Now, when everything is not so good in the world, both from a medical and economic point of view, everyone is starting to look for new ways to make money. Someone is trying to come up with something new, someone is optimizing the old, and someone just starts to cheat. Telecom operators are also trying to make more money, which is not doing very well now. At the same time, they try to make money by cheating a little. No, of course, they will not simply write off money from your account in order to replenish their budget, but there are some other, relatively honest, ways of taking money from the population, as Ostap Bender said. I came across a couple of them personally, and I just saw the rest from the outside, but it will be very useful to collect them into one article.
Almost everyone now has a phone. This means that almost everyone has a telecom operator.
The decrease in traffic from mobile operators can be considered, if not fully proven, then at least quite logical. Providers reported that traffic consumption increased by a third. This includes entertainment content, video communication, and just surfing. It is logical that mobile traffic should have decreased. And even those operators who say that it has grown by 5-10 percent, most likely are simply filling themselves up by talking about specific areas. For example, this is quite logical if we talk about country houses. They do not always have an Internet connection and people use mobile traffic. There may indeed be growth in such places, but it is unlikely to be global.
Service imposition by a telecom operator
The first one faced by many is the imposition of additional services. For example, you have issued a SIM card or simply restored it and you notice that 1-2 rubles a day leave your account. It seems a little, and it turns out only 30-60 rubles a month. Many will not even notice it. Especially if they do not have a fixed rate, for which they pay once a month, and they have no extra money on their account.
In order not to cause strong customer dissatisfaction, such services are often disabled when there is a lack of funds on the account. That is, if you run out of money, you will not be credited with it.
These services can of course be disabled. You just need to go to your personal account or call the operator (if you can get through and break through the answering machines). There is another option to go to one of the operator's offices, but now this is a bad option – it is better to stay at home.
Among the connected services, there can be all sorts of mailings, details that come to your forgotten mail, various service packages, such as an additional traffic package despite the fact that you have an unlimited tariff, and the like. My favorite is SMS spam protection. It's just a masterpiece.
SMS spam protection
I would like to dwell on this in more detail, since I have the most questions about this point. I understand when it comes to useful options like live balance. I have it connected and I always see on the main screen of my smartphone how much money I have in my account. This is how I understand when to pay, because not everything is spent at the tariff, for some services I pay separately.
Operators are only at first glance the same.
But when it comes to protecting against SMS spam, it gets really cool. That is, the operator knows who needs to be blocked and does not deliver messages to me from him, but he still delivers.
I can assume that sometimes spam hits the mark and is really useful. For example, a couple of times I had something like messages about discounts in a large electronics store, and I was just choosing a TV or refrigerator.
Even if we assume that everything is exactly like this, and the operator may think that I need it and I want to receive mailings from gaming clubs and mossy shoe stores, let him give me this opportunity for free. The question is not about this ruble per day, but about respect and creating comfortable conditions for the client. In the end, make the tariff for five rubles a month more expensive, but let all your clients feel good. Anyway, every tenth person connects to this service, and so the operator will earn even more.
The operator proposes a new tariff
The other day my operator (I do not specifically name names, if interested, we will discuss in the comments) called me and offered to connect a “more favorable tariff”. Naturally, it was beneficial for him.
These three provide the lion's share of subscribers with communication. No wonder they are called the 'big three'.
It all started with the words that I have been a subscriber for more than 15 years (this is true) and I have special conditions. They say, pay just 100 rubles and you will get an unlimited tariff. Everything is good and the offer is interesting, but my tariff already contains more than 10 GB – I don't even remember exactly how much – and I have never over-used this traffic in the last couple of years. I have good Wi-Fi everywhere, I do something serious from my computer and I really don't need it anymore.
When I said this to the girl who called me, she replied that she saw me periodically overrun traffic and pay back additional packages. This really happened, but for a long time, when I only had 5 GB of traffic.
As a result, the scheme appears to be very transparent. The operator understands that he cannot sell traffic in such volumes as before, due to the fact that everyone is sitting at home, and offers to buy a more favorable tariff. As a result, I will pay 100 rubles more, but spend the same amount of traffic and minutes as before. Not a bad scheme, you really can't find fault with it. My regards.
If they call you that, analyze your expenses and understand who benefits from it – you or the operator.
The operator debits money from the account
I must say right away that I personally have not yet encountered such an approach, and if you know more than me, then comments or our Telegram chat are always open for you. I remember once I had about 200 rubles on my Qiwi wallet account. The amount is not directly cosmic, and due to the fact that he did not use his wallet much, just in case he left them there and eventually forgot about them.
After a long time I remembered, I went to the application, but there was no money. I began to remember when I spent them. As a result, the proceedings led me to the fact that in the user agreement, which, of course, no one reads, it was said about such a write-off.
I don’t remember the exact wording, but the bottom line is that if I didn’t go into my wallet for more than a few months, I was charged 10 rubles a day. Here's a trick.
Some operators “for roaming” have a similar, albeit not on such a scale, but I do not exclude that this method can be adopted by simple telecom operators, so one must be careful about this.
Of course, it is difficult to write off money for not using the tariff, since everyone uses it, but you can find a loophole.
I have not used the phone, but I am required to pay
The last point will be a situation that happened to me twice, but for a long time. However, I do not exclude that some operators still do this.
The above can potentially apply to any operator. Check yours.
I had a separate SIM card for the tablet, but I used it from time to time. As a result, one day I receive a notification that I have to pay the debt in the amount of a three-month subscription fee at my rate. You can't say that I was surprised, I'm just an unprintable word.
I began to understand and it turned out that the operator, with zero on the account, blocks the connection, but continues to issue invoices. In the office, they told me that they were sending SMS, but they did not come to the tablet. As a result, I wrote a letter of complaint and my debt was canceled (this was a fundamental moment).
I decided that it was a mistake, paid for the traffic package and continued using it, but as soon as I stopped paying again, the situation repeated itself. Again a letter, again a complaint, but this time I blocked the SIM card and refused the services of this operator.
How to avoid unnecessary communication costs
The moral of the story is that operators will always find a way to make more money and should be monitored. I understand that now, against the backdrop of a pandemic, market oversaturation, the need to modernize networks and the Yarovaya law, they have more expenses. I also understand that we have almost the cheapest connection in the world and its speed is just excellent. I traveled a lot around the world and saw how communication works in other countries. Yes, not worse (rarely better, especially outside the city), but it costs many times more expensive there. It is hardly possible to get almost full unlimited for 500 rubles (about 6 euros).
Even with this in mind, operators need to be more open and not cheat behind our backs. This is very repulsive. I do not know about you, but it will be much more pleasant for me if the operator tells me that he will take 50 rubles more a month, but he will not bother me about any garbage and secretly write off money.