Review date: 21/July/2015
250MB Night Express Bundle
It is with this bundle type (having tried several data bundle types MTN RSA offers) that my head often hung down with grief. While I would normally purchase the 250MB Night Ebundle for non-download reasons (but for normal internet surfing data transmission just to take advantage of its frindly price tag of R5), 6 hours would normally be too much to use up hardly anything from it and thus I would normally hope to expend the expected surplus before the expiry hour through downloads. I would therefore attempt to make download of needed Windows software (or Android app APKs) but it would be with virtually zero success rate because of the http://nofunds.mtn.co.za false error. The great great grievance with this dreaded http://nofunds.mtn.co.za false alarm is that, because it cuts data connection whenever it is thrown up, downloads in progress often fails! This would happen with files under 25MB :(. Disabling and re-enabling data connecting would not help much in this case as the failed downloads would have to restart only to be terminated in the same manner often. I must say however that the bug is not quite predictable as I got away with a 651 MB file twice without issues using their 1GB bundle.
1GB Night Express bundle
My latest encounter of the http://nofunds.mtn.co.za false alarm was this morning - shortly after 2 AM and I had just taken up their 1GB and they (as usual had allocated me 1024MB). I started out with setting up "Android to windows" WiFi tethering to download a ROM file for a dead Vodafone Smart Kicka (VF685) - when done, I placed my first server request using a URL I had saved and it appeared to commence with downloading website server data but nothing would come up. Tried a few more times and nothing happened. I then took the SIM to a different Android in case it was the phone but no server data would be downloaded either - following one of the server request attempt brought up the http://nofunds.mtn.co.za page - I quickly went to check my balance and as usual I found out that only about 500KB were used from the 1 024 000KB. Tried the data service disabling trick with a no go this time. Tried server quests few more times punctuated with the data disabling and re-enabling with no effect until I decided to call the Customer Service, unsuspecting that it was closed on those early hours of the daily. To cut the long story short, I ended up sleeping and only attempted calling when I woke in the morning. I went through to a CS rep only to be told that my data service appeared to have been working as normally as per their system and that hence there was nothing they could do. My point (not a hateful one) is that, with their system mis-presenting matters like this, many have yet to fall victim to this mysterious nofund.mtn page issue. Until it is expressly sorted, subscribers would do well to flee the Night Express (especially for downloads as its effect is felt the most). Yes the bug is not intermittent but it existence makes buying Night Express data bundles gambling.