By Ikem Okuhu.
In this particular month, I had just paid N10,000 for my monthly recharge, and a few hours later, I tried to make a call, and MTN was telling me I had no airtime and that I was actually owing them (we were allowed some credit calls on that contract line).
I was shocked and went to their service centre on Saka Tinubu, but got insulted by the staff. I returned to the office and called my friend, the late Tumise Adekunle, who manned the Brands & Marketing desk at This Day back then. Tumise asked that I put my experience in writing, and I did that immediately.
The article made a full-page report in This Day back then, and immediately, MTN senior employees began to call. They then realised that I was not an imposter. This was because in the article, I exposed how the same amount of money was deducted as call costs from me for more than 1,000 consecutive calls. I think the exact cost was N2,29kobo or something not too far from this.
I challenged them that it was not humanly possible to spend exactly the sme time on calls more than 1,000 times. A letter acknowledging their wrongdoing, a diary, and four branded mugs later, and we were back in our romance, as I forgave their sins.
This VAS services fraud has returned to reopen the wounds. No customer deserves such robbery. And MTN cannot blame this on their VAS operators alone. The company itself is complicit. I say this because it is from the same MTNN through which they send me most reminders that these fraudulent practices are communicated.
For instance, this evening, MTN sent me a reminder that my broadband service expires on September 9 through this same MTNN channel.
As my people would say, “whatever the molars are chewing, the ears hear the sound.” We know you guys are robbing us. Just try to do it a lot more gently.
This article was originally published here: brandishauthority@gmail.com
Ikem Okuhu is a journalist, a Public Relations professional, brand strategist and teacher. With a career that traversed Print Media, Oil & Gas, Banking and entrepreneurship, Ikem is the author of wave-making book; PITCH: Debunking Marketing’s Strongest Myths, a dispassionate exposition of the dos and don’ts of successful engagement in the marketplace, especially the Nigerian marketplace.
He is the founder/publisher of BRANDish, Nigeria’s first nationally circulating Brands and Marketing magazine. He has also handled the PR and reputation management consultancies for a number of brands, businesses and public figures.
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