I pointed out that the account was under investigation. Now someone in the accounts department has decided to bar my service altogether," he said.
Serra said he had calculated what Vodacom's roaming charges would be from Madagascar, in addition to the satellite charges for phoning his fiancee, who works on a ship at sea.
"Vodacom's website publishes the rate from Madagascar on Worldcall at R19 a minute, which already includes the standard markup. Satellite charges are R21.56 a minute from South Africa.
"Adding these figures up, I estimated a charge of roughly R40 to R45 a minute at most. But I was charged from R100.90 to R102.56 a minute," he said.
The only response from Vodacom to his several letters was a copy of a brief internal e-mail saying: "The customer needs to understand that calls to satellite are not billed at a flat rate as the other Worldcall bands ... These calls are charged at the foreign network charge, plus mark-up. I have looked at the customer's bill and we added our mark-up correctly"
In reply, Serra wrote asking Vodacom if the mark-up on the satellite portion of the call cost was R60.
A search of all published reference to such exorbitant call charges," he wrote. He said Vodacom's refusal to explain how it had calculated the charge has violated his consumer rights.
Instead of an explanation, he has been ordered to pay the full bill and, if an error was made, the overcharge would be refunded to him.
"I have gone to great lengths to try to get some sort of understanding of what is going on. They have never bothered to phone me. As a long-standing customer I have been treated badly .
"I think consumers anywhere in the world would query a bill for $15 a minute. I spend on average R1 000 a month on my Vodacom contract and have been doing that for the past 10 years. For a R2 000 dispute they are willing to lose their client," he said.
He plans to change his number and port my number to another service provider, because they inisist I owe them R2 000."
Field said it was standard practice to lock a cellphone until the debt was settled.
{Argus Action}
