MTN Billing Issues

I would like to share the horrible experience that I have been dealing with since the beginning of June with MTN. I had taken a contract with MTN and this was done telephonically in May 2018. The contract was a data sim which amounted to R95-00 per month for a period of 24 months. The sim card together with an invoice was delivered to my home address. By the 23rd month, an agent called suggesting an upgrade. I refused the upgrade and also requested for the current contract to be cancelled after the 24 month period as I no longer required the data sim having uncapped WiFi installed in recent months. I realized that in June 2020, I was debited an amount of R115-87 which I was not aware of. This continued to July but with an exceeded amount of R405-01. This was when I decided to report this issue amidst the lock-down and having to be in isolation as well. This matter was first dealt with telephonically where the consultant failed to assist and then went in store (1 July 2020) to MTN at Kwa Dukuza mall where a reference number was provided (***). The consultant, Zoey was helpful and informed me that this case would be under investigation and I should receive a response within 7 working days. After waiting for the 7 working day period, I tried contacting MTN via the support line where I was able to cancel my contract but once again when asked about the case of concern, received no response and/or feedback! My contract was successfully cancelled and the sim then changed to a prepaid one. The reason for the cancellation was to avoid future exorbitant debits from my account. I then went back in store on July 14th and this is when my case was escalated to a regional level. In all this time, I was aware that the only feedback required from MTN was regarding the excess charges in June and more importantly July.

July 20th - I received a call followed by an email from Carmen Wentzel : 'We apologize for the delayed response and any inconvenience incurred. Thank you for taking my call. Please be advised that a query has been escalated to the Billing department for assistance. The reference number is *** please allow 48-72hrs for the query to be attended to. Should you require an update on the progress of your query, you are most welcome to contact us online the reference number provided to you. We trust that you find the above in order.'

You would think that after all the fuss and unwanted debits that the case would be resolved.

But wait, it couldn't get any better....

I have a cancelled contract but as of 1 August 2020, MTN has magically debited R405-00 from my account!

I simply cannot understand why this amount or why this debit has occurred? What was the point of cancelling the contract as this is what I aimed to avoid. Furthermore, the sim card has been moved to prepaid since 10 July 2020.

Can someone kindly advise on this situation? No one seems to be taking this seriously and it has already been escalated.

Is this how customers are treated at MTN? Is this how people are treated especially with the trying times? People have no extra money for these kind of ridiculous debits to be taking place. Money is tight and yet I have taken the necessary steps and precautions to avoid a situation like this, it has still occurred. It is definitely not just about the money here, but the value, integrity and principle that MTN claims to have.

I would advise against people signing up with a ********** service provider more like a debit me for nothing provider!