Outrageous Service

ALTHOUGH poor service is a fact of life in Namibia, in some cases it is so outrageous that it boggles the mind.I “stole” this heading from a previous letter that was published in The Namibian on March 9th 2004, mainly to emphasise the fact that nothing has changed since then.

Well, in my opinion anyway. I am a “leisure 100” subscriber with MTC.I took the “plunge” and signed the two-year contract in October 2004.Advertised with this contract, was a free camera as well as a free Sony Ericsson cell phone.I eventually received the camera in December, after complaining personally to the Management of MTC.My wife however, like many other people, has until today not yet received her free camera, and this after we were assured by MTC on six occasions already that these would be delivered as soon as they receive new stock.It has now been almost ten months since.The free phone that I received showed significant damage on the exterior after only 28 days of usage.Significant marks and scratches became evident on the keypad, while pieces of paint started to chip off on various parts of the phone.I then promptly returned the phone to MTC.An operator eventually returned my calls and then rudely told me that according to management I had deliberately caused the damage myself.I immediately took the matter up with MTC management, who knew nothing of the matter, and after inspecting the phone decided to send it to the supplier in the Middle East.After being without the phone for three months, it was returned to me with the unfortunate news that the guarantee does not cover exterior damage.I then discarded the phone and bought another.Throughout this whole episode I had to continuously initiate contact with the relevant staff at MTC, as none of the deadlines given by them were kept or any of the calls were returned as promised.MTC introduced a new billing system in January 2005, which was made out to be a huge improvement on the old system.It seems to me however, that the only improvements that this new system brings along with it are the growing profit margins of MTC, at the expense of the customer of course.Besides this new system being totally confusing to the customer, MTC has taken the liberty to in effect double each subscriber’s monthly usage limit, putting customers at risk of running up unaccounted bills.I requested MTC in April to reinstate my monthly usage limit, but this has unfortunately not yet happened.Another interesting fact that I noticed is that the MTC system clock runs several minutes “slow”.This has been the case for many months now, and MTC seems unable, or unwilling, for that matter, to rectify this problem.I have reported this on several occasions, and was told, “they’d look into it and get back to me.”Needless to say, I never received a reply.This is a very significant issue as many callers wait for a certain time of day when calls become cheaper or when free minutes come into effect, to make their calls.For example, you might be under the impression that it is 19h00 and that your free minutes are available to you now, but then the MTC clock registers and bills your call at 18h53.I can only imagine that this leads to significant profits for MTC.It has come to my attention that many subscribers share in the frustration of the poor service that MTC offers.As an individual it is very difficult to make one’s voice heard.Perhaps, as a group, one’s voice has more authority.Different views regarding your experience with MTC (good or bad), can be sent to mtcomplain@hotmail.com.If significant response is received, further action may be considered.Frustrated Subscriber WindhoekI am a “leisure 100” subscriber with MTC.I took the “plunge” and signed the two-year contract in October 2004.Advertised with this contract, was a free camera as well as a free Sony Ericsson cell phone.I eventually received the camera in December, after complaining personally to the Management of MTC.My wife however, like many other people, has until today not yet received her free camera, and this after we were assured by MTC on six occasions already that these would be delivered as soon as they receive new stock.It has now been almost ten months since.The free phone that I received showed significant damage on the exterior after only 28 days of usage.Significant marks and scratches became evident on the keypad, while pieces of paint started to chip off on various parts of the phone.I then promptly returned the phone to MTC.An operator eventually returned my calls and then rudely told me that according to management I had deliberately caused the damage myself.I immediately took the matter up with MTC management, who knew nothing of the matter, and after inspecting the phone decided to send it to the supplier in the Middle East.After being without the phone for three months, it was returned to me with the unfortunate news that the guarantee does not cover exterior damage.I then discarded the phone and bought another.Throughout this whole episode I had to continuously initiate contact with the relevant staff at MTC, as none of the deadlines given by them were kept or any of the calls were returned as promised.MTC introduced a new billing system in January 2005, which was made out to be a huge improvement on the old system.It seems to me however, that the only improvements that this new system brings along with it are the growing profit margins of MTC, at the expense of the customer of course.Besides this new system being totally confusing to the customer, MTC has taken the liberty to in effect double each subscriber’s monthly usage limit, putting customers at risk of running up unaccounted bills.I requested MTC in April to reinstate my monthly usage limit, but this has unfortunately not yet happened.Another interesting fact that I noticed is that the MTC system clock runs several minutes “slow”.This has been the case for many months now, and MTC seems unable, or unwilling, for that matter, to rectify this problem.I have reported this on several occasions, and was told, “they’d look into it and get back to me.”Needless to say, I never received a reply.This is a very significant issue as many callers wait for a certain time of day when calls become cheaper or when free minutes come into effect, to make their calls.For example, you might be under the impression that it is 19h00 and that your free minutes are available to you now, but then the MTC clock registers and bills your call at 18h53.I can only imagine that this leads to significant profits for MTC.It has come to my attention that many subscribers share in the frustration of the poor service that MTC offers.As an individual it is very difficult to make one’s voice heard.Perhaps, as a group, one’s voice has more authority.Different views regarding your experience with MTC (good or bad), can be sent to mtcomplain@hotmail.com.If significant response is received, further action may be considered.Frustrated Subscriber Windhoek