MTN allows for ****ers to flourish and then MTN ****s you in the process

I am writing to express my profound disappointment and distress regarding the unauthorized upgrade that occurred on my account in January 2024, despite my immediate and repeated requests for intervention. This incident has not only led to the unauthorized acquisition of products under my name but has also exposed serious lapses in MTN's ***** prevention mechanisms and how they are not aligned on the information they give out to a customer who has been de*****ed, constantly contradicting one another as can be picked up on the below referenced emails.

On January 5, 2024, I received OTP pins and notifications of an ongoing upgrade, which I did not initiate. I promptly contacted your customer service and followed up with numerous emails to halt this process. On January 8, I was assured by Kgamgelo Mahnko from MTN ***** department that the upgrade would be stopped, as in-store verification was required due to heightened security measures. However, to my dismay, I later discovered that on February 8, the upgrade had been processed, and two devices were issued in my name without my consent.

The lack of effective assistance and the contradictory information provided by MTN representatives have compounded the issue. Supervisor Silindile Cele's promise to personally handle the case and provide the list of necessary documentation has not been fulfilled in time as she said I gave her the wrong email address - my email address is on the system and she initially failed to send the email to my correct email address. bellow is the email that was sent to MTN after obtaining the requested affidavit among other documents.

"Good day,

I am writing to you regarding the *****ulent upgrade that was done on my account without my authorization. I have already contacted the ***** department on Friday 09/02/2024 and spoke to the supervisor Silindile Cele, who assured me that she would send me an email with the details of the investigation. However, I have not received any email from her until now, and I do not know where to send the documentation that you requested.

Please see the attached files, one being the requested affidavit and the other being past communication with MTN to get a full understanding of what transpired, and kindly reverse the upgrade that was performed by the ****mers under my account. I also request that you refund any money that I have lost or will lose due to this *****, as per the conversation between me and Mrs. Cele.

I want to express my dissatisfaction with the way MTN handled this situation. I had informed you earlier that I suspected some *****ulent activities on my account, but you did not flag my account or take any preventive measures(I initially spoke to Kgomolemo Mahonko at the ***** department 08/01/2024). This allowed the ****mers to access my account and make an unauthorized upgrade. As a result, I have been deprived of the service that I paid for and agreed to with MTN. I have received very little data bundles (1gig or less) and voice minutes (27) for this month, and my bill has been inflated. Moreover, I have to spend extra money to buy the data bundles that I need and use regularly.

I am very unhappy with this situation and I do not think that MTN cares about the safety and satisfaction of its customers. I urge you to investigate this matter urgently, provide me with feedback, refund my money and restore my original contract with MTN."

The investigation only took place on the 14th of February 2024 after Silindile Cele was not responding to my emails and I called the ***** department and spoke to Kifilwe Pitso who confirmed receiving the documents I had been sending since the 12th of February 2024. she told me the matter would be resolved after 21 working days. I eventually got an email from Silindile on the 14 saying that she had sent me an email on the 12 however I had provided her with the wrong email address to which I rep**** as follows;

"Good day Slindile,

When we spoke, you said you would also call me on Monday 12/02/2024 Morning, which you did not.

I must also add that I do not understand why you did not send me the email based on the address you have on the system, in case as you said I could have given you the incorrect email address. What happened is part of the reason why customers are easily ****med within your organization, there is carelessness in the handling of customer information.

I contacted the ***** department and spoke with a woman named Kifilwe on 14/02/2024, who told me that the upgrade was done over the phone. She also said that there were other numbers linked to my account *** one of these numbers, the *** is on the *****ulent contract, which could access my account and receive my OTP Pin.

When I talked to you on Friday 09/02/2024, you explained to me that the upgrade happened because the ********s went to a store that sells all service providers and the flagging on the account was not detected. However, my account was flagged for online upgrades. The information you gave me and the information from Kifilwe are inconsistent.

I have attached the statements that I received 16/02/2024 Morning for your reference. I would like to dispute the charges on my account for any activities that occurred after the 18th, as well as any future usage fees until this issue is resolved. I did not authorize or benefit from the upgrade that was app**** to my account without my consent. I have not used your services since then and I do not intend to do so until we reach an agreement.

I Spoke to Kgomolemo on 08/01 at 07h50 and told her that I did not recognize the delivery address and some numbers on my account, such as ***, which was upgraded without my consent. I asked her to remove them and she said there was only my number (+27*******) on my account. But this contradicts the information I got yesterday from the ***** Department, which I had to contact myself because nobody gave me any feedback.

I am very concerned about the possible ***** and identity theft on my account. The SAPS needs a letter from MTN explaining what happened, not just a reference number, so they can investigate the case.

Please resolve this issue as soon as possible and keep me updated."

Silindile's response to the above sent email was that the case had been logged and for me to continue paying MTN as per my usual payments to which she could not even provide an amount.

I enquired therefor on what payments I must make as I at that point was not receiving the services I am to pay for, as per below.

"Good day Slindile Ngidi,

I am not certain whether you have been reading my emails to the point of understanding. My contract that I was on and paying for was 80 gigs per month (40 gigs day, 40 gigs night, no handset no no anything else.

I am not getting the 80 gigs, I bought my own bundles for the month in question using money in my bank account. what then exactly would I be paying my normal installments for ?

This is theft you guys are now *****ing from me by making me pay for a service I am not using and I will not allow it!! "

At that point Silindile ceased to make contact, leaving me with unanswered questions and awaiting 21 working days for the investigation to take place and be concluded.

21 working days came and went, I had to call and send about 3 emails to MTN to enquire on the conclusion of the investigation.

On the 15th of March after one names Thamali Morgan sent me an email telling me that the investigation was concluded and I was found to not have been the one who did the upgrade as bellow; "15 March 2024 To whom it may concern Adolin Millicent Banda ****** We refer to your communications with MTN SA, regarding a Cellphone Subscription account that was opened with your personal details on ID number ********. We have investigated this matter internally and we record further that the above account is clear of any liability, and that Adolin Millicent Banda does not owe MTN SA any outstanding amount. We appreciate your loyalty and support, and we hope that you will continue to inform us in the future of any further problems, which may occur. We are continuously striving to improve our service to our clients and therefore your input is of great value to us in achieving this goal. Should you have any queries or require further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us. Yours Sincerely. Sejabaledi Gafane ***** Management MTN SA"

I did ask for a detailed report on the investigation and what would be done in future to ensure this does not happen again, MTN failed to provide me this information and instead told me that they will work with SAPS on the mater.

I responded to Thamali thanking her for this and was under the impression that this matter would be finally laid to rest and I could therefore cancel the contract as I was no longer feeling safe with being an MTN contract holder. The back and forth and being transferred from pillar to post was intensified from that point. Thamali responded via email that I would have to cancel the contract with Retentions department.

During this time I received account statements from MTN to which I enquired with the *****s department as they had said all amounts would be Zero's and I could cancel the contract - that was not done. When I called the retentions department on the 19th of March to cancel my contract, she informed me that she informed me that the contract would be cancelled in 21 working days and that the only amount outstanding from my account was R100 - and was was for pro rata data received- which I did not want but nonetheless I paid the R100 on the 27th of March. On the 12th of April, I saw that 80gigs of data was loaded onto my account to which I was surprised as my contract had been cancelled and I was not supposed to get this data. When I called MTN to enquire on the matter, I was told that the reason for the data was because the contract could not be cancelled due to an outstanding amount of R700 and that the ***** department had not cleared the amounts as promised. I was therefore transferred to the ***** department where I spoke with Siphiwe Mabuza, Siphiwe said that he saw that the amounts were not cleared and would escalate the matter, that the amounts would be cleared by the 15th of April. I sent the below email to MTN there after;

"Dear MTN Management,

If this matter is not resolved ASAP, I will take this to the ICASA and Hello Peter to blast MTN's acceptance to *****ulent activities.

I am writing to express my profound dissatisfaction with the ongoing issues regarding my account and the cancellation of my contract. Despite assurances from your ***** department that the *****ulent charges have been cleared and confirmation of contract cancellation from your representative, I am still facing unresolved discrepancies.

On March 19th 2024, I was informed by Athule Vovela that my contract cancellation would be processed within 21 working days (Ref ***) , and I promptly settled the requested amount of R100. However, contrary to this, I have received notifications of data bundles being credited to my account, and I am now being told of an outstanding balance of approximately R700. I spoke to Sphiwe Mabuza from the ***** department, who informed me that the clearing of amounts was not passed to MTN accounts and that's why I am still owing according to the system.

This situation is unacceptable and has been a source of considerable distress for the past two months. I urge you to rectify these errors immediately, clear any incorrect charges, and finalize the cancellation of my contract as initially agreed upon. I expect a prompt resolution so that I can move forward and consider alternative service providers without further delay.

Please treat this matter with the urgency it deserves and provide me with a written confirmation once these issues have been resolved. Frustrated Customer, "

I received no response from MTN ***** department on this and i therefor called and spoke to Lindo Mokwalakwala who informed me that Siphiwe Mabuza had in fact not escalated the matter and there were no notes on the system, he said he would escalate it and it would take upto 5 more working days. I then questioned him on who would pay for these data bundles that had just been loaded after the account was requested to be canceled to which he said I would need to call the retentions department. I called the retentions department on the 15th of April still and spoke with Siyabonga Shabane who told me that my number was no longer on the system as the contract had been cancelled (contradicting the previous person who told me that the account would not be cancelled due to outstanding amounts). Mr Siphiwe was lacked apathy towards my situation as he said he would put a note on the system that the number had been removed however I was liable for paying for the data I received on the 12th of April even though I called on time and informed them that I did not want the data as the contract is under cancelation and I had paid my last money to MTN on the 27th of March as Athule said that was the only money that needed to be paid.

I am so disheartened and defeated by the actions of MTN. this has affected me mentally and physically, I have no fight left in me and MTN wants to keep on taking from me. It is unfair and I doubt it's legality too. Can someone please help me on the matter as I have reached my limits on fighting this. it never gets sorted and I keep being referred from one person to another.

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