Please may I buy things from you? Please? Am I asking too much?

About 2 years ago I lost everything and I was homeless for about a year following that. Since then I've literally fought to the bone to get back on my feet, which I am slowly achieving step-by-step.

The phone I currently have is the best way for me to make an income and as a result of a ruined credit record that will only be repaired after years of diligent financial management I will only be able to get a phone contract after the next 5-6 years. No credit bureau will touch you after you go through something like that.

I've been trying to save up for a new phone, because the one I have turns off randomly, cannot stay on longer than 5 seconds without being physically connected to power and is generally more of a blight than a benefit. I cannot send or receive texts easily and phone calls now switch the phone off completely either while answering or upon the first ring. It then takes me a minimum of 30 minutes to an hour to get the phone back on again. This is a 4 year old Huawei P9 Lite.

My experience with phones is as follows: If you spend less than R4000 (about $150) on a phone, you'd better be ready to spend another $150 on a new phone in the next 2 months because cheap phones or devices from lesser-known companies only cost you more money in the long run. Being part of the media and entertainment industry I can testify that if you want quality you are obligated to pay for it.

The cheaper phones on the market today have very poor reliability reviews and the more reliable phones on the market start at R4000 ($150) at minimum. As I do not earn a large figure salary and I have other debt to pay off, this has been an issue for a number of months now, with my existing phone finally on its last legs and the inability to use it for anything short of "well, maybe it'll work today."

I discovered today that I still have a credit account with Mr Price, and that the budget would easily cover the purchase of a good-to-great-quality phone, much better quality than one I would have to compromise in order to buy.

So I updated my details on my account, I proceeded to order the phone online and I was halted by a page requesting me to input a one-time-pin that was apparently sent to me via text. The option to email the OTP was there, so I requested that instead.

And I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

I was eventually blocked from the sale for making too many OTP requests that I never received. I called customer service and the operator said that my cellphone number was incorrect on their system and would need to be updated at their accounts department (in spite of me updating it on my account profile). This made sense, but my email has never changed... So why was I not receiving the emails? She put me through to the accounts department and I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Eventually I hung up and tried the WhatsApp chat service, which also left me waiting.

And waiting.

And waiting.

So I called Customer Services again and they said they would put me through to someone who could help and again...

I waited.

And I waited.

And I waited.

And I waited.

And I built an entire swing-set out of wood shavings I collected while waiting.

And I waited some-more.

I was eventually obligated to put the phone down because holding on any longer would just be very stupid. Waiting for 5 minutes on a phone call is reasonable - 10 minutes and someone isn't doing their job. This all took place within office hours at around 4pm so... No excuse really. If I decide to stop working an hour before closing time I get fired - simple.

I physically went to a store when I got home from work, discovering they would still be open for another 30 minutes, and the staff seemed to be more concerned with going home themselves, which is understandable. I mean retail isn't fun - but a job is a job. I don't care how bored you are working in a mall.

After eventually finding assistance while the staff were trying to avoid the customers at all costs, the staff member that I approached at the waypoint couldn't even afford me eye contact, let alone complete sentences.

"No." She said. "System's offline." She grunted while looking around and chewing gum loudly with an open mouth under her mask. 'What a lousy cliché' I immediately thought. I waited for any other input, which never came, before I asked if there was anything that could be done since I had been at this for more than 4 hours today. Again, without looking at me she just said "No." I'm not sure if I was supposed to do anything else, because she kept looking around for something, so I just left. I don't need a contract, jus t a phone... Sooooooo.... Why did the system need to be online for a sale? Many patrons were making other purchases so why were they not dismissed?

I don't understand how so many people can be walking around with R30k phones in their pockets when this is what I have to go through for one worth only R4k. All I want to do it just buy a phone. That's it. Is there something more I need to do?

I'm so unbelievably exhausted by this that I can't even find the enthusiasm to try again tomorrow.