CELL C HARASSMENT OF PAID-UP CLIENT

I am giving the history below, and I suspect that Cell C is totally *********** in managing accounts. I have also been the victim of relentless credit bureaus wanting money from me even after Cell C apologised to me and sent me a letter stating that my account was paid up. It seems as if Cell C every now and then hand the accounts over to different credit bureaus.

At present, almost three years since I closed my account with Cell C, Nimble Group Credit Bureau is making my life a living hell with daily calls and SMS messages, and the amount continues to change. I will also take the matter up with the credit ombudsman. I am a respected citizen and a university professor, and surely, if I owed them money, I could comfortably pay it, but I don't owe them money. Period.

I think you will empathise with this history below:

• On February 10 2022, I received a phone call from a spam number claiming that I owed CellC money. I refused to talk to them because I do not understand whether it is Cell C, attorneys, or a credit bureau, as they claim. To my knowledge, I owed Cell C nothing and did not have an account with them anymore. • I received various calls from VVM (attorneys/credit collectors) claiming that I owed CellC over R550 last year. The SMSs stopped at one point. • That history is as follows and I have proof of all the deductions from my bank account. My old contract ended in September 2020, and I paid R304.99 per month for two years, usually deducted on the 6th of each month. I was considering buying a new phone but, in the meantime, cancelled my contract when it ended. • I then went on a month-to-month deduction of R183.99 per month (for airtime, data, and WA), done in November, December, January 21, and February 21, and nothing was deducted in March. But in April, there was a deduction of R367.98 on April 14, due for March and April. In May, nothing was deducted since I notified Cell C on April 2 2021, in person at the Clearwater Branch, that I wanted my number migrated from them to MNet as of May 1 2020, ending my month-to-month contract simultaneously. • Someone from Cell C called me and tried to retain me as a client, but I declined. It is clear from this documented evidence that I owed CellC nothing. • On May 10 2021, I received an SMS from Cell C claiming that "due to some technical difficulties, my "selected" debit order will resume from June 2021." This was a surprise, as Cell C was very erratic with billing, and I thought it was their mistake again. • However, they processed the debit order on 7/6/2021 but reversed it again on 20/6/2021 with the inexplicable amount of R368. Then, CellC demanded through VVN that I owe them money—R550.00—and I don’t owe them anything! The more I explained, the more the harassment continued. • I went to see Cell C at Clearwater personally with the evidence, and they simply said I did not cancel the contract with them, which is illogical because the contract was cancelled when it ended. I entered into a month-to-month agreement with them, migrated to MNet, and gave them the required one month’s notice, ultimately ending my relationship with them. I also cancelled the month-to-month arrangement. • However, the harassment continued, and there seemed to be a “new” Cell C contract. Firstly, I got demands from HM Attorneys and am now a credit collector claiming that I owe Cell C more than R10,000 (they say with a 20% discount, I only need to pay R9450.00). I got an SMS message saying I must sign a debit order at my bank. This is simply impossible as my contract is with MTN, and I pay it monthly with a debit order. I do not have any business with Cell C. I asked HM Attorneys to send me proof of contract, but they didn’t. HM Attorneys only contact via SMS, and I don’t know if this is a **** or if there has been identity theft. I sincerely hope that by publishing this in Hello Peter, I will get answers from Cell C, as they are, unfortunately, horrible at communication. • On February 10, Cell C rep**** via Hello Peter on the website February 10 2022, 13:01 Good day Susan Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We acknowledge your feedback and apologise for the negative experience. We will endeavour to direct it appropriately.

• On February 15, after complaining about Helopeter, I received a letter from Cell C's (ATTACHED) and an excellent follow-up call stating that I do not owe them anything. They assured me that the credit bureaus would clear the matter within two weeks. • However, I was still getting demands from HP Attorneys, NDS Credit Management and CSS Credit Solutions, all claiming that Cell C had appointed them to collect money from me. Even when I send them CellC ‘s letter dated February 15 clearly stating I am paid up. I was also confused with "Lindelani Lidovho", who had the same cell number as me and even after sending an email to HP Attorneys explaining that my cell number belonged to me and not to Lindelani Lidovho, I got another SMS from HP Attorneys claiming I owe Cell C money and will be handed over. I published my plight again on Hello Peter, and the harassment stopped • However, it started again, this time with CSS Credit Solution Services )Pty) Limited (www.csssolutions.co.za) with an everchanging number telling me to pay up. They bugged me non-stop, and even when I contacted Cell C with the information, it did not stop. When I sent them the letter from Cell C, it did not stop, and they sent daily SMS messages with different numbers • My credit record has been blemished • Now, in August 2024, I once again get pestered by the NIMBLE group, a credit bureau, that I owe Cell C because Cell C “sold” my account to them. Again, I receive daily SMS messages, and the amount changes or increases every week. • I sent them the history and proof from Cell C in 2022 that I was paid up, and they informed my creditors with no joy. • I even showed them bank accounts • I contacted NIMBLE 3 times and sent them the information about the account. • I am reporting it to the credit ombud now. This is too much, and I think that Cell C needs to be fined and reprimanded for harassing me and damaging my impeccable credit record.