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Cape Town - Sky-rocketing data bills are leaving consumers angry. Fin24 has published several complaints from users complaining about their hefty data bills.
In some cases users appear to be uninformed on how data works. In other cases, mobile network providers failed to sufficiently educate consumers about their contracts.
READ: #BillShock: R188 000 in one day
Another disgruntled user has turned to Fin24 saying that regulation should be put in place to put a stop to the exploitation of consumers when it come to data bills.
He writes:
I received a bill for about R18 000 on my daughter's cell phone related to out-of-bundle data usage. I saw the bill only after my own and my daughter's phones were soft-locked."
I exploded of course. At the time of signing the contract, in December 16, I was assured by the in-store staff that her data usage would be capped at 500mb a month. Something which I knew was a risk.
Upon enquiry I was told that the network provider cannot cap data usage in anyway and can only cap the credit limit, which I was never informed about. This was set at network provider’s discretion at R25 000 per month. Once my and my daughter’s bill reached this cap the soft-lock kicked in.
Then they have the gall to send me text messages asking my opinion on their service and whether I would recommend them to a friend. This is similar to a hijacker asking you about the experience and whether you would recommend him to someone else who is up for a hijacking!
Surely some regulation should be put in place to put a stop to this exploitation of the public by allowing out-of-bundle data usage. It’s as clear as daylight that a cell phone owner would rather run out of data than sit with a R20 000 bill.
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Disclaimer: All letters and comments published in Fin24 have been independently written by members of the Fin24 community. The views are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent those of Fin24.
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