31 days and counting without a phone

In Nov 2017 I upgraded to a iPhone 8 Plus through MTN on contract. On Tuesday 20 February 2018, the phone stopped working, only displaying a spinning circle on a black background. I took it to the iStore that day who confirmed that they could not revive it and suggested that I go to MTN to resolve, as I purchased it through them. They were happy to look at it, but their repair centre was busy and they were concerned that I might have to wait for 10 days. On Wednesday 21 Feb I took the phone to MTN Bellville (in the Sanlam building), who confirmed that I need to supply the box and manuals it came in, which I did on Thursday 22 Feb. Then I got a call to say the connector plug was not in the box, which I duly delivered on Friday. The phone went to the repair centre on Monday 26 Feb. Days went by with no progress. Eventually, 2 weeks later, I was informed that the phone has now gone to Jhb to confirm the fault, but that the store already had a phone to give me should the repair centre confirm my old one was faulty. On Monday 19 March I was informed that the repair centre cannot access my phone as Find my iPhone was on and the device was still linked to my iCloud. I promptly did this, only to be informed the next day that it wasn't done. I did it in store, showed the consultant on my loan phone that it was done. Later that afternoon they could still not access it, so we sent them screen shots. Wednesday 21 March was a public holiday, so on Thursday morning I was again informed that they still could not access it. We phoned Apple from the store who deactivated the device for me. I asked for a decision on the day, only to be informed by the store that they cannot get hold of the repair centre. Today, Friday 23 March, I still have no answer. The store refuses to give me a new phone, has no control over the repair process, and the nett result is that I have been without a phone for 31 days. I am a consultant with a large consulting firm, we consistently use our phones for security verifications, emails, online meetings etc. The phone I have been borrowing needs to go back. I have the following specific issues with this story: - Why was my phone with the repair centre for such a long time before they confirmed they cannot access it? - Why was my phone sent to Jhb without CT investigating it? - The store doesn't care - Zahrah tries her best but Steven, the store manager, just stands there and smirks, and cannot give you any other alternatives but to be hostage to the repair centre - The store has no direct line to the repair centre and is subject to dropped lines, have no input into the escalation process at the repair centre. The MTN process is not working, it's not customer-oriented, and has left me in the lurch for over a month, just not good enough when you have purchased a R17500 phone.