iStore Gateway

My experience with the Gateway iStore has been highly unpleasant- I went to the store multiple times, regarding opening a new contract under MTN with my current number 060.., which was on Vodacom. I was then told by the sales consultant that I would need to go to MTN directly to do a SimPort as they do not do the process. I then did that and came back to the store multiple times during the week, where there were long waiting times, and I was told that waiting times were an hour to 2 hours, or simply that MTN was "offline".A Telkom/Vodacom consultant said they woudl be able to open up a contract, however I communicated with them that I had just ported my sim and wanted to keep the number. I was then advised to book an appointment, which I did and asked that they save me the Iphone 13 Pro Max Green 256GB, which they confirmed they had stock of and also communicated that I would want to keep my number. I came back the next day regarding my appointment which had been booked at 18h30, but was only attended to at 19h45, and then told that the phone was out of stock. I find this ridiculous, as I had asked them to reserve one for me, however, it was not. I was then told that I would be put on a waiting list. I contacted Apple online customer service myself and asked that I be put on the waiting list for the phone, as slowly my trust for the consultants was disappearing. A few days later, I received an email saying the phone was in stock and that I could come and collect it. I went back to the store, in order to try to redo the process of opening up a contract, confirming I had received an SMS. The consultant was slightly rude in his approach and demanded he sees the SMS. I am not sure if they thought I was not being dishonest, but I showed them the email. They then proceeded to "double-check" if it was in-stock, however, he quickly came back to say that the system was now suddenly offline. I assured them I was willing to wait as I was desperate for a phone, as my current one was in its dying days and needed some form of communication, especially with regard to work. I was advised again to "make an appointment " and come back on Monday at 9 AM, that it would take 1hr-1h30 at most. Furthermore, I sent my manager an email and message, the day before, asking if I could come to work later as I needed to sort out my phone issue. He then approved and I was at the shop 9 AM sharp, on Monday. Monday I arrived at the store-however again after 2 hours left unsuccessfully without a phone or new contract and was told I would be contacted via email or called. I waited for the call, and went to the shop numerous times during the week, as it seemed I was only being remembered when my face was being seen,as no sort of communication was being sent. Finally, after a few days passed, after the long wait, I was contacted and told that I could come and collect my phone as the contract had been approved. When I arrived at the iStore- ready to collect my package and get accessories and sign any outstanding documents, I saw a new simcard which I enquired if that was a one with my existing number. The sales consultant, who had now been the one I had the most communication with then said he thinks it is, however he will check on his system. After checking, he said the contract was under a new number 07... , but that he did not remember me saying I wanted to keep the existing number. This made me angry as I had asked already asked and communicated now more than twice, and was instructed to go the MTN store regarding a simport however a new number was set for me. He casually just said, that I should keep the number and transfer the data to my current number as the data received is not a large amount anyway. I stressed the importance of keeping my number as that is how they would contact me at work, it was connected to an app as well we use at work, family being in contact with me and my banking apps. Furthermore, I then asked to speak to the manager, as this was a daunting process and prior to that, had asked for the manager's email but did not send an email as I thought let me give them a chance. The assisting manager approached me and said she would try to assist my complaint and speed up the process, but that they would now need to cancel the contract and restart the procedure, which could take up to 48hrs or at most a week. I stressed to her that my phone was no longer working and asked she contacted me via email, she then advised me that she would escalate the issue and would tell the consultant to also liaise with me. I have still been waiting for communication from the sales consultant , n has called me once, while I was still in the office prior to my leave that this process can now take from half a month up to four months. This whole process, of trying to open a new contract, has taken close to a month now. I have been coming to the istore since the 16th of May 2022, and still, no resolution or positive outcome has been given.