Pathetic customer care by Cape Gate branch

On January 10th, I upgraded my current contract with Telkom at the iStore. Initially, I visited the store on January 9th, 2025, to upgrade my contract but noticed there were additional charges of R920 pending. I then went to a Telkom store, where I was advised to complete the upgrade by 15:25. I returned to the iStore around 4 pm, but the R920 charge was still present. I left the store without my current iPhone at that time, which I was going to trade in, and returned the next day, January 10th. However, I faced the same issue with the R920 extra charge. Despite this, I decided to proceed with the contract upgrade. When the debit order was processed, the R920 charge was deducted alongside my monthly contract fee. I then visited a different Telkom branch, and the feedback I received was:" "Please note that when you are doing a renewal on the renewal date the system does not charge the customer. If an agent does replace offer instead of renewal the system will charge the customer device obligation carryover for the remaining months. As per the case you stated that customer was due for an upgrade 09.01.2025 15:17 , upgrade was initially done 2025/01/10 11:45:51 AM. Please note that the customer is charged 460*2=R920 for the remaining months. The agent that has done the replace offer needs to provide a credit memo so that the billing department can credit R920.00 on the customer’s account.

There has been back and forth emails to Erin, the store manager but it seems like iStore is really throwing me under the bus and not taking responsibility for their actions. I personally visited the Cape Gate branch to request the contact details of the regional manager or someone senior to Erin (the store manager). Unfortunately, I was met with unhelpful behavior and vague promises. Jade informed me that my concern was “too petty” for the regional manager to address and advised me to contact *** instead.

While Melissa did respond once or twice—after I followed up with a reminder—I have since been completely ignored. Additionally, the Telkom branch in Zevenwacht attempted to contact Erin via email, but he has not responded to them either.

I am extremely disappointed with the service I have received. The lack of communication and the disrespect I've experienced have been deeply upsetting. I trust that iStore does actually live up to this motto as stated on their website "We aim to handle complaints quickly, effectively and in a fair and honest way. We take all complaints seriously and use valuable information from investigating."