Extremely Disappointing Cell C Service

I would like to share my extremely disappointing service received from Cell C a few months ago.

I have two data contracts which were active and renewed with the following dates: Data Contract number 1: 06*******9 [Old Contract start date: 14/07/2021 for 24 months >> New Contract start date (immediately after old one expires) 14/07/2023 for 24 months] Data Contract number 2: 07*******0 [Old Contract start date: 16/07/2021 for 24 months >> New Contract start date (immediately after old one expires) 16/07/2023 for 24 months]

Both data contracts were renewed in store on 19/06/2023 to kick in immediately when old one expires. Thus I was never out of contract.

July 2023 Statement: Problem that should have been corrected: Last part of the old contract was billed as out of contract i.e. no discount app**** (1-13 July for 06*******9 and 1-15 July for 07*******0). Discount was only app**** for new contract dates (14-31 July for 06*******9 and 16 - 31 July for 07*******0).

I was in the Cell C store early in July 2023 to question the above, the consultant that helped me called it in and was told that the dates are incorrect and it will be corrected with my next statement (August 2023).

I was in the Cell C store again on 18 July 2023 as I did not receive SmartData Pro Rata for either of the numbers on the start dates of the contract renewal (14th and 16th July 2023 respectively). When I renewed my contracts on 19 June 2023 I was told (and have it documented in a copy of my contracts) that I will receive Pro Rata and will be charged for this in August. I did not receive SmartData Pro Rata and was not charged for this in August, thus I am okay with not having received this. My Promotional Midnight Data I received at the start of July did fall away with the contract renewals on the 14th and 16th of July respectively and were replaced with a Pro Rata amount of Midnight data on the specified dates (I was informed in a phone call from Cell C on the 23rd of July that I will not be charged as the midnight data is promotional, this was proven true with receipt of my August 2023 Statement). I also questioned the incorrect statement/bill again. A Case Number was logged for Data Validation: 307******7.

As mentioned above, I received a phone call from Cell C on the 23rd of July 2023: The lady I spoke to explained the Pro Rata data allocation, or lack of, to me. She also agreed that my statement for July was incorrect, apologised a few times for the inconvenience, and said it would be credited on my next month's bill/statement. She also mentioned that someone will contact me about this in the next two days, this did not happen.

As explained above, I was told numerous times that the incorrect July statement/bill would be credited on my next month's statement/bill (August 2023), which is not the case.

I was in the Cell C store again on 11 August 2023 to question why my August 2023 Statement does not reflect the correction from July, as I was informed numerous times that it would be. It was called in again with no resolve. I mentioned the no Pro Rata received in July again. Another Case number was logged for that: 308******9. As already explained above, I do not have an issue with the Pro Rata not being allocated, I merely mentioned this to explain exactly what all went wrong in the month of July. The consultant assisting me also showed me on the system that notes have been made about the incorrect bill and that it should be investigated and corrected (paraphrased). Yet nothing has been corrected.

I contacted Cell C multiple times in store and on the phone, consultants reached out to their trainer and customer service, as the consultants also did not understand why I was billed this way. Eventually it was confirmed verbally to me that this is how data contracts work now, i.e. being charged out of contract rates after 23 months of the contract has passed, even though the renewal only gets started on the renewal date and not the start of the 24th month. Or I.e. you sign for 24 months contract, when you renew your contract it only becomes effective on the date the previous one expires, yet you still pay out of contract rates for the last few days of the old contract as it falls within the months the new one is renewed.

I was also called on one of the data contract numbers for two of the case numbers, and then it was said that I did not pick up or was unreachable. Yet they were able to reach me for two of the other case numbers on my actual contact number. I lost track of the timelines at this point. The following case number were also opened: 308******0.

I have ever had this problem with previous upgrades on these two data contracts with Cell C. I want to reiterate that I am extremely disappointed with the service I received. I’m looking forward to the end of these contracts to not be a client of Cell C anymore.