Digicel responds to complaints on ‘mysterious deductions’

The National Business

Mobile phone users may be losing data credit unknowingly due to applications running in the background, says Digicel chief executive officer Colin Stone.
Stone was responding to complaints from Digicel customers regarding mysterious deductions from their balances.
A customer who wrote in The National’s Letters page claimed that Digicel was making millions everyday through legal and illegal transactions of one toea from customers’ balances.
But Stone said: “Digicel has multiple services (that) customers are subscribed too.
“Without a specific number to investigate, it is difficult to monitor.
“We do note that this may be that the customer is using data in the background (unknown to the customer) and this is being deducted from the balance apps on customers’ phone.
“Do a check into some third party service.
“As we have seen unknown data use we have launched a new service. Customers just have to dial *777# and choose opt out.”

18 comments

  • People let’s get behind Telikom png . Data rate are better than digicel. If everyone subscribe to BMobile and Telikom, In few years time they might Go nationwide to also get us connected to our people leaving in the rural people area. It might take time but it’s worth it. Cant be giving money to foreign companies all our life’s. Come guys

    • Totally agree however at the moment it seems Telikom is not delivering. I paid my connection fee 2 years ago unfortunately my phone hasn’t been connected due to no signal from underground cable however was asked to pay for galvanized posts to terminate through aerial cable whom I believe is their responsibility.
      Can someone please get this people to work as they still get paid each fortnight unfortunately there is no turn over which is a cancer in state institutions.

  • Big fat lie, some of us don’t have touch screen or what so ever you called it, we don’t use internet but every time we do the top up or if theres credit in the phone it flys away. WHY?

  • There’s a dark side to Digicel’s operations which has come to the light while it continues to give the same response time and again. Papua New Guineans are no longer in the stone-ages to be continuously fooled into believing their bullshit. If BMobile management was smart, they would capitalize on such consumer grievances but they lack foresight and planning. What a pity!

  • Digicel when they launched in PNG 13 years ago risk were high in a country like ours but every corner they turned there was light at the end of tunnel because they took the risks. See were they are now, a success story in the land of the unexpected.
    PNG does not need another mobile telecommunication company but Telikom and Bmobile to assess and study Digicels success story. As Honourable PM James Marape slagon states” Let’s Take PNG Back” enough of following our colonial masters out of date policies. God bless PNG

  • That’s true it’s a lie, how can the Apps cost deduction from our mobile credits when data has been purchased for use, and also if we a downloading Apps on our mobile we can tell how much mb is required to download the type of App then we purchase a big data to download the Apps, when we make the mistake of downloading the App with a small data amount we understand that the mobile credit will be deducted, we notice that credits a still been deducted even when we using normal data or promo cheap datas, we also notice very greatly that when you purchase Y from Digicel ato buy data with it and start using the data, you notice that before the data expires all your mobile credits a gone especially the promo data, I say to Digicel please do the right thing I am not criticizing but trying to pinpoint something that’s not right, I thank Digicel for coming into this country because you made things easy for us Papua New Guineans with your great service help then our own Bmobil company who was over charging us from when they started, but please correct those mistakes because I am a Digicel supporter.

  • My mom have a ‘me too’ phone and everytime she top up her phone is a number of unsolicited messages that bombards her phone. In addition, every time she gets these messages, her money is deducted from her credit. Sad part is, we’ve made numerous complaints including to TATT and the crap keep happening.

  • Few weeks ago a renowned Business Advisor who help high posts in so many of the biggest corporations in PNG and Australia, Dr Aaron Hayes wrote about the complete history of Digicel and how this org built its wealth from thousands into Multi-million and billion Dollar company withing less than 3 years. In his statements, he noted that PNG is the largest asset the so-called-Digicel Group ever has and yielded almost 70% of its wealth from.

    Hence, the bottom line: Digicel PNG has ALWAYS been manipulative in the name of effective and efficient communication networking and development in our country-the responsible agencies and regulators have FAILED us-There has ALWAYS been unaccounted charges and fees applied. This company is honestly robbing its customers from day one. PERIOD!!!!

  • Anyway to make a few extra eh Digicel? PNG considered a not so sophisticated market with no possibility of recourse if we get away with a few extras…. Please don’t insult our intelligence. Putting another question to you Mr Digicel. Why do Fijians pay less for the same products considering they have a smaller market?

  • Good people of PNG its about time we join our own Bmobile Telikom network and enjoy cheapest data and good internet. It’s a rip off with Digicel.

  • Even when data is not on, there are still deductions. Digicel is a big cheating corporate company. NICTA, what can you do to stop this? They will continue to do what they do.

  • Bmoble and telecommunications services to step up to challenge the foreign network company Digicel by setting up tower stations all through out the country especially in the remote places and start marketing the products and services to the people.. just like what Digicel has done for the last 13 years…if only other telecommunications services are more active and creative in promoting it products and services, it will create competition amongst themselves and will see rates and charges drop in time….otherwise Digicel will still be up there to reap the rich and the poor because its the only active service provider that is serving both urban and rural areas. Thus this is a challenge to other silent telecommunications services operating in the country.

  • I believe Telikom and Bmobile where here long enough to monopolised the telecommunication systems in our country because it was nationally owned,yet they never did it.Digicel has just come in and study properly by puting their strategies in place and tackle the weakness of Telikom and Bmobile good and proper by setting tower stations all over PNG,network signals receive everywhere and even in the water and under the cave.Right now Telikom and Bmobile just open their eyes and try to mumble but it is too late,their competitor has grown many roots and branches within this 13 years of period where it is very difficult to uproot and will continueously rob every citizens of this country whether poor,rich,old and young by introducing illegal lottory games and diduct every toea in the phone when we have credit balance…

  • In some case due to customers’ illiteracy in using smart phones and deduction were being made thus, in most case digicel is illegally stealing from the customers.
    The digicel company must be a reliant telecommunication company in every services they provid.
    Too expensive.

  • Let’s all shift back to Telikom and B-mobile. I agree with those who said that non-touch screen phone have also lost much previous credits. Em tru2 stret that non-touch screen phones are also targets.

    Way too much now. Let’s all get together and demand an explanation or else, Telikom and B-mobile step in and find an avenue that captures this opportunity.

  • Many times
    1. stops the account even when the units have not been fully used
    2. very short time given example 1 day for 500 MB . very bad

  • Digicel is a huge Caribbean thief who takes advantage of us the unfortunate people. Telikom and Bmobile is to be blamed for the suffering because they have decided not to place towers in various areas to cover for the entire country hence Digicel took the advantage. Now that they are the main network coverage in most isolated areas, people don’t have a choice be go to them therefore this then allows them to continue still or left over unused money since what is also on offer as package does not match the flex values. They have odd values such as K7, K11 etc. How rude and selfish can you ever get?
    Give combo’s according to the flex values you are selling and stop taking away the unused kina without our notice once our combo value emptys.
    ICCC must seriously look into this and penalize Digicil in Billions for taking advantage of our positions.

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