SHOCKING SERVICE AND BLATANT LIES

<p>I have a number of accounts with Cell C, some of which have been running for many years. In November 2016, I opened another one which came with the CAT S60 phone, for my husband. The day after receiving the phone, we left on a family holiday. The problem is that the phone was giving problems from the start, however we were away so could not return it within that first 7 day period. The problems included not charging, not switching on and, when it did switch on, the screen was full of code. My husband and I own our own business, so it was most inconvenient being away with a phone that didn’t work.</p> <p> </p> <p>Upon returning to Somerset West, I took the phone back to the Somerset Mall store and was told that it would have to be sent away for repairs and that this would take approximately 2 weeks. I handed over the phone in its box, with all the accessories, as I had received it. I didn’t hear back from the store for the next two weeks.</p> <p> </p> <p>At the end of that two week period, I phoned the store to find out whether the phone had been returned, only to discover that it hadn’t even been logged into the system or sent away yet! By now, we were already paying for a phone that we could not use for a month.</p> <p> </p> <p>Two weeks later, I phoned the store again and was told that a new phone had been sent to replace the previous one. I went into the store to collect my ‘new’ phone, which was handed to me in a small white box, that just fitted around the phone. When I asked why I was receiving a ‘new’ phone not in a sealed box with its accessories, etc., I was told that this is how it is done and that I could have the box from the previous phone, which was in the ‘cage’, as they never sent faulty phones away with their boxes. I queried whether this was, in fact, a new phone or just the previous one repaired, so they showed me the two different IMEI numbers and insisted that it was a brand new phone to replace the faulty one. I then asked for the box, only to now discover that apparently it HAD gone with the phone. They advised that they would locate the box and contact me. To date, I have not heard back from them.</p> <p> </p> <p>Suspicions now aroused, I took the phone and documentation to another Cell C store and asked them to check on the status of the two phones. I have discovered that I have been blatantly **** to! I have been given back the exact same phone, just with the ‘main board’ replaced. When I queried about the two different IMEI numbers, I was informed that these numbers do not come with the phone itself, but with the ‘main board’. I asked whether there’s any chance that the other store was unaware of this and was advised that it is common knowledge in the industry.</p> <p> </p> <p>Frankly, I am disgusted and appalled at the service that I have received from Cell C Somerset Mall. Their behaviour gives the whole of Cell C a bad name. I can only imagine how the agents in the store laughed at the ‘idiot’ who left thinking she had received a new phone!</p>