Horrific customer care and cancelation service from MTN SA

I have received nothing but appaling service from MTN over the last 2 months. I did a telephonic upgrade with them in January 2021.i received the devices via courier at work on the 29th of Jan, only to discover that it was incorrect and not what I has asked for. I contacted them immediately and was told that I had to go to the nearest MTN store to return it. I did that and at the store I was told that they have no idea about this but I cannot return a device in store which I had upgraded online. I went back to work and spent precious time back and forth with mtn call Centre and received the same stock response, that I had to return the devices in store. I called head office, who then told me to take it to another branch in Ballito, that was owned by MTN itself and not a private store. I did that, and they also refused to take it back. I insisted they call head office and SAMA mobile, the mtn affiliate who upgraded my contract and both of whom had told me to return the devices in store. The sales lady at the store then told me she has no airtime and cannot call out!!! So I had to use my own airtime and call SAMA mobile and MTN head office who then told her that she has to take the devices and issue me with a code to say I returned it. I had to then call SAMA mobile with that code, which I did. This was on the 30th of January 2021. Since then I have been endlessly trying to get my contact cancelled and have yet to be successful. I had to keep contacting SAMA mobile myself, to find out whether or not the return has been logged and the contract cancelled. They always promise to call me back but have never done so. After a month of getting nowhere with them, I went back to an MTN store to see if they could escalate the problem for me. I went to the MTN store at Coastlands, Umhlangha and spoke to an assistant there. She promised she'd try getting in touch with SAMA mobile and I should call her back after a few days to find out the response. I did that, and all she told me was that the request has been submitted, I must give it another 24 hrs and call her again. Since then, I've been trying to contact her but the number she gave me goes to voicemail only. I have spent hours holding on the MTN customer care line to speak to consultants, who keep telling me to email retentions and cancelations at MTN. I've tried emailing Retentions but it won't deliver, saying I'm not authorized to email them. The cancelations department at the call centre have failed to assist me at all. I've emailed through a complaint to the complaints department, who emailed me back saying they would contact me but they never did. In the interim, I was billed at the end of February for R1800, for devices that I do not have in my possession!!! SAMA mobile has been useless and keeps telling me to go in store. The stores won't assist me as they say it was not done with them. I have received another invoice for March for R1400. This is absolutely ridiculous. I am a medical doctor working in a busy state hospital and I do not have the time to be running around from store to store or to wait for hours on end on line to speak to people who transfer me from one department to another and who cannot do their job. It's now one and a half months, not once has anyone who promised to call me back, actually called me. I have had to chase people to find out if they have done their job. It's worth noting that I had an upgrade pending on my contract for more than 6 months, and MTN contacted me almost weekly to upgrade. Even after doing the upgrade, it took them less than 3 days to send me the devices. So they're quick to get more money out of you but provide terrible after service and customer care! For a company so huge, with so many stores, to return and cancel contracts should be clear and simple. A customer should not have to be told to try different stores to get them to return an incorrect order! I have yet to have my contract cancelled, I am on a mega S package that only cost a few hundred Rands a month, and yet I had to pay more than R800 and R400 for a smartphone and watch which I do not have,and had in my possession for less than a day, and which I returned sealed. I'm tired of trying to get someone to cancel the upgrade and refund my debit order than has already went off. I would advise others to think twice before considering MTN and am thinking of switching my service provider to a company who actually has the decency to reply to customers and provide some sort of customer care.