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Showing posts with label Business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Business. Show all posts
Thursday, April 18, 2024
MTN: Too Big To Care
It's always a shame when a company gets so big and disconnected from its customers that it starts to annoy them. Badly. Discovery Medical Scheme is one example; MTN, my cell phone "service" provider, is another. It started in August or September last year when the latter screwed up their database and started sending my invoices and statements to a two-year-old email address. They also changed the primary contact number. Not that it would make any difference because they send spam to all their numbers, and don't contact their customers on the primary contact number for anything important anyway.
Then I started getting marketing calls from their call centres. Most of them were blocked by the TrueCaller app, but three got through anyway:
The end of January is not a good time to renew a contract. They are about to announce their new phone models, and so stocks of the existing models are low, if not empty. The store can tell you that new models are coming in, but not the cost of the new devices yet. So the Samsung A24 was not in stock, but they couldn't tell me how much the A25 would cost. Eventually, in February the A25 was available at a suitable price, but not in black. Only light blue. After waiting for 3 weeks for a phone, I decided to ignore the colour and get a black phone protector case. Two days later, the black phone arrived. Too late! So it is best to wait until March or April to renew a contract, or move to another "service" provider.
Twitter's @MTNza "help" desk was singularly unhelpful in "assisting" with getting the new phone. They wanted me to go back to the store and cancel the contract (never mind the cost) and then "pre-order" the black A25 online. They couldn't tell me when it would arrive either. Nice own goal and undermining the hard-working staff at the store.
The same staff complain that they are having trouble obtaining DebiCheck mandates for debit order contracts. They obtained mine on 26th January, but failed to run the debit order on 31st January. The frustrated staff changed my account to cash payment instead of debit order, in order to try to finalize the contract. The staff at the store can't fix accounts problems, you have to call 135. Another own goal.
Calling 135 is like entering the lottery. You have very little chance of winning. Instead, you are likely to get someone who has no idea what the problem is, or how to fix it. Today I struck it lucky and was finally able to get them to use the correct email address for my invoices. It has taken several visits to the MTN store, and several complaints on Twitter, and several calls, all to no avail. Today the operator went to a different section of the screen and fixed it. Hopefully. We will see next month.
Their accounting system is also more weird than most accounting systems. When you are on a debit order, the balance amount never matches the amount deducted. It's half the balance.
When you change over to being a "cash" payer, then the balance amount suddenly becomes the amount you need to pay.
Naturally, no one bothers to explain this. If you pay the wrong amount, they just disconnect you from the network. No warning, no SMS notice, nothing. They don't even have the payment information on the statement, only on the invoice. So if you only read the monthly statement, you're in for a nasty shock.
Why am I still on cash payment after being on a debit order before? Because they told me that the only possible date for the debit order was the 21st of the month. Imagine that! No option of "last business day of the month" or 1st of the month. Nooo, that would be inconvenient for the accounts department to figure out a pro rata amount, even though they do that anyway. Nooo, they want the debit date to be the same as the date they finalized the contract, despite all their delays in doing exactly that. So I will pay them when it suits me. Because they don't care anyway.
Labels:
Business,
Consumer Complaints,
MTN
Sunday, December 10, 2023
TymeBank online “security” sucks
“If you are happy with your security, then so are the bad guys”
Fairly convincing: helpful options, no spelling mistakes. But here's the kicker: once you choose your option, you have to provide your ID number and the last 4 digits of your card number. That's all they need to login to your account and steal your money. They left R0.87 behind. How kind. Plus they changed my login password and my login PIN.
- My first problem is this: all the OTP are carefully crafted to fit into less than 160 characters (SMS length), but provide little or no meaningful information:
TymeBank. Never share this One Time PIN with anyone. Use OTP 9411 to change your Login PIN or Internet Banking password. For help 0860999119. 09Dec 22:14
Had I known that my ID number and the last 4 digits of my card number were all that is required to log in to my account and reset the login password, I obviously would have been more careful. - My second problem is that neither the SMS messages nor the banking app on my phone bothered to tell me that the login PIN had been changed. They sent me an email. Except I don't receive emails on my phone, and I wasn't in the office on a Saturday evening. They may as well send it by registered letter for all the good it did.
- My third problem is that in order to send money to someone's phone, no OTP is required at all. Nothing. I have checked the OTP messages sent to my phone and there is absolutely nothing referring to sending money to anyone. But the app conveniently told me that the money had been sent, after it was sent. Too late of course, but still. And once it has been sent, the money voucher cannot be cancelled or reversed.
- My fourth problem was when I realised I had been defrauded. I called 0860999119 and reported the fraud. The first lady who answered the call was basically clueless, and didn't ask for my email address or home address, just my ID number. That only happened later when I checked that 0860999119 was in fact a genuine number for TymeBank. On the second call I was asked for my details, and told that I would receive an SMS with the fraud reference number GFD-126181. I'm still waiting for that SMS from the first call, or the second call.
- Another problem: TymeBank claims to be concerned about my security, but my account cannot be protected by secure second factor like a Google Authenticator code. It's simply not an option. Nor is there any option to limit the size of a tap-to-pay transaction. SMS is not secure. Everyone in the financial sector knows that. But they choose to use it anyway. Insecure by design.
Update Sunday 10 December: TymeBank doesn't appear to monitor their own Twitter feed for scammers like this:
Update Monday 11 December 2pm: I got a call from the fraud department (010-241-1363), who can't explain why the message with the fraud case number was not sent, but can assure me that I received and read all their OTP messages. They don't have a facility to disable tap-to-pay, but I do: it's called a microwave. Pop it in for 1 second and the tap-to-pay (and the chip-and-pin) will never work again. “I'm sorry about that we do apologise sir” is a phrase they use often and repeatedly, along with “I hear you”, but until they change the way their systems work, it means nothing and they “heard” nothing. Apparently it's easier to refund R769 than to improve the security of the business. It's not the employee's money they are wasting.
They are an internet business that doesn't have any branches, but they don't operate on internet time, only government time. That leaves plenty of time for the crooks to do their dirty business. They have 4 cell phone numbers from this blog, and they have probably seen these numbers before, but they have not found out from FICA/RICA who owns those numbers, or made any arrests. And they don't seem interested in finding out either.
The lady who called asked me to remove this article. Apparently I will still get a refund if I refuse. We will see. The refund will most likely happen within the next 5 working days. I'm not holding my breath.
Update Tuesday 12 December: TymeBank Twitter account hadn't blocked @Hajra32021956, until I suggested it, even though they are supposed to monitor the activity on their own Twitter feed. Hopeless. And they seem to think that if I block @Hajra32021956 the criminal activity will somehow stop. Clueless.
They block their critics warning of their problems, but allowed the scammers to operate for weeks with impunity. Clueless.
Further update 12 December: I received the following email:
From: Fraud Operations Mailbox <FraudOperations@TymeDigital.com>To which I replied:
Sent: Monday, December 11, 2023 3:34 PM
To: Donn Edwards
Subject: Liability letter for GFD- 126181
Good day
Thank you for contacting TYMEBANK.
Your Fraud Dispute with Case number GFD- 126181 has been finalized.
Kindly find attached outcome letter
Regards
Fraud Operations
Phone +27 (0)87 286 8833
Email fraudoperations@tymedigital.com
4th Floor, 30 Jellicoe Avenue, Rosebank 2196
www.tymebank.co.za
TymeBank is an Authorised Financial Services Provider (FSP49140).
Tyme Bank Limited Reg no: 2015/231510/06
From: Donn Edwards
Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2023 6:54 PM
To: 'Fraud Operations Mailbox' <FraudOperations@TymeDigital.com>
Subject: RE: Liability letter for GFD- 126181
Dear “Fraud Operations”
At what point is this process do you acknowledge that I was not informed in a timeous manner that my login PIN and password were changed, in the same way that I get a notification when the balance changes?
Please can you supply me with the police case number, or do I need to open one myself?
How many times do you get LEGITIMATE withdrawals where:
1. The login PIN was changed;
2. The login PASSWORD was changed; and
3. All the money in the account was sent to a mobile number not used before on the account,
All within a short period of time, such as 30 minutes?
If not, why does your system not throw up a fraud alert when this happens?
When do you plan to obtain the FICA/RICA details of the following phone numbers used by these fraudsters impersonating the bank?
081-591-8538
064-022-6823
062-858-2151
064-298-8774
081-043-4791
I await your prompt reply, and will be visiting your offices tomorrow.
Best wishes
Donn Edwards
I'm still trying to figure out how to sign the outcome letter which is a read-only PDF format document. I don't think these muppets throught it through, do you? As it turned out, I was unable to visit their offices to deliver the signed letter. But I have scanned it and sent the scanned image containing my signatures.
Update: 14 December 2023: I just received the following email message
In the meantime I have replaced my TymeBank debit card with a Pick 'n Pay Smart Shopper card.
Update: 16 December 2023: According to the outcome letter they sent, my account has been blocked. Perhaps that would explain why they have not refunded the stolen money yet. I'm not holding my breath.
Update Monday 18 December: The refund finally arrived. I have transferred it to my FNB account.
Labels:
Business,
Fraud,
Life in South Africa
Thursday, December 16, 2021
DisChem's Vaccine Lies
1. Tested Twice
Vaccines are tested and approved internationally and in South Africa before they are given to people.Oversimplified and misleading. There are two ongoing trials of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, one sponsored by BioNTech in Germany (Phase 1), and another sponsored by BioNTech(Pfizer) in the USA, Argentina, Brazil, Turkey, South Africa and Germany (Phase 1,2,3). Not all phases are completed. None of the trials are independent, and the trial data is not available for public scrutiny. So, we have to rely on the honesty of the manufacturer to provide accurate data. The animal trials failed, so all of these trials are given to the trial participants (people) before they are given to the general public (also people). There were 771 people in phase 1, and 87,495 people in phases 2 and 3. [1]. No "Vaccine safety" information provided.
2. New Technologies
New technologies and information about other Coronaviruses before COVID-19 made production faster.Vague and misleading. Presumably it is referring to the fact that these are mRNA vaccines. The mRNA technology hasn't been successful in any previous attempts at a vaccine. The manufacturers of the vaccine are immune from prosecution for any side effects, manufacturing defects, quality control lapses, or incorrect administration of the doses. For example, in the first 90 days after approval of the vaccine in the USA, 7 people died due to incorrect administration or dosing out of 2792 reported "Medication Error" events. Administration had not even started in South Africa at that point. [2:Page 26]. Again, no "vaccine safety" information, just talk about faster production and new technologies.
3. Over One Million Volunteers
Over one million volunteers were part of the testing process for the vaccine - 2 000 South Africans tested the vaccine.Wrong. NIAID was looking for a million volunteers [3:July 2020] but the Pfizer trial involved 90,000 people at best (see above), and it doesn't say how many South Africans were involved. The Johnson & Johnson trial involved 2,000 participants in South Africa [4], but presumably half of them were in the control group, so they didn't "test" anything. Again, no mention of the safety of the trials.
4. Millions Are Vaccinated
Over 700 million people around the world are already fully vaccinated.Again, misleading. It implies that 700 million people were safely vaccinated, but avoids actually saying that. The real situation is being carefully concealed and manipulated by the drug companies, the "health" authorities, and many doctors (and pharmacists who care). [5] If you are convinced that the vaccine is "safe and effective" then what do you say when a patient dies within 48 hours of taking the vaccine? Who is going to pay for the autopsy? So the doctor says, "it's a coincidence" and doesn't mention the vaccine as cause of death. It happened to a family friend. They are too busy grieving to worry about the doctor's lies. So if you hear that millions are vaccinated but don't hear about the side effects and fatalities, does that mean the vaccine is safe?
5. Side Effects Are Tracked
Vaccines may have some side effects. All vaccine side effects are monitored over time.Once again, this is false and misleading. It implies that "someone" is actively monitoring for vaccine side effects and injuries. Pfizer isn't doing it, and they admit as much. They are passively accepting data sent to them. This data has to be forced out of the FDA by a court order [6] after they sat on the data for months, and claimed it would take years to be released, despite their legal obligation to do so in a timeous fashion.
- Nervous system disorders (25,957)
- Musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders (17,283)
- Gastrointestinal disorders (14,096)
- Skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders (8,476)
- Respiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders (8,848)
- Infections and infestations (4,610)
- Injury, poisoning and procedural complications (5,590)
- Investigations (3,693)
6. Protects Against Serious Illness
You can still get COVID-19 but the vaccine protects from serious illness and death.Where is the data? Most countries with high vaccination rates are still experiencing high death tolls and hospitalization rates. Most media reports try to spin this as "the unvaccinated" are getting sick, but the reality is quite different. One study shows that "Increases in COVID-19 are unrelated to levels of vaccination across 68 countries and 2947 counties in the United States" [8]. Public officials are promoting "booster shots" as being necessary because the vaccine's "protection" only seems to last about 6 months. So I guess the death of 1,223 people in 90 days is not a serious death.
7. Check for Side Effects
In the days after your jab, check your body for side effects like tiredness, soreness, headache, fever, dry cough, etc.All of the mentioned side effects are also listed as symptoms of a COVID-19 infection. That's because the vaccine generates the same toxic spike protein found in SARS-Cov-2. But the vaccine generates these toxic proteins in an unregulated way. Notice that none of the serious side effects listed above are included. This is deliberately misleading.
- Relevant event seriousness: Serious (2341), Non-Serious (617);
- Gender: Females (876), Males (106), Unknown (20);
- Age (n=961) ranged from 16 to 98 years (mean = 54.8 years, median = 42.5 years);
- Relevant event outcomes: fatal (9), resolved/resolving (1922), not resolved (229), resolved with sequelae [complications] (48), unknown (754).
8. Works in Two Weeks
The vaccine will take two weeks before it gives protection against COVID-19.Again, what is NOT said is more important than what is said. During those two weeks your immune system is temporarily compromised as it deals with the unregulated production of the toxic spike protein. So any conditions that you may have had in the past that were being suppressed by your immune system can flare up again. Also, you could get flu, COVID-19 or any other contagious disease if exposed to it during that period, and your body will probably battle to deal with both at the same time. But in many regions you aren't classified as "vaccinated" until after the two week window, so any problems that occur during that time may well be recorded as occurring in "unvaccinated" patients. That's how the data is skewed. Here is the CDC definition: "For the purposes of this guidance, people are considered fully vaccinated for COVID-19 ≥2 weeks after they have received the second dose in a 2-dose series (Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna), or ≥2 weeks after they have received a single-dose vaccine (Johnson and Johnson) ... Unvaccinated people refers to individuals of all ages, including children, that have not completed a vaccination series or received a single-dose vaccine." [9]. Again, no safety data, just a bland statement that the vaccine works (assuming you survive the two weeks).
9. Stay Safe
You can spread COVID-19 to people not vaccinated. Wear your mask. Sanitize. Social Distance.What? Let's unpack this a bit more: since you are presumably vaccinated, you got COVID-19, which means you can catch it from people who are vaccinated, and likewise spread it to people who are vaccinated. So why only mention people who are not vaccinated? This is blatantly dishonest from the "pharmacists who care".
10. Tell Your Family and Friends
Tell your friends and family about your experience and encourage them to get vaccinated.Yes, I got suckered by this one. I told my community that I didn't experience any bad side effects, just tiredness and a sore arm. I learnt back from my community that one person had a stroke, and another suffered pericarditis. My brother told me about a friend who had a bad reaction within 24 hours, went to hospital, and died within 48 hours. Of course, it had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the vaccine. Because the doctor said it was so. People just drop dead all the time for no reason. My niece's husband who isn't even 30 has been having heart palpitations. It was unusual in his age group until the pandemic came along.
So what should we make of the lies and disinformation in a single poster? It seems to me that the "Vaccine uber alles" brigade will go to any lengths to "nudge" people to get a vaccine that is ineffective at best (the pandemic isn't over in countries with high vaccination rates) and dangerous at worst. The mRNA vaccine manufactures toxic spike proteins in the body in an unregulated manner, so they can spread around the body and cause havoc with just about every part of the human body. What could possibly go wrong?
Update 17 December: Unvaccinated employees must get vaccinated or be subjected to weekly tests, at their own expense. And they must wear expensive N95 masks. Dr Verwoerd would have been so proud of this version of #VaccineApartheid.
And in a cruel twist, Dis-Chem doesn't sell the N95 masks their staff are expected to wear. Because they are the pharmacists who care.
Update 18 December: I found some expensive "Civilian KN95" masks at one of their stores (but not online).
It isn't clear if they are genuine or bogus [11] or whether management is clear about the difference between N95 and KN95 masks [12] but the SA Medical Journal reports "KN95 filtering facepiece respirators distributed in South Africa fail safety testing protocols" [13], so they probably don't meet the requirements of the Vaccine Apartheid letter of 6 December. Was the "N95" requirement a typo, or a deliberate setup to be able to fire staff? Time will tell.
The "KN95" masks cost R7.50 each, but the ones that most of their staff are currently wearing are cheaper, around R2 each. All of these masks use the idiotic loops around the ears, which means they don't fit properly, obvious by the way the pharmacists (who care) and other staff were wearing them.
I could only find one mask that doesn't use the ear loops (R70), but instead has ties that you can use to tie behind your head, like the ones that surgeons use. Pathetic.
Update 14 January 2022: DisChem has managed to get itself on the red list and face a consumer boycott. And then there's this:
The human rights attorney Schalk van der Merwe posted this image on his Facebook page. He is also on LinkedIn. It isn't clear whether he is suing DisChem or not.
Update November 2022: Last year they lied about the vaccine. This year their board turned racist and announced they would no longer be hiring any new "whites" to meet their racist "diversity targets". The most glaringly non-diverse part of their organisation is the senior management, whose 5 male "executive directors" seem to be exclusively "white", and their 5 "non-executive directors" aren't. I wonder whether these "non-executive" directors really have any say in the running of the company, or whether they just feel they are token appointments, based soleley on the colour of their skin. So now their new motto should be: "Dis-Chem: pharmacists who care; management that doesn't."
Labels:
Business,
Consumer Complaints,
CoronaVirus
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