Safaricom’s Karibu tariff for postpay subscribers will no longer accumulate airtime, SMS and data bundles in new bundle plan by the telecommunication company kicking off 26th May 2013.
Safaricom recently revived the PostPay package meant to have been scrapped this May following recorded losses in past financial years. The company therefore promised to keep the service due to tyranny of numbers, but warned of slight adjustments that would help the customer determine whether to stay on the service or not.
The new changes mean all subscribers on the PostPay 1000 and PostPay 2500 bundles will be expected to have utilized all their existing resources (Minutes, SMS and Data) before they expire and become unavailable on 26th May, 2015.
After the date, the subscribers will continue to enjoy the existing Karibu Tarrif PostPay bundles and will receive same amount of minutes; Ksh 1000 bundle 900 on-net minutes, 100 off-net minutes, 100 SMS, 100MB Data and 100 Bonga points PostPay bundles at the cost of ksh2500 will see subscribers receive 2,200 On-net Minutes, 300 off-net minutes, 250 SMS, 250MBs data and 250 bonga points. The bundle will be renewed on a monthly basis with any un-utilized resources automatically expiring after 30 days.
The newly announced terms will only apply to Karibu Tariff subscribers who have exactly 26 days to clear the accumulated bundles since service roll-out in 2011.
As usual, Kenyans have reacted to the issue via twitter bashing the telecommunications company for downplaying their rights and concerns. In a hashtag #sueSafaricom, users have also complained of compromised services with internet speeds being one of them.
The move comes after the company also received a backlash from the public on stringent internet bundle conditions with threats to switch telcos from the public rising.
Here is what Kenyans had to say;
Dear @Safaricom_Care If you want to take away my UNUSED airtime then REFUND the payments made for that airtime. #KwaheriSafaricom
— #GroovewithSafaricom (@TopBlogger_KE) April 30, 2015
Dear @SafaricomLtd @Safaricom_Care @bobcollymore … YOU said my minutes & SMS would NOT expire. So why are you taking them away? Regards, CT
— coldtusker (@coldtusker) April 30, 2015
Then there were those who took the opportunity to ridicule Airtel for not taking advantage of Safaricom’s floppiness
Yani Airtel have an opportunity to snatch 30% of Safaricom unhappy clients but no…they are like “we are comfortable being this mediocre”
— Intellect Mogul (@GicheruGicheru) April 30, 2015
Is it that Safaricom has decided to totally and completely ignore the complains from subscribers? At the launch of Airtel’s Unliminet product, Safaricom reacted by revising its pre-paid data plan and the key changes included restrictions on data usage whereby subscribers are no longer able to redeem expired data, and restrictions on ability to sell “Bundle Mwitu”. Subscribers were outraged by the revised data plans and since then Safaricom’s social media accounts have been filled with complains from dissatisfied customers; and one would have thought that Safaricom will restructure its offering to delete “expiry date related terms and conditions” associated with its voice and data service offerings.
Check out the article: The new Safaricom Night Shift Bundles – a completely useless offer
Following the outrage on social media in regards to the changes that were implemented on Safaricom data plans, Safaricom fired a few managers while others resigned, a move that many speculators thought was as a result of the new products that did not meet customers’ expectations. But now that Safaricom plans to implement similar restrictions on Karibu Tariff, one really wonders where the corporate took its listening ears to.
