Asked by the Customer on 17-01-2020 09:33:50
Question posted in the General Law category relating to Gauteng

I have a contract through Mweb which I just use for the email address. I signed up for an additional MTN 3G wireless contract in 2012 (I have no idea why as I have a phone contract etc.). I don't remember receiving a sim or modem or anything else.

My charge has been R149 since that date as I've never used any data. Except in April and May 2018 where there were 2 bills of R4k and R5k. I've asked Mweb for the detailed bills (obviously they'd have to get it from MTN) but all they've sent me is the contract I signed in 2012 - and say that as I signed the contract I am liable for the bill.

They haven't given me the proof that I received a sim card - surely they would need this to say that I had received that exact sim and therefore could have used it. I've also asked them what device the sim was used in and who owns it, and I was once again told the contract talks about a sim and you signed the contract so you are liable. In their words "As per your contract that you signed and agreed to the terms and conditions. It clearly indicates on page 4 what you will receive. If you did not receive the Sim why was this not queried, and why were we not advised. The Sim would have been delivered to the address on the application. As there is also usage on the account, the service is therefore used.

How do I go about disputing this?

Further information relating to Question:

There has been no usage on this data card since contract started. It was only in April 2018 and May 2018 that 2 huge bills happened.

Posted by Att. Patrick on 17-01-2020 11:02:05

Hi there,

I am a practicing attorney based in South Africa and I will assist you with your question. Please feel free to ask as many follow up questions in order to clarify your question. If you have a new question, you must please open a new thread.

If I understand you correctly, you have previously been charged (and you've paid) an amount of R149 per month since 2012? So you agree that you did sign up for the service, and you've been paying for the service. 

Awaiting your further information.

Att. Patrick

Posted by Att. Patrick on 17-01-2020 11:33:28

Are you able to email me the copy of the contract which they sent you?

caselawja <at> outlook.com

I can then peruse the contract and get back to you?

Hi Att. Parick, regarding "you have previously been charged (and you've paid) an amount of R149 per month since 2012? So you agree that you did sign up for the service, and you've been paying for the service" - that is correct, but I only signed up to keep using the email address. I just don't remember receiving a sim card, and that sim card hasn't been used for years - until suddenly it was used for 2 months and then nothing again. Possibly somebody found the sim card or it was cloned or something. I asked for them to tell me which device it was used in and who owns and for the download of sites visited, but they haven't given me anything.

Posted by Att. Patrick on 19-01-2020 08:40:54

Hi again, 

Thank you for sending the contract through. I've read through it and have noticed a few things. 

First, the contract is in respect of a 3G wireless internet connection. The primary part of the contract is the 3G internet connection. Secondary, is the provision of an email address. 

On the 5th page of the contact is a section dealing with the delivery of the modem. You could always ask them to send you proof that they delivered the modem and SIM card to you. But surely you must have received the SIM card originally. Surely all those years ago you would have received it in the Mweb starter pack and you either put it in your draw, or lost it. 

Clause 3.3 of the terms and conditions says that they will only activate your account once the modem has been delivered to you, and you've contacted them to request the account to be activated. So, you could ask them for this confirmation?!

Clause 3.5 deals with your obligations of notifying Mweb if you lose your modem / SIM card. Essentially, if you notify Mweb of the loss, then your liability is limited to the standard monthly cost.

In their terms and conditions, they do a good job at protecting themselves from over-usage and retaining the right to bill you for ALL usage on the account, even if you are not the person who uses the account. This is really your problem!

You most probably received the modem and the SIM. You most probably activated the modem and SIM, and then either you lost it, or it was stolen from you, or there was some sort of cloning (which I doubt, because they would have needed to clone your SIM card, and used your username / password to access the Mweb internet services - it could have been an Mweb internet job?)

Mweb would not have been monitoring or really cared if you used the internet each month. As long as you were paying, and as long as they were providing the service, they would not have cared. 

I think that in terms of the terms and conditions, you are required to pay for the service and then fight about it later. You must request the information which you've already mentioned. And you can tell Mweb that you intend to report the matter to the SAPS for investigation, however you need the information about the IMEI / device, etc. 

Then, you need to actually report the matter to the SAPS for investigation. The issue is that I don't know if SAPS will actually have the skills to investigate it, or whether they will do anything about it. 

The fact that you signed the agreement, and the declaration on the last page, kind of sinks any argument that you might have had in relation to not reading the contract. I think that it's pretty water-tight. 

My advice - tell Mweb that this is a fraud. Tell them to give you the information so you can report it to SAPS for investigation. Tell Mweb to write off the amount. Or, try settle at a lesser amount. See what they will accept. Or, see if they will pend the recovery of the amount from you until SAPS have completed their investigations.

Gosh Att. Patrick that was a brilliant response, I feel that I need to pay you more for the work you did, how do I go about doing this?
I have done what you suggested and will see how that goes.
Have a lovely day!

Posted by Att. Patrick on 21-01-2020 11:10:21

Hi there,

There is no need to pay me anymore for the work / advice that I've done, so please, don't worry about that. 

Wishing you all the best in sorting this all out. 

Kind regards