Extremely Disappointing Experience at MTN Tygervalley- I feel ****** and **********, please HELP

I have been back and forth with the MTN call centre and your Tygervalley store UL600 since 21 December 2023. This entire experience has wasted so much of my time, money and fuel which I will never be able to get back. Now all I want is my money back, R1700, and I want you to cancel the ******* contract you have on my name before I head to the police, SAPS. The only reason I have held off on doing so is because I wanted to give you a chance to resolve this however I will do so if I'm continually not heard and nothing is done about this.

Further detail about this nightmare is described below:

I have been using MTN services for many years and my recent experience at MTN Tygervalley has been the worst yet. If I had to rate them and it were possible to give them no stars at all I would. I went in looking for a phone and at the time I wanted to purchase the phone on a contract deal. I asked if I could pay a down payment to decrease the price of the product and the consultant said yes that would be possible. We will refer to this consultant as 'consultant M' for the remainder of this review.

We were then met with a hurdle of problems as they didn't have stock of one of the items that came with the phone and they could not release the phone without it. The phone came with a free bag which they did not have in stock. He then said that he'd let us know when they did and the next day he let us know they got the bag and we could go get the product. When we came in we were met by another consultant as we were told Consultant M was not in on the day. When we told the consultant, Consultant B (we will refer to him as ''Consultant B'' for the remainder of this review), we wanted to put down a down payment of R1700 for the phone in hopes of reducing the monthly installment of the product he said yes he knows about that and that Consultant M had already prepped everything all we needed to do was pay and be on our merry way. When we asked Consultant B what the difference would be he told us it would only be a difference of R50. Consultant B had been speaking with Consultant M on the phone since we got there as he needed instruction on how to complete the purchase. Whilst this was going on we expressed our unease with paying a down payment of R1700 for a phone which was being sold at the time for R4929. The down payment meant that we'd pay a monthly installment of R222 which dropped from the original price of R269. This made absolutely no sense to us as we did not need their data plan so we asked if we could change the sale to a cash sale for the phone as opposed to taking the phone on contract. We were then told that they had already done what was needed to be done on their system and going back now would be a problem so feeling a little pressured and coerced we paid the R1700 as a down payment before signing anything or formally accepting this offer. Consultant B recognized our unease after paying and when we asked him to further explain why the installments did not drop significantly after paying 35% of the product's price he explained it to us. We told him that this deal would definitely not work for us as it makes no financial sense for us and we would like to just buy the phone for its cash price since we already paid 35% of the product with our down payment. He then told us to our surprise that he could not do that as on their system we have already purchased the product on their contract and that we now have an active contract with them. This left us dumbfounded as we did not sign any contract with them to authorize this transaction, all we did was give them our money. What we wanted to do now was just pay balance for the cash price of the phone. Consultant B explained to us that this would not be possible as the contract is active which again made no sense to us as we did not sign this contract of theirs. We were told to return the next day as their manager would be in then and she would hopefully be able to assist us. Consultant B and all the other staff in the store were very respectful and helpful and understood our plight as they could also see we did not sign any contract. We then left for home to return the next day to meet and speak with the manager. On the way home I messaged Consultant M whom I had been in contact with to tell him and give him an update of the situation and let him know I did not take the phone as it makes no sense and I've changed my mind. He then sent me a chain of messages explaining the contract, which he never did initially in person and then followed it with an insulting message questioning my integrity and honesty. I followed his messages by respectfully asking him what he meant and why he was being so disrespectful as there was no need to be. I further told him that the only reason I ever messaged him was to give him an update on the situation and query it since I did not understand how I had this active contract. I also explained to him that I will no longer be communicating with him as I knew it was now out of his hands since his colleague informed us only the manager can now help us. He then sent me a message saying I had to pay a cancellation fee of R5000+ for a product I did not use, open or take out from the store or even sign for! Note the price of the phone and their bogus cancellation fee.

This is absolute madness as this alleged "contract" I had with them was not even a day old, let alone was it seconds old when I expressed my discomfort with it. The cancellation fee itself is way more than the price of the phone which is absolutely absurd. I am disappointed and upset as I've been a loyal and paying customer of MTN for my entire life and yet this is the treatment I am receiving. Please refund me my money (R1700) and cancel this bogus, illegitimate contract for a product I've never accepted, signed for or even touched. Stop ripping me off! Be grateful that I did not name and shame your employees as I am well within my right to do so.

On 23 December 2023 I called your call center and the consultant I spoke with agreed that the contract was ********ly activated as I did not sign anything and that I am entitled to my full refund and the store should cancel this contract at their expense as it was them who activated this without my lawful consent. After obtaining the reference number for our call and case (***) we went to meet with the manager and were initially blatantly ignored by all the staff at the store even though we were there the day before and they knew why we came in. We stood at the consultant desk waiting to be helped with no one assisting us until we raised our voices and asked to be seen by the manager. The manager came out and listened to our story and said yes she has been notified about the situation by her staff and that she was in the process of having it canceled, she continued to say that we couldn't get our refund immediately or have the contract cancelled as there is a "whole process" for this to happen. Why are you so quick to take my money but so slow to refund me or cancel this contract? I am deeply disappointed and upset about the service I have received. Again please refund my money (R1700) and cancel this bogus, illegitimate contract for a product I've never accepted, signed for or even touched before I head to SAPS.