Upgrade with false pretenses

I received a call on the 21st of January 2021 at 10H03 from a person calling themselves Joe, using the following number +*** and claiming to be a consultant from Vodacom Direct. At the time I was occupied with another matter and requested that he try and contact me at a later time.

Joe called again at 13H10 the same day, and started by advising the usual: that the calls are recorded for security purposes…blah blah blah. He went on to further state and that I was paying too much for my Vodacom package and that he had a brilliant offer for me, in terms of an upgrade. I was accommodating and willing to hear what the offer was. Joe went onto say that I could upgrade and get much better rate with the exact same benefits. He then provided a figure of what I was currently paying Vodacom however, as I was still in the middle of addressing the previous matter it slipped my mind to verify the figure and I trusted that Vodacom Direct had the correct information with regards to my current billing.

Later that evening when I reflected back on the events of the day, I became uneasy about that particular call and decided to phone Vodacom and re-verify the information of the day. I was then surprised to find out that Joe was not not a Vodacom Direct Consultant but from a third party company called Mondo. Joe mis-represented himself as in the first call conversation he emphasized at least 3 times that he was not an external consultant working for a third party. Call at 10.03 AM

What Joe offered, and the information that I'm paying too much and he is offering me a better rate, etc... was all false. The REAL difference would have been just 10 Rand saving per month, but I would be bound with them for the next 24 months. I then undertook to cancel it, within 16 hours of the call but, it took 8 phone calls and over 2 hours just to try and cancel it. To make matters worse, the cancellation can only be finalized once the package is back with Vodacom and thereafter upon Vodacom contacting Mondo and acknowledging cancellation, which is likely to take a few days.

Anyway, all in all an avoidable and complete waste of my time. And regarding third-party company consultants, in future I know not to trust anything coming over the phone as some of these people are mis-representing themselves when contacting clients.

For online upgrades I’ll make the call myself and spend the money !!!!!!!!!!