'Extraordinary' cost for Digicel clients
Published:Saturday | November 10, 2012 | 12:00 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
The only thing extraordinary about the new Digicel marketing campaign is the extra cash I have been paying for the ordinary $100 credit I have become accustomed to purchasing on a weekly basis as part of my child's allowance.
Since Digicel launched its 'Extraordinary' campaign, it's as if supplies of $100 cards have dried up. I am forced to buy the new $108 card out of frustration because vendors say they aren't being supplied with the regular $100 cards.
The $108 card pus tax should be costing me $135. However, vendors are now quoting prices of up to $150. I know that vendors usually add an extra $5 or $10 to the $100 card, but now they are adding more than they used to, all because Digicel moved the price of their cheapest phonecard.
Pay more to win
To me, this is a form of price increase on the poor, because I would imagine the $100 card is likely the poor man's phonecard. How could Digicel do this to the poor?
I called its customer care and I was told that I have the option of buying the $108 card if I want to enter its promotion to win $12 million. But why should anyone have to pay more to win? Didn't we usually win with Digicel without paying more?
It seems to me as if Digicel is shifting things around on us. First, it made a retrograde step and introduced per-minute billing. Now it has raised the price of the cheapest phonecard by eight per cent. All in four months!
What's next Digicel?
Horace Smith
Ingleside, Manchester