I was just off a call with a customer care receptionist for glo on line 121 and it was quite obvious that globacom had prepared a well devised scheme to defraud customers of call credits via unsubscribed-for alerts subscriptions.

Who in their right minds would subscribe for STOCKS alert when they have proper internet access to see the real deal themselves? For about a month throughout August I kept on getting this annoying text message

Dear Subscriber, STOCK MARKET ALERT5 is offered to you free till 1 Sep and will be charge N25/Week. If not interested simply dial *335*99# to unsubscribe.

How do you unsubscribe from something you did not subscribe to in the first place?
How did I get on the mailing list? Certainly glo my service provider added me somehow to make me dole out funds to them weekly.
Lastly I wasn't even getting any free alerts for that matter.

As the last weekend in August was coming to an end I thought of contacting customer services to lodge a complaint.

1. To have me get some rest from one more annoying promo message amidst the many they send daily.
2. To have them delist me just in case it was no joke. I have better things to do with my N25 weekly than the advertised STOCKS alerts.

So I did and I was told to dial *335*33# and follow the screen prompts. I did and on getting to the STOCKS page, selected 'deactivate' and was glad to get the message that 'I was not even subscribed to the alert!'. The notifications didn't stop but I was rest assured that it was propably a glitch or a tempt/trick to actually place myself on the actual list if I dialed the *335*99# the message recommended and nothing would happen if I did nothing. All is well that ends well I thought but just at exactly 4:56 on Tuesday 3 Sept today I got another alert but this time ...

WAPIC leads the 28gainers against 32losers topped by AIRSERVICE as market breadth closed with the bears amid continued sell down activities

A real STOCKS alert!

Since I did not know what my previous balance was (funny that a few days now I was no more seeing the notification of used credits since a few days ago), I did not
know if I was charged yet or not and then decided to place another call to 121 right away. 4:56 instantly I made the call but receptionist did not pick it up till after
5:04. The call ended 5:28

The call

I asked for the Customer Request ID which NCC would ask for just in case issues got out of hand and I needed to contact them but till the call ended, I was not given (I once got that for a visafone call so it is not as if the receptionist did not have access to it and she did not say she didn't but kept trying to keep me from asking for it).

I asked why my credit notifications were suddenly turned off but was told I needed to text 'ACN ON' to 3036 to activate it as that was the procees of which I said I was getting the notifications before now till it stopped a few days ago. I then asked 'if Globacom Nigeria made it a requirement for one to requet to turn on the notifications before one begins to get it and I got no answer(she had said that was how she did hers but NCC has in the past made it a compulsory requirement for all network operators to incorporate it as a practice).

Ques: How can a dissatisfied Consumer lodge a complaint?
1. Ans: A dissatisfied Consumer can lodge a complaint by: Completing a Consumer Complaint Form (CCF) which can be obtained from the NCC offices listed below. The Consumer Complaint Form (CCF) must be completed and sent to the NCC.
OR
2. Writing a letter to NCC which must be either hand or type written, legible, concise and no more than two (2) A4 pages. The letter must be signed by the dissatisfied Consumer.
OR
3. Calling the NCC Contact Centre toll free number on 0-800-CALL-NCC (0-800-2255-622) to lodge your complaint providing ticket number given by operator.

http://consumer.ncc.gov.ng/publication/fact/procedure.pdf

I proceeded to asking about the STOCKS alerts issue and said she was going to transfer the call to someone else (I guessed a supervisor named Mr Kehinde) who would
answer my questions as well as give me the Customer Request ID. The call transfer was made and 'hello hello', the line dropped.

Was it a coincidence that my credit notifications would go like that just when a shady subscription would come in. I had in the past learned not to use any of glo's alerts whet I subscribed for their LOVE alerts in the past and was billed twice for it(N90 instead of N45 fortnightly) and they disclaimed the accusation before I cancelled the subscription twice! Meaning they added my number to an already existing subscription I had so I could be billed twice which make me believe this is also the case with this STOCKS issue.

A one time incidence? See this story I just got from NCC's wall on facebook, a September 1 report

Dear sir,
My names are Adebayo Mustapha and my telephone number is 08056312729 and i wish to bring to your attention the fraudulent behaviour of glo in respect to my line. My complaint is based on several things that has happened over the years I have been on the network and I stayed this long because I believe that glo is our own being a Nigerian company but I will limit my complain to two things that happened recently:

1- I loaded N100 credit on 18th of July and I was suppose to dial a certain code to get N260 to call,text and surf but to my dismay the N100 was deducted without getting my N260 as glo claims which caused me to call their customer care and they promised to rectify it within 48hrs but never did so even after I got an sms from them on the 19th of July,2013.RefDear Customer, Your Freedom Pack not received Ref: GLO1958920419 is expected to be resolved within 48 HRS. Rule your world!),I also took the liberty of going to their office in opebi on the 31st of July,2013 and still nothing happened Ref2Thanks for visiting our gloworld shop. Rule your world!)I got this sms after the visit.

1-The illegal deduction of N30 every week for news update that I never subscribe for,even when I sent sms's and called customer care several times to stop the services to me.
I will want you to look into this complaints of mine and get me justice.

Regards
Adebayo Mustapha
08056312729

https://www.facebook.com/nigerian.communications.commission?sk=wall&filter=2

Who else?
How about disabling all these annoying promo ads?

I will give updates to this thread in case NCC decides to wade into this issue after mailing them or GLO calls if the hangup was not intentional.

Cheers and protect your call credit.

i AM TIRED OF GLO!!!



even my mum that sells garri in igbudu market Warri was subscribed for stocks....i have tried unsubscribing to no avail....even when you send the code , they tell you that you aren't subscribed but 'STOCKS' sms's still flood in....








.....AND THE ONLY 'STOCKS' THE POOR WOMAN KNOWS IS STOCKFISH

lordhugo: .....AND THE ONLY 'STOCKS' THE POOR WOMAN KNOWS IS STOCKFISH

ROTFLOL

lordhugo: i AM TIRED OF GLO!!!



even my mum that sells garri in igbudu market Warri was subscribed for stocks....i have tried unsubscribing to no avail....even when you send the code , they tell you that you aren't subscribed but 'STOCKS' sms's still flood in....








.....AND THE ONLY 'STOCKS' THE POOR WOMAN KNOWS IS STOCKFISH

LMAO

lordhugo: i AM TIRED OF GLO!!!



even my mum that sells garri in igbudu market Warri was subscribed for stocks....i have tried unsubscribing to no avail....even when you send the code , they tell you that you aren't subscribed but 'STOCKS' sms's still flood in....








.....AND THE ONLY 'STOCKS' THE POOR WOMAN KNOWS IS STOCKFISH

DAYUMMMMMMN!!! AKPOS!!

u are not alone. i have two glo lines, one for calling and one for internet browsing. I wonder why adenuga is pissin people off, imagine they subscribed me to recieve stock alert, word of encouragement, english premier league update, jokes and bible knowlege something without my permission. when i called customer service they played me around till one aminat banged the phone on me. trust me i ensured i did not recharge for 2 months. suddenly the mumu people started sending txt that if i did not want the subscription i should tx STOP to certain nos.( mind u i did not subscribe to it in the first place). Once again, i trust my self i no recharge the line. To my surprise i expected them to terminate both lines, for where the lines still dey. one day i received a call from one emeka guy saying he wan do customer survey satisfaction. first question, we noticed that u have stopped recharging your lines, are u happy with our service, i no waste time i finish hi thief thief company and told me if they dont return my 80 naira i no go recharege the line. like joke they say they will get back to me, myself too i tell him no recharge till they get back to me. ;

72hrs later and Glo is yet to reply me hence my conviction that the phone hang up was certainly intentional. Meanwhile NCC has decided to wade into the matter as regards heir response on facebook

Good morning Akinrinola. Your report is very detailed, concise and well researched. Very very commendable. However, your phone number is not included and this is needed to facilitate investigation. Upon receipt of your number, your complaint will be forwarded to the appropriate department.

I have replied and am currently waiting the next step. In the meantime who else got subscribed for the glo scams? Don't tell me it was a shellfish seller. lol

The Update

Hi all, several months ago I started this thread based on what I perceived as Globacom intentionally scheming on a scam that would reduce subscribers' call credit without their permission. Now the juice got juicier.

I have kept necessary text messages till when the case gets to litigation levels.

Last October 30th 2013, I loaded a N100 recharge card so it was not hard to observe a N25 deduction (STOCKS again). I was put on a 7 day free subscription before then and every attempt to unsubscribe as adviced by the free subscription (text STOP to 32300) kept bouncing back. I called customer care and and a ticket was raised and I was told it would be resolved with my funds reverted. I later got a Glocustcare text that it was resolved.

Next 2 days, I observed another N45 deduction this time for LOVE alerts(a history on LOVE alerts while dating my wife in back 2010 had my account debited N90/2weeks instead of the normal N45/2weeks. A further confirmation was I had to call customer care twice and it was unsubscribed both timesindicating I was on the subscription list twice).

Take Note that none of these deductions (N25 and N45) gave an Automatic Customer Notification (ACN) to let me know how much was deducted and for what and when it was deducted. I had to check my balance to know this. I also requested my number removed from all future promos alerts. A period of 48hrs was given as the solution time for the issues raised.

The Customer Care IDs

GLO1005204147 VAS activated without intent (said to be resolved. I still got alerts after then but has stopped when there was no funds on the line to renew the subscription)

GLO1006070907 VAS activated without intent

GLO1006070920 Bulk SMS from Glo not required

From the first and second IDs it is obvious it was a continous complaint from customers enough to generate its own profile name 'VAS activated without intent'. The third ID 'Bulk SMS from Glo not required' suggests there is a mailing list from Glo that has its customers' numbers on it and that is why they will keep on getting disturbing promo notifications unless necessary force is applied. Thus far my number is still on the list.

It would of course be unwise of me in the first case to subscribe for alerts like the STOCKS and LOVE alerts that I had reason to complain about in the past (Aug 2013 and early 2010 respectively) by it seems this network just won't listen as I observed other networks are doing same. My wife felt it must have been an overslight from my end while trying to defend Glo but when it happened to her about two weeks ago she was like !@#$%^&*. I couldn't help but laugh in taiwanese.

Customer care respondents I have called include Emmanuel, Modupe, Chidinma, Lovelin, Lade, Funke (I guess a supervisor). After a while they stopped giving me the Customer Request ID which was mandated by NCC by Networks to provide upon request. I actually put it in question 'Are you telling me Globacom Nigeria does not provide the Customer Request ID to its customers?' I got a 'Yes!'.

Furthermore, they began claiming they cannot tell me what subscription(s) I am on and can only attend to me only on what I have a complaint about as they cannot see it from their end forgetting that way back in 2010 they could. I am not against Globacom as a company as I believe in patronizing indigenous businesses but I will not stand being cheated over my own property especially when I have the power to make a change

Personal Solutions

1. Stopped loading recharge cards on my Glo line but rather on the one that gives me credit on calls received
2. As most networks charge roughly same amount/call, calls are made to alternative lines that are not Glo lines
3. Working towards porting as most calls are to my Glo number
4. Aiming for suing Glo for unethical business practices of credit deduction and spamming and claiming damages well over my N70 as there was a juge breach of trust by my service provider that made me lose money an act tantamount to stealing.

The NCC approach of fining them definately has not made the networks recant as they can make much more than the fines by further scamming.

You can make your statement by saying No More in a way that would be heard.

Cheers y'all and havve a Great 2014