A very dissatisfied customer

I have been with MTN for over 12 years, spending thousands of rands each month yet my recent my attempt to upgrade a contract at the Mall of Africa branch has left me extremely frustrated and questioning my loyalty.

I went through their “new” process of verification which replaced the old biometric verification system. I took the selfie and followed every step, only to be told my green ID book is no longer acceptable. This is the very same ID book I used to open most of my existing MTN contracts I have.

What makes this worse is that I was physically in the store with staff verifying my identity. If I were upgrading online, stricter measures would make sense, but in person? It feels like MTN is forcing customers into getting the Smart ID card, which I believe is not their mandate.

The branch staff did their best to help me, and I appreciate their effort, but the “system” and the support on the other end were completely unhelpful. I wasted nearly two hours and left with nothing but frustration.

What is it that the smart card has that the green book does not have? I am not prepared to continue paying thousands of rands each month to a company that treats loyal customers this way. Come tomorrow. I will be canceling all my contracts with MTN. I hate being inconvenienced especially when I am paying for a service.