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Johannesburg - The 20th birthday gift that all Vodacom customers received to celebrate the firm's 20th birthday has caused a furor among Vodacom customers.
While some users were happy with their free 1 GB data, Fin24 was inundated with complaints from users who said they could hardly send messages, let alone browse the internet from Vodacom's network.
Vodacom's CEO Shameel Joosub said in a statement last week that the data would be available until 23:59 on 11 May.
He said that this give-away was the first of many yet to come for Vodacom's over 33 million customers.
"We’re planning a year of celebrations and have new firsts lined up throughout the year."
According to Vodacom's website, 1 GB prepaid data costs R149.
But not everyone was happy with Vodacom's gift.
Aesha Wyatt said it's a great idea, but poor implementation. "Network today (on Sunday) is completely slow. Better off not getting this deal. Have only managed to use 30MB out of the 1GB so far... and I'm not downloading anything. Just using data for whatsapp and usual web pages. Messages taking a while to get through and web pages timing out.”
Moe Joe thanked Vodacom, but said "...just a pity I can't use it, network dead, times out, does not refresh, can't do Instagram, can't do YouTube, even msg. Chat apps are slow... was a happy customer till now, don't offer / promise something you can't deliver!"
Another user who wants to remain anonymous sarcastically said: "Well done Vodacom" before likening Vodacom's "gift" to "giving a baby 1 000 sweets and then forcing him to eat it in a day".
"If you want to give a gift, give wholeheartedly. I tried downloading some stuff and it crashes all the time," he said.
For Mike Chinavaenzwa the internet connection was poor the whole day. "It is only now past midnight that I can go on the internet. I think it was intentional on the side of Vodacom. Next time they should rather keep their free bundles and we use our own to surf."
Users weren't shy with suggestions for Vodacom.
Valery Makanda thought the gesture was a bit pathetic because the network was not on. "You could hardly do anything. So next time you try to do something like this please upgrade your network before you start giving away data."
For Stephan Coetzee it was the "worst idea ever". "Did you not know that this was going to choke the whole system? Even people like me with a data contract can't do anything on this useless speed. Next time maybe just give the 1 gig away and let people use it at their own speed so that they don't overburden the network. Now no one can do anything constructive with their free data anyway. Very badly thought out. Fire someone."
Bernard Barnard said "thanks for nothing": "The data doesn't work. It is very slow, not even Facebook works, Youtube doesn't work, whatsapp doesn't work, News24 takes forever to open."
However, not everyone was upset.
Thomas Tlabela said the free data allowed him to update apps on his device. "I'd have to part with R29 (100Mb - data) to update them. I wish it could be every month for the whole year."
Masego Mokotedi was a happy customer who "enjoyed the moment". He wrote: "Wow, great Vodacom! I've updated my tablet app and done software download! Thank you and hope you'll bring back the free service to customers."
Vodacom made Khabo's Mother's day: "Having some 'me' time, listening to lounge music via mix radio with my 1G. Mother's day made. Thanks Vodacom."
Oluka Markey used his data for study purpose and job hunting.
Vodacom spokesperson Richard Spoor told Fin24 the mobile operator was still busy compiling the data, "so it’s difficult to comment in detail at the moment about the full reach of the campaign".
"We are, however, quite sure that the gift was a win when it came to bridging the digital divide and making data accessible to a much wider proportion of the population.
"There are always things to learn from trying out new ideas and taking risks.
"We’ll definitely be spending quite a bit of time understanding those lessons and using the information to improve services."
- Fin24
While some users were happy with their free 1 GB data, Fin24 was inundated with complaints from users who said they could hardly send messages, let alone browse the internet from Vodacom's network.
Vodacom's CEO Shameel Joosub said in a statement last week that the data would be available until 23:59 on 11 May.
He said that this give-away was the first of many yet to come for Vodacom's over 33 million customers.
"We’re planning a year of celebrations and have new firsts lined up throughout the year."
According to Vodacom's website, 1 GB prepaid data costs R149.
But not everyone was happy with Vodacom's gift.
Aesha Wyatt said it's a great idea, but poor implementation. "Network today (on Sunday) is completely slow. Better off not getting this deal. Have only managed to use 30MB out of the 1GB so far... and I'm not downloading anything. Just using data for whatsapp and usual web pages. Messages taking a while to get through and web pages timing out.”
Moe Joe thanked Vodacom, but said "...just a pity I can't use it, network dead, times out, does not refresh, can't do Instagram, can't do YouTube, even msg. Chat apps are slow... was a happy customer till now, don't offer / promise something you can't deliver!"
Another user who wants to remain anonymous sarcastically said: "Well done Vodacom" before likening Vodacom's "gift" to "giving a baby 1 000 sweets and then forcing him to eat it in a day".
"If you want to give a gift, give wholeheartedly. I tried downloading some stuff and it crashes all the time," he said.
For Mike Chinavaenzwa the internet connection was poor the whole day. "It is only now past midnight that I can go on the internet. I think it was intentional on the side of Vodacom. Next time they should rather keep their free bundles and we use our own to surf."
Users weren't shy with suggestions for Vodacom.
Valery Makanda thought the gesture was a bit pathetic because the network was not on. "You could hardly do anything. So next time you try to do something like this please upgrade your network before you start giving away data."
For Stephan Coetzee it was the "worst idea ever". "Did you not know that this was going to choke the whole system? Even people like me with a data contract can't do anything on this useless speed. Next time maybe just give the 1 gig away and let people use it at their own speed so that they don't overburden the network. Now no one can do anything constructive with their free data anyway. Very badly thought out. Fire someone."
Bernard Barnard said "thanks for nothing": "The data doesn't work. It is very slow, not even Facebook works, Youtube doesn't work, whatsapp doesn't work, News24 takes forever to open."
However, not everyone was upset.
Thomas Tlabela said the free data allowed him to update apps on his device. "I'd have to part with R29 (100Mb - data) to update them. I wish it could be every month for the whole year."
Masego Mokotedi was a happy customer who "enjoyed the moment". He wrote: "Wow, great Vodacom! I've updated my tablet app and done software download! Thank you and hope you'll bring back the free service to customers."
Vodacom made Khabo's Mother's day: "Having some 'me' time, listening to lounge music via mix radio with my 1G. Mother's day made. Thanks Vodacom."
Oluka Markey used his data for study purpose and job hunting.
Vodacom spokesperson Richard Spoor told Fin24 the mobile operator was still busy compiling the data, "so it’s difficult to comment in detail at the moment about the full reach of the campaign".
"We are, however, quite sure that the gift was a win when it came to bridging the digital divide and making data accessible to a much wider proportion of the population.
"There are always things to learn from trying out new ideas and taking risks.
"We’ll definitely be spending quite a bit of time understanding those lessons and using the information to improve services."
- Fin24
