On Monday I got a call from one of our Techzim readers. They were distraught because they had purchased a data bundle on Econet but their bundle was not reflecting.
Usually when people reach out like this we try to help them by directing them to officers of the service provider who can help. We don’t want to take on the role of a militant activist and this is especially so because we understand that sometimes things go wrong. No need to embarrass anyone, we just try to help.
Customer care wasn’t helping
The customer kept trying to get help using multiple Econet Customer Care channels. Lastly, because she still had a bit of data she tried online chat. The first agent she chatted with seemed helpful. The agent acknowledged that indeed she had bought a data bundle and so advised her to restart her phone and check her balance again. She thanked the agent and went on to try the hack.
It didn’t work. Customer went back to online chat but it was a different agent who responded this time. She asked if it was possible to get assistance from the first agent so she wouldn’t have to explain things all over again. That seemed to offend the new agent because they then just left the conversation without a word and no agent came to their help.
Tried to help
The reader kept coming back to me so I tired to help. I took the issue to two different people at Econet. Sure that wasn’t their job description but I just explained that perhaps they could nudge people who could help to do it. Nothing happened.
More people affected
As the day wore on, the customer in trying to get help started discovering that there were a number of Econet customers who had the same problem and were not getting resolution too. She discovered online forums and social media groups of disgruntled Econet customers who did not receive their purchased data bundles.
When she shared this with me it was already end of day on Monday. I reached out to the folks at Econet I had asked to help. I told them that we discovered this was not an isolated case and so we were picking this as a story. At that point the reader I was trying to assist got a call from someone at Econet promising to help. She was happy.
That was Monday evening. Up to now she hasn’t got a thing. Her issue obviously long forgotten. She has texted Econet, emailed Econet, called Econet, chatted to Econet, reached out to Econet on social media. She is not getting any response anymore.
It happens again
Yesterday, Wednesday, the same lady tried to buy a data bundle again. The same thing happened! Her bundle was not credited! She has and still is trying to get this resolved.
Econet used to be excellent at customer care
Do glitches happen when you are operating at the scale of Econet? Yes they do. The problem is Econet customer care seems to have decayed. This was really Econet’s strong point. You always got your problems resolved almost immediately.
Now, it seems the order of the day is to ignore complaints. Almost daily, on Twitter you find someone tweeting at Econet that they had sent them a DM of such and such a complaint and haven’t received any help. Always, Econet then responds and says ‘Hi customer please DM us your number.’ Huh? But the customer had DM’d already. Is it customer care or is it about saving face in public?
This issue of disappearing data has been reported by Econet customers for several weeks now. Is anything being done?
And Econet is doing customer service for other companies
The irony is that Econet launched Omni Contact a few months ago. The business exists to take on customers (other businesses) and provide contact centre services for them. Makes you wonder.
48 comments
Nyahasha, Asi chii nemi Techzim?? Strive a hypocrite, now Econet don’t care. Come on, give Strive a break. You are now really destroying readers’ confidence in you.
I wonder if you are one of the founders of this Techzim. Otherwise your bosses need to revise the direction it is taking against Strive or Econet as a whole.
You have become like a propaganda media that has targeted institutes to try “image destroying”.
Unless maybe you get money out of the number of hits the site gets, makes sense coz any stupid story, someone will want to see and understand before realizing the garbage in/out that would have been published.
Have you tried to find out why Telecash, Onemoney’s share of the market is lacking? Why cant they take advantage of the fact that Ecocash charges are very high? That would be a good topic.
Or why RBZ have derived to RTG$100 as the best maximum withdrawal from an Ecocash agent?
It is very undemocratic bootlickers and bigoted objects like you who have stifled any form of progress in this nation. Are you saying the article is full of lies? Learn to LET PEOPLE COMPLIAN WHEN THEY ARE SHORTCHANGED OR NOT SATISFIED. Learn to be a LISTENER!!! NEVER EXPECT EVERYBODY ELSE TO BE SATISFIED JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE OR BECAUSE YOU HAVEN’T SEEN OR EXPERIENCED THE FLAWS.
Very sorry about your bitterness. But how many subscribers has Econet successfully provided bundles or any other service against this flaw you strongly think should be a news headline? How problems have been solved against it compared to ones not solved? Computer systems where programmed by humans. They will always be a glitch here or there sometimes. Some issues are quickly resolved depending on circumstances and the staff member tackling it.
Undemocratic – how did you come up with that analysis?
Bootlicker – I might be cause no other service provider I would opt on at the moment
Bigoted object – I think you should cool down man and like you said “Learn to be a listener”
Nyahasha – why didnt you backup your story with an interview with the Customer Relations Manger of Econet to give you statistics of solved and unsolved issues just to get an idea of the 7 million subscribers, their success rate. I am sure they have such data.
King Culture- Good idea to do that interview actually. Will ask a colleague to do. Thanks.
Also, remember I mentioned I have been talking to folks within Econet about this
Full of unverified information. Written with emotions simple! Check the statements again! Paid media to destroy! Shame.
Hezvo, where did you see any mention of Strive Masiyiwa above?
Hi,,you should check ZOL’s service. Its very pathetic. I bought a data SIM,,after they had checked my phone fpr compatibility. Its a week now,,no service. I went back after 4 days,,and they said they would refund me,,its a week again, no refund. Can you assist please. This type of service is not good. 167345 is my zol ID.
THANKS
I eventually gave up. I think Strive Masiyiwa should step in and get Econet to pull up it’s socks, because its a no-brainer that Econet Customer Service has slackened.
I honestly just gave up and hoped perhaps something was processing in the background and would eventually catch up with my transactions and compensate accordingly. But it’s now more than a month.
I tried though 111 and got a promise. With Email, I only got an auto-reply and that was it.
I also urge Econet to carry out some investigations because I think there is a lot of corruption going on with regards to bundles. DATA BUNDLES ARE JUST MYSTERIOUSLY GETTING FINISHED OVERNIGHT. Don’t get me wrong, I have expert level knowledge of setting up my phones to make sure I have control of it’s data usage. Believe me, Data is just mysteriously disappearing.
Did you try their live chat or Twitter platform! They assisted me so much when i had lost hope last week. I like their social media platform myself, they really assist lol
I think TechZim the reason why you are not popular with alot is that u do PR for econet which is not cool for a tech company like yours. Am sure after reading your article-i wanted to send u my beef with telecel but i withdrew. Spare the mobile operators and focus on your stuff please. You are tech and not Telecoms. Us customers we always have issues by the way.
This is a PR article for Econet?
This is like an over kill tho and it shows you write without research for the sack of bn first to write….is t not a few days ago u wr sayin that EcoCash myt temporarily shutdwn to fix the gvtmnt directive on EcoCash…i see that did interfere with other transactions done on EcoCash…. surely econet doesnt refund failed transactions when they are notified…but here you are makin it as if Econet is duping its customers… please research more
Actually EcoCash said it themselves on record to the High Court that they may have to temporarily suspend service. I don’t know what needed to be researched about that.
And you are conflating between EcoCash and Econet. This article has nothing to do with EcoCash but the phenomenon of data bundles that never get delivered
I think this is a very good article. People have lost money and data via Econet inefficiencies. I believe Techzim are objective and really try to bring tech news to us. The fact that +50% of their news relates to Econet and it’s subsidiaries is because Econet controls +50% of the Telecom’s industry in Zimbabwe. I don’t see any beef in their articles and if the writer has had personal experience +ve or -ve the better the story.
This is not cool for u to keep writing about these guys. Can’t you give them rest please. You produced a long article to hit like this lol
I smell a 🐀
We need new topics and conversations of discussion more than all this blame game. Zimbabwe is full of emotions and people are tired everywhere. Writing such articles wont make us creative citizens. We must do better and build our nation. Manzwe here imi ve TechZim.
For all the things that u have said. You said nothing concerning the issues that these guys are facing on a daily basis. Thats doom, who is not in Zimbabwe and who doesn’t know that their systems are failing daily coz of economic challenges? No Zesa at all. Check the rate of load shedding. I was expecting something positive niot such conclusions.
Anything strive masiiwa related is bullshit. If parent or holding company is Econet b sure yu will h f*ckd one way or another. Taneta nazvo zvekubirwa nembavha idzi. Tazvijaira.
I can agree these are the shenanigans Econet/Cassava engage in. I name multiple entities because after all I had bought the bundles using Ecocash, so I haven’t the foggiest whom should be held accountable. Either way after 7 chat sessions, 5 emails over a 12-day period I’d realized that fighting for the principle had long since become a waste of my time. I’m sure this the intended effect; it’s a well-known phenomenon with monopolies.
TechZim and Econet are two good friends and by the way TechZims writes a lot about Econet which means they are a mouth piece and marketing products on behalf of Econet. Halala halala. Zvenyu, if you are sincere enough to tell us how much of attention are u seeking from all this Nonsense that you want us to read on your site. Hey i thought u could give us the feedback concerning the Huawei and American issue kuti tavapapi so far!
Guys, I think this article was really good. By writing articles like this one, we can make our companies improve. I don’t think it’s right to criticize TechZim for writing this article….they are simply just informing readers of issues that have been faced by multiple customers, and possibly even informing Econet itself. Let’s not look for the problems in everything.
One of the comments raised the fact that TechZim is always wring about Econet. Econet is (one of) the biggest companies in Zim. It is a very pivotal company in the technology space in Zimbabwe, so I don’t see any problem with TechZim a lot about it.
Keep it up TechZim, and keep on writing article like this
Seems their run short of things to write and start digging into customer’s complaint! They should check media houses @MyZimbabwe, @263Chat and learn from them.
You guys are u for real. Econet has reversed bundles for me and my friends several times and i don’t get it. The only bundle i never received was from Telecel that failed last month before i dumped them completely. I strongly believe Econet are the real guys and they are doing the best. Izvezvi i have been calling Telecel for a 1 GIG bundle and yatorohwa ne inflation. They are in charge of Zimbabwe whether we like it or not!
So imagine dealing with such huge numbers of customer s daily as Econet does! Lol it calls for more work guys! It calls for more muscles. I salute Econet for standing strong in such times of economic woes. They deserve an award not the emotional article from TechZim!
Last time you referred us to the problems that these guys are facing and don’t you think if u could explain to the public the reason for the glitches it could be better OFF! I think every business person here will understand that it;s difficult these days to cope up with a large customer base+Economic challenges + 800++INFLATION and lack of Forex to service equipment. Lets refer to your article which i liked most : https://www.techzim.co.zw/2019/10/potraz-speaks-out-against-theft-vandalism-of-telecoms-equipment/
Anything that comes out of TechZim is still thrash by the way! U need new guys to write and research. I volunteer myself. I will unsubscribe you from my notifications! Why Act as though you are not in Zimbabwe and as if you dont know whats happening! Did u dig deeper and check the issues that these guys require to make their services upto standard? I Am sure you didn’t! Do something. Zimbabwe is in bad shape and if our economy was cool, companies wouldn’t be going through what they are going through! It’s time i unsubscribe
I read through your article and i realised that there are alot of things that you lied about just to get attention!
I wonder every time when u write an article saying people are complaining about disappearing DATA! Didn’t they give us the self Care platform for us to check. I no longer have such issues with Econet my self. I realised that my phone has a lot of computations that it has that had been chewing my data than blaming Econet! We need to be educated on such these, kkkkkk Zimbos are yet to embrace technology that’s why they complain! Since you have a voice like this, why didnt u ask the customers to check their ist on a data counter available and make conclusions. #WritingByHearSay lol I have to welcome myself to Zimbabwe
It’s one thing to dig into an issue and another thing to investigate further and checking the person’s account history i believe. A Lot of us we lie so much and make it appear as if the operator stands to be blamed but i’m sure hapana mari yangu isina kudzoswa from Econet including my ZESA token yesterday. Saka mukutii exactly apo. Haaa TechZim eish! I hate to say this but mapera guys. Change the focus and story. This is not the ist time that people have come up guns blazing on you on such matters! Re-invent and re-learn and research again! Check articles that are written by Social Think Tanks like my BroadBand in SA, amazing staff, Amazing staff. You can learn from there #FeedBack
Red flag Raised! ATTENTION seeker! You can do better than this Techzim! Yes far much better, this is below your standard. But you had improved wani what happened to you guys????/
Employ new writers guys! This lacks a lot of investigative journalism and writing! & if u say a company doesn’t’ care for its customers, you might be saying a lot of untruthful staff! I’m sure they are existing coz of customers and for them to neglect that aspect means a complete halt of their business empire! How many people bought airtime from your page and never received it @techzim! I think before you write, you need to visit and introspect closely into such issues and tell NetOne customers who are yet to receive their data bought from your platform? Anyway, this is Zimbabwe but we expect much from you guys!
Vanhu munovhunduka faster faster! Ko inga ma bhadhuru arikungodzoserwa wani.
You have become like a propaganda media that has targeted institutes to try “image destroying”. Go back to school bro! We don’t expect to read such especially from You coz we are your followers. Stick to what you have been feeding us. Check @263Chat, they are great guys and write things that u envy to follow! Check @TechNoMag, all these guys are doing great a great job to shape public opinion towards positive change and energy! Blaming an operator for a glitch and writing a long article to that effect is an African approach! It’s not worth it. Imagine how many are being assisted and lives being saved by the same guys that you are attacking! Will not the whole public go against You! I was in hospital and the only platform that was working that time to make my payments was Ecocash and my mom was saved! A life was saved recently! It’s better to light up and candle than curse darkness.
Aiwa wooo! Write something again! This article is a crap by the way. Iam here to learn to kunzwa zvana mbuya nhingi avoo
You are now focusing on the wrong things Techzim!
We need new ways of reporting though no one must tell you what to write but at least feedback from all the comments will help you guys. Zimbabwe has bigger and more serious issues to write about that what you have just articulated. We do not have Zesa, Fuel and poor governance. Such issues require people like you to foster and inspire the public on what to do and what to expect now bundle issues hey.
Is it tech news….y all trying to seek attention paisingadi huh
U made me to laugh today! U can do better than this lol
THE Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) has increased its water tariffs by over 400% citing high cost of water treatment chemicals, among other costs. Zinwa, which mainly supplies water to small towns and growth points, last increased tariffs in 2012. — article also in Herald /2019/10/zinwa-hikes-water-tariffs-by-400/
Issues that you can address daily. Not all that staff
Sadly as much as it’s big news the increase of water tariffs is not in our purview
U need to widen the scope! It would be cool for us your readers.
This econet issue has been going on for a longtime.. If you go to Mame and Shame Zimbabwe on Facebook you will find they are one of the most reported service provider. IMO Yes there are many issues facing this country and we can read about those in the papers.. Techzim is an Technology paper and they report on issues regarding ICT and related topics..
Mapera TechZim haaaa mapera imi! Izvi kana Izvi! Kupera chaiko hahahadaa. Ndatadza kupedza article renyu rese. Mapera amana. Chinjai maitiro amana
Massive company with $100’s of millions vs little person with meagre ecocash/rtgs… Who wins? Clue: it’s a no-brainer…! Funny thing is you’re all shouting and laughing as if you’re big players in the company, when in fact you’re the tiny little people who constantly feed the big company…. so it gets bigger and bigger and subsequently you get smaller, way smaller… along with the money in your pocket/bank/where ever…. and as the saying goes, you can fool most of the people most of the time but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time. A small company offers a one off show of support to a small individual and a bunch of you small time, self confessed liars and obnoxious mouth pieces get all self righteous, hot headed and abusive over an article intended to help to try and get a response (via a different channel possibly) from Big company. You seem to find helpful people offensive and
big company fraudsters just delightful. Check your moral compass!
I couldnt agree more
Why are you fooling yourself with lies
If you want this Techzim publication to continue. You would be telling them the truth not to poetically sing along with their flows. We expect more tech stuff from them than all this hogwash
I have lost $24 to econet. At first i thought it was error on my side, when i bought again same thing happened. I called them and i was told my money will be reversed and this was on the 27th of Sep. Up until now, i haven’t received any thing. Isn’t that theft?
Sometime back econet called me and asked me to go and redeem my Platinum points. I went to the Kwekwe shops and was tossed from one to another untill I gave up.