FORMAL COMPLAINT – MTN Home Router Contract Cancellation

FORMAL COMPLAINT – MTN Home Router Contract Cancellation

My name is Junet Mahlangu, and I am writing to formally express my profound dissatisfaction with the unacceptable service I have received from MTN regarding the cancellation of my home router contract.

In March 2022, I entered into a 24-month MTN Home Router contract. That contract has since expired — it has now been over four full years. For the duration of this time, I have been a loyal, paying customer at R750.00 per month.

During the contract period, I was working remotely and frequently relocated between provinces, including Mpumalanga (Siyabuswa) and various other regions. Throughout those three-plus years, the router functioned without issue regardless of my location. It was only upon my recent relocation to Pretoria, Gauteng, in early 2026, that I began experiencing connectivity failures.

When I contacted MTN Customer Care, I was informed — without any prior notice or disclosure in my contract — that the router is now location-locked and can only be reconfigured once per year. This is completely unacceptable. My profession requires frequent travel across provinces, and this restriction renders the service entirely unfit for purpose. I am now forced to purchase additional mobile data while travelling, despite already paying R750.00 monthly for a service that MTN is failing to deliver.

On 21 April 2026, I contacted MTN Customer Care to cancel this contract. I was instructed to visit my nearest MTN store with my ID, proof of residence, and the router. I comp**** and travelled to the Brooklyn Mall branch — only to be told, upon arrival, that they could not process the cancellation without the original packaging, including the box and internet line cable.

This is absolutely unreasonable. It has been four years since the router was delivered to me. To require a customer to retain original packaging for the entire duration of a contract — and then use its absence as a barrier to cancellation — is not only impractical, it is deeply unfair and borders on being a predatory retention tactic.

I have now been given conflicting information by MTN's own representatives, wasted time and money travelling to a branch, and am still no closer to a resolution. I am effectively being held hostage to a contract for a service that no longer meets my needs, due to a restriction that was never clearly communicated to me.

I am formally requesting the following: 1. Immediate cancellation of my MTN Home Router contract without the requirement of original packaging.

2. Confirmation of any outstanding obligations, if any, and a clear path to closure of this account.

Can I please get a response within 5 business days.

Yours faithfully, Junet Mahlangu