MTN Home Router connectivity - Challenges in resolving the issue

Dear MTN, I signed up for your month-to-month uncapped home internet package in September, which was working perfectly until around 1 December 2023. It is unfortunate that I have spent close to 3 days on and off visiting branches and engaging with consultants at your call centre to try and understand and resolve the issue. My experience has been as follows: 1. I visited your branch at Northgate Mall, whereby the sales reps advised that the problem was that I was not using the LAN cable, and that they needed this cable in order to test the connectivity (The router does not need a LAN cable and I have not been using one for 2 months). I was asked to visit the other Northgate branch. 2. I was with one sales representative at the Northgate branch for around 1.5 hours. They checked the router connectivity several times (it connects but has not internet connection). They also assisted in reviewing my profile, and confirmed that the payment had been received by MTN on 1 December 2023, therefore it did not appear to be an issue with the account. I was then told that I need to return to the branch where I bought the router, as only they are able to assist me. I do find this to be a huge convenience for the customer, having to drive to different branches. As this is a single company, there should be an option to visit the closest branch and have the matter checked and resolved. 3. I visited the Clearwater Mall branch, and was told prior to anyone plugging in the router or logging onto my profile that it was definitely a coverage problem, and that I would need to call the coverage call center. I requested that they please have a look at the router prior to concluding that it was a coverage issue as I had driven all the way out on the advice of another branch and that they had not looked at the router to see whether this was indeed correct. The sales rep then checked connectivity - again, the router connected but no internet connection. I was told this is definitely a coverage issue. 4. The next day I called the coverage call centre. After waiting for an answer for around 20 minutes (as the lines were busy), I was asked for the cellphone number for the router sim card. Unfortunately I did not have this on hand and asked if they can please check on my profile. I was told that they do not have access to this information, and that I would need to find the number and then call back. 5. I managed to find the number and called back and waited another +-10/15 minutes for the call to be answered. The consultant then asked if I could provide either the cellphone number for the sim card OR my ID number so that they could check the number on my profile - something the previous consultant said could not be done. The consultant confirmed that the issue is not a coverage one, but that the problem was that I had not asked for the money to be 'allocated' to data, and that this has to be done monthly, otherwise it does not work. I explained that I had not had to do this for the past 2 months, so was unsure why this would need to be done now - especially due to the fact that this is an uncapped line, and not a set amount of data being allocated. Nevertheless, I was then advised that I need call a separate customer care line as they could not transfer me. 6. I called the customer care line and waited close to 30 minutes for my call to be answered. The consultant was very helpful and tried his best to find out what the problem was. He logged onto my profile and then advised that the line showed that it had around 3GB allocated to it, and that this was an error due to the fact that it is supposed to be an uncapped line (the first 100GB are uncapped and thereafter will be throttled due to fair usage policy, but since it is the beginning of the month and service stopped working on 1 December, this could not be the problem). He then logged a call for technical services to investigate and provided me with a reference number. 7. The next day I called the customer care line again to follow up on whether there was any feedback as connectivity had still not been restored. This was almost 24 hours after logging the request. The consultant then reviewed my profile and indicated to me that payment was reflecting for December, but that it would appear that no payment had been received for November, and that this was the reason that the service had been suspended, even though payment was received on 1 December. I checked my banking profile and confirmed that indeed no payment had gone off my account for November, which I explained to the consultant is strange as the debit went off for both October and December, and when I reviewed my banking statements there had been sufficient funds in the account and the debit did not bounce. I had not noticed that it did not go off as I have another MTN account which did go off in November and assumed it was a combined amount. I also asked whether customers are not notified where no payment is received, or at least provided with notice to settle the account prior to terminating services and was told that - in the case of a month-to-month contract, this does not happen, but that you will receive a notification to state that your service has been terminated. I have not received any notifications of this nature. I then asked what the easiest way to resolve the matter would be - whether payment online or going into a branch to settle the outstanding amount and have services reactivated. I was then advised that this is not possible, and that unfortunately I can only be given access again from 1 January as the allocations for December are already closed. I do not understand how this is possible, noting that I can sign up anytime during the month and have services start immediately. I was then told there is nothing that can be done, and that I will still need to wait until 1 January 2023. Whether the account is indeed the problem still has to be confirmed, and my ticket number was updated and resubmitted for investigation.

Overall @MTN South Africa, I have spent 3 days speaking to multiple consultants, and I am still without a clear answer and a clear solution to resolve the matter. I have found it incredibly frustrating that, as the customer, I have been sent from one branch to another, and from one call centre to another without the simplicity of being able to conveniently transfer me to the correct department. If the issue truly is the payment, this is something that should have and could easily have been identified in the branch with the very first consultant I engaged with, as well as with every other consultant thereafter. As a working professional, I have found it very difficult to try and resolve this issue due to the time constraints involved. My reference number is ***.

I kindly ask that someone please get in touch with me to confirm what the problem is and assist in resolving this matter timeously.

Thank you in advance and I look forward to hearing from you soon.