TRUMPED UP **** INTERNATIONAL CALL CHARGES AND ****************

TRUMPED UP **** INTERNATIONAL CALL CHARGES AND ****************

Cell C uses International Roaming as an opportunity to ***** from you and debit your account and will ignore all your disputes or queries.

I activated International Roaming with Cell C for my trip to France and Italy from Fri 24 August – Tues 26 September. My instruction to the Customer Service Operator was to activate International roaming for calls and smses but not for data, (which was also switched off on my device) and to deactivate my Voicemail.

On the way to the airport, on Fri 24/8/2018, I again called Customer Service to confirm this had been done. I was assured it had.

During my trip, I used my SMS’s to communicate where absolutely necessary but did not make, nor receive, ANY phone calls for the entire duration of my stay. This is because: 1) I have Voice-Over-Internet Phone service with Vox Telecom which uses Wi-fi to send and receive calls on my cellphone, and, 2) I purchased a local simcard in Italy which was inserted as a 2nd sim and used for Wi-fi/local calls when mobile.

At the end of August, a week after my departure, I received an account dated 1 September 2018 for R1,212.05 comprising supposedly R546.31 International Roaming Calls + R126.72 for International Roaming Sms. This was debited off my Account on the 30th September 2018 despite logging a dispute on 26th September 2018.

I did not make, nor receive ANY calls for the entire duration of my stay!

On my return on Tues 26th September, I called Customer Services to deactivate International Roaming and reconnect my Voicemail services.

Later the same day, I logged a query regarding the incorrect account Ref ********** 1256. I spoke to an Amanda to query what numbers I had supposedly called while roaming overseas to run up a bill of R546,31?

She told me on the 28th August at 09:28 I had called 0 ********** 1 00014??? This is NOT TRUE. When I told her I had not called anyone, she told me it is on the records and I must be mistaken.

She then told me I called ***636 - which I then explained that the 83 ********** is part of MY NUMBER and the 08414 is the Cell C part so why would I phone myself? Plus my voicemail was deactivated. She told me I had called it FOUR TIMES and argued that it is NOT my number that it is ***636...without the 2!!.. (when you check the records, incidentally, the 2 is there!!)

She also told me that the ********** is for SMSes... and that there are 24 to that number. How can I then be charged for 79 International Roaming SMSes @ R126.72??

She told me she would check with the relevant (IT) department and come back to me within 2 days.

On the 1st October, I spoke to a Phindile regarding my Roaming charges query, only to be told the Reference number given above was non-existent.

She then told me that I had made calls - NOW on the 27th August (previously it was the 28th August!) to ********** 6 (again without the 2) at 09:28 (6 seconds), 09:28 (25 seconds), 12;06 (1 second) and 12:59 (2:18 seconds). When you call this number, IT DOES NOT EXIST!!

What's worse, when you consult the usage records, it shows FOUR calls to 08414 83 ********** – without the 08414 prefix, that is MY NUMBER. It also details a total of 5:40 for International Roaming Calls so how do we get to R546.31 for calls to my own number? Especially when voicemail was deactivated!

All of these charges are inaccurate and fictitious. I made, nor received, ANY calls during the entire duration of my stay! I have screen shots of my complete Call History for the entire duration of my stay from before I left until my return. It even shows the call to the Call Centre on the way to the airport!

Then in September, I received an invoice dated 1 October 2018 were I was again billed R514.64 for a further R17.40 for International Roaming Calls, and R96.56 for International Roaming SMSes!! This was debitted off my account at the end of October.

All of these international roaming call charges are inaccurate and made up. And just to add insult to injury, noone at Cell C bothers to call you back, every person you speak to (only when you call in, mind you) makes up another story and this is daily *******!

I can GUARANTEE I will not be renewing my contract with Cell C because they are just *******.