MTN Excessive penalty fees and customer service

I am extremely dissatisfied with the service I have received from MTN. I have been paying my account every single month for the past few months. There were only two occasions where the debit order did not process on the exact debit date, but within two days I personally contacted the company and ensured that payment was made. Despite this, I have now received a bill claiming I owe R5,600 as a “penalty.”

This is completely unreasonable and excessive. My monthly payment is approximately R600, yet I am now being charged almost a year’s worth of payments simply because two debit orders processed a couple of days late. I understand that there may be administrative or late payment fees, but a penalty of R5,600 is absurd and disproportionate.

What has made the situation even worse is the customer service. I have called multiple times and waited over 15 minutes just to speak to someone. Today, I specifically asked the consultant to call me back if my airtime ran out because I did not want to go through the entire automated process again. My airtime eventually ran out, and instead of calling me back, the consultant simply closed the case as though the matter had been resolved. It absolutely was not resolved.

In addition, my emails have gone unanswered. I have made every effort to remain up to date with my payments and communicate responsibly, yet I am being treated unfairly and ignored.

This experience has been incredibly frustrating and disappointing.