MTN Data Charges, Unrealistic Credit limits and lies

<p>I don't even know where to start. I have been a client with MTN for about 5 years. I bought a Samsung Tablet 5 years ago, paid R399 per month for 24 months with 500mb data. Everything ran perfect, i was billed on time, i paid on time, after the 24 months, i no longer had to pay off the tablet but i stayed with MTN on a 500mb only DATA account, when the 500mb was finished, i would be cut off, this cost me R39 per month. The sales person still wanted to know why i took such a small data bundle, this was because i had my Cell C contract and ADSL at home, so if the tablet cut off after 500mb, then no problem. You can see that i almost never reached the 500mb level. MTN billed me on time and i paid on time. Then 2015 came along, around the same time MTN received a lot of media with their huge fines. (Which i am sure got passed down to clients somehow.) My bill went up to R49 per month for my 500mb data, but on the 16th Nov 2016 i got a horrible surprise where MTN billed me R2107, I immediately called the call centre, where the guy was not that competant in answering my questions, i said it was impossible to get a bill for an account that was R49. He then told me if was because i had a credit limit of R3000 on the account, which to me was crazy, as i would never have set such a crazy limit. Even on my Cell C contract which costs me R1000 per month, i have a credit limit of R1500 per month to avoid these unexpected bills. It was told to me that i don't get to choose the limit, it is determined by my salary. I then went in to MTN Century City not into the centre. I dealt with a manager, a lady, i think her name was Lola or something on that line. She confirmed that the credit limit was R3000 and that i just had to pay the bill, i asked her to look at the history of my account and if there was no way that she could make a concession, she said no. She told me that because i had a credit limit of R3000 that is why nobody informed me of this huge bill that was like 40 times higher than my normal bill. I also said that i did not receive statements from them for the last couple months, she told me they sent MMS's to the tablet with my statement, yet when they want to upsell my contract, they have no problem getting hold of me on my cell phone. I was so angry, that i told her to cancel the account, which she told me she would do. I told her it was a 500mb account and when that was finished it was supposed to switch off, that is what the sales rep told me. She then turned around to say that she cannot be help responsible for what somebody sold me 2 years ago. (Not something i would expect from a manager).</p> <p> </p> <p><br />A day or so passed, i called her on the MTN cell phone which she used in the branch, i had had time to calm down, we spoke on the phone, she told me about the credit limit of R3000 and how it is setup, i dont actually get to choose the limit etc. She apologised for what happened, none the less i had to settle the account.</p> <p> </p> <p><br />So eventually i made peace with the account, i then go into the canal walk MTN to pay the R2107, only to be told that there is a new bill of R4214.95, which made my blood boil. I said it is impossible, the manager at MTN cancelled my account and i have a R3000 limit on the account which they told me, so it cannot go over that amount. The sales rep then tells me that an account cannot be cancelled unless the full bill is settled which is not what the manager told me. I then left without paying anything, because now this has become silly prices. I then call the manager at MTN, the lady that told me she cancelled the account, she then confirms that she cannot cancel the account and that the R3000 limit does apply. I told her that she just finished telling me that i have a R3000 credit limit, she then tells me that it doesnt apply to DATA, (which means i can get a R20k bill and there is nothing i can do about it). I said to her surely your phone calls are recorded, to which she answers ... you called me on the cell phone and these are not recorded. I then asked her to have her legal team call me, i am still waiting. So now i am totally shocked. I have never experienced such service from Cell C or Vodacom... not even Telkom for that matter and yes i have had them all. I didn't know what to do, so while i was in the canal walk mall one weekend, MTN had a stand infront of Pick n Pay which they were promoting MTN. I went to speak to one of the ladies, who then said to me that i should go to Hellopeter as they only listen when there is a complaint made, she told me that if i never did this, nobody would come back to me as they rarely do. A week later i then went back to the MTN canal walk store and told another sales rep the story, he suggested i go to the ombud as he sees this all the time and MTN doesn't try to help the client. This to me is so surprising, that from 2 different MTN employees, they both tell me to go to the media, what faith do they then have in MTN? I don't know how many times i have told this story, nobody has come back to me, no legal department has called me so that i can exmplain the situation. Nobody has even followed up on the outstanding balance. On the weekend passed i get an email from Hammond Pole Attorneys to say that i have been handed over by MTN and that eventually i would be blacklisted.</p> <p>Why does it have to come down to this, why couldn't the manager be more efficient and trained properly to deal with clients in general, why does she not know the facts of the products, whether it be credit limits or DATA contracts, why could she LIE to me over the phone and then say something different the week later, why isnt she responsible for her sales reps, so many why's. Me as the consumer has to suck up this bad service, the crazy bill and i get no help. Why do i have to go to the CPA to get some help when i came to MTN at the start. I have a print out with my credit limit from MTN which says R3000 yet my bill was able to go over that.</p> <p>I am just so shocked with this service that i am not even sure what the next step should be.</p>