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Econet - A gigantic letdown
Rejoice Ngwenya
November 16, 2009

The world is fast moving towards a paperless society, where information technology is the mantra of 21st century decision making and 'e-talk- is the lexicon of civilised nations. For crying out loud, even old women and herd boys in rural India order their stocks using e-mail. I-m glad ECONET is not in India, because if they were, by now their eulogy would have read: "In there lies a communication company that never was!"

I mean the guys a pathetic! What strikes you first when you get to their Msasa head office the complete disregard for customer courtesy. Maybe it is because of immaturity. Their youthful staff will pretend as if you are an invisible man from mars, speaking a language they do not comprehend. They go about their own work - if it-s work - chatting away on their fancy handsets and giggling over SMS exchanges. By the time they get to you, you-re probably over the moon with distress about data dongles and '3G- modems that never work. Man, ECONET is better off now selling Morse code and Telex machines to the Khoisan in the Namibian desert!

It is a case of this company shouting about being first with a technology revolution whose insights they have completely no knowledge of. Big billboards and expensive press advertisements don-t deliver service. Fridays, one cannot even get through by SMS. If you tried to call, you-d wished you had sent Caster Semenya. At least she / he would deliver the message faster! Hey, the guys have even ventured to 0913, 0914 and before you know it will be 091f**k!

I-ve personally nothing against Strive Masiwa. This is the man who showed ZANU-PF communication monopoly the exit route. And it-s common knowledge that ZANU-PF is not exactly the best thing that ever happened to civilisation! Imagine if we were still queuing for fixed lines, the waiting list would be equivalent to De Mbare supporters - seven million! But if ECONET is going to [claim to] remain leading the communication pack; they should first get their technology right before shouting and selling dongles.

I was one of the early 091 users, long before cell phones were sold in the street. Back then, you would start talking before you finished dialling. Today - thanks to 3G - by the time you finish dialling, the guy you are calling has gone to and come back from Bulawayo in a battered Air Zimbabwe MA60! I don-t know who told those kids who work at ECONET that they are pretty, but who cares, all we want is service, service and service. Sometimes I wish the big guns from South Africa would come and give the red and blue team a run for its money. Frankly, I-d rather pay through the nose and access my internet instantly than beg from ECONET. I don-t know and care much about the other networks [TelOne, Telecel] because they never promised me 'miracle access-.

My point is, if ECONET promised that if we join their network, they would open up a whole new world of communication, for Pete-s sake they should give us that. You know these guys are chicky. At one time I was a dedicated account holder, paying my dues on time but bang! I was arbitrarily taken off the account and pushed onto pay-as-you-go. Why? The ZimDollar was not good enough, as if it-s my fault. I-m not the bad guy here!

Now that real money is flowing to ECONET Park, I can-t even access my mail through the so called 3G. I prefer to call it the 3D -'d- for Dofo! A Dofo is an educated Zimbabwean always dressed in red and white and with an I.Q. equivalent to the speed limit on the section of the road along Robert Mugabe Road between Glenara and Samora Machel Avenue in Harare! Sixty!

But seriously, what we need is a massive cell phone users association - a kind of lobby group that can boycott service providers like ECONET who take us for granted. If I pay money to 'dongle- the internet, each day I fail to get access I lose. What is the point of 'juicing the phone- when you cannot get through? In the midst of a conversation, calls are terminated due to transmission breaks. And there are tons of excuses - ZESA that, NetOne this. Well I-m sorry, I paid. Get a generator running somewhere so I can at least read my e-mails or use SMS.

Therefore, if you-re reading this protest letter loud and clear, and you want to join the ServiceNow! -Cell phone Users Association - send a solidarity message to me which I will pass on to ECONET. Am I angry? Yes!! If you find this letter offensive, call my lawyer on this number: 0912091309140915 or log in with your latest 3G dongle. You will be lucky to get through!

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