The Standard Group Plc is a multi-media organization with investments in media
platforms spanning newspaper print
operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The
Standard Group is recognized as a
leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key influence in matters of national and
international interest.
If you have unsuccessfully attempted to contact me in recent days and weeks, and you were notified “mteja hapatikani,” please note that I am very much around. At times I have very good network, at other times, the calls drop.
I am talking of the Safcom network, so I checked in at the Safcom outlet in Kitengela early in the week. I’d have waited longer, because I like procrastinating, but I decided not to cross into the New Year without a properly functioning phone.
The tiny Safcom shop was full to the brim. The purr of the air conditioner seemed overwhelmed by the demands to cool the space. I picked a ticket waited to be served. There were some 30 people ahead, I deduced by listening to the automated voice calling out next customers.
But since I am trying to set a good example—the young man of the house despaired at the queues when he visited the Safaricom outlet to change his Mpesa registration details—I waited. A technician made an initial assessment within the first few minutes. When did I change the SIM last, he asked. Was the SIM card 5G or 2/3G?
I said I had no way of knowing, but it must have been recorded in their systems. He checked and reported that the SIM was fine; maybe it was the phone setting that needed changing. He ushered me back in the queue and said he’d call me soon.
This stretched to a whole 1.5 hours. When it was my turn, I was shoved from one technician to another, responding to inquiries SIM cards and what-not for the umpteenth time. One brash technician said I should have gone to Samsung, not Safcom, if it’s the handset that had a problem. Only that the handset worked well with SIM cards from other networks.
Anyhow, a new SIM was issued and the challenges in calling out or receiving calls evaporated, very temporarily. A few hours later, the phone resumed its old habits: inordinate delays in calling out, and dropping calls in progress.
So, once again, mteja hapatikani. So, it might be a good idea to check with Samsung, if only to avoid spending another two hours in that crammed Safcom shop in Kitengela.
