MTN BUNGLES BILLINGS!

September 30th, 2019. After doing my homework I elected to upgraded to the iPhone 11 Pro Max 64GB. The contract I selected was quoted at R1299.00 per month. I thoroughly checked the terms of my new contract and on numerous occasions confirmed this would be the only amount I’ll be charged (after the first month’s Pro Rata billing). Month one had come and gone. Month two carried the exact same charges as Month one’s “extra pro rata" charge with an additional R50 for apparent international calls.

My local store consultants proceeded to tell me that my contract stated my monthly payments were R1599.00 (R300 more than what I had signed for). They advised my best option would be to obtain the original contract documents from MTN Bedfordview, with whom I signed the contract.

After numerous requests – some two months later – I received a copy of the original contract in January 2020. I immediately picked up discrepancies on my contract. Not only were there two different totals on my contract - one being the original agreed R1299 which is shown throughout the contract, the other - on the last page of the contract - states a total of R1599.00. The other thing that caught my eye: it is clear " my" initials and signatures are not consistent throughout the contract. Once again I was told to contact the original branch. Once again nothing came of this.

On a business trip to Johannesburg I took the opportunity to visit the MTN Head office. The consultant was helpful and told me to look past the discrepancies of inconsistent signatures at this time. He proffered there was NEVER a contract option to the value of R1599.00 for my package and had logged a complaint on my behalf as this had apparently “not yet been done”.

A week later I received an SMS informing me my case had been resolved (without explanation) however a month later I’m still waiting to find out exactly how it has been “resolved” whilst the same amount still gets deducted from my bank account. My attempts at getting answers have been futile as I’m unable to reach a customer care consultant. In the meantime I’ve had to resort to legal advice, which points out the charging discrepancies represent a violation of the Customer Protection Act.

My experience? MTN Bedforview is guilty of ********, *********** its Clients and couldn’t care less about its customers. They are *********, dishonest, not true to the MTN Values nor worthy of representing the brand purporting to “make its customers’ lives a whole lot brighter”. They have no scruples!