JEDDAH, 28 May 2005 — Mobily’s service is up and running, but some customers are already complaining that the Kingdom’s latest telecom service provider is not keeping its promises.
When Mobily initiated its testing period three weeks ago, all new subscribers were promised 1,000 free Mobily to Mobily calling minutes, 1000 SMS and 1000 MMS messages (Mobily to Mobily) as part of the promotion. When the test phase ended on Wednesday, Mobily took those minutes away.
“The free offer was for those who subscribed during the test phase. When the official launch took place on Wednesday, the promotion ended, and so did the 1,000 free minutes, and messages that were offered,” said Tariq Al-Ghamdi, a customer service supervisor at Mobily.
On Monday, two days before the end of the test phase, Mobily salesmen were still using the 1,000 free minutes as part of their sales pitch. By Wednesday, however, they were singing a different tune — referring those with complaints to the telephone customer service center. “We have received several complaints and we are working toward finding a solution that will satisfy our customers. In the meantime, we do have a service plan that includes 1,000 minutes of calling for SR340 per month,” Al-Ghamdi said.
Mobily customer service was swamped with calls on Thursday. For several hours callers to 1100, the customer service center number, were surprised to receive a busy signal instead of a welcome greeting from Mobily, annoying those impatient to explore the Kingdom’s newest mobile services first-hand.
“It took me 35 minutes to buy two prepaid SIMs because the computer at the store kept crashing. But when it finally worked, I filled out the forms and presented my Saudi ID. Within 10 minutes I was out of the mall and making calls,” said Seif bin Miteb, a university student who bought two pre-paid SIM cards at Mobily’s Le Mall store.
“When I got home, I put the other chip in my brother’s phone and tried to send him a picture but it didn’t work. The phone displayed ‘Authorization rejected’. I then looked through the SIM card’s manual which referred me to customer service either at the store, over the telephone, or at the Mobily website,” Seif said.
“The customer service number was constantly busy, the store was too far away to drive to on a Thursday, and the Internet site didn’t offer the settings or phone configuration information that I needed. I almost gave up, but after 30 minutes I tried calling seven more times and finally got through only to get disconnected by the telephone system. It took a few more attempts to finally reach live people. The first one didn’t do anything, but the second operator sorted me all out.”
After receiving his settings from Mobily, Seif found himself able to surf the Internet, and send audio, video and picture messages by way of MMS to his brother’s mobile.
“This was worth the initial aggravation. All I had to do was get someone on the phone to help me and it was all sorted out. I have since been able to send media messages,” he said.
Many prepaid SAWA customers of Saudi Telecom are planning to make the changeover to Mobily in the coming weeks.
Syed Asghar, 44, an IT technician has been a Sawa customer for nearly three years. He told Arab News: “Mobily’s rates are competitive, but what makes them stand out is that they are offering more than just voice calls and SMS to their basic customers. With Mobily prepaid I can surf the Internet, check my e-mail and send media messages to my family at home. I also get voice mail. Sawa doesn’t have all that.”
Asghar said Mobily was offering more services in their basic package than Saudi Telecom. “I will be getting a Mobily line at the end of the month,” he said.
