-as its only just for you
MILLICENT HUNGWE
MASVINGO-While Econet’s Smart4U promotional bundle has been embraced by many as a cost-effective data solution, growing customer frustration is surfacing over unclear usage limitations and automatic disconnections.
The low cost Smart4U bundle, which is offered to users on a random basis, is designed to provide what appears to be unlimited internet access, but when one hotspots other users it is abruptly cut or reduced without notice.
The promotion offers different data bundles to users depending on a criterion chosen by the service provider and is valid for 30 days ranging from as little as $4 to $93 for others.
However, many users are discovering that the bundle isn’t as unlimited as they believed.
Speaking to The Mid-Week Watch, Kudakwashe Makumbe, an Econet toll-free 111 customer service representative, clarified that the bundle is governed by a “Pay Usage Policy.”
“If the system detects excessive usage, such as hot-spotting multiple devices or sharing with family members, it assumes commercial use, like running an internet café. This triggers an automatic cut-off,” Makumbe explained.
According to Makumbe, the Smart4U bundle is meant strictly for individual use.
“As long as you don’t share or hotspot others, and use it responsibly, the bundle will last you the entire month,” he said.
However, this is not communicated to customers beforehand hence users are angry as they just lose the service without warning.
The lack of upfront communication on these terms has left many customers feeling short-changed.
Several users shared that after buying the $15 bundle and hot-spotting family members, they were abruptly cut off without warning.
“We put together our money as a family, myself, my brother in law and my husband to by the Smart4U $15 bundle so that we can share at home, only to be disconnected after three days without any warning or reason, is that the way customers should be treated, Econet can do better that this, it’s cruel and unfair, treating customers as rags,” said one customer on condition of anonymity.
“It’s unfair,” one source said. “They call it ‘unlimited’, yet don’t tell you the terms and conditions, like the hot spotting stringent restrictions”.
Sources close to Econet suggest that while the Pay Usage Policy helps manage network traffic and abuse, it would be more transparent and customer-friendly if the operator clearly outlined the bundle’s unique structure.
As complaints mount, subscribers are calling on Econet to educate the public on the Smart4U bundle’s terms to avoid further confusion and dissatisfaction.
