Consumer groups mobilise to demand phone rights for 7 billion users

(First appeared in Consumer News Namibia Magazine April 2013)

Consumers International (CI), the global federation of 250 consumer groups, published its Consumer Agenda for Fair Mobile Services ahead of World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) on Saturday 15 March 2014.

In the run up to 15 March, consumer groups from around the world made a call on mobile phone service providers to demand better services for the 7 billion mobile users across the globe. Mobile rip offs are commonplace – from holidaymakers being stung by four figure roaming bills abroad, to customers tricked into paying to receive text messages.

With smartphones set to function as a remote control for more and more aspects of our lives, consumer groups believe now is the time to ensure big mobile companies are held to account for unfair, substandard services.

In consultation with consumer groups around the world, CI drew up a Consumer Agenda for Fair Mobile Services, which outlines what the consumer rights movement wants to see changed. This includes demands that telecom companies:

• provide consumers with access to an affordable, reliable service

• provide consumers with fair contracts explained in clear, complete and accessible language

• provide consumers with fair and transparent billing

• provide consumers with security and power over their own information, and

• listen and respond to consumer complaints.

CI is planning to deliver this message to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) - the UN body responsible for setting standards in the industry - ahead of the ITU World Telecommunications Development Conference in early April.

Amanda Long, Consumers International Director General says:

“Mobile phones are an everyday part of the lives of billions of people. From social interaction, and digital identity; to banking and e-commerce: they have become essential to the way we live, spend, connect and express ourselves.

“But consumers the world over complain about the service they receive from telecom providers. From West Africa, to Asia Pacific; Europe, to South America - our member groups are telling us that connection reliability, unfair contracts, unclear billing, poor customer services and concerns over data privacy are regular issues for consumers. It’s time the international telecom providers answer the call for action.”

Namibia is no exception. The telecommunications industry does not have a service of culture and now that it all telephonic services fall under one company (Namibia Post and Telecom Holdings), competitiveness is not a driving force for change.

The Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) is responsible for regulating the telecommunication services and networks, broadcasting services, postal services and the use and allocation of radio spectrum. Consumer Protection and Advocacy forms an integral part of CRAN's mandate. CRAN is supposed to ensure that consumers receive the full benefits of competitive electronic communication services and are protected from any exploitation or abuse. A streamlined complaints handling system in accordance with the Act has been put in place, but no consumer group has yet evaluated the process or had access to reports on the internal handling of the complaints received by the authority.

Note: Leo was purchased by Telecom and is now renamed TN Mobile. Telecom and the Post Office are 100% owned by Namibia Post and Telecom Holdings (NPTH). MTC is 66% owned by NPTH.

My Do and Get Book

(First appeared in Consumer News Namibia Magazine March 2013)

The Bank Windhoek group of companies has been supporting entrepreneurial development among children of school going age through the Bank Windhoek BizzKids competition. Last year, the winners were Keanu da Silva (13) and Keyat da Silva (11) trading as “Team D” from Eldorado Secondary School and M H Greeff Primary School. The business product they created was the “My Do and Get Book”. In basic terms, the two brothers sold work plans for children to do household chores to teach them to be responsible and at the same time earn pocket money for household chores done.

Wikipedia explains “pocket money” as follows: An allowance is an amount of money given or allotted usually at regular intervals for a specific purpose. In the context of children, parents may provide an allowance (British English: pocket money) to their child for their miscellaneous personal spending.

The person providing the allowance is usually trying to control how or when money is spent by the recipient so that it meets the aims of the person providing the money. For example an allowance by a parent might be motivated to teach the child money management and may be unconditional or be tied to completion of chores or achievement of specific grades

As a consumer activist the business idea of the brothers really caught my attention. First, it explains the importance of children being given the responsibility of doing things around the house as part of their contribution. Secondly, it adds the element of understanding the value of these chores in terms of earnings. These earnings (points based system) are converted into an agreed amount in Namibian dollars that the child can receive at the end of every month as their allowance. Thirdly, it leaves a long lasting experience for the child to prepare them for the “real” world where nothing in life is free.

The book is a daily reminder (when used correctly) about what is responsibility while reminding the child of the rewards due for the work done. This moral lesson is reinforced by the weekly checking of both chores and points awarded. At the end of the book, it also allows for a balancing to be done of both parties contribution to the work programme outlined in advance.

The business idea has now been formalized and the duo, together with their parents is shopping around to find a corporate sponsor. I hope that corporate sponsors are open to this idea, and link it to other products to also include saving and banking of these allowances.

Milton Louw is a Namibian consumer activist and is not affiliated to the business “My Do and Get Book” in any way or form.

Consumer Rights Day 15 March 2014

(First appeared in Consumer News Namibia Magazine March 2013)

World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD) was established on 15 March 1983 to promote consumer rights around the world. For WCRD in 2014, consumer organisations around the world are highlighting the consumer issues that are undermining and frustrating the success of mobile phone services.

The international consumer body, Consumers International (CI) will be launching a new Consumer Agenda for Fair Mobile Services. The agenda sets out the issues that most effect consumers including the need for access to a reliable service, the security of their data and fair contracts and billing.

CI will submit the Agenda to the World Telecommunications Development Conference, held by the International Telecommunications Union, where they will be calling on phone regulators and companies to take action to stop these issues undermining the success of this new technology.

Consumer Agenda for Fair Mobile Services addresses the issues that affect mobile consumers across the world and Namibia is no exception. Some of the issues that we need to address globally are:

1.       Provide consumers with access to an affordable, reliable service

Consumers want to be able to have access to affordable mobile services in order to communicate and to access information. It is only reasonable that they then expect those services to be consistent and of a high quality without drop outs in service.

2.       Provide consumers with fair contracts explained in clear, complete and accessible language

Consumers often feel cheated by their mobile provider, either because of unfair contract terms and conditions or because they didn’t understand what they had signed. Telecom providers should always provide consumers with fair contracts with all relevant information explained clearly so that consumers can exercise their right to make informed choices.

3.       Provide consumers with fair and transparent billing

Consumers shouldn’t be billed for services they didn’t request. We demand fairness and transparency in our bills, and protection from billing fraud.

4.       Provide consumers with security and power over their own information

Telecoms providers and regulators alike must protect the personal data that consumers give up in order to use mobile services. Whilst giving consent to use personal data can enhance the experience of using a mobile phone, it can also compromise the consumer’s right to safety. Consumers must be able to set the terms of how this data is used.

5.       Listen and respond to consumer complaints

Telecom providers should have effective complaints systems and if consumers are not satisfied there should be redress mechanisms to ensure a fair outcome. We must be able to penalise providers for abusive and unjust business practices.

Conclusion – Namibia’s Consumer Programme

For 2014 the Namibia Consumer Protection Group (NCPG) will be meeting with the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN), Telecom Namibia and MTC to discuss the Consumer Rights Charter and how the present laws and regulations might not be meeting the needs of the Namibian consumer. Issues to be addressed include

a.       the lack of progress on number portability (keeping your own number no matter who the service supplier is);

b.      data services not up to advertised standards; and

c.       complaint procedure (redress for service gaps).

Any consumer which wants to have more information about these and other consumer issues can contact email address: miltonlouw@gmail.com

Service culture in Namibia

(First appeared in Consumer News Namibia Magazine March 2013)

I have been plagued in the past few weeks with the bad level of service I received from companies around Namibia. It has gone from a restaurant which brought the starters (oysters) twenty minutes after the main course had arrived, (the main course was a medium-done steak and should have taken much longer than shelling oysters), to a telephone call to a bank to request their latest home loan rates and I was informed that the person dealing with that type of enquiry is not answering their phone.

This led me to look again at what service is, and more importantly how do we go about creating a “service culture” in the country.

Allow me to first define the words Service and Culture.

For me the word SERVICE is “performing work for someone else”. Culture is defined as the “total inherited ideas, beliefs, values, and knowledge, which constitute the shared bases of social action.”

Looking at these meanings we look at the key messages to found within these two words, namely

• Inherited
•  Shared
• Values
• Knowledge
• Perform work for someone else

This is the message we need to make part of our normal everyday lives. As Namibians we must strive to implant a Service Culture as a “lasting inheritance of shared wisdom.” This working together will make the end result far greater than the sum of individual contributions.

So how do you become part of creating this Service Culture? Or more importantly, why do you as a customer also have to play a part in encouraging the Service Culture.

During Apartheid, one of the important weapons used by activists was the “consumer boycott”.  A Consumer boycott means a boycott adopted by consumers of both product and services to express their displeasure with the seller, manufacturer, or provider. Sometimes, customers may refuse to purchase a particular product in order to show their dissatisfaction to the excessive price or offensive action of a particular manufacturer or producer.

At this point is also important to balance what part the Service Culture plays from the employees to us as customers, and how much of the Service Culture is influenced by the relationship between the employer and their employees.

So, if a company or service supplier provides me with employees who treat me badly or with slow service, I must differentiate between the service being done to me (is it personal) or is it a business culture within that business.

I have looked again at the service provided to me by the restaurant in my opening paragraph. This same restaurant was in the news less than two days later as the owner had fired a staff member for eating leftover food. For those of you who work in the hospitality industry, you know how unappetizing the food at your own workplace becomes, what still to say of the leftovers you see being thrown every day? Looking more closely at the restaurant and the way the owners are reported to treat their workers, I will boycott such a business until they improve their treatment of their employees – which will surely bring about an improved customer service.

Sometimes bad service must lead to a moral purchasing decision by a consumer. Yes, that means I will rather go without your product or service until such time as the relationship between employer, employee and myself becomes something worthy and part of our shared Namibian Service Culture.

Read Before You Buy

(First appeared in Consumer News Namibia Magazine January 2013)

When was the last time you read the product description or spent time understanding the labeling of a product you have purchased? How many times have you accepted that the product meets your needs without actually understanding what the product is composed of? Unless you have a specific allergy or irritation that is caused by a product, most of us would purchase without taking time to look at the specific ingredients of the product.

Recently, I was advised to take an energy supplement as I am working up till 10 hours a day, seven days a week. A friend gave me an energy supplement of Bioplus and swore that this would “energise” me and provide that needed boost. (It should be noted that the Bioplus sachets can be bought at most supermarkets, small shop or even a service station shop and are displayed quite prominently.) After about two weeks of taking these energisers on an almost daily basis, I went on Christmas leave and felt I would not need the drinks any more. After a day of two of not using the sachets I developed a craving to at least buy a sachet or two.

Normally, I am able to handle any craving by just ignoring it until it goes away. However, the feeling of wanting to have a sachet stayed with me for about a week.  After the week had passed I happened to be passing a store where the sachets were displayed – and having time on my hands – and took a chance to look more closely at what are the ingredients of the Bioplus sachets. Great was my surprise to read that each sachet has its main ingredient Alcohol at 10% of the volume.

That means the sachet of Bioplus has 10% of volume consisting of alcohol which puts it at more than twice the strength of a beer. The sachets I had been drinking without thought of a consequence was in fact putting me in danger of been drunk at work, or even more dangerous could cause me to have been over the legal limit of alcohol in my body if I had been caught driving.

I am sure that no police officer in the country (or my Boss for that matter) would believe that I had become drunk from drinking an energy drink.

As a consumer activist I always pride myself on being a “active consumer” in that I pay attention to what a product contains, but realized how quickly I had bought into the product myth that the Bioplus sachet would give me more energy. Looking back, I wonder if I really had more energy, or did the alcohol mislead me into believing that I had more energy while all it had done was give me a drunken buzz?

For myself, I will be checking the products I purchase a lot more closely, until the next time I buy into “the feel good factor”.