Unethical Etisalat !

This is a personal experience I am witnessing. Just wondering if anyone else also have similar views.

I have been using different mobile operators for Internet fro some time. Recently, thought of trying out an Etsalat connection, since their published tariff looked attractive and, according to my previous experiences, the network speed was also generally good.

When started using, the technical aspects such as connectivity and speed etc was good. No complaints about it.

But, when I casually checked what they are charging for my usage, it raised some doubts. And now I am seriously concerned.

Unlike most of other operators, Etisalat seems to be charging 2MB at the start of any connectivity regardless of you use it or not.
For example; if you just connect and disconnect your data connection for 10 times even without using it at all, you will be charged 20MB.

Furthermore, it seems, their calculation is roughly 'double' of your actual usage. That means if your total actual usage (download+upload) is 5MB they count that as 10MB. I realized this after using a bandwidth monitor and comparing Etisalat calculation with other operator calculations.


Are there any other Etisalat data users here for any comments pls?

It seems, I am not fully correct.
Apparently, sometimes they charge not 2MB but a minimum of 4MB or even 8MB. And it is pretty inconsistent.

This is worse than what I thought.

And they have not yet replied to my email either.

If you can prove this via solid evidence, and they have not specified this in their disclosures this is a case for direct complaint to the commision.

This is down right wrong if not disclosed.

They will not at all unless u call them get their pant burnt.. That is nature of few practices, simply eliminating few emails later apologize that they were not aware.

Yes SLS, that's a good idea. I am trying to build a case at least for academic purposes.

Following two snapshots show.
1. What Eti has calculated as usage: 45MB
2. What my monitoring says : less than 21 MB

First one also shows how Eti charges sometimes 2MB sometimes 4MB and so on.

(I have used Mobile partner built in software to monitor my usage which is pretty consistent with other operator metering i.e. less than 5% deviation)







Any suggestions you have about what else I should consider to build a strong case ?

Without saying anything write/email to etisalat, and as if you don't know ask
how they calculate the usage ( what happens if you are logged on for 1 min whithout any significant traffic and how they meter usage)
If there is such documentation on their policy ask them to send/direct it to you.

Don't talk about your problem. Do this step first.

Have you tried Dialog?

Sometimes other Networks may tell you a headline rate which seems lower than Dialog's. But there are many hidden costs and conditions to that.

sashimaal wrote:Have you tried Dialog?

Sometimes other Networks may tell you a headline rate which seems lower than Dialog's. But there are many hidden costs and conditions to that.

Sounds like you are working for Dialog.

Yes, I have been using. Generally Dialog has been straight forward. (Apart from minor matters like not mentioning that taxes would be added to the mentioned price; etc etc).
Well, had they were not, I would have addressed it with their top management.

I was there and left recently

Try Dialog and see. Always taxes are added - regardless of the Network.

A close friend of mine recently got 4G broadband and he also was using Etisalat till recently and was not happy - with charges and speed. Now he promotes Dialog to everyone he meets

HUNTER wrote:

sashimaal wrote:Have you tried Dialog?

Sometimes other Networks may tell you a headline rate which seems lower than Dialog's. But there are many hidden costs and conditions to that.

Sounds like you are working for Dialog.

Yes, I have been using. Generally Dialog has been straight forward. (Apart from minor matters like not mentioning that taxes would be added to the mentioned price; etc etc).
Well, had they were not, I would have addressed it with their top management.

I tried all , initially everyone was OK  and then gave troubles and unrealistic bills.  
My problem is there is no way to find 'limit exceeding' when it comes through WiFi router.
Hutch charged the rental amount for next month to my current bill. I found Mobitel charging me over-usage when I was not in the country.
When I was getting unrealistic bills time to time, I checked browsing same sites with two suppliers and Mobi recorded double usage than the other. I disconnected them.

Now I am going to try Lankabel.
They offer 35 GB for a monthly rental of 1,350/-
Extra usage 200/GB. This is cheap and 35GB is enough for me to prevent extra usage charges.
Connection fee is 7,500.00
If anybody use this pl comment about their service.

Other than that, they offer unlimited usage for 3000/- and above. Even that is OK for me cos I pay much more now.

Dear Chinwi,

Since your requirement is on Fixed Broadband only LankaBell or SLT would be fine.

Both are good.

Lanka Bell gives unlimited usage packages also - starting from Rs 3000 (increases based on data speed)

http://www.lankabell.com/fixed-broadband.htm

chinwi wrote:I tried all , initially everyone was OK  and then gave troubles and unrealistic bills.  
My problem is there is no way to find 'limit exceeding' when it comes through WiFi router.
Hutch charged the rental amount for next month to my current bill. I found Mobitel charging me over-usage when I was not in the country.
When I was getting unrealistic bills time to time, I checked browsing same sites with two suppliers and Mobi recorded double usage than the other. I disconnected them.

Now I am going to try Lankabel.
They offer 35 GB for a monthly rental of 1,350/-
Extra usage 200/GB. This is cheap and 35GB is enough for me to prevent extra usage charges.
Connection fee is 7,500.00
If anybody use this pl comment about their service.

Other than that, they offer unlimited usage for 3000/- and above. Even that is OK for me cos I pay much more now.

chinwi wrote:
I found Mobitel charging me over-usage when I was not in the country.

Defa Mrs Chinwi must be using when Mr Chinwi goes to Thailand. Better check the web cache.

jiggysaurus wrote:

chinwi wrote:
I found Mobitel charging me over-usage when I was not in the country.

Defa Mrs Chinwi must be using when Mr Chinwi goes to Thailand. Better check the web cache.

Hope your Wifi is password protected

Yes. all protected.
Actually it happened 2-3 times , few days for each month and they couldn't give any reason and blamed our side.

chinwi wrote:Yes. all protected.
Actually it  happened 2-3 times ,  few days for each month   and they couldn't give any reason and blamed our side.  

Perhaps your roaming data was activated.

That was a common problem for Mobitel sometime back. They didn't have good-rate roaming agreements. But now, since they are part of Maxis group, may be the situation has improved. (I honestly don't know)

You will need this if they turn tables and will be supporting material when filing a complaint.


.

slstock wrote:Without saying anything write/email to etisalat, and as if you don't know ask
how they calculate the usage ( what happens if you are logged on for 1 min whithout any significant traffic and how they meter usage)
If there is such documentation on their policy ask them to send/direct it to you.

Don't talk about your problem. Do this step first.

I use Mobitel now it is very slow.
Yesterday I went to SLT and get SLT broadband new package and 150Mbps Wireless
N ADSL2+ Modem Router (Wi Fi 5dBi) for Rs 1505
SLT Web family package 35GB for Rs 1490
Pls get call to SLT and ask.
(I have SLT phone)

slstock wrote:You will need this if they turn tables and will be supporting material when filing a complaint.


.

slstock wrote:Without saying anything write/email  to etisalat, and as if you don't know ask  
how they calculate the usage ( what happens if you are logged on for 1 min whithout any significant traffic and  how they meter usage)
If there is such documentation on their policy ask them to send/direct  it to you.

Don't talk about your problem. Do this step first.

Yes, that sounds a good point SLS.
I've in fact done it (to: customercare@int.etisalat.lk). The problem is they do not reply.

If I am to call their customer care, they will charge 3/-++ for each call. I thought 'why should I pay them more'.

No need to call at your expense. Why should you , if this is related to company.

If they don't reply try just one more time within 1-2 week. If they don't , thats another point in your favor.

HUNTER wrote:

slstock wrote:You will need this if they turn tables and will be supporting material when filing a complaint.


.

slstock wrote:Without saying anything write/email  to etisalat, and as if you don't know ask  
how they calculate the usage ( what happens if you are logged on for 1 min whithout any significant traffic and  how they meter usage)
If there is such documentation on their policy ask them to send/direct  it to you.

Don't talk about your problem. Do this step first.

Yes, that sounds a good point SLS.
I've in fact done it (to: customercare@int.etisalat.lk). The problem is they do not reply.

If I am to call their customer care, they will charge 3/-++ for each call. I thought 'why should I pay them more'.

I received a reply for my mail.

According to that, if I need them to calculate the usage accurately, I need to switch to a different package.

(we need to pay a premium for accuracy it seems) hah haa!

I studied the matter a little further and decided to put down the findings and conclusions below for others’ benefit.
Here is the experiment I carried out;

Three operators were compared to see what each one of them delivered when I was charged for 100MB of data.
Below is the approximate result within +-5% accuracy.
1. Dialog: When they charged for 100MB, my computer said they delivered : 100MB
2. Hutch: When they charged for 100MB, my computer said they delivered : 80MB
3. Etisalat: When they charged for 100MB, my computer said they delivered : 50MB

In a simple analogy, it is like when we buy a 1kg of sugar from each of three boutiques; then go home and recheck the weight; the first one gives us 1kg and the second one shows 800g and the third one shows only 500g.
Apparently, Dialog looks honest in their calculations, Hutch looks cheating us a bit; and Etisalat is ripping us off.

I tried to reason out if this could be accidental or if this could be due to some genuine technical difference or if this could be intentionally done by them.

All of their mobile radio networks work on same principles and technologies; manufactured and delivered by either one or combination of Huawei, Alcatel, ZTE and Ericsson. So there is no apparent difference in mobile network of any of them.

However, they use 3 different billing and charging software; where the charging parameters can be easily manipulated.
So my conclusion is; they do it INTENTIONALLY in their charging systems.

Then, I wanted to reason out why they do it (apart from the intention of robbing the unsuspecting public).
What I have learnt is; in Sri Lanka; only very few parties have Direct Internet Wholesale Fiber access outside the country; viz.
SLT - SEMEWE
Dialog - SEMEWE
LankaBell – FLAG

All other operators have to buy bulk internet from the above parties and resell to the public. (Airtel also seems to have some special arrangement with VSNL but I didn’t verify that)

So, when it comes to Internet access costs, the remaining ‘small’ operators have some disadvantage. On the other hand, when selling to public, they have to compete against the same parties they rely upon. So, it could be that they come up with some gimmicks to generate some profits out of an unfavorable situation.

If I am to compare this with my ‘sugar’ example; it is like, only the first boutique gets sugar from a whole sale shop at a lower price and selling Rs100 a kilo. The second boutique buys from the first boutique at Rs100 a kilo and sells Rs100 a kilo but in fact a kilo contains only 800g and so on the third boutique.

I can understand that, those small operators’ dilemma; whether to be honest or to generate business profits.

But cheating 50% is too much of a robbery; isn’t it?

I have made my decisions on whom I should continue with.

Thanks Hunt, What about SLT and Mobitel ?

HUNTER wrote:I studied the matter a little further and decided to put down the findings and conclusions below for others’ benefit.
Here is the experiment I carried out;

Three operators were compared to see what each one of them delivered when I was charged for 100MB of data.
Below is the approximate result within +-5% accuracy.
1. Dialog: When they charged for 100MB, my computer said they delivered : 100MB
2. Hutch: When they charged for 100MB, my computer said they delivered : 80MB
3. Etisalat: When they charged for 100MB, my computer said they delivered : 50MB

In a simple analogy, it is like when we buy a 1kg of sugar from each of three boutiques; then go home and recheck the weight; the first one gives us 1kg and the second one shows 800g and the third one shows only 500g.
Apparently, Dialog looks honest in their calculations, Hutch looks cheating us a bit; and Etisalat is ripping us off.

I tried to reason out if this could be accidental or if this could be due to some genuine technical difference or if this could be intentionally done by them.

All of their mobile radio networks work on same principles and technologies; manufactured and delivered by either one or combination of Huawei, Alcatel, ZTE and Ericsson. So there is no apparent difference in mobile network of any of them.

However, they use 3 different billing and charging software; where the charging parameters can be easily manipulated.
So my conclusion is; they do it INTENTIONALLY in their charging systems.

Then, I wanted to reason out why they do it (apart from the intention of robbing the unsuspecting public).
What I have learnt is; in Sri Lanka; only very few parties have Direct Internet Wholesale Fiber access outside the country; viz.
SLT - SEMEWE
Dialog - SEMEWE
LankaBell – FLAG

All other operators have to buy bulk internet from the above parties and resell to the public. (Airtel also seems to have some special arrangement with VSNL but I didn’t verify that)

So, when it comes to Internet access costs, the remaining ‘small’ operators have some disadvantage. On the other hand, when selling to public, they have to compete against the same parties they rely upon. So, it could be that they come up with some gimmicks to generate some profits out of an unfavorable situation.

If I am to compare this with my ‘sugar’ example; it is like, only the first boutique gets sugar from a whole sale shop at a lower price and selling Rs100 a kilo. The second boutique buys from the first boutique at Rs100 a kilo and sells Rs100 a kilo but in fact a kilo contains only 800g and so on the third boutique.

I can understand that, those small operators’ dilemma; whether to be honest or to generate business profits.

But cheating 50% is too much of a robbery; isn’t it?

I have made my decisions on whom I should continue with.

Thanks Hunter for the timely analysis. + Rep.

Now, I have a very pertinant question to the TRC.

?What the hell TRC is doing on this day-light robbary.
It appears that the TRC too has other duties (such as blocking PEO & Dialog programmes they dislike) out-side their statutory duties akin to the SEC (such as ignoring IPO culprits). Every where the muck has set-in.