“as in better”
Posted by Rich...! under Uncategorized on February 25 2006 at 2:21 PM| Upgrade (as in “better”) v.: to improve, esp. something that was old or outdated; “I’ve upgraded my computer so I can run better software.” “The company upgraded their personnel” |
MTN subscribers will be aware of MTN’s recent upgrade to their voicemail system.
Now you may or may not know that with the old system, you could dial 111 (as opposed to 100) to hear just the messages without any of the IVR gumph – very cool. Sadly, this feature is no longer available with the upgrade.
I also find the new even more nasal voice prompt, kicking of with a dull and lifeless “Y’ello!” to be anything but better.
So I called the customer care line and asked them about this, they confirmed that I could no longer use the 111 service, but assured me happily that the number itself still works – it’s just the service that doesn’t.
Giving them the benefit of the doubt I asked then what new features I can expect to see with the new system. To which she replied, “Well there’s nothing new really, it just allows us to cope with a larger subscriber base.”
So to confirm then, according to MTN:
| Upgrade (as in “better for us”): v.: to downgrade services to our existing subscribers, thus allowing us to increase our subscriber base/proffits. “We’ve just upgraded our voicemail systems”. |
Best hope they never upgrade the rest of their services…!
February 26th, 2006 at 12:44 pm
Yea its a bit of a shocker, don’t really need to be greeted by a recording…..wonder when they will downgrade there price to match there service.
February 27th, 2006 at 7:33 am
That Y’ello thing makes me want to decimate MTN. Or maybe just change to Vodacom or Cell C.
February 27th, 2006 at 9:10 am
I couldnt agree more, the new sytem is horrid. I cringe everytime i call my own voicemail.
February 27th, 2006 at 10:09 am
I agree about the sullen ‘Y’ello’ greeting as being a downgrade in the lowest of forms. For the 7 years I have been with MTN – a misjudged decision on my part – I haven’t been particularly starstruck by any of their services or ‘upgrades.’
And what pisses me off even more, is that they tell me again and again that I cannot get a contract and keep my same number, so I am stuck on pay as you go, where they charge me a small fortune for sms’ (R1.20) and per minute (R3.50.)
Pants.
February 27th, 2006 at 11:41 am
Dude, whoever you’re dealing with is smoking soiled nappies… or panties… or crack… or both! You can take you number from PAYG to contract no problem. But the people you find at the MTNSP stores or at the end of the Customer Care line are rarely human. Try another MTNSP store and they should be able to sort you out.
That said, eish!!!
As for no more 111, eish!!!
February 27th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
Sheldon you’ve hit the nail on the head: they’re all crack addicts. They all have no idea what I’m going on about.
I’m thinking of going directly to their headquarters in Fairland. Just to change my contract.
February 28th, 2006 at 10:29 am
Y’ello, as in the colour of P…off you demanding, irritating customer.
I had a great voicemail greeting, recorded years back when I was in the music biz (backing acoustic guitars, the lot…has loads of fun making it). Along come the arrogant f***s at MTN and wipe it off. And no courtesy to return my phone calls asking them about this. 9 years with MTN.
Funny this, in context of looming mobile number portability:
Communications Users Association of SA (Cuasa) spokesman Ray Webber said mobile operators must begin to pay greater attention to their current customers. — “For some reason, loyal customers in this industry get the worst deals.” –
http://www.mybroadband.co.za/nephp/?m=show&id=1152
February 28th, 2006 at 3:30 pm
I wouldn’t overly count on it.
SA is what the telecoms industry refers to as an “Emerging Market” – this means different things in different industries, but in the telecoms industry, this means that there are still allot of people who don’t have mobile phones yet (by comparison to the UK, where 86% of the population have one).
As a customer, what it basically boils down to is that the telecoms companies have a view on emerging markets that basically works like this:-
It’s cheaper, easier, and gets more sharegholder attention – to gain new customers than it is to provide a higher level of service to our existing customers.
And that is why you won’t see any real improvements (apart from those that are easy to monetise) until such time as the marketplace is saturated.
Even then, your odds aren’t great, because they will still only offer a level of service equivalent to their competitors, as this will mean that they don’t spend too much money on it, and each of them will try to offer one competitive advantage over the others in a bid to woo customers…
March 3rd, 2006 at 12:49 pm
There is a wonderful little thing called “number portibility” that will be launched this year most probably July’ish that will allow you to keep your number irrespective of the network and move to any other service provider if you are unhappy with your current SP. As for MTN not wanting to convert a pay as u go number to contract, that’s BS – they started the whole “number for life” thing – mail me I’ll help you with that.
May 31st, 2006 at 8:44 am
Hi;
While MTN will let you convert a prepaid number to contract because of their ‘number for life’ thing, is it tru the other way around?
Will they allow you to keep your cell number if you’d like to change from contract to prepaid?
(Just a note: I cannot find a reference to the “number for life” thing on MTN’s website anymore, does this feature still exist?)
Thanks;
October 2nd, 2006 at 11:37 am
When can we upgrade to another supplier and keep your number?