Dear Claudienne,

On December 18, 2015 I visited the Lime/Flow Store located in Tropical Plaza on Constant Spring Road to convert my prepaid service to postpaid. I was searching for a cheaper, more convenient service, hence the reason for the conversion. I was informed at that time that they had a promotion running that would allow me to get a free mobile phone (Samsung J5). I would have to keep the contract for one year and it allowed me 1,000 anywhere minutes and 3GB of data which would cost $3,000 plus taxes. I agreed and accepted those conditions.

On January 4, 2016 I called Flow’s Customer Care to request an increase in my data allotment of an additional 1GB to make it 4GB of data.

I was informed by the agent that the 1GB would cost me an additional $990 plus GCT, to which I agreed. For days I kept calling Flow to check if the additional data was added to my account, as I wasn’t seeing it reflected on my phone. I checked the data allotment by dialling *129*2#. On January 7, I called Flow to report that I was still not seeing the additional data reflected on the account. Within a few minutes of ending the call with Customer Care I received a text message informing me that I had exceeded my data and had gone over by 1538 MB.

I must say I was surprised, as at the start of the call I was only within 85 per cent of my usage. This prompted me to visit the Lime /Flow store at Tropical Plaza where I had signed up for the service in order to have it rectified. I was told that it was rectified, so when I left the store I thought that the matter had been resolved.

To my astonishment, on January 16, 2016 I received a text message informing me that my bill was $9,387.33. I went back to the store on January 18 to report that there was an error with the calculation of my bill. The supervisor on duty told me that he would put in a request to have the matter investigated. He said that the bill would be amended as it had been calculated incorrectly.

I fell ill that very week and went on sick leave from work, so I didn’t go back to the store until January 25. However, I kept checking to see if the bill had been corrected during the week I was on sick leave. It had not been corrected.

On January 25, the due date of the bill, I went back to the store to find out if the matter had been reported and if the bill had been corrected. The supervisor told me that he had queried it and was told that I had used the minutes and therefore had to pay the amount stated on the bill.

I then told him that I wished to opt out of the contract and would pay the bill and the full cost of the phone just to free my number so that I could move either back to prepaid, or better yet, toDigicel. He assured me that the bill was for a two-month period and since I’d only signed up on December 18 I had not got the full allotment of data minutes, and that going forward my bill would be between $5,000 – $6,000. I accepted his explanation, paid the bill and left.

On February 10 when I checked my bill, I was shocked to see that my current charges for the month stood at $26,603.88. I called Customer Care again and spoke to seven different agents, because each time I called and held on to be connected, the calls dropped and I had to call back. On my last attempt I requested to speak with a supervisor in El Salvador.

The supervisor took the complaint and said she would file it with the finance team and investigate what accounted for the additional $19,000 plus on the account. I am going back to the store today (February 11) to return the SIM card and disconnect the phone while the matter is being investigated.

I am extremely concerned, because if I don’t nip this problem in the bud immediately, the company will continue to refuse to investigate the matter and will say that I have used the data and must pay the bill. I don’t have an issue with paying my bill — if I have honestly incurred the charges I will have no problem paying them. But I am positive that I have not incurred those charges.

I must also add that I am at work for a minimum of eight hours in the day five days per week. I do sleep as well, and I use the Wi-Fi at work and at home. The data is only for use on weekends when I am at my mom’s house in the country and while I am on the road. It is IMPOSSIBLE for me to have incurred these charges.

I would appreciate your help in this matter.

KS

Dear KS,

Tell Claudienne has been in communication with Lime/Flow about your billing problem. Flow has informed us that your complaint has been investigated and that your account has been adjusted. You subsequently told us that Flow adjusted your bill for February from $26,603.88 to $957 and some cents. We have been advised that your service was reconnected on February 17, 2016.

Good luck.

Have a problem with a store, utility, a company? Telephone 936-9436 or write to: Tell Claudienne c/o Sunday Finance, Jamaica Observer, 40-42 1/2 Beechwood Avenue, Kingston 5; or e-mail: edwardsc@jamaicaobserver.com. Please include a contact phone number.