My Data’s Gone! Wait a Minute…no, it's Not.

Something odd happened to me the other day. A couple of months ago I bought airtime from MTN which I converted in to data to use online. That data has to last for 2 months (60 days). It used to be 30, until people complained a lot. They complained because they may have bought a large data bundle, only to find that they hadn’t spent some (or most) of it, and then at the end of the period that the data is valid for, it’s gone. Just like that.

This isn't the first time I've had trouble with MTN, by the way.

Anyhow, I still had a sizeable chunk of my data left, and I badly wanted to use it up before it expired. I got an e-mail a day or two before telling me that soon my data would expire. So, it was late, and after some blogging and such, I wanted to use the data I had left to download something. I won’t tell you what it was (it wasn’t what you think it is). I dialed the number on my cellphone to check my balance to see how much I had left, and I was shocked when it read 0 bytes data. I was kind of sad, frustrated, and angry all at once.

How dare they take my bloody data!

Anyway, I still had some airtime left, so I thought, I’ll use what’s left. So I started my download, and all the while I was seething because of what had transpired earlier. MTN had told me that my data would expire on the 1st of November, and it was after midnight when I tried to download this file. I was expecting the download to stop any time because I didn’t have much airtime- but it kept going. I was confused, as I checked my balance again and again. It wasn’t using the airtime, so what was it using? It still read 0 bytes data, while a day before it was above 50 MB. I figured that even though it said I had nothing left, there was still indeed data being used. Maybe it hadn’t been cleared, or it was a grace period or something.

I don’t know how much longer it would have lasted seeing as it said the 1st of November was the day, but I managed to get my download finished, and got what I wanted. That was such a close call. In the end all my airtime was used up too. So it was 0 R Airtime, 0 bytes data, 0 smss. It’s time to top up again, I think.

My Data’s Gone! Wait a Minute…no, it's Not.

I Think I Just Got Screwed by FNB and MTN…Again

I recently received a brochure that informed me of the possibility of recharging my airtime account with my online banking account as well as my cellphone.

So, last night I logged in and bought some airtime. I got a text telling me that the transaction was completed, and I received another text telling me that I had received free extra airtime- nice.

Then I find out that the extra airtime isn’t included in your total balance when wanting to download a data bundle. So I went on again and tried to download another voucher. I get another text and I check my balance only to find that the original amount that I paid for was gone, and the extra airtime was gone too. I go online again, but this time make sure to log out and then log back in again in case there are only so many purchases you can make with one OTP. I buy another voucher and get another text.

So, I try to buy a data bundle and the operator says, “Your data bundle purchase could not be processed at this time. Please try again later. Goodbye.”

So I spent all that money, and I’m left with all this airtime that I can’t even use to buy a data bundle.

Eventually, two hours down the line I was able to get a data bundle, but instead of getting 100 MB, I got 200 MB! Weird. I still don't know if I was overcharged.

I also noticed that data bundles are now valid for 60 days instead of 30 days. On one hand, that’s good because now you have more time to use the actual data, but on the other hand it’s not so good because now you have to wait twice as long before being able to buy a new one. You could probably just take the sim card out, replace it, and get more airtime to buy another one, but it’s too much effort.

FNB and MTN, you suck. Goodbye.

I Think I Just Got Screwed by FNB and MTN…Again