Man gets $12 000 telephone bill

 Pamela Shumba  Chronicle Reporter
FIXED LINE telephone users would be horrified to receive a  bill running into hundreds of dollars but a Bulawayo man had TelOne requesting a payment of more than $12 000.
Mr Kuka Ncube from Magwegwe North suburb is embroiled in a dispute with the fixed-line telephone operator, which is demanding that he pays $12 220, 40.

The huge figure accrued between 2009 and last year, when TelOne disconnected his telephone.
Narrating his ordeal, Mr Ncube said he was having a torrid time and was facing a lot of harassment from TelOne.
However, he said he would not pay the telephone bill because it was scandalous.

“In June 2011, I received a letter from Tel-One informing me that I owed them $8 816, which I was supposed to pay immediately. Shocked by the amount they were requesting, I went to their offices and asked for a print- out. They refused to give me the printout, saying I must just pay the bill.

“Last year, they disconnected the phone and in June this year, I received a final demand indicating that I was supposed to pay TelOne a total of $12 220,40. I went back and insisted that I wanted a printout of the telephone calls, but they refused, saying they did not have the bond paper,” said Mr Ncube.

He said he bought the bond paper, which he took to TelOne offices and asked them to provide the printout.
“I gave them 500 sheets of bond paper and told them to print out the telephone calls that had caused my bill to sky rocket to more than $12 000. I went back the next day and found that they had oriented out the calls but I was shocked to see strange numbers appearing on the printout.

“When I asked them why the numbers were strange I was told that it was none of TelOne’s business because the phone was mine. On some parts the printout indicates that someone was continuously on the phone from 7am to 10pm,” said Mr Ncube, who was carrying the printout.

A majority of the numbers are international that he could not recognise. These include 01138118200000, 40336200000000, 09128841650000, 09129229020000, 88846100000000, and 52106900000000 among others.

Mr Ncube said he was shocked by the telephone bill because he was staying with his wife and mother.
“Since 2009 I have been staying with my wife and mother. All my children do not stay with me but only visit.  It is therefore not possible for my telephone bill to be that high.

“In 2011 the bill was $8 000 and went up to $12 000 in less than a year. This is daylight robbery,” said Mr Ncube.
Last month TelOne sent Mr Ncube summons, instructing him to indicate when he would pay the bill.
Contacted for comment, TelOne public relations manager Ms Rosemary Sande, said she was not aware of the issue and needed time to verify with the parastatal’s legal department.

TelOne engaged its credit control department in a nationwide campaign two months ago to force clients to settle outstanding amounts, as well as negotiating payment plans, with the aim of recovering $50 million.