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Cape Town - I am a Cell C client with a prepaid option on my cell phone.
Due to the nature of my job, I do not use my cell phone except when I am on the move. This means that the airtime I buy (usually R70 or more at a time) lasts a long time, as I use my phone mainly to send or receive text messages and had done so fairly frequently in the period before the SIM card was deactivated.
I was very happy with the deal until, one day, I found that I could not send a very important SMS.
I was also not able to call a friend, but was not concerned at the time as I managed to reach her later, using a landline.
I called Cell C to enquire why I was not able to send any SMS messages and was shocked to find that my SIM card had been deactivated since 120 days had elapsed since I had last recharged my airtime.
To say that I was angry would be an understatement as I have been informed by a consumer journalist that it is not legal to sell vouchers which expire.
The recharge vouchers do not warn the customer that the recharge period is limited to 120 days after which the SIM card will be deactivated.
I believe that Cell C is not acting in the best interest of their customers because:
- Cell C sells vouchers effectively expire after 120 days, and so the promise of the airtime bought is not delivered;
- The recharge vouchers do not warn clients that the SIM card will be deactivated if not recharged within 120 days;
- Cell C did not notify me via SMS that I should recharge my phone or I would lose my time.
The most worrying aspect of the SIM card deactivation is that I would not have been able to make a call in an emergency which is the primary reason for having a cell phone in my case.
This is especially worrying in a country where there is a high level of violence against women and children.
I spoke at length to a consultant and his team leader. The latter was most helpful and agreed that it would be a good idea for Cell C to send an SMS 48 hours in advance of the deactivation to give clients the opportunity to recharge their phones without a disruption in the service.
Of course the most sensible option would be to scrap the 120 day limit in its entirety.
I now have to go and buy more airtime despite the fact that I have well over R100 in credit, which will last me a long time.
This episode has not enhanced Cell C’s reputation in any way. It has simply made a customer unhappy, which is not a good idea for a service provider.
I want to challenge Cell C about their terrible customer service.
If it was not so much trouble I would migrate my number to another network, but that means that I also lose the air time which I have on the phone at present.
The reply I got from Cell C to my email about the deactivation was as helpful as a joke book at a funeral.
I could not contact them, so I have no idea what “put into complete status” means.
I would be grateful if Fin24 would take on this matter for me and other Cell C users, as any attempts to try to talk to a human have proven fruitless.
In fact, I think it was a matter of luck that I managed to speak to someone in the first place and wish that I had taken down the sequence of numbers that connected me to the call centre rather than sending me through the online menus in a closed loop.
For the record, we have a similar option with MTN, who do not deactivate the SIM card after 120 days. We last topped up the airtime in June 2013 and the phone was still working in December 2013.
A Cell C spokesperson responds:
A prepaid SIM that is activated on Cell C will remain active on the network if there is revenue-generating activity on the line, like making and receiving calls, loading airtime.
If the SIM is dormant for 120 days, the SIM will be deactivated and the number recycled.
A customer will only be able to activate the number again after that period, if the number was not reallocated to another customer.
Airtime vouchers have an airtime window of 120 days. While airtime does not expire, the airtime window will close after 120 days, unless the customer loaded airtime, which would again extend the window by 120 days.
If the airtime window closes, the line will be soft-locked and the customer will have to load airtime to reactivate the line.
Once the line has been unlocked, the customer will have access to all remaining airtime available on that line.
What do other service providers do?
A spokesperson of Vodacom responds:
Our prepaid activity rule states that subscribers will be deleted after 215 consecutive days of inactivity.
Activity includes recharges, as well as voice calls, SMS and data.
The simcard is locked seven days prior to the deletion and a warning SMS message is sent 31 days before this event.
Airtime does not expire as long as there is activity on the cellphone account.
We are required by Icasa to use the number ranges as efficiently as possible and the deleted numbers are re-used as a matter of necessity and obligation to the requirements of the authority.
A spokesperson of Telkom Mobile responds:
Telkom Mobile does not deactivate or suspend SIM cards automatically, nor do we have an airtime window expiry period.
Icasa allocates a limited number of MSISDN’s, so we have to recycle them when the pool of numbers allocated to us is depleted.
We do a manual recycle on numbers that have had no activity at all over a 90 day period.
So, as long as a customer has received or made a call or SMS, or had a data transaction within the 90 day period, the SIM card won’t get recycled.
The reason we do this is to abide by Icasa’s number efficiency policy.
Eddie Moyce: chief customer experience officer at MTN responds:
When a prepaid MSISDN has not made a chargeable call for 30 days, the following SMS reminder message is sent to the customer:
“Yello! To keep your cellphone number active, you need to make a call, send an SMS or MMS or load an airtime voucher every 90 days with MTN Access4Life.”
When a prepaid MSISDN has not made a chargeable call for 85 days, the following SMS reminder message is sent to the customer:
“Hello. As you have not made a chargeable call on MTN for 90 days you will be deactivated from MTN’s Pay As You Go system in 5 days. For more info, call 083173.”
The Access4Life Rule Table depicts which prepaid activity will count towards Access4Life rules.
If the customer has not complied with one of the applicable Access4Life rules in a 90 day period, the customer shall be deactivated after 97 days.
- Fin24
Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyFin24 have been independently written by members of the Fin24 community. The views of users published on Fin24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent those of Fin24.
Due to the nature of my job, I do not use my cell phone except when I am on the move. This means that the airtime I buy (usually R70 or more at a time) lasts a long time, as I use my phone mainly to send or receive text messages and had done so fairly frequently in the period before the SIM card was deactivated.
I was very happy with the deal until, one day, I found that I could not send a very important SMS.
I was also not able to call a friend, but was not concerned at the time as I managed to reach her later, using a landline.
I called Cell C to enquire why I was not able to send any SMS messages and was shocked to find that my SIM card had been deactivated since 120 days had elapsed since I had last recharged my airtime.
To say that I was angry would be an understatement as I have been informed by a consumer journalist that it is not legal to sell vouchers which expire.
The recharge vouchers do not warn the customer that the recharge period is limited to 120 days after which the SIM card will be deactivated.
I believe that Cell C is not acting in the best interest of their customers because:
- Cell C sells vouchers effectively expire after 120 days, and so the promise of the airtime bought is not delivered;
- The recharge vouchers do not warn clients that the SIM card will be deactivated if not recharged within 120 days;
- Cell C did not notify me via SMS that I should recharge my phone or I would lose my time.
The most worrying aspect of the SIM card deactivation is that I would not have been able to make a call in an emergency which is the primary reason for having a cell phone in my case.
This is especially worrying in a country where there is a high level of violence against women and children.
I spoke at length to a consultant and his team leader. The latter was most helpful and agreed that it would be a good idea for Cell C to send an SMS 48 hours in advance of the deactivation to give clients the opportunity to recharge their phones without a disruption in the service.
Of course the most sensible option would be to scrap the 120 day limit in its entirety.
I now have to go and buy more airtime despite the fact that I have well over R100 in credit, which will last me a long time.
This episode has not enhanced Cell C’s reputation in any way. It has simply made a customer unhappy, which is not a good idea for a service provider.
I want to challenge Cell C about their terrible customer service.
If it was not so much trouble I would migrate my number to another network, but that means that I also lose the air time which I have on the phone at present.
The reply I got from Cell C to my email about the deactivation was as helpful as a joke book at a funeral.
I could not contact them, so I have no idea what “put into complete status” means.
I would be grateful if Fin24 would take on this matter for me and other Cell C users, as any attempts to try to talk to a human have proven fruitless.
In fact, I think it was a matter of luck that I managed to speak to someone in the first place and wish that I had taken down the sequence of numbers that connected me to the call centre rather than sending me through the online menus in a closed loop.
For the record, we have a similar option with MTN, who do not deactivate the SIM card after 120 days. We last topped up the airtime in June 2013 and the phone was still working in December 2013.
A Cell C spokesperson responds:
A prepaid SIM that is activated on Cell C will remain active on the network if there is revenue-generating activity on the line, like making and receiving calls, loading airtime.
If the SIM is dormant for 120 days, the SIM will be deactivated and the number recycled.
A customer will only be able to activate the number again after that period, if the number was not reallocated to another customer.
Airtime vouchers have an airtime window of 120 days. While airtime does not expire, the airtime window will close after 120 days, unless the customer loaded airtime, which would again extend the window by 120 days.
If the airtime window closes, the line will be soft-locked and the customer will have to load airtime to reactivate the line.
Once the line has been unlocked, the customer will have access to all remaining airtime available on that line.
What do other service providers do?
A spokesperson of Vodacom responds:
Our prepaid activity rule states that subscribers will be deleted after 215 consecutive days of inactivity.
Activity includes recharges, as well as voice calls, SMS and data.
The simcard is locked seven days prior to the deletion and a warning SMS message is sent 31 days before this event.
Airtime does not expire as long as there is activity on the cellphone account.
We are required by Icasa to use the number ranges as efficiently as possible and the deleted numbers are re-used as a matter of necessity and obligation to the requirements of the authority.
A spokesperson of Telkom Mobile responds:
Telkom Mobile does not deactivate or suspend SIM cards automatically, nor do we have an airtime window expiry period.
Icasa allocates a limited number of MSISDN’s, so we have to recycle them when the pool of numbers allocated to us is depleted.
We do a manual recycle on numbers that have had no activity at all over a 90 day period.
So, as long as a customer has received or made a call or SMS, or had a data transaction within the 90 day period, the SIM card won’t get recycled.
The reason we do this is to abide by Icasa’s number efficiency policy.
Eddie Moyce: chief customer experience officer at MTN responds:
When a prepaid MSISDN has not made a chargeable call for 30 days, the following SMS reminder message is sent to the customer:
“Yello! To keep your cellphone number active, you need to make a call, send an SMS or MMS or load an airtime voucher every 90 days with MTN Access4Life.”
When a prepaid MSISDN has not made a chargeable call for 85 days, the following SMS reminder message is sent to the customer:
“Hello. As you have not made a chargeable call on MTN for 90 days you will be deactivated from MTN’s Pay As You Go system in 5 days. For more info, call 083173.”
The Access4Life Rule Table depicts which prepaid activity will count towards Access4Life rules.
If the customer has not complied with one of the applicable Access4Life rules in a 90 day period, the customer shall be deactivated after 97 days.
- Fin24
Disclaimer: All articles and letters published on MyFin24 have been independently written by members of the Fin24 community. The views of users published on Fin24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent those of Fin24.
