LIME accuses Digicel of false advertisement

General manager of telecommunications provider LIME Leslie Jack, has accused their competitors Digicel of cheating customers.{{more}}

During a press conference, which also included a demonstration, Jack asserted that his company’s mobile competitor is charging more than the advertised rates for calls.

In the demonstration, a LIME employee, using a prepaid Digicel mobile handset, called a series of numbers, Digicel, LIME mobile, LIME landline and LIME Caribbean, and upon checking the credit balance on the handset, showed that the amounts charged were not consistent with the advertised rates.

The demonstration, however, did not include a LIME prepaid mobile making similar calls as the Digicel.

Jack said that the demonstration proves that what was advertised by the competitor is not what is actually being charged.

“So they advertise Digi to Digi will be 86 cents … and they decided to charge you 89 cents because you don’t check to see what rate you are actually paying.

“If this were the evening, a Digi to LIME mobile would be four cents more than what they advertise, and Digi to fixed line in the evening is still two cents more,” Jack said.

“Who is misleading? Digicel is cheating Vincentians out of their hard earned dollar and it is about time that Vincy people make a statement. The statement is simple: bring your phones in today; we are ready to switch you, for free.”

The manager used the opportunity to reinforce his company’s newly introduced 60 cents flat rate, which allows customers to call on ‘any network, anywhere, anytime’, as opposed to the competitor’s 59 cents ‘on net’ rate.

Jack dismissed the Digicel campaign as a ‘Da Vinci Code’ scheme, referring to the requirement for the customer to enter a code before accessing the offer.

“That is not called a rate, that is called a prepaid plan. So if people don’t put in this Da Vinci code, you are not going to get that 59 cents.

“What rights do you have to cheat Vincentians out of their hard earned dollar? Digicel is out to take advantage of the Vincentian people. And me, being a local Vincy boy meself, me say that nar go so.”

According to Jack, his company’s concerns about the rates were brought to the attention of the NTRC through a letter, and he is awaiting response from the country’s telecommunications regulatory body.

Digicel’s Country Manager Sean Lattey, responding to what he called rhetoric by Jack, said that there is nothing wrong with the rates Digicel is advertising to customers, and the method used by LIME to calculate the cost per call is incorrect.

“The rates that we advertise are the rates that we give to consumers,” Lattey said by phone to SEARCHLIGHT.

“He is using the timer on a handset versus a timer that does the actual billing, and there is a delay in that. If he gives us the numbers that he used to do that rate test, we can show you that the rates that we advertise, are the rates that you get.

“If we were duping consumers all along they would find out. It wouldn’t take a rate test.”

Lattey used the opportunity to invite doubtful consumers to visit Digicel offices for proof.

He said that NTRC has proof that Digicel is dealing legitimately.

“There is really no reason for us to go out and justify something that we know is correct, we are here to please our customers and give value to our consumers and that is just a ploy to detract consumers from the real value we are giving them,” Lattey said.