Service Frustration with MTN

I wish to air my extreme unhappiness to the length of time in which MTN are taking to resolve my issue. The issue and chain of events summarised below: On Saturday 26.05.2018, I went into the MTN Store at Mall of Africa to apply for a contract for 2 phones and a separate SIM only DATA contract. At the time of doing the application, MTN was running a special for the month of May, where you get 10GB data every month when you sign up for the 24MTH MTNCHOICE 5GB package. My application was processed by Ms Dikeledi Ndlovu at the store who took all my details and made copies of my original documents, including my ID using the store’s photocopying machine. I was advised by Dikeledi that I would receive feedback on the outcome of the application by end of day since MTN’s vetting teams work on Saturdays.

To my own disappointment, I was surprised when the day ended without any feedback from MTN. Furthermore, there was no feedback in the subsequent days. I made several attempts to contact the store on Tuesday 29.05.2018 and Wednesday 30.05.2018, however their phones lines (as listed online and with Mall of Africa’s service desk) were ringing with no answer. On Thursday morning around 10:07AM, I was able to get an answer on the phone after making several non-stop attempts to call-in for almost 30-minutes. Dikeledi was not available at this time, however the person I spoke to (cannot remember this person’s name) said that the application had not progressed further as the MTN vetting team had an issue with the quality of the ID photocopy and required a better copy.

I immediately made a colour copy at work and rushed to the store on the same day after work (Alberton) to hand in a colour copy which was submitted for the application to be resumed. Again, I was promised that feedback would be received overnight, however this did not happen. Infact, I only received feedback at around 12:30 PM on Saturday 02.06.2018 confirming that the deals had been approved.

Upon completing the activation, Dikeledi informed me that the system is no longer offering the 10GB deal since it was a special for May. My partner immediately protested to this and explained that it cannot be, because MTN approved an application that was submitted on time for the special, any subsequent delays were not my fault. The events that follow summarize my interaction since raising the complaint: 1. Dikeledi was simply unwilling to help and said we should take the SIM and call back on Monday 04.06.2018 and speak to the Manager of the store (Martin Scheepers???) who is the only person who can take this up with MTN. Apparently Martin does not work weekends and is not available on the phone. We advised Dikeledi that we would not use the SIM until this matter is resolved as this was a dispute and we would want to void the contract without activation if MTN was unwilling to correct the situation. 2. On Monday 04.06.2018 at around 10:10AM, I called the store to speak to Martin, however was advised that he has gone out of the shop and would be back after an hour and I should call back then. I then asked to speak to Dikeledi who promptly advised me that she had spoken to Martin and he advised that the matter can be rectified (easily) if she submitted a Remedy Ticket to MTN for a manual system override. Dikeledi then advised me that she had submitted the ticket request already and the matter would be resolved after 24 or 48 hours. 3. There was no further feedback from Dikeledi, Martin, or MTN; then on Sunday 10.06.2018 I went into MTN Boulders Mall to check if the matter had been resolved. Feedback was that they could not see that any request was ever logged for this issue and the data on the SIM was only 5GB. 4. I called Dikeledi around the 15.06.2018 to complain again, and her feedback was simply that she had to escalate the case ticket on Martin’s advice and the matter would be resolved in 24 or 48 hours (again). I insisted this time that she share the ticket number which is 387137. 5. I have since had no feedback from Dikeledi or MTN and the SIM card remains unused after 31 days since we raised the issue. I need to know from MTN: A. What my remedies are since I have not done anything wrong in this case? B. The SIM has not been used in its first month due to this issue, how will I be compensated for the 10GB for the first month? Should MTN not be willing to fix the issue, then I need to data contract to be voided at no cost to me since I have not used any of their service due to this dispute.