Last Thursday, I was sitting in my office when this number (054-430-2037) called me. A lady by the name of Patricia informed me that she was calling from MTN, thanked me for my patience in advance (if only she'd known I was having a bad day and in a foul mood) and then went on to list the benefits of porting to MTN. I have to be honest, I do not recall the supposed benefits but Samuel Dowuna sums things up nicely here.
I've got to say I was surprised. I'm an Airtel customer; have been from the very second they landed on our shores and I'm very happy with their service. I did not get why or how MTN had the brass bits to call me on my cellphone and ask me to port to their network. I told Patricia I wasn't interested and that I wasn't impressed by this aggressive advertising. She thanked me and we said our goodbyes.
After reading the daily graphic however, I figured out why they were doing this and had a real good laugh. MyJoyOnline posted the article the next day "MTN, tiGO lose market share". Out of curiosity I called Patricia back. She insisted that yes, she was an MTN employee and could be located at the head office. Yes, I should come over there and ask for her, I can confirm that she does indeed work there. She informed me that she has been provided with a list of Airtel numbers and has been tasked with dialling them up and informing them of the benefits of switching to MTN.According to Patricia, all the Telcos are using this aggressive method to get people to switch to their services. MTN has simply decided to lay back and relax so while the others are putting up posters and making noise to the general public, they target individuals. "Oh you don't have to come to our office", she says, "we'll meet you anywhere you want and do it for you".
Seriously? Provided that Patricia isn't playing some silly game with a supposedly endless supply of credits her cocaine dealer sugar daddy has provided her, MTN in my opinion has gone too far. Invading on an individual's privacy to advertise your services is not right. In their minds, they think it's tele marketing and legal and therefore right. But I disagree with them. When I was in Memphis and had people calling my house, it wasn't that they'd identified me as a member of the competition and wanted me to switch services, it was simply them calling and asking me if I used a particular service say, "water" and what did I think about water? Would I then be interested in trying out "milk"? No one ever called my house saying, "I know you're a coke sniffer but let me tell you that crack is better and you should switch to that".
I really feel that MTN has gone too far with this campaign of theirs. Airtel isn't calling up MTN subscribers on their cellphones and asking them to port. I can't vouch for tiGO and Vodafone as I do not use their services. I think it's a low down dirty game they're playing and have to say this clearly. MTN GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER!!!! I see now why you've not been spending money to advertise porting to your network.
There's a reason why they're called the "Most Troublesome Network" and they've just gone and proved it once more. Is this the same MTN that said they were committed to Mobile number portability and wouldn't make trouble? I get it, you dropped a couple of points on the market and want to redeem yourselves. Someone on top said "fix this" and someone went overboard and gave the order to hit 'em where the sun don't shine but I can't excuse this sort of behaviour. It's not ethical!!! It may be legal but it's most unethical! It's time MTN played this game right. God protect them if Glo should get their shit together. If MTN cannot face healthy competition from Airtel, how are they going to handle Glo, which has already cleared them out of one or two West African countries? MTN has already received a warning for their ambush advertising. I figured they'd learn from that.
I've reported this incident to Airtel (given them the name and number) and this is my two cents thrown into the fray. I think that it's only fair that they know what their competition is doing. I also think that it's time that the NCA checked what these TELCOS are up to. Never mind that it's legal, I haven't had to deal with telemarketers in Ghana and am damn happy for that. I insist that we keep things that way.
Have you had any telco call you up and ask you to switch from your network to theirs? Please let me know. Just drop a comment down below. I especially want to know from other networks if Airtel is lying to me. If MTN or any other network has pulled this stunt on you, let me know. As always, there's two sides to a coin. I'd like to know what's happening on the other team.
~Daixy~
Siddon look mode and smiling.
ReplyDeleteSomeone said MTN = Matɔ Nonsense :-)
lmao Clue! This is the first I've heard this. Me like :)
ReplyDeleteGotta ask though, what's a Siddon? lol
Hehe, siddon look mode = sitting down and looking mode, it's wait and see.
ReplyDeleteI also heard MTN is Mobile Telecommunications Nightmare :-)
I'm wondering if the content of the ad that bothers you or their style/method of advertisement that you think ain't right? Or it's the total approach? Once it's legal what's the trouble there? I think you should protest what is legal in this sense that bothers you.
ReplyDelete@ Clue, thanks. I love the new name too
ReplyDeleteDaixy, i agree with u.... a friend of mine once said we need a lawyer who would one day just sue a service provider (not telcos only) for not providing a good service and make some fat money out of them....any lawyer wanna give this a shot?
ReplyDelete@freenetworks, I don't mind the content. Like I said, everyone is saying port to me. But the other networks are doing it respectfully. If you've noticed, airtel doesn't even advertise portability on their website. They are making no noise about it on account of this sneaky method they're using.
ReplyDeleteOf course it's the method. Like I said, it would be different if it was the usual tele marketing strategy. This one is underhanded. If they would advertise portability properly the way the others are, perhaps I wouldn't mind it so much but they are just trying to steal customers in an underhanded way that in my opinion should be beneath them.
Just cuz something isn't illegal doesn't mean it's right. As a researcher, I'm permitted to experiment with animals and dispose of them afterwards. If i choose to drown them as a method of execution, legally, I'm permitted in Ghana but it's unethical and everyone can see it's not right. I don't have to shut up about their bugging me just because the law says they can do it.
@Ugn, the lawyer would need a disgruntled customer in order to do that. A couple of you could get together to file a class action suit. That would be best in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI erred in my response to freenetworks. I meant to say that MTN doesn't advertise porting on their website. Airtel does. It's one of the first things you see when you go to their page. MTN if they do advertise it, don't advertise on their homepage.
ReplyDeleteI believe MTN is simply employing a more "personalised" approach/technique to tele-marketing/sale for which they're absolutely right. I don't see anything wrong.
ReplyDeleteNot everybody reads the papers/listens to the radio/visits telco websites etc. For some consumers the best approach to advertise is to assign a "CRM" (or whatever they're called). Reckon this approach makes it easiest to get answers to any questions you may have as against other media such as posters and multimedia ads.
Ultimately there's always a choice. There're answer and reject keys on every mobile handset which gives the user the right to reject any unwanted "invasion of privacy". Some choose not to answer calls from unknown numbers - it's their call. You can choose not to engage in a conversation with an agent who is identified as not known to you. You can choose to say "sorry, i'm not interested".
If you're bothered by what anybody does to you you have the right to complain! Yes, I think this type of marketing is unethical too. Good job for making your voice count.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Gameli. I hope MTN reads this and fixes up their act. Otherwise, I think it's only fair for Airtel and others to give them a taste of their own medicine.
ReplyDeleteIsnt that illegal? your govt needs to pass a law banning that practice.
ReplyDelete@tps360...sorry for the delay in responding.
ReplyDeleteIn this country, telemarketing is not a crime, just a nuisance. I'm not going to hold my breath about the government doing something about it. We can still hope, though.
Wow. Talk about hitting the nail right on the head. A couple of years ago we had to 'make frantic arrangements' to lay hands on a mobile chip. Then, I predicted that sometime in the future, they will be BEGGING us to subscribe to their services. I think we are almost there. Some of them currently give out free phones and charge only for usage. Interesting times are ahead.
ReplyDeletelol I remember my dad's first One touch SIM. Took him over a month to acquire and eventually only on account of he knew someone in their administration that he called when he'd had enough of waiting.
ReplyDeleteDo you think the telcos will be giving me a free ipad in exchange for using their services? I hope that happens soonest :)