Advertisement

take action

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
0

The column for anyone fed up with bureaucracy, frustrated with delays, or furious with poor service. Tell us your complaint and we'll try to fix it ...

A long-time user of Hutchison's mobile service said the company was adopting loanshark methods by harassing loyal customers for unbilled charges at midnight.

This involved sending text messages (two in the space of 42 seconds) at midnight urging her to pay them by credit card within two hours or her connection would be cut off. This was for IDD calls she had not yet been billed for and at a time when she was $453 in credit after overpaying her previous bill.

'On the evening of March 7, at 6.40pm, I received a text message telling me my 'mobile [roaming] charges' had exceeded the preset limit and asking me to call Ms Chan,' she said.

'Later that day, I was woken by a second message on my mobile phone at 11.48pm. This message repeated the same information. I did not call Ms Chan as it was virtually midnight and I thought it best to leave it until morning. However, 42 seconds later, I received a third message. 'This said the same thing, but added: 'Please call Ms Chan in two hours to avoid service suspension'.'

Threatened with suspension, I called the telephone number and spoke to someone who told me my roaming charges were $1,600, which was over my preset limit, and could I pay immediately. I was asked for my credit card number. At this point, I became suspicious.

Advertisement