Vodacom reimburses users after disappearing data

Infuriated Vodacom users vented on social media on Monday after thousands of users saw their data – and in some cases their airtime – vanish before their eyes.

Vodacom users, many of whom rely on texting as it is cheaper when using data than airtime, found themselves not being able to communicate, claiming that “vodacom stole their data”.

Speaking to Daily Maverick, Julia Lerotholi, a frustrated Vodacom user who lives in Braamfontein said: “I rely on data for communication purposes. I mean, no one calls any more. I had to cancel an appointment because I could not reply in time due to insufficient data. I bought data that lasts for seven days but getting a message that my data depleted on the same day before I even used it was the most frustrating thing ever. Vodacom needs to pay back my data.”

There was no indication by late yesterday how widespread the problem was, or the number of customers affected.

According to Vodacom spokesperson Byron Kennedy, the problem was the result of a configuration change on its prepaid and top-up billing system which proved to be problematic. Both Prepaid and top-up subscribers that were active on the network were affected more than the subscribers who are on contract. “We were able to roll back this process during the course of last night,” said Kennedy on Tuesday.

Vodacom has reimbursed customers affected by Monday night’s billing issue. “We thank customers for their patience while the matter was being resolved and reiterate our sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused,” said Kennedy.

Another Vodacom customer, Nomalungelo Kunene, who lives in Pretoria, said: “I have been a Vodacom user for such a long time now and was quite disappointed that such would happen, but I am so happy that Vodacom kept their promise and paid me back my data. Even though it came as an inconvenience I am glad that they were able to keep their promise.”

Another Vodacom customer, Kealeboga Moloi, who lives in Bloemfontein, said she was still waiting to get her data back. “I do not believe Vodacom when they say it was a technical difficulty. It makes me feel like changing networks as this might just become a recurring problem.

In its media release, Vodacom stated that it was conducting an investigation into the matter. “We will be in a position to determine numbers once this process concludes and will take appropriate action so that we do everything possible to prevent this from occurring again,” said Kennedy.

This incident comes after South Africans have been complaining about high costs of buying data which makes it difficult for them to access information. This frustration gave birth to the #DataMustFall campaign where people were calling for an end to high data prices. According to a report by research company Traffic, South Africa has the second highest data contract prices compared to other BRICS member countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China. Data prices for South Africa were on average 134% more expensive than the other data prices in the group.

Traffic conducted its research after the #DataMustFall hashtag which went viral on social media, with users calling for networks to squash their local data prices. The hashtag was driven by radio personality Thabo “Tbo Touch” Molefe.

Under pressure, Vodacom joined Cell C in offering no-fee data use for Facebook users.

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) has started an inquiry to seek ways to reduce high data costs. The inquiry will consist of four phases: a market study, a discussion document, public hearings and findings documents. Vodacom further expressed that they would support Icasa’s inquiry. DM

Vodacom has apologised to customers whose data mysteriously vanished on Monday. Photo: Priscilla du Preez (Unsplash)