MobiFone promises compensations, after disruptions

Manh Hung, a MobiFone subscriber said he could not call from 11m to 6pm on April 8

Photo: Tuoi Tre

TUOI TRE

Within a week, MobiFone subscribers in southern provinces, especially in Ho Chi Minh City, have twice experienced the disruption.

On April 8 and April 12, MobiFone users were unable to make calls to subscribers of other service providers. Even when their phone signals indicated full strength, their messages still failed to be delivered.

A serious problem not to be taken lightly
The two disruptions lasted almost the whole day, occurring in large cities such as HCMC, Ben Tre, Tien Giang, Danang, and Buon Ma Thuot. The failures affected many businesses and subscribers.

Many people expressed anger as their calls were suddenly dropped, causing their business to be delayed as they could not contact their partners.

“That day (April 8) was a useless workday as I could not contact any of my customers,” said B., a Mobifone subscriber.

The delay in delivering messages also caused trouble to many people. One of them is Huu Minh, a resident in the city’s District 5. 

On the morning of April 4, Minh’s son had a fever at school and his teacher texted Minh to come and pick him up. The message did not arrive until 11.20am, when his son had already walked home by himself.

Many people were not aware of the service disruption and thought their phone was faulty.

Hung was on his business trip to Danang at the time and had appointments with several partners. However, he could not call or text any of them although he could still receive incoming calls.

“I thought there was a problem with my phone,” said Hung.

After many attempts to fix it but without success, Hung got mad and smashed his phone.

“Later on, I went online and found out it was MobiFone’s service failure, not my phone’s defects,” said Hung.

“The provider should inform the subscribers once a problem occurs so that they can find other ways to communicate.”

Apologize and promise to compensate
On April 14, MobiFone once again explained that the problem was due to the expansion and upgrade in their management system for prepaid subscribers. 

MobiFone offered apologies to all affected customers and asked for understanding.
The provider also promised to update information about the upgrade and expansion plans on their homepage.

In an interview with Tuoi Tre, a MobiFone representative said they would soon find a solution to make up for their customers’ loss, without stating how and when the compensation will be made.

Up to now, big providers have occasionally offered compensation to their subscribers in the forms of discounts, free messages or calls, which do not satisfy many customers.