Telecommunications company fails to communicate

I’ve been a long-standing Cell C customer for over 12 years. I’ve made peace with the shoddy service over the years. But now I’m at my wits end. In March of this year I contacted Cell C to request some kind of assistance as I was not in a position to pay my monthly subscription due to the lockdown as I work in aviation. The consultant advised me to direct my query to Collection Queries which I duly did. My email went unanswered. Life went on. My line remained open and Cell C continued billing me. I was still not able to make payment as I was not earning a salary. I received text messages reminding me of my arrears and advising to contact them to make payment arrangements. I attempted on several occasions to call but I was always met by an answering service as the call centers were seeming closed due to Lockdown regulations. I eventually gave up trying to speak to anyone at Cell C. Fast forward to 31 July 2020. I received a text message advising me that my request to cancel my contract was successful and that it will be actioned on the 31st of July. I contacted Cell C using a friend’s phone as my line was disabled. I was advised by Patience that my contract was canceled due to the fact that Cell C couldn’t get hold of me and that my account was subsequently handed over to Legal. For a telecommunications company Cell C certainly did not try hard enough to reach me. They have my email address.

My qualm is that NO ONE at Cell C bothered to respond to my email request sent back in March. If they had done that we could’ve come to some sort of agreement. Does over 10 years of loyalty mean nothing to them?

Patience promised me on the 1st of August that she will get legal to contact me via email. It is the 11th of August. I’m yet to hear from them.

I then called Cell C again and this time I was advised by Sindy to contact legal. I directed my email to Legal and I copied Customer Service in on it. Both departments is yet to respond to my email. I copied the CEO in on the email, but for some reason delivery to his email address was unsuccessful. Instead I received my latest statement detailing my contract cancellation and the amount due for said cancellation.

Now I am aware of my contractual obligations, but if Cell C had responded to my emails back in March we would not be here right now. I have a negative credit score and my telephone number which I have had for over 15 years is now disabled. The inconvenience of that alone is enormous.

I am happy to part ways with Cell C as I have nothing but bad experiences with them, but I would like to retain my phone number. And I would also like to hear from someone at Cell C. Anyone will do at this stage. Even the general worker will do at this stage.