I am in the Philippines, and I like to know how your (in Nigeria) mobile telecom companies operate in regard to complaints from subscribers about vanishing prepaid loads.

"Philippine mobile telecom companies steal prepaid load from prepaid subscribers."

"Steal" is a harsh word but I submit that in effect is what mobile companies do to their prepaid customers.

Here is the situation: many subscribers are complaining and cannot get any explanation from the stealing mobile telecom companies, except that they are investigating and will send a report to you.

You see, subscribers can take up a postpaid subscription or a prepaid subscription: with postpaid you pay after you use, with prepaid you buy a prepaid card or by other marketing ways like buying prepaid loads from prepaid loading stations which are everywhere - anyone can arrange with a mobile company to sell prepaid loads for a commission.

I guess you must have something similar to what I describe about prepaid subscription in the Philippines.

Now, there is also a third way to get prepaid load, and that is from someone like a friend or family member sharing a portion of his load to you, which he does by using his mobile phone to send the load to your mobile phone.

Now, here is the situation in which the stealing is done by the mobile companies:

A prepaid subscription done in any of the three ways or more ways expires in either of two events when the subscription period is over, even if you have not yet used up all your load, or you have used up all your load even if your subscription period is not yet completed.

Many subscribers are endlessly and repeatedly complaining about disappearing or vanishing loads; like in my case, I don't turn on my mobile phone but keep it off for as much as say two months, then when I turn it on and check my balance, the report of my balance now after two months without even turning on the mobile phone is some as much as 500 Philippine pesos less, than the balance I got prior to turning the phone off two months earlier.

You see, when I complain time and again and again, the standard reaction from the company is that they will investigate and will send to my mobile phone a report.

I ask you, who can deduct load from my prepaid subscription but and except only the telecom company from whom I obtained a prepaid load.

Do you in your country Nigeria experience this kind of a corporate stealing from telecom companies, perpetrated by their operators?

There was even a congress hearing 'in aid of legislation' on these complaints, but as usual in the Philippines, it did succeed to stop the telecom companies from continuing to steal with impunity from their subscribers.

Telecom Companies don they steal from subscribers since 19 B C

Same everywhere but if you complain to them they will reverse it back

bigtt76:
Same everywhere but if you complain to them they will reverse it back

They have this method of tiring you out, so that they can keep their stolen hoard.

I complained yesterday morning, and the lady entertaining me spent some more than 30 minutes going over my dossier in the company's database, but could not find any instance why and how I could have done any transaction with my mobile phone as to incur load diminutions; so at the end she told me as per routine, they will investigate and send a report to my mobile phone - that is their escape mechanism.

And our government people are either incompetent or useless or both incompetent and useless and don't give a heck about consumers protection.

We have a new president to be inaugurated come June 30, 2016, he has already given a warning to all these telecom plus internet service companies in the country, telling them they have to shape up, otherwise he will invite outside telecom operators to come in and compete with the locals.

Sad to say, they all come in with promises but once in, the corporate thieves still continue to steal with impunity.

Is the situation better in Nigeria?

Well much better because the telcos are sanctioned by government regulator and fined huge sums of money when they perform below par. This has made them sit up