Cell C Customer care is as good as the SA economy

Due to salary cuts (Result of Covid-19 lockdown) earlier this year, I was unable to make payments on my Cell C contract. I then requested for Covid Relief which took about 4 months for any response. In this time no payments were made and after the first month of not making payments, my services were suspended. As this is a security risk, i was very desperate to make an arrangement with Cell C to get my services activated again. After an excessive amount of trying to make contact with Cell C I was left to log complaints just for them to return my calls. One of the agents phoned me back and went the extra mile to help me get the issue resolved. Even this took quite some time and had to be escalated to the management before anyone reacted.

After speaking to the manager of the collections department, we then came to the mutual agreement to sign the Acknowledgement of Debt. The arrangement was to take the outstanding owing amount, dividing into the remaining months on my contract and adding it to my normal monthly payment. As soon as I resent the signed documents, my services were activated and all went smooth..... 2 Months later my services was once again suspended. Upon my investigation, I spoke to the collections department again and they said that my services have been suspended due to an outstanding amount. This amount the same outstanding money as per the agreement signed. I was told to pay it up in full before my services will be reinstated. I explained to them that I have made arrangements and gave them the names of the people that were involved. The reply was that i would have to pay the outstanding amount, which is to be divided into the balance of my contract. This means that when I pay my last amount to them, then only will they reinstate my services.... But this will also be when my contract expires.

So this means that I will have to pay in full, almost 50% of the entire contract, without having any services? This is not what I agreed to... I agreed to sign the acknowledgement of debt to make sure that the amount owing is settled before the end of my contract. I made this arrangement so that my services can be reinstated. Why would anyone agree to pay for something they did not have, let alone afford. They say that all calls are recorded, and if this is true, there should be proof of what was discussed.

I am willing to make my payments as agreed to, but I will not pay for services I do not have. Sure, I will pay for the handheld device as I have had it in my possession they entire time but not for the services I did not have access to.

I have tried to contact them numerously, sent mails to the relevant parties, had the manager, Sasha Meyer, promise me that she will sort this out and phone me back the day after. Still waiting.... And i have tried getting a hold of her for almost a month now.... Zero assistance. I have mailed Yolanda, which was the one to sign the AOD with, also, no response. As a customer of Cell C for years now, I just feel that they dont care at all. Dialing 084 140 or 084 135, which is customer support, does not work. Each time I call I hold on between 20 to 30 min and then just drop the call. I feel that I have gone the lengths to try and resolve this case, but it just seems like Cell C does not care....

We have all had a very tough year, and just a little assistance would be appreciated.