No sense of ownership whatsoever. They just don't care.

Yaz I'm your loyal client but haikhona. I'm so disappointed.

Nothing I do with MTN ever works.

Complaint type: Sim Swap

Content: I lost my phone on the 30th of May 2022. I bought a new device from Jet in Menlyn, they gave me a new sim card and told me to do the sim swap at home. When I got home I called 135 and was guided that they can't do a sim swap because I'm on contract. I cancelled my contract in 2021 June, why am I still on contract? Fine, I called into your retention department the next day, waited over 20 minutes to get through only to be told that they cannot assist because a sim swap for contract clients can only be done in a branch. Then I asked to be converted to prepaid and the lady said it will take 30 days for that to be done. Which wasn't true!

Frustrated as I was, I went to your branch in Menlyn Mall and requested to speak to a branch manager. The gentleman came to assist, didn't seem bothered by the fact that I had been inconvenienced by a mess up that MTN couldn't do right when I cancelled my contract last year in 2021. Anyway, I needed a line that works so that I can go about my day. Everything has come to a halt because I'm unable to receive calls. I've been to job interviews, my role requires me to constantly engage with different clients and I have a business to run. I cannot operate effectively without a working line. The manager told me that if I want my line to work immediately I will have to pay +/- R150 to get a new sim card on contract. Of which I was uncomfortable with, because I shouldn't have been on contract from the first place. When he handed me over to a consultant in his branch, the consultant rectified his statement and indicated that my number can be switched to prepaid within a day and I don't have to pay anything. This was contrary to the details I received from the call centre indicating that I would have to wait 30 days and the option given by the branch manager that I'd need to pay R150 to get a new sim. In sight of my distress the manager could have proposed this option. So I willingly agreed to have my contract moved to prepaid and waited 24hrs as guided for the shift to be concluded. Then I attempted to do the sim swap myself only to fail the security questions, which frustrated me even further. I eventually resorted to go to your branch at Mall at Carnival, both branches were offline. But the most disgusting part was that: when I went to the branch next to the pick n pay I was assisted by a rude African lady who refused to even keep some of my documents while I went to go fetch the rest of the needed docs which included a certified copy ID & Proof of res. This was besides the fact that I had a RICAd sim from Jet store. Upon fetching the docs, her colleague offered to help, which I appreciated, she sold me a new sim card which didnt make sense, however upon realizing that I didn't have R3 to pay for a new sim card she offered to buy it for me from her own pocket since their pay devices were not working. She requested help from her colleagues who appeared disinterested. I opted to leave the store to go and buy a few items from pick n pay while they sort out the sim swap issues amongst themselves as I didn't want to be aggravated further. Upon my return I was told that your systems are offline. This is after wasting almost 1hour of my day at Mall at Carnival. I could have went somewhere else. Nonetheless I opted to take my phone and quietly walked out. This morning I call your store at Mall at Carnival to ask if your systems are online? The consultant that answered the call said she's not sure if you're online. I ask her to check as I may need to drive to the store and won't want my trip to be in vain, she rudely said that she had nothing to check on the system as such nothing had been reported to be foul with the system. I found that unprofessional and unacceptable as it is very important whoever is on the other end of the line, concerns or queries brought forth must be dealt with the utmost respect for the client. I then opted to go to the MTN branch at Mall of Africa. This just sealed my worst experience with MTN, the lady called me to her table. I nicely had a seat, the store was empty and she had no reason not to fulfill my request effectively. She had all the time in the world. She asked me security check questions, I answered and failed and gave her details behind it. Which she acknowledged. She then asked for my affidavit, certified copy ID certified and went to the back and came back. She then told me to switch off my phone for 4 hours and that I would not have any further problems, my line would be up by later today. I asked her if she was sure all would be sorted, she affirmed.

At 17h30 I called 135 and spoke to Zakhele who then told me that the request for sim swap was not even submitted and that I need to go back to the store. He himself is unable to assist telephonically. I just wonder who is really able to help customers at MTN, I can just imagine what would have happened if I was stranded in a foreign country?

I am writing this complaint, as a frustrated customer that you cannot even call back to help with my problem because I'm unreachable. I can't do a sim swap. I've been back and forth with MTN wasting time, parking tickets and petrol driving various malls trying to get this sorted. From Menlyn, Mall at Carnival and Mall of Africa. Calling your Ccc and retention departments. Sending tweets for help. No one seems to care and even be considerate of the fact that I'm a client and my time and contactibility is important to me. I have been shrugged off like a piece of used toilet paper with no consideration for my feelings whatsoever. I'm pained by this experience. I'm a father to a son I don't stay with. I call my son every night to check on him. I have not been able to do that. I have been to interviews to secure jobs for my career advancement, my potential employers may not be able to get hold of me. I work with clients that may need my urgent intervention to resolve their queries, they are not able to telephonically engage with me. I have a job where my direct reports and superiors may need to touch base with me, they are not able to do so. What's worse is that there may be a personal emergency and no one will be able to reach me. Only because MTN as an organisation has failed me in all platforms. Not even once have I failed to pay my bills. I've been a client of MTN from childhood. I've had worse experiences with MTN yet I'm still here, taking the disrespect and disgusting behaviour from your colleagues. Now I'm at a point where I've had enough with MTN. I took the time to type this message because I needed to vent. Not that I'm expecting a resolution because you never resolve anything. But it was important that I let you know how disappointing and painful it is to be your client. As all of you as colleagues and employees of MTN receive your salaries every month, just know that as I spend every cent to buy data and airtime for you to have jobs, I have not experienced similar joy. This is disheartening and beyond what words alone can express. I've asked to speak to managers and team leaders in your ccc none are available to come to the line. I've asked store managers for their superiors and got directed to the complaints or email address. What would hurt for one to just go an extra mile for a client?