Vodacom Cellucity - Service, Quality, and Legal Compliance non-existent

On Saturday 16 April 2022 at 15:24:01, I renewed my current cellphone contract with Vodacom at the Somerset Mall branch of Cellucity. Their representative advised me I should get a Huawei nova 9 (I had been using a Huawei nova 8i). I emphatically told the person I use my phone for business. I do OHS&E audits, take corresponding photos, and write the associated reports. I back up all the relevant information to my laptop for further elaboration at my home-based office. I had already backed all the data from the nova 8i phone to my laptop when concluding the "deal" at Cellucity in Somerset Mall, Somerset West. I will try to keep this review as short as possible and not go into all the details. I set up the new phone (nova 9) and wanted to "restore" the backed-up data to the new phone via a Huawei recommended application known as "Hisuite". I linked the nova 9 to the application and immediately got the message that in order to use the application and retrieve the data, the latest version of Hisuite would have to be installed on the nova 9 phone. Once the installation was finished, I tried to retrieve the data from my computer. ZERO success, totally unsuccessful! I tried a few times with the same result. ZERO success! I went to the official Huawei website and found that this problem is in reality a "MAJOR" problem. One which Huawei was/is duly aware of since many people all over the world have had the same issue. Huawei states that once the latest version of Hisuite is installed on your phone and computer, there is NO way to retrieve any data since the "updated" Hisuite software cannot and will not allow access to the backed-up data. Customers should refer the matter to their service providers in their respective countries. There is no way whereby a person can "back-date" the software on the new phone and linked computer/ or other device used for backing up data. I went back to Vodacom Cellucity and informed the representative of this issue and that I cannot at any cost afford to lose the information (data as described here) since it is the heart of my consulting business! They told me it is "impossible" to lose the information, I as the client must be doing something wrong, and that there is NO WAY, whereby the ENCRYPTED DATA can be lost, and unable to be retrieved from my Windows 10 HP laptop, which till now has been, and still. Is functioning perfectly. I should go home, use the Hisuite application, try to sort out the problem, and come back again if the retrieval process didn't work."They even suggested that I should bring them my laptop to see if there is perhaps something wrong with the laptop or the software on it?! I again followed the "process" to the T - once again, it did NOT work! I expected nothing more OR less! I went back to Cellucity and their representative/s met me with an attitude and comments that they can't help me, and that I should take note that I am the "First and Only" person to experience this issue - REALLY!!! I insisted I want to cancel the deal, and return the phone and protector I received since I simply cannot afford to be stuck with this issue, which according to Huawei and other sources on the internet, cannot be resolved. I also bought a special protector for the new nova9 phone, which I also wanted to return for a refund. I got ZERO joy from the representative/s and "Management" at Cellucity Somerset Mall, Somerset West, and am stuck with a serious issue that neither the Cellucity REPRESENTATIVE nor the relevant "MANAGER" is prepared or able to sort out satisfactorily. Cellucity is forcing me as the client to be stuck with this issue, accept the loss of critical business data, and DO WHAT?!? Cellucity represents the cellular service provider Vodacom, and I will obviously refer this exceptionally POOR "Excuse for Customer Service" to Vodacom, for further action and resolution.

Apart from Vodacom Cellucity NOT following the regulations of the "Consumer Protection Act", their so-called "customer service" is pathetic from the "front desk" to the "Management".

Potential customers should deliberately NOTE this serious " business management problem", and preferably NOT visit Vodacom Cellucity Somerset Mall, Somerset West as a cell phone outlet and "service provider", which from personal experience, is Non-existent.