#DataMustFall success and why Econet is absolutely in the wrong!

For the past three days Zimbabweans we found ourselves with the most ridiculous data prices ever. On January 11 The countries largest telecommunications company Econet was found on the wrong side of the customer as they were the first to implement a floor price from POTRAZ . Econet has since issued a statement apologizing to us customers and blaming the regulator on this whole debacle. Now from information surfacing it seems that Econet and the other telcoms companies are the ones who actually engaged POTRAZ regarding declining revenues which were, according to them, threatening industry viability and service roll out. Infact the MNOs ( Mobile Network Operators ) met prior to the issuance of this determination and proposed even higher floor prices through their collective voice, the Telecommunications Operators Association of Zimbabwe (TOAZ). I dont want to argue about who did what as i am no expert at this wholething but as an Econet subscriber i wish to highlight to Econet how they mishandled this issue and did not regard me the customer but rushed to act motivated by the  greed of immediate profit.

THEY WERE THE FIRST TO RUSH AND IMPLEMENT THIS NEW PRICING

Now it is good to comply with the law but what was the rush? In shona we say ” usamhanye kumedza kutsenga uchada ” meaning don’t be quick to swallow whilst you still need to chew. I will tell you what the rush was for: they were eager to make a killing. It was not even about obeying the law because as i highlight below:

THEY WERE CHARGING FIVE TIMES THE REGULATED FLOOR PRICE FOR DATA

Econet claims they have me the customer at heart and this was all caused by the regulatory authority and yet they were charging us 5 times what the regulator had gazetted. Surely this is an indication of nothing else but greed on the part of Econet. Why did they not charge the minimum if they truly had me the customer in mind, if they felt my pain.

THEY SAW IT FIT TO IMPLEMENT WITHOUT AT LEAST INFORMING THEIR CLIENTS

I woke up on January 11 just finding a new data cost structure. There was no message from Econet to at least explain that we had crossed over to a new pricing. Surely this is not a hard feat to perform. Instead they sent a message later on in the day which to me was an insult and Econet should really think twice about the messages they send. They sent the following message:

The bar has been raised #MaLevels. Get yourself the new Social Media Bundles which comes with 100% FREE Wi-Fi from as little as 50c.TO OPT OUT SMS STOP to 30440

To me this message was an insult because the bar was not raised but it was actually lowered. I used to get , 250MB for a $1, 1GB for $2 and 2GB for  $3 and now what they were now offering was way less. Surely what they should have texted was an apology and not this insult which just for me was a slap in the face.

THEY HAVE FAILED TO TEXT ALL CLIENTS WITH AN APOLOGY

Econets apology was put on their facebook and twitter pages. But a blunder of this magnitude surely they should text every customer. Econet does not mind bombarding us with adverts and texts that are annoying but they find it fit to just not inform the client of things that really are important to us. If they really feel our pain they should act as such by going out of their way to make ammends. I tell you the ball has been dropped and it needs to be picked up. Yes we know there are other factors at play but right now you need to show me the customer that you truly care. Oh maybe you want to keep people ignorant because truly you are not happy with your old pricing. Maybe this is not so but right now that’s how i see it.

HERE IS MY CONCLUSION

For the past 3 days i and many other customers have been subjected to ridiculously high data tariffs and i implore with you Econet to go back to the drawing board regarding how you deal with your customers because even before this we have had issues with you about disappearing airtime, about how your customer care line is never answered and many other grievances. You are sleeping on the wheel! We all know how internet has disrupted your income model by affecting your voice call revenue. I believe these three days have revealed a lot about where your heart truly lies when it comes to your customers. I propose you have a meeting to pick up the ball that you dropped because let me tell you the ball was dropped and the damage was done. Now you need to prove to us that you truly have us at heart.Reimburse us our money or reward us with air time or data bundles for these three days we bought expensive data.