Endless incompetence

On the 2nd August 2017 I went in store (MTN Direct Cape Gate) to query my account and debit orders because no data was being app**** to a tablet that I have on a month2month contract.

I discovered upon enquiry that the amount being deducted was not for my tablet… apparently that tablet had been erroneously reverted to prepaid, but instead I was being charged for BIS (Blackberry Internet Service)… I have been charged the fee of R49 since March 2016 yet I do not have a Blackberry (MTN themselves issued me with a SONY) there was no way for me to detect this charge on my statement as it does not reflect anywhere on the invoices and billing I receive. The employee in store queried it via an internal message on their system… a few days later I got a message that it had been “resolved”. I phoned 808 to ask what “resolved” meant. They informed me that MTN would be refunding/crediting me to the value of R310.

I was not willing to settle for that amount as it is merely a fraction of the amount that has been charged to me over the past year+, as a result I have had an ongoing battle with the unhelpful, rude and abrasive staff at the Cape Gate MTN Direct store (the one across Nedbank).

Every time I go in store to query the matter they apparently add things to “the system” however I can only assume that the staff are playing a game of hot potato with the staff at HQ/808, because approx 24hrs after they submit the query on the system I receive a SMS with the phrase “your query has been resolved”… thanks, very descriptive… what does “resolved” mean…

To which I have to phone 808 to figure out what the resolution is, only to find that someone at HQ/808 has done the absolute minimum effort required to simply close the ticket.

On the 18th of August I was told by a supervisor at the 808 helpline that Blackberry services fees have been discontinued on all accounts for many months, the reference number for that call was ********** 25. Since my first interaction with MTN in connection with this problem I have numerous reference numbers and made many calls.

On 23 August I received a reply to a mail I sent to ********** on the 15th, stating that I have a “further” credit of R630.93

On 29 August (Today) I received a message stating that my account was overdue – to avoid service suspension, pay immediately… Not only is this surprising since I should have a credit, but the amount of R294 that they are requesting STILL CONTAINS THE BIS CHARGE!!… I proceeded to call 808 once again to see what the geniuses had managed with my account this time, I was told by the representative that my account was credited with R310 and after this month’s bill the account is sitting on a positive balance of ~R16 and that SMS must have been “sent in error”… “Uhm… what happened to the “further R630” that I was credited according to the email I received??”-I asked…. “Nope doesn’t show on the account”-he told me, and that the remaining credit may only show in the next billing cycle…

Honestly I don’t know where I stand and feel like I am stuck in a nightmare or being held hostage… having to replay this same scenario over and over… with no light at the end of the tunnel

I’m well and truly fed up with MTN and their questionable business practices…