The confusing phone billing practices of mobile network providers.

A bill of 1.1 billion VND for over 6,000 calls in a single day, a monthly SMS fee of half a million VND... these are just some of the examples of billing practices by mobile network operators that have angered customers.

The 1.14 billion VND in overcharges collected from a customer of Ca Mau Telecommunications in January 2014 is recorded as a record-breaking case of excessive charges in Vietnam. Accordingly, this amount was mainly collected on the day before the customer reported their phone lost and requested SIM card blocking.

According to the network provider's explanation, the high charges were due to the customer's very large number of calls, totaling 6,000. The majority of these calls were made while roaming abroad, including some puzzling calls such as 9 calls in the same time (same second, same minute, same hour) and 49 calls within one minute.

This case also marks the first time a network provider has handled customer billing through the court, instead of permanently cutting off service or sharing responsibility between the provider and the customer.

At the mediation session, the customer only agreed to pay the charges incurred before the phone was lost, while the network provider maintained its position of collecting the full 1.14 billion VND. The lawsuit was suspended for further investigation, which required clarification of complex details related to duplicate calls and the possibility of continuous roaming charges over a short period.

Mobile network operators rarely resort to legal action to collect fees from customers because these companies have the expertise to block and disconnect numbers. Photo: FinancialPost.

Previously, roaming and 3G services were also considered the cause of many customer complaints about charges to network providers. On the morning of April 10, 2010, a MobiFone customer was visited at home by a network employee who informed them of a 3G charge of 7.3 million VND. By the afternoon, the outstanding amount had risen to 15 million VND, but this was "only a provisional figure, as the actual amount was much higher."

Upon contacting the network provider, the customer was informed that the promotional offer for their current 3G package had ended, and they would be charged the extra fees for exceeding the package limit. Previously, the customer had subscribed to a MobiFone 3G package costing 3 million VND per month.

Believing the policy change was sudden and unilateral, the customer refused to pay the bill. Subsequently, the network provider and the customer worked together to find a solution to resolve this unexpected issue.

In November 2010, a VinaPhone customer received a bill for 9 million VND for roaming charges during a 10-day business trip to the US, even though the company's call center staff had previously assured the customer that the charges would be "insignificant".

Unwilling to accept this fee, the customer only agreed to pay 1.5 million VND to VinaPhone. The situation reached a deadlock as neither the customer nor the network provider would compromise, leading the network provider to "threaten" to permanently cut off the user's service.

Besides data and international roaming services, telecommunications users are also facing cases where network providers charge them up to half a million dong per month for text messaging fees. Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang, a communications employee in District 11, Ho Chi Minh City, said that a few months ago, she had to pay up to 500,000 dong a month for a phone number she hadn't used for a long time, but the network staff explained it was for text messaging fees.

"I requested a printed receipt, but the network employee refused, saying it was only for text messages. This person also claimed that the payment was based on the invoice, and that if customers had any questions, they could go to the head office in Hanoi to file a complaint. Leaving aside the fact that I live in Ho Chi Minh City and wouldn't be able to go to Hanoi to file a complaint, the mere idea of ​​sending enough text messages to be charged 500,000 VND in fees is absurd. If that were true, my finger would be permanently deformed," Ms. Hang said angrily.

According to Zing.vn