1 reviews | Active since Oct 2017
A Labyrinth of Frustration - My MTN Ordeal
Let me tell you about this nightmare with MTN. Where do I even start? Bought Uncapped Home Internet 10 Mbps for R269 a month at the start of March 2024 for my folks who just moved to a new spot in Johannesburg. They're not tech-savvy and don't have much cash, so I stepped in to help. Turns out, MTN LTE was the only internet with coverage in their area, so I went for it - and oh, what a mistake!
Their website's a joke. You try to buy something and end up filling out lead form after lead form promising a callback that rarely comes. Instead of leading you to checkout to pay it instead has you fill out a lead form and "They will get back to you". Filled in these application forms like this 5 times a day for 10 days straight in February, no joke.
Finally got a call from them, only to be hung up on after a few futile "hellows" or should I say "yellows"... My folks needed internet bad, so I spent heaps on airtime calling MTN's customer care, waiting ages on hold. I finally got through only for them to tell me the same thing "they'd call back", but nada for three days until they finally did on March 1st they called. I Paid straight away, and they said DSV would be in touch for delivery.
It then took at least 3 days for DSV to contact me! Over the phone, I told DSV that my ID had been ****** recently but I have my passport and they told me that I could use this for collection along with my proof of address! I then got copies made and took the day off work so as to not miss the delivery! On the day of delivery to my dismay, the delivery driver told me that the passport could not be used for delivery despite me seeing the option for ID or PASSPORT on the device he was holding. I told him there must be a mistake as I was told over the phone I could use this! he then proceeded to tell me he was in a rush and had to leave and I must contact MTN again for redelivery once I have the right ID. I was furious at this point as I had lost so much money in airtime, already paid for my parents' internet, and lost a days work because of this and still had nothing to show for it!
I then put in another R200 airtime and proceeded to phone MTN, honestly the most upset I have ever been in my life. The runaround didn't stop. MTN sends me to DSV, DSV sends me back to MTN, and then to Mondo, who handles their deals. Everyone's now saying the passport's a no-go, even though that's what they told me at the start. So I furiously told them okay fine I will get the ID copy verified please just arrange for redelivery. They apologize and told me they would be doing just that and I needed to wait for DSV to phone me about the redelivery.
So I take another day off work, get a police-verified ID copy, ready for the next delivery. After waiting almost 10 days for a call my parents still without internet I decided to phone DSV myself on the 20th and try to reschedule the delivery or see whats happening, and guess what? They tell me Parcel's back with MTN. Call MTN and Mondo, and they're like, "Sir, Your Order was canceled on the 13th." I had gotten No email, no call, no refund, nothing stating it was cancelled!!!
I asked them please can they send me a new payment link so I can reapply now and they told me to please apply again on the website...
So here I am, I've lost two days of work, spent over R1000 on airtime, and we're back to filling out those pointless lead forms with no calls back and my poor parents are still in the dark. Helpless doesn't even start to cover it. Absolute hell, from start to finish.
Duncan
The ordeal began with their website, a labyrinthine mess where you aim to buy a service but end up in an endless loop of filling out the same lead form over and over. I was trapped in this cycle for 10 solid days in February, obsessively filling out forms like a madman, only to be met with silence. When they finally deigned to call, they hung up on me mid-greeting. The urgency was real; my parents were cut off from the world, and I was their lifeline, burning through airtime and patience on MTN's customer care line, which was an exercise in futility.
After an excruciating wait and numerous unanswered calls that cost me a small fortune in airtime, not to mention the sheer mental toll, the transaction finally went through on March 1st. Then came the delivery debacle with DSV, which was a whole new level of hell. I had explicitly clarified that I would be using my passport for the delivery since my ID had been ******, a fact that was initially accepted. So I took a day off, waiting anxiously, only for the delivery driver to reject my passport, wasting my time and causing immeasurable frustration.
The nightmare didn't end there; it spiraled into a bureaucratic circus of being shuffled between MTN, DSV, and then Mondo, with each entity playing a maddening game of hot potato with my issue. I took another day off to get a police-verified ID copy, clinging to a sliver of hope that this mess could be resolved, only to be met with more delays, confusion, and a shocking lack of communication that led to the order being inexplicably canceled with nary a word to me about it.
Foolishly, perhaps driven by some misguided optimism or sheer desperation, I subjected myself to this torturous process again, reapplying and enduring another week of silence before making payment. And what do I get for my troubles? Another call from DSV saying the verified ID copy won't work, and yet again, I'm told to take it up with MTN.
This isn't just about being inconvenienced anymore; it's about the absolute disregard for customer time, the appalling lack of communication, and the sheer incompetency at every turn. I've lost count of the days of work I've sacrificed, the money spent on airtime that seems to vanish into a black hole, and the emotional toll this whole fiasco has taken on me and my family. MTN's handling of this situation has been nothing short of abysmal, a masterclass in how to alienate and infuriate customers to the point of utter despair.
To MTN, if you're reading this, know that your processes are broken, your customer service is a joke, and you've turned what should have been a straightforward transaction into an unfathomable nightmare. Fix your system, train your staff, and maybe, just maybe, start actually listening to the customers you so blatantly disregard.
The ordeal began with their website, a labyrinthine mess where you aim to buy a service but end up in an endless loop of filling out the same lead form over and over. I was trapped in this cycle for 10 solid days in February, obsessively filling out forms like a madman, only to be met with silence. When they finally deigned to call, they hung up on me mid-greeting. The urgency was real; my parents were cut off from the world, and I was their lifeline, burning through airtime and patience on MTN's customer care line, which was an exercise in futility.
After an excruciating wait and numerous unanswered calls that cost me a small fortune in airtime, not to mention the sheer mental toll, the transaction finally went through on March 1st. Then came the delivery debacle with DSV, which was a whole new level of hell. I had explicitly clarified that I would be using my passport for the delivery since my ID had been ******, a fact that was initially accepted. So I took a day off, waiting anxiously, only for the delivery driver to reject my passport, wasting my time and causing immeasurable frustration.
The nightmare didn't end there; it spiraled into a bureaucratic circus of being shuffled between MTN, DSV, and then Mondo, with each entity playing a maddening game of hot potato with my issue. I took another day off to get a police-verified ID copy, clinging to a sliver of hope that this mess could be resolved, only to be met with more delays, confusion, and a shocking lack of communication that led to the order being inexplicably canceled with nary a word to me about it.
Foolishly, perhaps driven by some misguided optimism or sheer desperation, I subjected myself to this torturous process again, reapplying and enduring another week of silence before making payment. And what do I get for my troubles? Another call from DSV saying the verified ID copy won't work, and yet again, I'm told to take it up with MTN.
This isn't just about being inconvenienced anymore; it's about the absolute disregard for customer time, the appalling lack of communication, and the sheer incompetency at every turn. I've lost count of the days of work I've sacrificed, the money spent on airtime that seems to vanish into a black hole, and the emotional toll this whole fiasco has taken on me and my family. MTN's handling of this situation has been nothing short of abysmal, a masterclass in how to alienate and infuriate customers to the point of utter despair.
To MTN, if you're reading this, know that your processes are broken, your customer service is a joke, and you've turned what should have been a straightforward transaction into an unfathomable nightmare. Fix your system, train your staff, and maybe, just maybe, start actually listening to the customers you so blatantly disregard.