MTN are a bunch of ****s and *******

MTN has the WORST service of any company with which I've ever had the misfortune of dealing!!

At the beginning of June, they messed up my debit order and switched off my service. I used the MTN app to pay and the service was immediately reconnected. 5 days later, it was switched off again. I called and was told it was because of the failed payment at the beginning of the month, but that my manual payment was showing as a credit. I logged a ticket for it to be reconnected.

After 2 days of waiting, I called again and was told I should sign up for the service again on the website, and that my credit would be app****. I did as I was told, but the credit wasn't app**** and I was forced to pay again. I called back and logged a ticket for the refund.

After 5 days, the service was disconnected AGAIN! I called again and asked for it to be reconnected. I logged several tickets. I spoke to at least 10 people. I emailed and emailed and emailed but received no response. Eventually, someone responded to say that they provided the service. They didn't bother to check that they'd switched it off after only 5 days, TWICE! I logged more tickets, I emailed everyone (by this stage I had the email addresses of 7 different MTN customer service staff, all of whom had at some point promised to resolve the matter), I emailed the complaints department, I emailed customer care... other than receiving more and more reference numbers, not a single person came back to me.

In July, I tried my luck again and signed up for the service. This time, after only THREE days, it was switched off again!!! I logged more tickets. I sent more emails. I contacted them on X. Eventually, they responded on X to say that the "services were provided", but again, they failed to investigate further.

I kept pleading for resolution, and finally I was told that the service had been switched off because I "abused" it. It's a monthly subscription, with unlimited phone calls. In the 3 days that it was working, I used a total of 8 minutes worth of airtime and 2MB of data! That does NOT constitute abuse! They said the matter is closed and that my refund requests were denied. End of story.

I called again and spoke to an agent. I told him I wanted to talk to his supervisor. The supervisor wasn't available, but I gave the agent the whole story, nonetheless. He game me his email address, as well as that of the supervisor. The supervisor assured me that he would investigate and come back to me before 5pm. I told him I didn't believe him, since it seems to be MTN's policy to make and then break promises. I tested the email addresses of the agent and the supervisor to make sure they were working. Both of them received my email and responded with a promise that they would personally come back to me before 5pm.

That was the last I heard from either of them. In the week since then, I have emailed both of them every day, pleading for feedback. They, like every other MTN employee at the end of an email address, ignored me.

To check their claim that I abused their service, I used the MTN app to request my itemised billing for the past 6 months. I received a PDF that shows the phone calls, but with a zero duration for every one.

I called yet again, but was told the telephone agents aren't able to send me itemised billing reports, and that I needed to email the customer service department, which I duly did, explaining that the MTN app doesn't work for this purpose. They responded by saying I should use the MTN app!!!

I rep**** and showed them that the PDF generated through the app is useless, because it has zero durations for all calls. They responded by telling me to send an SMS with my email address to a certain number, and I'll receive the PDF for the past 30 days. Again, I pointed out that I needed the past 6 months, not the past 30 days. What's more, since they'd switched off the service, I couldn't send any SMSes even if I tried! (I did try. Nothing happened)

After more days of waiting and repeated follow ups, they sent me a 9-page PAIA document which they expect me to complete, have it signed by a commissioner of oaths, pay an undisclosed fee, and then only after another 30 days will they "consider" sending me MY itemised billing!!!

I'm sick of it. I had a similar experience with them last year that dragged on for over 9 months. The only thing that eventually worked was getting the National Consumer Commission involved. It looks like I'm going to have to do that again!

The only reason I gave this review 1-star, is because zero stars isn't an option!