MTN targeting elderly people for a quick buck!

My frail, 80 year old father was contacted by MTN by phone and told they could offer him a better data deal. He's had a data contract with them for years for his laptop. He doesn't understand all the technical computer terms and has very little understanding of what they were trying to promote, but they told him its a good deal and better than what he currently has and believing they had his best interests at heart, agreed to a 3 year contract.

At that point he was also having trouble with an end of life USB data stick that would continuously fail to connect to the Internet. His understanding was that they would provide him with a modem to replace the existing data stick, but that they were out of stock.

So for two and a half months they waited. Dad made around 20 calls to MTN inquiring when they would connect him to the Internet as he had been paying for a service he wasn't getting (and struggling to pay bills without Internet access). They all told him to be patient and that there was a router on order which would be delivered when it became available. During that time he also visited several branches to check for stock. Springs Mall, Lakeside Mall, East Rand Mall and Carnival Mall. All saying similar things, but never helping him fully understand what he signed up for.

Upon my arrival in South Africa (I live abroad) I called MTN and was told there's definitely an order for a modem on their account and the lady even gave me a (sales/delivery?) number to call to ask about delivery dates. The delivery people then said there was nothing to deliver and I should contact the MTN helpdesk once again.

I then took my parents to an MTN shop to help deal with this issue in person. MTN Springs Mall then showed me exactly what contract dad agreed to: a sim only 60gb data package and this for elderly people who just use WhatsApp!! And on top of that there wasn't a modem on order despite having been told that myself. It then cost my father R1200 to cancel the deal to take out a new contract for something that would actually be useful to them! R1200 to fix a mess MTN made by cold calling and targeting elderly, frail individuals who don't understand what they are letting themselves in for.

This angers me so much that they took advantage of an elderly man. It makes me even more upset that they did not even consider his data usage to advise on what he actually needed. It's even more appalling that they then kept sending him from one person to the next without realising what was going on. Never in my life have I seen such little care being taken and such lack of excellence and integrity.

Would MTN have the decency to address this and refund my dad and compensate him for the 2.5 months without service? Time will tell, I guess.