Cell c does not want to unlock a phone that has been paid up

Extremely disappointed in Cell C i have had a contract with them since 2012 and havent had any problems untill now. Last year December my wife took out a contract from cell c and converted my pre paid number to the contract sim. Everything was fine untill lock down happened and we couldn't pay the contract as our business took a really bad hit during the lock down. Cell c theb proceeded to block the phone and sim card which i understand. The account was handed over for collection. We made an arrangement and on the 18 of September we settled the outstanding amount of R4700 the lawyers confirmed that payment was recived and we were instructed to contact cell c to unlock the phone. After contacting cell c the person that we spoke to told us the lawyers must unlock the phone which is impossible as they only deal with payments. So after calling cell c everyday for the past month the phone and sim has still not been unlocked even after paying up the full amount. Everyday the agent tells me the same thing. The case will be escalated. This is extremely poor service from cell c i will never do business with them again