If you’ve ever invested time in any literature you’ll know that for any story to be great; there needs to be conflict. If you’ve bought WhatsApp bundles from Econet recently and you looked at the headline, you’ll probably understand the conflict in this story.
WhatsApp bundles from Econet used to just work but it seems those days are now just a distant memory. Personally, I had an experience that turned into the straw that broke the camels back yesterday.
I’m usually connected to a Wi-Fi network so I rarely suffer through Econet’s WA bundles but yesterday I had a humbling first-hand experience. On my way home I passed by the shops and as the person, I was with went into the shop to buy a few things, I had a few minutes to myself and I decided to open WhatsApp and chat away. In that short five minutes here are some of the things I could NOT do:
- Couldn’t send or download media. ( A 32 kB picture took me more than 3 minutes to download. It failed a couple of times)
- Couldn’t download Voice Notes
- Couldn’t open statuses (as they took too long. More than 10 seconds on average)
- When you hit enter to send a message (containing text only) it takes a few seconds before it sends that as well
- Couldn’t download documents
I was rattled but as you know with networks there are a number of things that affect networks at different times and I wasn’t pissed of yet at that point. I did tweet out that I couldn’t get anything done.
How do people survive on @econetzimbabwe WhatsApp Bundles?? can't even download pictures on this thing 😮😮😮 piss poor
— Fari (@FariMudzi) December 12, 2018
The response I got was quite weirdly asking me which device I had, which I thought was strange but of course, if it helps to get to the bottom of things then why not cooperate. So I replied stating I have a Xiaomi Mi A2 and then the support team asked me to DM them. That discussion is still on-going but something else popped up that led me to believe this had nothing to do with my phone and everything to do with the network.
This morning I stumbled another fellow Econet user complaining about his experience on Twitter.
This led me to just do a quick search on Whatsapp bundles and quickly I realised that many people are struggling to actually use these bundles that they are paying for.
Clearly, there are a number of other customers are going through this and one wonders if it’s even worth paying for these network-forsaken bundles.
ECONET NEEDS TO DO BETTER. I don’t use either Telecel or NetOne so I can’t assess what the experience is like on those other networks but the first-hand experience I’ve had with Econet has been very poor of late. I don’t think it’s the phone either because I switched phones a few months ago and the horrible experience has carried over.
We contacted Econet to further understand why the experience with WhatsApp bundles has become so infuriating and at the time of going to press and their response was as follows:
Over the weekend Facebook made further IP changes to their media cloud (essentially moving some of the media content outside of the IP range assigned to WhatsApp and Facebook bundles) and thereby affecting the access to Facebook bundles for some of our customers.
We are evaluating the extent of the changes and whether we can determine if the IP range is still unique (and not shared with other public cloud assets). We will then update our bundle access accordingly so that normal service is restored to all of our customers. Unfortunately, Facebook does some of these changes without prior warning to its telco partners, thus affecting telco customers.
The change is therefore beyond our control even as we work to address it. Any inconvenience caused to our valued customers is sincerely regretted.
Sounds a lot like what NetOne said when OneFusion bundles started disappearing nicodemously. Why Econet hadn’t notified customers earlier is beyond me but now that’s the official position on why your WhatsApp Bundles haven’t been working as exercised
12 comments
its amazing how Econet is doing business today.I had a similiar experience of bundles and it just reminds me of the service given by kombie conductors were they lure you patiently into their bus and once you pay your fare can treat you otherwise. I had to meet someone yesterday and scheduled our meeting during the day while l was communicating through whatsapp using WIFI. now on my way out of work had to switch to Econet bundles and there comes chaos. couldnt send a single message of the location where we were supposed to meet and ended up strundered and and to resolve to buy another voice airtime which was not budgeted for so that would miss my appointment. Poor service from Econet
It’s really a big inconvenience and you wonder how much having a customer means to these brands
Econet`s response is true, changes in IP addresses is beyond them.These issues affect many Telco companies.Check with many international companies how they endeavor to enter into strong partnership with companies like Facebook and WhatsApp, instagram & YouTube.Such changes thereby affect how mobile phones respond to WhatsApp services. Am sure they are working on the issue as promised. Every technocrat understands these dynamics & once resolved…you are good to go. I gree with Econet 100%.
This is true 1.u can’t even connect a WhatsApp call with WhatsApp bundles 2.we share half half cz they do not work as they should…..#buddiewhatsapp bundles
This is daylight robbery, service paid for must be provided without fail, Econet prices are too high
So the change in WA ip only affects Econet bundles and not NetOne or Telecel???😮
Just wondering…
Cant even call with those bundles😑
I had an iphone 6s upto early this year and their bundles were crap coz i couldn’t even receive a message till i open Whatsapp. I could only receive a messages instantly when i had the Data Bundles which are somehow overprized.
Now i have switched to iphone X and still the problem persists so i don’t think Facebook changes to their media cloud has anything to do with this, IT’S JUST THAT THEIR BUNDLES ARE CRAP
I once used netone and their bundles performed far way much better but i keep on using Econet because of Ecocash
So the changes in IP address affects Econet only🙊; and not Netone or Telecel. In business a mere apology means nothing if not supported by restitution and/or Actio quantiminoris
I have been complaining about this for over a year now. It’s not only the WhatsApp bundles that are USELESS. The Twitter bundles are impressively competitively poor as well. You can not download or load images on either bundles. In 2018 and almost 2019, given the technological capabilities that we have, this is just pure evil on the part of Econet. Greediness and selfishness pulling us down. Zimbabwe will most likely never be great again. I cry for my beloved country.
I think the problem with Econet is that, they’re capitalizing on them issue that they gained a high market share and they’re no longer trading for making profit but for survival in the market. How can $3 monthly bundles don’t spend even 2 weeks. DAY LIGHT ROBBERY
Econet WhatsApp bundles don’t work. I gave up on them 2 months ago. I now use Telecel bundles which also come with twitter bundles and you can also make calls with them