JEDDAH, 24 August 2003 — The new STC mobile phone chips priced at SR100 have met with great demand, but customers say they are disappointed. The chips present them with two problems: They come without extra capability and they limit outgoing calls to a maximum of between SR500 — for women who do not work — and SR1,000.
This means in practice that the chip bars outgoing calls once the bill exceeds SR800-900.
“We keep paying off the charge before they send the bill because otherwise we can’t use the phone for the rest of the month,” Abdul Rahman, 20, told Arab News. “Since this is an open chip, rather than a prepaid one, it would be better if they either increased the limit or kept sending the bill once we’ve reached the limit,” he added.
Saudi Telecom Company is now offering a new service which it says solves the problem. Customers can build up credit by putting as much money in their account as they want to make sure they are not barred halfway through the billing period.
But customers say that either way the system favors STC and disadvantages the customer, who has to rely on his own initiative to avoid inconvenience. “I don’t understand why we should let our money lie idle in the STC account to avoid going over the limit. They should bill us normally, and then those who don’t pay the bill can be punished or blacklisted,” Muhammad, 21, said.
