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Journalism of Courage
• You believe that your mobile company is over billing you
• You are upset that the company did not disclose all charges to you
• Your promised free calls and sms messages appear as charges at month end
• You did not know there was a cost to switching plans or service
If you find yourself agreeing with most of these statements, you are not alone. Few of the 34 million mobile (including WiLL) users in India will stand up to say that they are fully satisfied with the service provider and costs. While the gripe about being out of service at times merely makes one reach for a landline or a neighbour’s cell, more serious are the complains about hidden or undisclosed costs. The hidden costs come in different disguises and you need to be able to unmask them. Here are some common traps.
Freebies that are not
Freelance website developer Shiela Bhatia hates to switch her mobile numbers since both business and personal contacts suffer. But the last six months found her shifting operators twice. The latest was last month when she replaced a six month old Hutch for a new Idea connection, because one of the plans promised 200 free SMS over two months.
But that was the beginning of her problems. “The service was fine but I had a nagging feeling about the free SMS facility,” she says. Though these were promised by the staff where she signed up, these did not show up on the Bill Plan. Many customer support calls later and with her first bill in her hand, Bhatia is nowhere close to an answer. “I have not been able to figure out if I got the free SMS facility and customer service is of no help,” she says.
What you can do: Understand what you are getting free clearly and get the person selling to show the scheme to you in writing. Verbal commitments means nothing.
Kill bill
Delhi based ad guy R Radha Krishnan tells of being cut off in Manali just because his usage was higher than he thought it would be and he was not in Delhi to pay the sudden interim bill that came. “I switched from Airtel to Idea because of the first two miserable weeks at Airtel post-paid,” he says after Airtel cut him off when in Manali, although he told them that he would settle accounts on his return. “I switched to Hutch and they did the same thing, but at least gave me some breathing space,” he says.
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Ad man R Radha Krishnan found out the hard way that mobile companies send ‘interim’ bills if usage is higher than expected. They cut him off when he was out of town and unable to pay up in time
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The truth is that every post-paid plan has a limit to airtime usage. If you use more than you’re expected to, Hutch, Airtel and Idea will send you an interim bill. Customers say that Airtel will typically give you five days before they switch outgoing calls off. Idea will make you nervous but won’t switch you off and Hutch gives you a patient hearing, plus a week before blocking outgoing calls.
What you can do: Instead of picking the cheapest option, set a personal affordability limit to your monthly bill and then choose a plan.
Operator switching costs
Check out the policy on switching operators or plans in the middle of the billing cycle, warns mobile switch veteran Nimesh Sudan. Most operators take a month’s rental in advance and another Rs 500-700 as a security deposit. If you switch you stand to lose out on this. “I got back my security deposit, but I chose to wait six months before switching. Friends who switched before their contract was over lost cash,”says Nimesh.
What you can do: Try not to ditch your operator overnight, wait out the minimum period after which you can get your deposit back.
Plan switching costs
Switching plans can be costly as well. When Sudan decided to switch an Airtel plan he did not know he would lose money on it. Nimesh paid an amount calculated on the basis of how much he would have used in a month if he used a certain amount in a single day. “So, I switched plans, but couldn’t benefit from it,” he complains. This happened because he hadn’t heard of pro-rata costing and nobody had warned him. But in fact, pro-rata accounting is followed by many operators all over the world. Here’s how it works:
If a customer with a 150 free minutes of outgoing calls switches to a 300 free minute plan, he may not get all 300 free minutes as some minutes may be deducted for switching plans in the middle of the billing cycle. First, the total daily outgoing is calculated and considered based on the 150 plan. If higher than the daily free minutes expected under Plan 300, the minutes are subtracted. This simple calculation prevents users from switching plans (which is for ‘free’ otherwise) to avoid paying bills. It also ensures that consumers pay for every minute they use.
What you can do: Avoid changing plans in the middle of the billing cycle.
The names are very interchangeable, if one customer finds Airtel more unfriendly, another finds Hutch unbearable, for another Idea is just about the worst service provider. Mobile phone service is fast becoming oligopolised, it is up to the you to negotiate the common traps the best you can. Read that contract, including the fine print, even if you’re in a hurry to switch providers or get a new connection. See what you’re getting into before your service provider shows you. By researching before purchasing, you get a better deal. Its your money, your time and your call.
