Can not replace a faulty phone because model is discontinued & want to charge penalties for early cancelation on a device I do not have

<p>I took out a new contract with MTN Direct in February 2016.</p> <p>The contract included a Samsung S6Edge phone.</p> <p>In July 2016 I put the phone on charge and for some reason the phone stopped functioning entirely.</p> <p>I took the phone to the nearest outlet to get it fixed only to be told that they could not help me and I have to take the device directly to Midrand, which I might add is a bit of a drive away from where I stay</p> <p> </p> <p>I then contacted MTN to ask why the shop could not assist me. They then advised that the shop must assist me & I went back to the shop on 11 August 2016 where they took the phone in to be send off for a warranty assessment.</p> <p>This assessment they said will take about 2 weeks and if they could not fix the phone they will replace it as it is still under warranty.</p> <p>After more than two weeks of no feedback on the phone I gave the store a call to do a follow up. They then said that they have not heard anything about the phone but I must phone the assessment centre myself on ********** 667</p> <p>I phoned the centre, I was told that the technician has not done an assessment yet and I must follow up on a later date. After a few follow ups on 13/09/2016 I finally got an answer that the phone could not be fixed and had to be replaced and was given an authorisation number. Once again no one at MTN bothered to inform me of any progress.</p> <p>Then I was told that even though I had the replacement authorisation number they could not just give me a new phone. They had to get a release number as well to authorise the release of the new phone.</p> <p>They could not replace the phone immediately because they were waiting for an authorisation number. After some more phone calls I eventually got the authorisation number for the new phone myself as no one at MTN bothers to follow up any quarry.</p> <p>When I supp**** MTN with the reference number I was advised that they were waiting for stock and they could not supply me with a new phone yet. This went on for a while and when I reached the two month mark without a phone and no one at MTN could tell me when the stock would arrive…I decided to go back to the store to see if they might have stock only to be told that they cannot assist me because the phone was on contract from MTN Direct and that the phone I was waiting for is not out of stock but has been discontinued. Something that no one at MTN Customer Care bothered to mention.</p> <p>Section 16.4 of my MTN Subscriber Agreement states:</p> <p>“If MTN is in breach of an obligation in this contract and fails to remedy this breach within 20(twenty) business days after receiving notice from you writing (not by SMS) identifying the breach and stating that if the breach is not remedied you may cancel the contract. If you wish to cancel this contract for this reason after the expiry of 20(twenty) business days ‘notice period, you must send MTN a notice in writing (not by SMS) of the cancellation of this contract.”</p> <p>This cancelation confirmation was sent to ********** on 30/09/2016 and MTN still has not rep**** to this e-mail todays date is 06/01/2017</p> <p>If I phone the retentions department to cancel the contract they want to charge me for early cancelation. I will not settle for any fees because I was not at fault here</p> <p>MTN wanted to courier me a phone on 12/12/2016 but I refused the offer as this was unacceptable that after 5 months it would be as simple as here is your replacement, forget about the money you were charged for a phone you don’t have and literally no one at MTN bothering to take responsibility for taking this long to replace a phone and their refusal to cancel the contract.</p> <p>I am feeling helpless and do not know what to do anymore, How difficult can it ne to cancel a contract?</p> <p> </p> <p>Still without a phone and can not cancel my contract and can not take out a new contract as my number is still in use with MTN</p>