Cell C Debit Order Bungle

<p>I took out a Cell C contract for a LG G2 on 17/02/2014. The contract was for R359 per month. The debit order date was set for the 27th of the month and the first one went off on 29/04/2014. This continued fine until 26/08/2014. From September 2014 onwards Cell C stopped debiting my bank account for reasons unknown to me. When I eventually received notification from NDS Credit Management that I owe an outstanding amount of R5,631.93 on this contract I was completely confused.</p> <p> </p> <p>I subsequently spoke to Kamal Singh, a Cell C Consumer Collections Supervisor, who advised me that they stopped debiting my account with the reason ‘Account closed with no forwarding details.’ I was further confused since to my knowledge I had never closed that account. I then asked ABSA to investigate the matter on their end and they confirmed that the account linked to this contract was at no time closed while Cell C was trying to debit it and there was sufficient available each month for the Cell C debit orders. This leads me to believe that the error originated on Cell C’s system. When I explained this to Kamal Singh requesting that Cell C’s IT team investigate the matter on their end he said there is nothing they can do now since the contract has been closed. I do not accept this.</p> <p> </p> <p>I acknowledge that Cell C sent me an arrears letter dated 27/01/2015 and that I did sign a contract for R359 per month and that I could also have queried with them sooner as to why they were not debiting my account. But the fact remains that my ABSA account was open until December 2015 and there was sufficient funds available each month for the debit orders. I also had two other Cell C contracts for R229 and R449 respectively and these amounts were debited each month with no issues. I have attached a copy of the original customer contract reflecting the relevant banking details.</p> <p> </p> <p>I also have in my possession a confirmation letter from ABSA that this account was open and active with sufficient funds for the debit orders, bank statements showing the Cell C debit orders with the last R359 which was debited on 26/08/2014, a payment schedule reflecting the ‘Account closed with no forwarding details’ and ‘No such account’ message starting on 30/09/2014 and a copy of the arrears letter dated 27/01/2015. If someone from Cell C contacts me I can email these documents directly to them.</p> <p> </p> <p>My request is that C Cell’s IT team investigate the reason why my account stopped being debited when there was sufficient funds available every month. I am prepared to pay half of the outstanding amount and Cell C should write-off the other half as this error must have come from their system.</p> <p> </p> <p>Best Regards</p> <p>Shudley Petersen</p> <p>T: ***</p> <p>E: ***</p>