Have you been scammed by Etisalat Nigeria before? Well, I have – Oluwatosin Adesanya

It’s easier to decide what kind of rat poison to buy in
Nigeria than what GSM network to use especially if
data services are your primary concern.
Talks of elaborate scams by most Nigerian
Telecommunication networks isn’t news anymore as
many Nigerians are already conversant with the tricks
of these thieves in suits. Daily, many Nigerians groan
over the terrible service or pseudo-advance fee fraud
these telecommunication companies cum record
labels/advertising agencies have perfected over the
years.
Etisalat Nigeria which is one of the top four
telecommunication networks in Nigeria is sadly one of
them. Them here means thieves and I use ‘sadly’
because compared to MTN and Glo, Etisalat is a more
preferable network especially if you want a premium
data service that actually connects you to the internet
and not the edge of it.
But like MTN which is known for credit or airtime
disappearance and GLO for raptured network or dud 3G
services, Etisalat seems to have found it’s own way of
robbing Nigerians of hard earned money using a unique
selling point – Internet Data.
In english, the same reason you love Etisalat is the
same reason you will hate them. If you are not careful
you will be paying them to steal from you as their
internet data service is now their cash cow.
If one pays close attention to these networks, one will
notice how closely related their freebies or special
promotions are. Just like Nigerian bloggers, they copy
each other and only edit a few things when they feel
like it. Every quarter, they struggle to milk Nigerians all
in the name of blind misguided competition while
ignoring the many loopholes that pervade their
services.
Isn’t there an umbrella body to keep these thieves in
check you might ask. Of course there is. They are
called the Nigerian Communications Commissions or
NCC for short. And like many government parastatals,
they are riddled with corruption. Incase you don’t know,
telecommunications money is as sweet as oil money.
These government parastatal which ought to put these
erring networks in check seems to always turn a blind
eye every now and then because some of their high-
ranking officials get bumper packages which include
free phones, airtime, data services as well as hefty
bribes.
According to a source craving anonymity who works
with the NCC, gifts from these networks prevent
officials from effectively doing their jobs as their
conscience have since been bought. She said, “Of
course, we all use the same networks like other
Nigerians so we know the rubbish that’s going on. You
can’t blame these foreigners really. You know how
Nigerians treat foreigners like they are gods epecially
when they have money to spend. A few bank transfers
and they are in the clear to keep making money off all
of us. Do you think those fines imposed on them hurts
their pocket? Every minute a Nigerian somewhere is
buying airtime or making a call. Thats how Etisalat sent
my boss the new iPhone 6 the other day. Please tell me
how he will be able to do his job when he keeps getting
all these “gifts” and monies. The worse they do is
caution them or tip them off on impending sanctions
and we suffer for it.”
If you go through some online forums you will find
several means youths try to cheat these cheating
networks. Even scammers drop snares on public
profiles of celebrities offering cheap data in exchange
for credit and Nigerians in dire need of cheap data
always fall victim to these scams.
These networks offer you fried rice but you end up
getting one green pea and an apology. One of such
freebies on offer by Etisalat Nigeria is something like a
triple package promo which is almost like MTN’s
surprise promo where you get to double or triple your
recharge or data services by dialling some codes they
sell to you.
After Airtel almost robbed me blind, I cried to the
heavens and ported my line to Etisalat months ago and
used them for data whenever I’m working in Lagos. I
usually buy the Etisalat 10GB data bundle (which
surprisingly never last up to 2 weeks) but yesterday, I
decided to try something cheaper. Etisalat which has a
standard data package of 3GB for N6500 decided to
scam Nigerians by offering this same package for
N4000. How? Well they pass across an unsolicited
message asking you to load N4000 then dial
*229*2*2# three times to get 3GB which is valid for 30
days. But in actuality it is a scam to sell their 1GB
worth of data at N2000 to unsuspecting customers.
This is how they rip you off; first you load a N4000
Etisalat recharge and dial *229*2*2# then you get a
successful message. An attempt to dial again the
second and third time proves abortive as Etisalat will
keep telling you, “The operation failed, Please try again
later. Thank you”. Before you can ask Master Jesus to
give you patience, Etisalat will send you a message
saying your request for 1GB has been successful and if
your data is on, it automatically starts reading. God
help you if your Apps love to update themselves.
Calling the Etisalat customer service number 200, and
speaking to a Etisalat customer service agent (names
witheld), she offered apologies like Etisalat paid her to
do and emphasized that a refund from Etisalat can only
be made if the data hasn’t been used beyond a certain
limit. This is coming after saying she can’t check
records because Etisalat is undergoing system
maintainance.
It’s been over two hours and Etisalat is still yet to fix
this. I went online and asked some other users and they
all shared their stories with some saying, “Bros, it’s
normal”. It’s normal for Etisalat to rob us? Amazing
stuff.