MTN's bad service with repairs

<p>I bought a Samsung S6 edge plus last year in November on contract from MTN in Somerset Mall. The phone started having network coverage problems, it would be switched on but I would not be able to make or receive calls, go on the internet etc. It was really frustrating as it was as if I had no phone even though I had one of the ‘supposedly good’ phones. I went to MTN store and I was advised to do a sim swap to check if the problem was with the sim card. I did the sim swap but the network problem persisted and I was told by an MTN consultant that the problem is with the handset and that it has to be sent in for repairs.</p> <p> </p> <p>I took the phone to the MTN store in Somerset Mall on 12 October for repairs as it is still under warranty. I completed the necessary paperwork for repairs which included an assessment of the phone condition. The phone condition assessment was done by an MTN consultant in my presence and the handset was found to be in a good condition without any scratches. The phone condition at the time of delivery to MTN in Somerset mall was noted on the forms completed for which I was given copies. When I went to MTN in Somerset Mall on the 1st of November to collect my phone, it had scratches and I refused to take it. I asked for the scratches to be fixed as the phone was not in that condition when I handed it to MTN Somerset mall (as noted on the assessment form) on the 12th of October. According to my knowledge, a complaint was sent by MTN in Somerset Mall to MTN in Centurion to get the approval to fix the scratches. Today I received a message form MTN Somerset Mall stating that MTN does not want to fix the scratches because the MTN repair centre received the phone without protective packaging and with scratches. THIS IS NOT THE CONDITION IN WHICH THE PHONE WAS IN WHEN I HANDED IT TO MTN SOMERSET MALL, WHICH WAS THE LAST TIME I SAW IT. The MTN Somerset Mall store said that I must contact MTN directly about this matter as there is nothing they could do.</p> <p> </p> <p>I called ********** 349 today about this matter and I was told that the repair centre noted the scratches upon the phone’s arrival at the centre and that I should take the matter up with the MTN store in Somerset Mall. This is really surprising as it was the store in Somerset Mall that referred me to MTN in the first place. I am an MTN customer (period!) not MTN Somerset Mall store or MTN repair centre customer, why should I be sent from pillar to post when I try to get the problem that was created by MTN fixed? I did not hand my phone in directly to the repair centre, I handed it to MTN in Somerset Mall, I can thus only comment about the condition in which the phone was in when I handed it over to the MTN store on the 12th October which was the last time I saw it before it came back from the repair centre on the 1st of November. MTN should investigate what happened within their operations NOT me as I don’t even know how the whole operation is set up in the first place! How can I be expected to conduct an investigation from outside the organisation? I don’t know the protocols or procedures to be followed at the different stages of the repair process, so how am I supposed to check what went wrong in the first place?</p> <p> </p> <p>It does not matter if the phone was scratched at the MTN store in Somerset Mall or at the MTN repair centre, it was under the care of MTN and it is not my problem to fix. I would like MTN to have the phone scratches fixed with immediate effect as I have been without a phone for about two months now which is unacceptable especially considering that I am paying a monthly fee for it (it’s a contact phone). I still don’t know if the original problem I had with network coverage is fixed.</p> <p> </p> <p>I am utterly disappointed in the manner in which this matter has been handled by MTN thus far and would like this matter to be given the necessary attention it requires.</p> <p> </p> <p>Elisabeth Makhura</p>