Internet!!!!!!!!!!!!

[insulin]

The internet continued: The m-web saga.

The old man claims that it was done telephonically, because his mail was not working at the time. And it was because of his mail that did not work that he cancelled his subscription. The thing is when I contacted m-web they told me that there was a NOTE on their system that a cancellation request was indeed made however m-web never in 10 years did a follow-up on the NOTE on their system.

Then when I phoned the second time around the NOTE on the system disappeared. So someone did some housekeeping. But again and I do want to point this out: If m-web did send him statements like they are required to do then the old man would have been informed that there was still an active account with m-web thus he would have taken action to cancel it again.

His post address never chanced for the last 20 years and I knew him all my life so I know he never moved and is still using the same phone number the same post address and stays in the same house for the last 20+ years.

If m-web wanted to make contact they could have done so with no problems what-so-ever! But m-web was happy just to shut-up and take money from an elderly person. That is really depraved actually... And m-web knows that statements are a must or so I was told by the Consumer Council but sadly the Consumer Council is really lacking training...

Sadly lawyers are expensive and I know from personal experience that advice do cost a lot of money. This is actually the reason why a big company gets away with everything. They know you don’t have the money to stand up for your rights.

[twinscythe12332]

surely if you have some proof that the contract was terminated, he could mutilate them in court?

[Dave A]

And behold! M-web was taking money from him for over 10 years without even sending him a single statement for the last 10 years.

I don't recall ever getting a statement from M-Net/DSTv, come to think of it.

[insulin]

The internet Continued: The Million Rand bug.

Needless to say you are right. Companies do benefit from your mistakes. I tend to recall an m-web related story. A friend of mine’s dad is about sixty years old now about 10 years ago he called up m-web and asks them if they could cancel his subscription because he was not using it. Ten years later he decided to go through is bank statements. And behold! M-web was taking money from him for over 10 years without even sending him a single statement for the last 10 years. They were all too happy just to take his money and shut-up about it. I got into the picture and made sure it was cancelled this time. But they will take advantage from the elderly and never even tried to repay his money. Again the Consumer Council proved that they will REALLY benefit from training! Now the thing is; how did the old man not notice it sooner? Well to come up for him, he is still a working man and don’t get a lot of time to himself and again the amount that m-web was taking was not a lot so it didn’t seemed to be suspicious or jump out at him. But that still doesn’t explain the lack of statements now does it. After all and I stand to be corrected on this but South African law says that all subscription based account are legally required to send statements. Again the law seems useless to protect his people.

[Dave A]

They make millions this way and nobody does anything about it.

I do - I don't buy it
At least not the out-of-bundle stuff.

[pietpetoors]

Vodacom

Just follow some of the discussions at http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=103
and you will see that it is a general problem. A problem I believe the cell phone companies do not want to fix because they make millions from it. All they do is pull up their shoulders and say "sorry tjom, you were not supposed to use it when it was out of bundle"
They make millions this way and nobody does anything about it.

[insulin]

The internet continued: Freedom of the Net...

I cannot argue with your point. But to be blunt I feel the internet must be a free public service because you as an individual have the right to information. You have the right to an education. The internet is a tool that can educate you. The internet can also inform you from your mobile phone or a 3g connection. The truth is that the internet is one of the most powerful tools we as individuals have.

Sadly large companies took notice and knew that the desirability of the internet can become a profitable industry. Thus we pay for every single Mb of information. Now if a small amount of let say 1 million people are indeed paying R2 for every Mb because they cannot afford a bundle! These companies are making 2 million every few minutes.

I am honest when I say that a lot more than 1 million people use the internet but again do the math and you will find that as the megabytes tick over so does their profits. The fact is that we the people are suffering because of this... How? By not being introduced to technology that can educate you! The truth is that innovation is power. We are not empowered thus we lose our ability to go forward.

By imprisoning the Internet, I as an individual am robbed from a technology that could have changed my life. With this in mind I stand by my statement. The internet must be regulated by the state and be made affordable for everyone! Unfortunately corruption is a norm in this part of the world so sadly we will probably never see a true beneficial system.

[Dave A]

Why not demand that a new law be drafted that will force the internet providers and owners of the data systems to comply with a standardized structure similar to the one we find in petroleum.

That's really the main thrust of Mybroadband.

That said, do we really want to see something like the petroleum structure put in? How competitive is the local petroleum industry really?

[insulin]

The internet: Free the megabyte campaign.

As I stated before the internet is being held ransom by the large companies thus we the user suffer dearly. Bills we cannot pay. Then there is the internet consumers market that suffers because people cannot utilize the net because there are just too many hidden traps that will cripple them fanatically so the internet remains a close door to many.

However I see there is a lot of clever people in this forum. Why not demand that a new law be drafted that will force the internet providers and owners of the data systems to comply with a standardized structure similar to the one we find in petroleum. This will allow for a fair system that might be inexpensive however our government is not known for making bright decisions so I cannot say if this will be a good thing or not.

[Loman]

I have a E270 MTN 3G modem and the software that helps to keep track of your usage(although its not correct to the mb) is checking the internet for a update every two seconds. What a way for mtn to make money. Luckily i managed to switch it off, but not soon enough.

[insulin]

The Internet continued: The flaw of the net.

I agree about allot of things, however it is true that licensing of any large telecommunications group is owned indirectly by the state. Via it be licensing or using Telkom as a backbone. The sad thing is by holding the internet ransom will hindering the growth in the digital consumers market. Everything comes at a price. Greed’s victim is the poor. Point is nothing we do will change their minds... unless all South Africans magically decides to turn their mobile phones off for a view days. Trust me the amount of money they will lose will be substantial when it comes to the contact user. But these companies are anything but stupid! Thanks to prepay these companies already received their money so switching your phone of is not going to do anything! Brilliant is not. Sadly the only way I can see change is if the government passes a law to regulate the system. That will not happen because money is money...

[twinscythe12332]

vodacom is just doing what alot of other companies do. find a flaw in the system and use that flaw to their advantage.

there are 2 major networks in this field, both are local. doesn't this sound a bit messed up? cell c, and virgin mobile are jokes, because cell c piggy backs off vodacom (70 % of traffic through vodacom), and virgin piggy backs off cell c.

then of course there is telkom, who own the cables so far.

it would be nice to see some sort of board look into this (considering bandwidth in america is practically free), we are third world, I can understand that, but we shouldn't be raped for it.

[SilverNodashi]

Dave, do you really think they offer this is a valued service? The general South African is too ignorant to even know all the terminology used when it comes to anything IT / technical / internet related, and the only thing that really "talks" is the price on the TV ad.

So, this is just another way for Vodacom to make an extra buck.

[Dave A]

I question the out-of-bundle rate. How does Vodacom justify the huge difference between in-bundle and out-of-bundle rates?

[insulin]

The internet continued: The truth!!!

To answer: Yes my friend is aware of the cost when it goes out of bundle. And yes the 80% SMS is a clear indicator. I cannot argue that these are the facts. Now that we understand how the set-cap work, it comes down to this it is actually your fault! Or is it? I mean when is too much TOO MUCH? When will the system stop you from downloading continues data streams or large files.

In the end of the day it appears and again I stand to be corrected that you can download indefinitely. Thus you will end up with R2 per 1MB a DVD of data will cost you R8000.

Still a credit check was done when you applied for the contract. Vodacom knows what you CAN and CANNOT afford. You can afford R800 per month but you are paying regardless of the credit check about R2000 to R3000 over!!!!

So it is true when you download large files it is your doing. But the way the cap functions is NOT your doing. The fact that there might not be limitations to what you can go over; IS ALSO NOT YOUR DOING. You have no control over these two aspects. What then was the use of the credit check in the first place if they can still take from you MORE then what you CAN afford! and Vodacom knows what that amount is.

Point plank it is your fault to go over your set amount because there is systems that warn you. BUT the amount that it goes over is not regulated or so it seems so they can take from you an amount knowing you could not afford that mount in the first place.

What then is the purpose of set-caps, credit checks also known as “Affordability Control” if they had no intention to stop you from going over.

Think about...