Cell C customer Service

I am writing on behalf of my 79 year old colleague who has a contract with Cell C for almost 2 years. His phone has been troublesome for a few months. He went to a cell C franchise to complain. many times they sort of fobbed him off, but about a week or 2 ago he had difficulty answering a call. I saw this, there was no way (on the display) to answer. (OPPO fone) They took his instrument, removed the sim card without moving all his contacts to the sim card & gave it to him. He is not fami**** with the technology & failed to understand the consequences if the fone is reset. He has been without a fone for about 2 weeks, then he received the following message...

"Dear valued Cell C Customer, The assessment on your device has been completed. A quote has been generated for your device. For more information please contact the Cell C Repairs Call Centre on *** to accept or reject the quote. Your ref no is WPCAP482373 Bank Account Details: Account Name: Dunoworx Pty Ltd Bank: First National Bank Account Number: *** Branch Code: 254605

Please use the Job Number as reference when making payment."

He called this number & was told the repair for his account was R 4769.00. He rejected this & requested his fone be returned to a Cell C franchise, I think it was Kenilworth. He was told there is no warrantee as his fone had scratches on it & something inside the fone needed replacing (interface??) he cannot remember exactly, however this is unacceptable as he has not dropped or neglected this instrument. To summarise, He has been without his fone for more than 2 weeks. He was not offered a loan unit. He may have lost all his contacts that were stored on the fone. He needs to pay in advance the monthly fee for 2 months as his contract ends around 17 November 2024. I asked him for his contract but he can only find the online version, not the hard copy which i have not seen.

This scenario is a VERY poor reflection on the Cell C franchise he is dealing with. I personally have a prepaid cell C sim which i have used for many years. The only complaint from my side is the online payment option was not available for quite a few months, in which case i needed to visit the Cell C franchise for a monthly top up. The instrument was supp**** by Cell C when he signed the contract. Do you have any advice that would assist my colleague with this unfortunate situation? Thank you.