MTN False Advertising

Good Day,

I then went to MTN Preller on the 20th with my son after he was discharged to look for a phone for him. When I got to the store, I reminded Elias that he never got back to me and I then spoke to Nel-Marie. While I was talking to Nel-Marie, it seems as if Elias logged into my account to initiate an upgrade. Nel-Marie than took over the Upgrade process. I told her that I am interested in the Samsung A32. We had a look at the different packages for this phone on a Excel Spreadsheet on her computer. Once we concluded on the suitable package, she then went to the back to their storeroom to check if she have a Samsung A32 available in stock . She told me that they don’t have the A32 in stock and that they only have the Samsung A52 or A72 in stock. I had a look at the specs of these phones and I wasn’t happy. I then told her to cancel the upgrade as my son was adamant that he wanted the Samsung A32. As we were about to leave the store, I saw a promotion that was advertised in the store for the During the weekend of the 17th of April 2021 my son was assaulted and the perpetrators broke his shoulder and ****** his phone. My son was hospitalised on the 18th of April 2021 and had an Emergency Operation (See Attachments) done on his shoulder on the 19th of April 2021.Huawei P40 Lite 5G (See Attachment) The contract was a MTN Mega Talk XS or MTN Mega Gigs XS at R449 over 24 months. With this contract you would get the following: 100 Minutes on the MTN Mega Talk XS or 2Gig Data on the Talk XS or MTN Mega Gigs XS.

With this I would get 15Gig Cloud Space for 12 Months, Huawei Care VIP Service, 100 Day Screen Insurance and a R2000 Huawei Online Shop Voucher. I was immediately interested in this deal and went back to Nel-Marie and told her that I would like to upgrade to this deal. I once again asked her to verify stock and she confirmed that a Hauwei P40 Lite 5G in Space Silver is available. Both me and my son agreed to this and the upgrade process started. Once the upgrade and the Sim Swap was completed, I asked Nel-Marie to forward me the contract as well as the Invoice with the IMEI number as I would need this information to claim the Huawei Items as per the Deal advertised in the MTN Store at Preller Walk.

The evening of the 20th of April 2021, I went through the Upgrade documentation as well as the MTN Catalogue for April 2021. I found that MTN had a Huawei promotion on all the Huawei P40 devices whereby you can get a Huawei GT 2e BT Watch for R99 and you would get a Huawei Bluetooth Headset valued at R699 Free. This promotion was NOT offered to me on the day I did my upgrade. I contacted the Huawei Customer Service on the 20th of April 2021 to ask them how I need to go about submitting my claim for the Huawei Promotion as advertised by MTN. The Customer Service consultant from Huawei informed me that there is NO such promotion currently running at Huawei. On the 21st of April 2021 I contacted MTN Customer Service and questioned the deal with them, and they also confirmed that NO such deal exists. The reference number for this call was***.

On the 22nd of April 2021 I went back to the MTN store at Preller Walk. As I walked in, I had a another look at the promotion I took and I took n photo of it. When I zoomed into the fine print of the photo I saw that this deal was only Valid from 01/02/2021 to 28/02/2021. To me this is FALSE Advertising, because I feel that MTN should NOT have deals advertised in their stores that expired more than two months ago. I upgrade my contract based on the Value that I saw on the day and did not look at the expiry dates because not for one moment I would think that MTN will advertise Deals in their stores that already expired. On the 22nd of April 2021 I spoke to Elias personally and highlighted to him the False Advertising as well as the Huawei Watch Promotion that wasn’t shared with me during my upgrade. Elias did not take my number as he still had it in his notebook. On the 22nd of April 2021 at 15h31, Elias contacted me and asked when I did the upgrade, even though he was present when I did my upgrade just two days prior. I then informed him that it was done two days ago. He then told me that he will call someone at MTN and get back to me. Since the 22nd of April 2021 until today the 26th of April 2021, Elias never contacted me regarding this matter. On Friday the 23rd of April 2021 at 16h31, I made an follow up call to MTN Preller Walk and Nel-Marie told that Elias is not available. I then questioned Nel-Marie about my issue, thinking that Elias might have shared it with her. It seems like it was the first time that she heard about the issue. Nel-Marie told me that the Huawei Regional Manager was in the Store and she gave the phone to him, I think his name is Shaun. I explained to him the predicament and he promised that he will look into it and will also ask Elias to get back to me on Saturday the 24th of April 2021. I had NO feedback from Elias, the Regional Manager for Huawei or the MTN store regarding this matter.

Today, the 26th of April 2021 I then decided to cancel the contract, seeing that I received UNACCEPTABLE Customer Service from MTN. Attached you will find the proof of my son’s assault, proof of the FALSE advertising, the MTN Watch Promotion, as well as the emails I received from MTN.

What I also find strange and comes down to *****, is that I’ve been successfully authenticated twice with MTN today without me being at an MTN store. Who answered my security questions and why was I authenticated?

What is also very upsetting is that this VERY same deal on the Huawei P40 Lite 5G that expired in February 2021 is still advertised in this MTN Store after I questioned it on the 22nd of April 2021 with Elias Khuze and on the 23rd of April 2021 with Nel-Marie and the Regional Manager from Huawei. I confirmed this again today when I returned the phone. MTN is selling devices under False pretences.

Christa, I am sorry but I will not fetch the device as per your mail. That device will remain there until this issue is resolved. As for the scratches you refer to in your mail, how do I know that those scratches were not inflicted by the MTN staff, because when I looked at the phone, it was spotless.

My other concern with regards to this matter is that I blame MTN for delaying this matter unnecessarily , and now I am pressurized regarding a scratched phone. If MTN acted on the 22nd of April 2021 as per my initial complaint, we would NOT have been in this situation.

I have 4 contracts with MTN and I spend over R 2000 a month with MTN for the few years. If we can’t find an amicable way to resolve this problem, I will just move my Business somewhere else. As for your Aftercare received from MTN, I will rather reserve comment.

At this point in time I am paying MTN for a phone that I don't have, nor did I get any of the Promotional Items or feedback from MTN as to how they will resolve this matter.