****** contract phone

<p>I have been a contract customer of MTN for years. In November 2015 I upgraded my contract but in July 2016 I was ****** and the phone ******. I reported it to police and blacklisted the phone with MTN. I have still continued to pay the full monthly fees despite not having a phone. Until now I have been using an old phone which has now broken. I called MTN call centre to upgrade early and was told that I can go into a store and upgrade early with a fee. I then took off work to do this only to be told that MTN no longer allows early upgrades. I then asked to cancel the contract but was told that the early termination fee was +- R800 but the handset surcharge fee is over R4000. When asked why I have to pay a surcharge for a handset I don't have I was told they cannot help me. I called 808 again today and was told that the Retentions dept can approve an early upgrade. When i called them they said that I cannot. And if i want to cancel I have to pay the surcharge. I called the legal dept and was told that if the retentions dept cant help me then there is nothing they can do and management wont be able to do anything either. When i asked who could help me I was told nobody. I then asked if I can go the legal route using Consumer Protection and was told to do so. All I want is a working phone. Now I cant upgrade or terminate my contract. As a government employee I can easily take this matter as high as I want to but I was hoping that MTN had some solution for me. Any advice before I take the legal route?</p>