Paying for a canceled contract not activated on time

Hi there,

I app**** for a contract with Cell C on Wednesday (17 February 2021) and it was confirmed that the contract would be activate already when it gets delivered.

I got the simcard on the 18th of February but it was not active and hours went by with the simcard not working. I phoned your cell centre and they confirmed it wasn't active and it takes 24 hours while the person I concluded the contract with mentioned that it would be active as soon as I receive it. Also, the driver confirmed there was no need to RICA from his side.

When I plugged in the simcard, it was off. Because I needed the data immediately, I had to go find an alternative and I went to Telkom in the Northgate Shopping Centre and I got the simcard and when I got home, it was working.

I phoned Cell C asking them to cancel the contract for the reasons mentioned above, they told me I'll have to pay for one month because it's now active on their side. How? The fact that they didn't get the facts right and and didn't activate at the agreed time is really not my fault.

The simcard is still here and not single kilobyte of data has been used.

I'm even happy to deliver it back, if it means that.

I'm just not sure as to why I must pay for your fault. I really am not sure!