Battling ill-considered rules against clients

Every industry has its blind spots; entrenched practices which are morally indefensible but seldom questioned.

It’s not uncommon for a motor dealership, for example, to have a “brand new” car which has been bumped or scraped before sale repaired, and then fail to disclose this to the buyer.

The cellphone industry has a lot of blind spots. Prepaid airtime and data which “expires” after a month or two, for example, and charging people a considerable “admin fee” when they “upgrade” – in other words sign a new two-year contract – as a penalty for loyalty.

And then there’s forcing subscribers to forfeit the minutes they’ve accumulated during their contract period, should they choose to migrate to a cheaper contract or to prepaid – on the same network.

Longstanding MTN subscriber Gavin Fowler was outraged when that happened to him recently.

With his MTN 350 Anytime contract expiring at the end of November, he decided to commit to another MTN package – the MTN Choice 100.

But the network refused to transfer his R2000 accumulated airtime.

“I’ve been told in no uncertain terms that this airtime will be ‘lost’,” he told “In your corner”.

“I asked them if the scenario was reversed, and I owed them R2000 when I took out a new contract, would that debt similarly be ‘lost’?”

Good question, and we all know the answer.

“I have been with MTN for more than 15 years, but this take-it-or-leave-it attitude, together with promises of returned calls which don’t materialise, makes me wonder why I have been a loyal customer with them for so long,” Fowler said.

In raising the issue with MTN, I asked: “What is the justification for forcing subscribers who are choosing to contract with the network for a further two years to forfeit the airtime which has accrued during their existing contract?

“Naturally this leaves subscribers feeling cheated.”

Responding, MTN SA’s chief customer experience officer Eddie Moyce said the issue was that Fowler had “opted for a lower package” instead of an upgrade when his contract was up for renewal.

In other words, because his monthly spend was going to be less than before, he was being made to forfeit the airtime he’d legitimately accumulated, and paid for, on his previous contract.

How anyone sitting around a boardroom table thought that a was justifiable “business rule” is a mystery to me.

But here’s the good news – Fowler

e-mailed me to say that MTN had “done a complete turnaround”.

“After two weeks of not budging on their decision, they have decided to carry over my airtime,” he said.

Here’s how Moyce put it: “MTN made an exception in this case and made a decision that was in favour of the customer, considering the amounts involved.

“As part of our ongoing efforts at providing a distinct customer experience to our customers, MTN will be amending its rules to make provision for customers to carry over balances when they do upgrades and migrations, and this will even cover migration from prepaid to postpaid.”

The other networks also have policies which will see you forfeit accumulated airtime and data when you sign up for different deals within that network.

They, too, would do well to reconsider their policies in this regard, in the interests of treating customers fairly.

Meanwhile, if you’re about to sign a cellphone contract, take a few minutes to find out what the terms and conditions state about accumulated airtime and data.