Hello NL house,

This morning after topping up my phone, I noticed the recharge amount was less than the 1k scratch card I bought.
I called their customer care (200) to make a complaint and seek an explanation/refund.
After making the routine enquiries, the etisalat rep placed me on hold to check my account. After he completed his investigation, he said it was the weekly fee for their NAIRALAND/BELLA NAIJA data plan for Opera Mini powered phones. When I protested that I never signed up for an AUTORENEWAL data plan, he admitted that most of their plans are like that (meaning they hide the fact that once you recharge your phone, the auto renewal fee kicks in and deducts your money) and he cannot offer me a refund, just a pathetic sorry.
It is particularly annoying because I use an iPhone and their service doesn't work with iPhones (he admitted that as well), so I never used it one day, only to be renewed automatically. So double jeopardy!

I know some reading this might say, why is this one moaning over a mere #200 deduction?
You are right! The amount may be meagre, but considering Etisalat Nigeria has about 20M subscribers - even if they commit this fraud to 1M people - the scale of the scam becomes HUGE!!!
Plus I like to believe even if one steals 1 naira, it is still stealing! It is the principle - not the amount - that matters.
Or they should send their rep to go and steal #200 naira in Balogun market and let us see what will happen to him...tyre around his neck...

In summary, it is so painful telcos get away with this (and other malpractices e.g. Random messages 100 times a day!!!) in Nigeria.
My suggestion is we get a strong, independent regulator (NCC is now a joke! #BringBackErnestNdukwe) in addition to an active Consumer Protection Agency/Advertising Standards Agency (to reduce misleading adverts).

What do you NLers think?

Etisalat deducted almost 1k from my fone last month just because I accessed whatsapp and I had an active BIS then. I gave them a call and they told me their BIS supports whatsapp so it must be somtin else. The funniest thing is that the moment I deleted whatsapp from my phone, the deductions stopped. But what can we do? NCC is probably the most useless regulatory body not only in Nigeria but probably the whole of Africa.