Local Cellphone Contracts Remain a Bone of Contention Amongst Consumers

LOCAL CELLPHONE CONTRACTS REMAIN A BONE OF CONTENTION AMONGST CONSUMERS

 

 

In their annual report for 2015/2016, the Consumer Goods and Services Ombudsman (CGSO) revealed their findings pertaining to consumer complaints. With their motto of “fairplay between consumer and supplier,” the CGSO endeavours to highlight trends and insights in the retail sector with the objective of corporate transparency. At the top of the CGSO’s list for 2015/2016 were cellphone related complaints, with a total of 951 grievances listed. Given the fact that most South Africans are dissatisfied with at least one or more aspects of their cellphone contracts, these figures should not be a surprise to network providers.

 

“South African consumers do pay comparatively more than other countries when it comes to cellphone contracts, data and calls,” says Derek Wilson, Head of Hippo.co.za. “In a flash poll conducted amongst 5,760 South Africans at the end of 20151, 55% of cellphone contract subscribers pay between R400-R600 per month for their contracts, 65% pay between R600-R800 and 76% pay more than R800.”

 

Following the CGSO’s report, two of our country’s major networks came under fire when the Consumer Ombudsman complained that they are still not adhering to or participating in the CGSO’s process relating to customer complaints. So even though South African consumers are paying steep amounts for their cellphone contracts month after month, the general consensus is that they are happy to just squeeze their eyes shut and pay up, right? Wrong.

 

“For this reason, Hippo.co.za launched a Cellphone Contract comparison service on the 7th of April which enables consumers to compare services across the four major networks,” concludes Derek. “In the first week of this offering going live, 501 South Africans visited the page, with 184 consumers using the comparative offering to either take out a new, affordable contract or to export an existing number.”

 

This speaks volumes and is a clear indication that a substantial number of South Africans are unhappy with the costs or services being received from their existing network provider. The coming months will tell whether network providers decide to participate in the CGSO process to better understand their customer’s pain points.

 

Ends.

 

Established in 2007, Hippo.co.za is South Africa’s leading financial comparison website that helps consumers save money by comparing a range of South African providers across financial products such as Car Insurance, Home Insurance, Life Insurance, Medical Aid and more. Hippo.co.za is free to use and saves consumers the time and hassle of shopping around for the best deal since the Hippo.co.za website instantly retrieves real-time quotes from the different providers using the latest Internet technology. One in two people could save hundreds of Rands per month* on their Car Insurance alone by using Hippo.co.za to compare before they buy or switch to a new provider.

 

Hippo.co.za makes money by simply charging its partners a fee when a customer chooses to find out more about their products. The results consumers see, and the order in which they are presented, are in no way influenced by the fee Hippo.co.za charges its partners or any other factors other than the price of the product being compared. 

 

For more information, visit us on www.hippo.co.za, connect with Hippo.co.za on LinkedIn, http://www.linkedin.com/company/hippo-comparative-services-pty-ltd/, like us on Facebook, www.facebook.com/HippoSA, and follow us on Twitter @Hippo_co_za and YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/user/hippocompare.

Hippo Comparative Services (Pty) Ltd is an authorised financial services provider (FSP number: 16357). Terms and Conditions apply.

 

*Based on 2015 independent market research conducted by Kaufman Levin Associates.

 

Resources:

1 http://mybroadband.co.za/news/cellular/143572-prepaid-vs-contract-how-much-south-africans-spend-on-mobile-networks.html

 

Issued By:   

Engage Joe Public

Sharney Nel

Account Director

Tel: +27 10 591 7770               

Cell: +27 78 180 9674

E-mail: [email protected]


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