PLEASE HELP, MTN

My mom is a 77 year old pensioner who stays alone on a farm. On the 20 May 2022, she asked me to purchase her MTN data which I did, via Ebucks (1 x MTN 450 Min-All - Net Bundle - Valid 30 days) against her sim card no. ***. It did not show on her side and I contacted MTN in this regard. Someone was meant to phone me - I am still waiting! My mom then contacted my brother and asked him to purchase MTN data which he did (1G @ R99). This also did not show. I then fetched her on Saturday and went through to the MTN Store in Three Rivers Vereeniging. They confirmed that the number was inactive as she had not purchased data for the number for 3 months or longer. I then explained that she was unaware of this and what happened to the data which had already been purchased. They said that there was nothing that they could do and that we had lost the monies (R229) - for a pensioner who was unaware of this, it is a lot of money to lose. What I would like to know is, what happens to this money?? This is theft! I then purchased her a new sim card (no. ***) and another 1G of data via Pep Cell. We then loaded the data to the new sim card and when we put it onto the computer via her ****le, she gave the message: "The device has been disconnected or is unavailable". So yet again, she is unable to have any communication with the outside world. The only reason we went back to MTN is because it has been reception than any of the other cellphone providers. How can I get past this message as we cannot continue like this any longer. Please could you asssist me with my queries asap. I look forward to your responses.