A well-known telecommunications expert Igor Lastovkin has criticised the work of mobile operator Beeline Kazakhstan. He described several situations relating to money being deducted, the quality of services, the work of the support service and advertising text messages.
WHAT COMPLAINTS WERE RAISED
As Igor Lastovkin reported on his page on Facebook, after topping up his balance by 7,000 tenge, 1,490 tenge was deducted from his account for the television service. He claims that he did not subscribe to this service, and after contacting the support service, the money was refunded. However, as he writes, the staff were unable to explain when and how the subscription had been activated.
Lastovkin believes that such charges cannot occur by chance, since the billing system operates according to pre-set algorithms.
WHAT OTHER ISSUES WERE RAISED WITH THE OPERATOR
The author of the post also had complaints about the operation of roaming. According to him, after the high-speed allowance was exhausted, the actual data transfer speed was around 33 Kbit/s, although the operator, as Lastovkin claims, advertises speeds of up to 128 Kbit/s.
In addition, he reported unsatisfactory speeds for the home internet service. According to the author, on a tariff with an advertised speed of up to 300 Mbit/s, the actual connection speed typically ranged between 30–40 Mbit/s.
Lastovkin also criticised the contact centre, stating that it was difficult to get through to an operator, and expressed dissatisfaction with the inability to unsubscribe from advertising SMS via the mobile app or the support service.
WHAT REGULATIONS DID THE AUTHOR REFER TO
Igor Lastovkin referred to the current Rules for the Provision of Communication Services. According to him, the document provides that additional paid services are activated upon a written application from the subscriber or through an automated service system with mandatory two-step confirmation of consent.
Also, as the author noted, the sending of advertising messages on mobile networks is permitted upon a written application from the subscriber or through an automated service system using biometric identification.
