Arrogant Staff and no assistance with Account Query

Vodacom continued billing me for services after I terminated my contact and both Vodacom and Hammond Pole refuses to supply me with the information I require to indicate that they have erroneously added costs to an account that should not exist after rightful cancellation.

I have requested cancellation of my Vodacom Account for end of January 2018 (considering the full 24 months as contractually agreed upon). The reason for this is that the contract has reached maturity date and I no longer wish to use Vodacom as my Service Provider. Vodacom contacted me to advise that the contract can only be cancelled in February 2018 as the contractual obligation ends on 23 February 2018 (Email 9 attached). I agreed to this. This was acknowledged by Tsepo Moletsale on 9 January 2018. (Email 1 attached). The way forward was also communicated clearly as per the email.

The final statement for end of March was never sent to me. This resulted in not being able to pay the final amount. After receiving text messages in May 2018 of outstanding balances, I contacted Vodacom and made arrangements to pay the final amount of R722.47 at the end of May.

On the 7th of May I received a final demand letter stating the amount has now grown for some reason to R1846.99. (Email 2 attached) Please be advised that these charges could also not be prior to February 2018 as my account was paid up to date each month with no amount in arrears.

I paid the amount of R710.00 as I forgot the actual amount on 26 May 2018, and then contacted Vodacom yet again on the same day to enquire as to the reason for the extra charges. The operator advised that my cancellation was not actioned as was Vodacom’s obligation and he would rectify this and send me a zero balance statement as soon as the final payment was made, with the inclusion of the R12.00 I short paid, which then did.

On 29 May I received the Account Statement Invoice as attached to show that this account is now paid up in full and since it has been a PREPAID number since 1 March 2018, no other charges can be allocated to this account. (Email 3 attached).

I believed that this matter was settled, but then I started receiving calls from Vodacom Legal department and furthermore from Hammond Pole threatening with garnishee orders on my salary if I do not pay the outstanding amount. Please bear in mind that neither of these institutions had the correct personal information, such as email address, (the same email address Vodacom has used for the last year) and could also not divulge where these actual outstanding charges resulted from. They just insisted I pay the amount. I first believed it to be a **** as my account with Vodacom was paid up and settled. I have asked both institutions on numerous occasions to provide me with detailed statements for the outstanding amounts, but was met with arrogance and refusal to assist. Vodacom Legal refuses to send me the documentation as they have handed the matter over to Hammond Pole. And Hammond Pole arrogantly insists on me paying the amount without the documentation required. Stating that I do not have proof of the contract being cancelled in February 2018.

I then sent the cancellation notification through to Sifiso Nkosi at Hammond Pole on 11 October 2018. I received and email back from Mzwakhe Nkomo on 11 October that this was sent to Vodacom and they will revert to me. (Email 4 attached – info to be read from back to front). I have not received any indication or status on this request from them since then.

I received an email from Vodacom on 16 October 2018 stating that the request is closed. I was under the impression that the matter was now corrected and resolved. (Email 5 attached). This is unfortunately not the case. After numerous attempts of getting the issue resolved and asking for the information required, I am now at wits end as neither of these institutions are willing to supply me with the information I need. They are reverting with information that the contract was cancelled due to non-payment. This is completely inaccurate. (Email 6, 7 and 8 attached).

To date I have still not received the detailed statement I require to see exactly where, when and what these charges were added to my account for. I have also not received any further feedback from Hammond Pole after sending them the proof that my contract was in fact cancelled on 28 February 2018.

I would like to have a few questions answered:

· How can a PREPAID number have a ZERO balance statement in May and June 2018 respectively and still have an outstanding amount of R1,136.99?

· The final demand letter states that there is an amount of R 1,124.52 as “balance of subscriptions”. Can you please explain to me how a subscription amount can be added to a PREPAID number after the contract has been cancelled?

· If this was a contract after 28 February 2018, where subscriptions had to be charged and paid, why was the “service” never suspended on the phone? I can also supply proof of airtime purchased for this Vodacom number as from 1 March 2018.

· How can a Major Service Provider Company and a Law Firm not have the correct information and not correspond with each other to resolve a matter that is clearly questionable?

· The contract and cellphone number was port to Telkom in June 2018. How does Vodacom authorise the porting of a number on alleged contract if this was never cancelled? And how does Vodacom port a number with and outstanding amount still reflected on it?

I require the following information:

· A detailed statement of account for the charges allocation for 2018, i.e. exact dates when charges were allocated, detailed description of these allocated charges, and exact dates when payments were made.

· The date of the contract inception as well of the date that this contract had to be concluded. The end date of the contract date as clearly indicated in the cancellation acknowledgement from Vodacom is 23 February 2018.

· The recorded conversation between myself and the Vodacom representative on 26 May 2018, where this matter was discussed, explained, the errors picked up and resolved.

I would really appreciate your assistance this regard as this will reflect negatively on my credit rating if not resolved as soon as possible.

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