Contract nightmare with MTN South Africa

I had a Data contract with MTN which ended in December 2022. I was paying R150 throughout ..then in January I noticed they Debited R565 from my Account so I called to ask why they did that since the contract had ended. I was advised I should give 30 day notice for cancellations as these contracts automatically become month to month contracts and do not get cancelled. I called in to cancel my contract even going as far as asking the lady to confirm that my contract was cancelled..she did confirm that my contract was cancelled (The reference number I was gìven is ***.

There was nothing in writing, no Email or SMS confirming that my contract was cancelled..just a reference number. All their calls are recorded but no one bothers to listen to the calls and how their clients are in distress.

The Nightmare began after the contract was cancelled. After the Contract was confirmed to have been canceled, they continued to Debit my Account..So I hardly have any money in there so the Debit order bounces. In the past couple of months, I have made trips to the MTN stores after the Retentions department refused to assist me.The consultants at the store also refused to assist me and told me I should call Retentions. Everytime I call the Retentions department, my call gets transferred to Billing and the consultants are so rude because they just assume the contract has not been cancelled so it's not their issue. So overall, in the past couple of months, either the agents have asked me to stay on the line and then hung up on me , hung up on me or transferred my call to Billings where I never get assisted. I have sent countless Emails to Customer care , sent my complaints to their Twitter account , called probably more than 50 times and I am always told "The issue has been escalated".

Yesterday ( 05 May) the guy from Retentions transferred my call to the Billings department and this rude lady told me the contract was not cancelled and I owe them R1100 despite expaining to her that I cancelled the contract in January. 3 Call centre agents hung up on me.

I destroyed the Simcard months ago..So I always have to borrow phones from MTN users to make a call. This has affected me emotionally, it is affecting my Credit score as my Account has been handed over to collections (The basically want me to pay the money they debited after my contract was ended) . I have never in my life missed a Payment, I have never had a poor/ Below average credit score.

I am emotionally exhausted..I have tried everything humanely possible ..all in vain. I do not understand why the departments work in Silos..The people at the Store ask me to call Retentions but they are also MTN Employees who are well capable of assisting me. The Retentions departments never calls the Billing department/ advise them a contract has been cancelled..so the Billing department just continues to debit your account months after the contract has ended because the Account still shows as active on their systme. My calls always get transferred to that useless department even when I literally beg them not to hang up or to do a conference call with Retentions.

They do not respond to any of my Emails..I have sent numerous Emails to MTN , ICASA , Transunion and they have not responded to any of my Emails. The MTN reference is ***, The cellphone number in question is ***. This is literally my last resort now