MTN messed up a simple upgrade to the point of no return!

What an awful upgrade experience! MTN just proved how far we are from even being remotely considered being a developed country - or even in the process of developing!! I've been wanting to cancel MTN for a few years now since they increased tariffs so their SA users can pay their fines for ***** in Nigeria - but I thought 'NAH - not gonna make any difference if I cancel my contract'. But after this shocking experience, it just seems like I am left with no choice but to cancel.

So I thought maybe I should try the online upgrade option due to its convenience factor - obviously 4th industrial revolution is in play so our beloved countrymen have mastered the functionality & convenience offered by the 3rd industrial revolution? Right? So I went through the steps of upgrading my contract online. The next day I (being the intuitive proactive person I am) phoned the call center to confirm that everything is in order. The consultant informed me that the application have not been processed. I informed him (repeatedly) to please make sure the application is cancelled as I will go in-store for my upgrade since my phone only has about 10% screen functionality so I need to get a new phone as a matter of urgency. About 30 minutes after the call had ended, I received e-mails and sms's to confirm my upgrade had been processed and someone will be in touch to make delivery arrangements. I phoned the call center again just to be informed that 'there is no record of my request' and that I cant cancel the upgrade anymore, I have to wait until the courier company phones me and cancel with them (cancel my MTN upgrade the Courier company????). Obviously livid at the level of incompetence at this stage, I told the person to give me his e-mail address so I can e-mail him the telephone recording of my request to cancel - obviously I was never provided with any e-mail address. I kept insisting I have record of my request so at this stage I don't accept the all-so-popular 'I can't, the system doesn't allow me'. I requested to speak to someone higher up and SHOCKINGLY - no one was available but they promised to phone me back. This was Thursday 8 August - we are now at 14 August. Manager must have had one helluva long weekend if he's still recuperating?? So Monday night (12 August) the courier company phoned me to make delivery arrangements for 14 August between 11:00 & 13:00. At this stage I had accepted that large multi billion rand companies like MTN do not function well with competent well functioning efficient structures so I need to lower my expectations and just adapt to the 1900's style of doing business. I accepted their proposed delivery time and waited patiently until 14:05 on the day of delivery. I phoned MTN (since they must be able to provide the tracking number) and after about 7 phone calls I managed to get through to A department (not the relevant one) since none of the other numbers worked. I was informed to follow up with the courier company, which I did. After speaking to MTN, it was the COURIER COMPANY that then informed me that MTN had cancelled my delivery (am I stupid, or is this a direct contradiction of their attempt to hide their incompetence from 8 August) and that the packages was sent back to them during the course of the day. The courier company consultant then went to the person who handled my delivery and even phoned me back to explain what happened and who cancelled it (thank you DSV, you should probably consider teaching MTN a thing or two about service delivery and operational procedure for maximum effeciency) I phoned an MTN branch to confirm if they have stock of my desired phone, which they did. I explained the situation and they went through the effort of saving me as much time as possible (thank you Zelma from Wonderboom Junction - you will probably do great as COO of MTN SA if you can develop and implement the level of competence shown in this regard. If only these privately owned stores could run the business as a whole). They then phoned me back to inform me that MTN haven't cancelled the upgrade (oh my goodness you'd think it can't get worse??) but just the device so no store will be able to issue my new phone - I need to go back to the people who messed up this whole simple upgrade, and request from them to fix their mistakes - which I'll probably spend a day explaining from the beginning.

It's been a week now - I dont have a phone and no mobile connectivity when I'm on the road - I can't phone my client's - they are lucky if they manage to get hold of me - and MTN has managed to still be my biggest frustration at this stage.