Everyone
knows the quality of cellular reception EVERYWHERE is at best pretty damn
SHITTY! Every time we push the green button, one gambles on whether the call
will a). Go through, b). Survive long enough to satisfactorily complete the
call, and c). The transmission and reception of audio signals would be
reasonably clear.
But,
chances are, to connect with the cellular signal, one finds himself involved in
bizarre gyrations and acrobatic posturing that could amaze a circus
contortionist! And instead of getting paid for the Oscar winning performance,
you end up paying the ‘phone company for the opportunity to audition before
nonentities.
All
kidding aside, just consider this: Your few seconds of “Hello … Hello … Can you
hear me?” costs you a full minute for the call. If you make two or three such
calls in the same minute period, you end up paying for the full minute for each
call regardless; and their billing clock adjusts itself accordingly. I once
obtained credit from Hutch for International calls abruptly disconnected within
the first couple of minutes of making the call; provided I called the same
number immediately and spoke for more than two minutes! Pretty generous, eh?
But they socked it to me real good come time to close my Post-paid account and
reclaim my deposit.
Note that
these “Deposits”(for Post-paid accounts) should really not be necessary since
such accounts are established based upon Trust, Credit, and backed by verified information on the consumer’s employment,
financial, residential, personal info., photograph, reference data and credit
history. In effect, these “Deposits” function as a “credit umbrella” within
limits of which calls are allowed to be made.
So for all practical purposes, a
“Post-paid” account functions almost similarly to a “Pre-paid” account but
where the cellular carrier reaps benefit of your money throughout your
relationship and, upon termination, gets to make “appropriate” deductions
before returning the balance to you without paying any interest! **There’s
something very shady in this arrangement, wouldn’t you say**?
Conspiracy
theories, i.e., whether weak cellular signals are the anticipated outcome of a
deliberately engineered inconsistent and sub-standard FM infrastructure is of
relevance here! The fact is, the ‘cell phone establishments are continuing to benefit
from the glitches indigenous to their system and raking in the big bucks unbeknown
to most tolerant(or gullible) consumers.
Granted, we
are not reliant on a cellular monopoly. There’s healthy competition evident
here so the “Buyer Beware” consumer admonition should hold relevance and be
applicable, Right? NOT SO! In a consumer
environment such as ours that supports an unreliable medium for auditory
communication across the board, and a uniform, parsimonious standard of
business ethics relative to refunds, there’s no real benefit in changing your
cellular carrier.
The only
recourse I see is a united, vociferous consumer outcry, “ENOUGH IS ENOUGH”! Backed by a
stiff, aggressive class action law suit, as a matter of principle, to
rightfully reclaim the moneys we spent on such substandard calls made under
unavoidable compulsion and duress. This will most certainly jump start the
“Powers That Be” into a responsible, ethical consumer relationship providing
honest value for money.
Are there
any consumer lawyers out there willing to take on the giants and champion the
rightful cause of the little man? C’mon …There’s gotta be someone out there
with pluck?! Or have the 99% truly given the remaining 1% a bad name?