MTN South Africa is *****ing money from me

After being a loyal MTN customer for about 15 years I am appalled at the absolute incompetence of this company. It's worth noting upfront that at the point of the events in this review, my actual contract with MTN was expired and I was on a "Month to Month" plan.

On the 4th of February 2022, my MTN number was ported over to Vodacom, as I was ready to upgrade, and only Vodacom was able to get the phone I wanted. When my number was ported (04/02/22), my MTN sim card was deactivated and I lost all the minutes and data I had remaining for the month (this was expected as my number was now activated with a different service provider on the new sim card).

However, I was shocked at the fact that, even though I no longer had an MTN sim card, and was no longer receiving any service from them in any way, I was still be debited by them every month. The first month I expected as it should have been the last payment, but I continued to be billed by them, AND my current service provider every month. Essentially paying 2 different service providers for the same number.

I went into MTN to find out why I was being charged for services I was not receiving and was told that my account was still active because I didn't officially tell them to cancel it (even though my MTN sim card was deactivated and cancelled on their end, and I am now with a different service provider). I was under the impression that once a number has been ported from MTN to Vodacom, I was no longer with MTN. Clearly I was wrong to think that.

I then proceeded to tell MTN to cancel my contract and stop billing me. This should not be a problem as I was on the "Month to Month" plan with MTN and you can cancel any time. I had previously called MTN to do this and was unsuccessful as I had spent a good 30-40 minutes on hold on their customer care line, and because my number is no longer an MTN number, it was costing me all my minutes to try get through. As a side note, the customer care phone lines are a waste of time unless you can clear your whole day. You'll spend large amounts of time being "put through to the correct department", only for the call to drop, and having to start the process all over again.

I then sent and email requesting cancellation, with all the necessary details needed to go ahead with the cancellation. I received an automated response from MTN saying they had received the email and I would be contacted in within 24 business hours, but it may depend on customer volumes. This email was sent at the end of June 2022.

After not receiving a response to my email, I went into MTNs store at Canal Walk in Cape Town (This was about a month or two later after continuing to be billed after my email). I explained my situation to the person at MTN and told them to cancel my contract. They assured me that the contract was cancelled. End of that month I was billed again. I assumed that it was because the cancellation was done mid month, this would be the final payment.

However, the following month I was billed AGAIN! I then sent a follow up email in the same thread as my initial cancellation request email. In my email I asked when they were getting back to me regarding that first email (I also included the reference number I was given), as it had been 3 and a half months since I had received the automated "24 working hours" email from them.

I then received email responses from actual people, (I have the names and dates on file), who asked me for ANOTHER detailed description of my query, and all the info that I provided in my initial email. So I sent them what they needed again, and received another email from someone with CC'd the MTN retentions department, and ask them to assist.

After hearing nothing for a week, I rep**** to the email asking for an ETA on sorting out the issue. This reply was ignored. A week after that I rep**** again asking how long I have to wait. This email was also ignored.

I tried calling MTN again numerous time over the next few months, but nothing ever came of any of it. If they really do record their calls, I would love for someone to send those to me so it can be seen how many times, and how much time, I have spent trying to rectify this situation.

On the 12th of November 2022, I went back into MTN store at Canal Walk. I explained my situation to the person helping me and again asked for my account to be cancelled. He stated the service request, which he sent a copy of to me as well, and I have on file, which requests that my contract be cancelled, and I be refunded for all the money wrongfully taken from me over the past 10-11 months.

They assured me again that my contract was cancelled, and someone will contact me in the next few days regarding my refund. I did receive a phone call on the 1st of December 2022 from MTN (almost 3 weeks later), but there was no response on the other end, so I hung up after about 30 seconds of waiting. On that same day I received an email asking for some security information to proceed with the request, which I them provided to them via the email.

Nothing came of this either, as I was billed again on the next billing date.

At this point I decide to stop the debit order through my bank, as I am tired of trying to get MTN to rectify the issue on their side. I stoped the debit order in January 2023. A few weeks later I got an email from MTN saying if I don't pay my account, my services will be stopped. I ignored this as my services have been stopped for the past year, only difference is now I've stopped paying.

Today (the 13th of February 2023), I received another email from MTN, requesting that I pay the outstanding amounts for the past 2 months of "missed" payments. I would have just continued to ignore this until they "stopped" their services, but in the second part of their email they wrote, "it will hurt your credit rating".

I have a major problem with this as I have a very high credit rating as I've never missed a payment or anything of that nature. The fact that not only have they been essentially *****ing money from me for the past YEAR!! but this will now affect my credit rating, thus negatively impacting my ability to acquire any credit related financial help and the integrity of my credit score.

So I decided to try and cancel my contract again today. I called MTN direct, got through to retentions, and explained my situation. I was then told I cannot cancel my contract because I have "outstanding amounts" that need to be paid before I can cancel. (These outstanding amounts being the 2 months since I cancelled the debit orders through my bank). I was then told I would be put through to the billing department for help. When I eventually got through, the line went dead, and they could no longer hear me. I called back 3 different times after that, and every time I got through to the billing department, they would not be able to hear me for some reason.

I think it's safe to say that I am beyond frustrated at this point. I have been trying to rectify this issue for the past 12 months, and in that time, NOT ONE persons at MTN has been able to do something as simple as cancel my contract. How is this even possible!! After the countless phone calls, emails, and in-store visits.... After being told numerous times that my contract has been cancelled.... After ALL this... I am STILL being charged as an MTN customer. It blows my mind.

At this point, I have decided to post my story online, in any and all avenues until MTN is finally able to do something about it. I will make sure as many people know of the absolute incompetence that goes on at MTN. After being a loyal customer with them for so long, this is how they conduct their business.

For those thinking of choosing MTN as their service provider, DO NOT. When things are normal, and you are a paying customer, everything is fine. But as soon as you need any kind of assistance, you are on your own, because to MTN, you are just a number coming into their bank account every month. Good luck getting through to an actual person for assistance. Customer support is a joke, and you'll spend hours on the phone, getting nowhere.

With so many other options out there like Vodacom, CellC, and the likes, don't choose the yellow snakes who have no regard for customer relationships.