[Article] Warning : MTN giving out client account details.

[daveob]

My existing MTN business contract, with MTN-SP is soon to reach it's 24 month period, and is due for an upgrade. A few days back, I got an sms from 'Chris', reminding me of this, with my contact account name and details.

So I called Chris who admitted he did not work directly for MTN or MTN-SP, and is in fact some sort of cell dealership, and tried to convince me that they do 'these upgrades' for MTN.

What a load of hog-wash !! All previous upgrades have been handled directly with MTN-SP.

To top it all, he could not explain how he had access to all my personal account information. So a call to MTN-SP's 808 number put me in touch with Bongani. Bongani asked for Chris's number and said they would investigate and get back to me the same day.

Two days late, still nothing - typical MTN - either they could not be bothered, or they don't want to admit that they are handing out private client account information ( I suspect to 'preferred' dealers ).

[Dave A]

I think the dealers have got access to the MTN database for processing purposes. I did an upgrade at Makro quite recently and they just tapped directly into Vodacom's database to process the transaction. It was done immediately. I even got an sms from Vodacom confirming the upgrade whilst the Makro staffer was still tapping away processing the transaction.

It would be a short jump for some smart agent to be able to run queries to produce people up for renewals shortly.

[Jabu]

I am sure Bongani is thanking you for the information daveob. Now he can get his piece of the action too.

[murdock]

i have been reading through all the threads contacting various customers trying to find out which would be a suitable service to go to...well now i just dont know....anyone have any ideas as to which would be the best service provider to change to and why?

[Dave A]

We've got MTN and Vodacom contracts within our company and I can't complain about the telephone connectivity side of either. And I've never had a problem with their billing either (although lower rates would be 2).

I know I've had my moans about Vodacom's 3g services, but that's slightly different to normal cellphone service and they're wierd technical issues where I think they could be doing better.

I also think there are aspects of the V3g service where they are doing a lot better than other ISPs too. Telkom ISP's port restrictions drive me up the wall and this is one area in particular that I have to commend Vodacom on their service.