Now, when a government is known for doublespeak, the citizen are no doubt left, mercilessly, to the whims and caprices of corporate bodies.
So it happened that Spectranet Limited promised unlimited full speed data burst when you pay N18,000 per month.
As a user, I was excited! Unlimited access to Facebook to complain about this misadventure of a government? Count me in!
So I started to cast and bound, download and upload, stream and listen to the best sounds.
Infact, it was through this expectation of inexhaustible data access, I realised how much I love Yemi Alade as a person and her voice as a musician!
I wasn’t expecting any visit from Spectranet Limited till month end since I have done my part of the deal; paid my N18,000!
But, lo and behold, I received a mail from them. Though a little surprised, but not really expecting a shocker until I looked closely; 75% usage!
What?!!! Trust me, I started vibrating and getting annoyed!
So, I picked up my phone and called the customer service.
It rang and immediately connected to autoresponse of press this and that to do this and that.
So I waited impatiently to finally hear a human voice.
“Hello! Welcome to Spectranet blah, blah, blah…”
“Hold it there!” I interrupted.
“My name is Victor and I’m calling from my house,” I continued, “why did I receive a message of my usage when I subscribed to unlimited data usage?!”
“Please, call out your user ID in order to look into your account,” I heard from the other side.
“15XXXXXX,” I did.
“Yes, I can confirm that you subscribed to unlimited package but you are already hitting 100GB fair usage!”
“Fair kini? What is that supposed to even mean!” I snapped back.
“The notification was just to inform you that at 100GB, the service would not be interrupted but the speed would be reduced.”
“What?! This is so wrong!” I was getting agitated, “why wasn’t I informed about this when I was subscribing?!”
“It was written there, maybe you didn’t see it”
“Let us accept, I didn’t see it. Does unlimited now have a different meaning in Nigerian context?”
“I don’t know sir, but that’s how it goes”
I felt defeated, so I disconnected.
Why is it so difficult to tell the consumers they are getting 100GB instead of UNLIMITED!
Must they deceive in the name of promotion?!
Is there consumers’ rights protection in this part of the world?
Spectranet Limited, this is not cool.