As Nairobi residents brace themselves for the imminent
switch off of their analogue television sets, consumers have been in
Pay television companies have taken advantage of this period
to have brisk business but it seems in the process, the public are left at the
mercy of companies eager to make money at the expense of the service they are
to supposed to provide.
A letter sent by a concerned consumer to COFEK has been
intercepted by Corporate Africa which shows a consumer raising concerns on how
he was made to purchase a Pay Television decoder from Gotv only to realize that
he had to pay monthly fees as opposed to what he thought was a decoder to migrate
him to the digital platform at no fee.
In the end, the poor Kenyan is being pushed to spend up to
Ksh 7,100 on a set top box whereas essentially there are those retailing at
between Ksh 4,000 to 5,000 which would have seen him save up to Ksh 2,000!
See the letter copied below…Kenyans are urged to evaluate
their options while purchasing their preferred set top boxes to avoid such
frustrations as below. BE INFORMED! A visit to the digital Kenya website http://www.digitalkenya.go.ke/list-of-type-approved-dvb-t2-set-top-boxes-and-authorised-vendors
will give you a list of approved set top boxes and their prices.
Consumer Exploitation by Gotv
My Name is Hesbon and I live in Kahawa Sukari.
Given the indication that the Government intends to switch off the analogue
television sets, I took up the initiative to purchase a set top box from Gotv
for Ksh 4,500 where according to the company’s attendants who served me at a
tent set up within the company’s compound in Westlands, I was to access all
channels including our Kenyan channels.
Towards the end of October, I noticed I could
only access KBC, I switched the decoder on and off and checked my aerial but
the problem persisted. I then decided to take the decoder back to the company
offices.
The attendant I met told me that what I paid
when I purchased the decoder was inclusive of subscription which had now
expired and if I want to continue accessing channels I had to pay monthly or
pay another 2,600 to access Kenyan channels!! Why am I being charged extra
money to access our channels which essentially should be free???
This means I will end up paying Ksh
7,100 (4,500 + 2,600) whereas had I known this before I purchased I would have
purchased from another company which I see being advertised between 4,000 and
5,000. Gotv attendants said their decoder was cheaper now its evident it is
very expensive!!
COFEK, don’t you protect consumers
from such evident consumer exploitation? I feel cheated and bitter, I wonder
how many Kenyans have been taken through the same.
Please do something.
Hesbon Wanyoike.
