MTN Complaint / ********* transaction

To whom it may concern:

I am writing to register a formal complaint regarding a deeply unsatisfactory experience with MTN following a business visit at store in The Northern Mall, Kimberley, and to seek an immediate and equitable remedy. The purpose of this letter is twofold, first I want to commend an exemplary member of your staff, Ms Thembeka Matiwane, for her professionalism and courtesy; and to insist upon an urgent remediation of a manifestly unfair loss of airtime that occurred following a contract conversion processed in-store.

At the outset, I wish to acknowledge the impeccable service I received from Ms Matiwane. Her demeanour, competence and evident commitment to good customer service are a credit to MTN. She provided what I can only describe as five-star assistance in processing a request to add a new data line on a 24-month contract. It is a matter of considerable disappointment that, notwithstanding her conscientious service, the transaction she facilitated has resulted in a significant and avoidable loss for me.

The facts are as follows. Two days prior to the conversion from prepaid to a 24‑month contract, I purchased airtime in the amount of R250 for the prepaid line in question. That airtime remained on the line until the conversion was effected at your Northern Mall outlet. Immediately upon the conversion, my recently purchased airtime bought only two days earlier was removed from my account. When I queried this outcome with MTN staff I was informed that this result was the consequence of an internal policy or procedure and that, regrettably, there was no mechanism by which the airtime could be restored. I was further told that even if I chose to cancel the newly concluded 24‑month contract, the airtime would not be returned.

This state of affairs is unacceptable on several grounds.

1) It is inequitable and commercially unsound to allow procedural rules to operate in a way that strips a customer of a paid-for service immediately after purchase, without notice, warning or a reasonable opportunity to avoid the loss. The consumer purchased airtime in good faith; to permit that value to vanish in the course of a product migration is tantamount to converting the customer’s property into an irrecoverable loss.

2) From a business ethics perspective, the policy as described unfairly prioritises administrative convenience over basic fairness. Any legitimate corporate procedure should include safeguards to prevent or remediate harm to consumers occasioned by system or policy quirks. The assertion that cancellation of the 24‑month contract would not remedy the loss compounds the injustice and suggests an absence of commercially sensible exceptions or appeal mechanisms within your processes.

3) The financial and contractual context compounds the gravity of the issue. I accepted the 24‑month contract on the basis of the assistance provided by your staff and in good faith. That contract, as I understand it, represents potential revenue to MTN of R9 120 over its term. Yet MTN’s position is to decline restitution of R250, a small fraction of the contract’s total value an outcome that is both disproportionate and, frankly, injurious to customer goodwill. If MTN elects not to remedy this matter promptly I will have no realistic option but to reconsider the recently entered contract and my other business with MTN.

My requested remedies are straightforward and reasonable. I ask that MTN effect one of the following, at my election, within seven (14) working days of receipt of this letter:

1. Credit my line with the value of R250 airtime that was purchased prior to the contract conversion; or 2. Cancel the 24‑month contract immediately and without penalty, restoring my account to its prior prepaid status and refunding any payments made under the contract.

In addition to the primary remedy above, I request:

a) Written confirmation, on MTN letterhead, that the chosen remedy has been implemented and that no adverse entries or penalties will be app**** to my account as a result of this complaint or any subsequent cancellation; b) formal acknowledgement of Ms Thembeka Matiwane’s exemplary service, including that she be considered for recognition by her managers; and - An explanation of the policy that produced this result, together with a statement of what steps MTN will take to prevent similar occurrences in future (for example, procedural safeguards, staff training and a suitable customer redress mechanism).

Should MTN decline or fail to respond substantively within the specified timeframe, I will consider further steps to vindicate my rights as a consumer, including but not limited to: cancelling the recent contract and any other contracts I hold with MTN; lodging a complaint with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) and the National Consumer Commission; and pursuing public and legal avenues for redress. I would prefer to avoid such measures and to resolve this matter expeditiously and amicably, relying on MTN’s evident capacity for customer care as demonstrated by Ms Matiwane.

Please treat this matter with the urgency it merits. I expect a substantive written response within seven (14) working days, setting out the remedy MTN is prepared to implement and confirming the steps that will be taken to rectify the immediate loss and to prevent recurrence.

I trust MTN will take this complaint seriously, restore the value that was unjustly lost and ensure that the exceptional service demonstrated by Ms Thembeka Matiwane is matched by a fair and customer‑centric corporate response.

Kind regards,

Solly Shakwane