Phone accounts: 'Verify your primary contact number to ensure it's yours!'

Pippa Hudson interviews Wendy Knowler, Consumer Journalist.

Listen below (skip to 26:25)

Earlier this month, Knowler and Hudson addressed a case involving MTN and Abduraghman Alli, whose cellphone bill nearly doubled when he transitioned to a month-to-month plan after his contract expired.

MTN informed him that his original rate of R430 per month was a special deal that ended when his contract expired.

After switching to a SIM-only plan, he was paying R500 monthly for a solid talk and data package, with no device payments.

To his shock, his April bill totaled R1218.

When he questioned this, he learned that the special rate of R500 had lapsed.

Knowler asked Allie whether he received any notification – via email, SMS, or phone call – between 40 and 80 days prior to the end of his contract, outlining his options:

Upgrade
Roll over to a month-to-month plan
Cancel

According to the Consumer Protection Act, companies are required to provide such notifications, as contracts do not terminate automatically, Knowler argued.

Allie confirmed he had received no such communication.

Fast forward to now: it turns out MTN did send those messages, but not to the number associated with his contract.

Instead, they were sent to his wife’s prepaid number, which he had registered on her behalf many years ago.

"I looked at them; they're in a stream of marketing messages."

- Wendy Knowler, Consumer Journalist

He had never used that number himself and had never provided it as a contact point for his personal contracts with MTN, Knowler points out.

She inquired with MTN about why they didn’t use the number associated with the contract.

MTN insisted that it is the customer's responsibility to designate their primary contact number for important messages required by the Consumer Protection Act, and they claimed they did not select it on his behalf.

"We had no way of knowing that number belonged to his wife," MTN stated.

"The bottom line is, find out what the primary number on your account is and make sure it's your number."

- Wendy Knowler, Consumer Journalist

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.

Phone accounts: 'Verify your primary contact number to ensure it's yours!' – Wendy Knowler

If not, you might miss crucial notifications that could significantly impact your bank account.