UNABLE TO REACH A RESOLUTION WITH MTN

<p>I had 2 contracts with mtn. In July I received a text msg from Mtn notifying me that I was due for an upgrade on my contracts. I took both contracts out the same time. The additional one was for my son. My son asked me to terminate his contract and have it migrated to pre-paid when his contract came to an end. I went to Mtn at the Kollenade in Pretoria the same week that I received the text msg and told them I wanted to terminate the one and have it migrated to pre-paid and I would like to upgrade the other one. I was told I could upgrade IMMEDIATELY, but had to wait until the 8th of October before I could terminate the other phone. I went to Mtn on the 8th of October to do everything at once. Terminate the one contract with immediate effect and upgrade the other one. All the paper work was done and I was told I need to give a month's notice and because the contract ended on the 8th, I will lose all the airtime that isn't used. I find this unacceptable, because the contract was a 2 year contract and I have tried to terminate it since July. I said that was fine and I didn't mind losing the airtime. The middle of November my son notified me that they had not reverted his phone to pre-paid. I went back to Mtn and they said a woman handling my account decided that there was alot of airtime on the phone and that my son should finish using it, before she terminates the contract. I told them I want the contract migrated immediately, which she said she would send another e-mail to the person handling my account and instruct them. The 9th of December my son phoned me again and said that his contract was still running. I went back to Mtn and told them the phone is still active and told him that I even called the customer care number a few times and have reference numbers to prove it. He then picked up the shop cell phone and dialed the customer care and said he was my son and has been unable to get the contract terminated. I thought I had heard it all. They asked him to give the phone to me to verify my details as the contract was on my name. The customer care agent still asked me why I wanted to cancel the contract and I told him I can't afford over R1000 a month and my son was going to take his own contract out. My boyfried was with me and told the consultant that pretended to be my son that he must stop the phone immediately as we don't want this contract to go on any longer. He did that and my son could not receive calls or make any calls, which happered his business in a big way. The whole of December my son's phone was off, but I was debited for my phone and the other one for over a thousand rand for the one I have been tryng to terminate since July last year. I went back to the Kollenade and asked to see the manager, she was out of the store and I had to sit for about half an hour for her to return. I saw a Belinda Lombard (the Manageress) and she assured me that she would sort the problem out. The phone was off until the 19th of January and I received another bill for the end of January and the end of February, but the phone was now on pre-paid but they were still deducting over R1000 a month for that phone off my account. I phoned the Kollenade and spoke to Belinda again and she was shocked that I wasn't phoning her to thank her for having the phone migrated to pre-paid. I told her that ther service I'm receiving is atrocious as I am now still paying for a phone that is on pre-paid. she said she would look into it and get back to me which never happened and I phoned the customer care numbers and logged numerous complaints to no avail and the end of February this year, I went to my bank and reversed both payments aswell as put a stop payment on my account. Unfortunately I had to stop payments on both phones as they deducted a lump sum off my account for both phones. I thought that perhaps that way, I would receive some attention and get someone willing to help me resolve the problem. I even went to a branch in Benoni at the Oaksfield centre and saw a chap by the name of Zak. (I even took him a box of chocolate hoping that he would assist.) He never bothered to get back to me and everytime I went to see him, he said he was still awaiting for a reply. That never came. I phoned ICASA and sent e-mails and was told to sort the problem out at store level, which I said I have tried to and then I was told that it was out of their jurisdiction. I finally decided to pop into the Mtn in the Kollenade on the18th of June as I still had no assistance from anyone and knew they would ********* me and also the longer I waited, it would be difficult for me to catch up the outstanding payments. I asked for the owners details or someone higher, but they refused to give me any details and Belinda came out to assist me again. She asked what my problem was and I had to repeat it for the umpteenth time. I asked her to get her the outstanding balance as I am at my witsend and I just want to get this phone sorted out. She sent an sms to my bofriend's cell on the 22nd notifying me of the outstanding balance. I went the following day (23rd) to pay the full amount and she assured me my phone will be active again by Monday the 27th of June. Monday afternoon I received a call from a legal company, claiming double the amount I had paid and told me I had been handed over that day 27th of June. I have received no statements or correspondence from Mtn whatsoever, I didn't even have my account number until the woman from the legal department called me and gave it to me. She asked me to e-mail her proof of payment, which I did. I told her the story and she gave me Mtn's headoffice number. I tried calling them and sat on the phone for 8 minutes, with the irritating message of welcome to Mtn and a stupid song playing in the background, depleting all my pre-paid airtime on a spare phone.</p> <p>I phoned Belinda that Monday, but could not reach her and tried again the following day. I called 6 times before getting hold of her. she said she was surprised as my phone should have been activated and that she would look into it.. The woman from the legal department called me on Wednesday and confirmed that she had received the proof of payment and said she can't understand that my phone isn't on yet and that the matter hasn't been rectified yet. It is now Friday the 1st of July and I have not received any information about this problem. I is a year that I have been battling to resolve this problem. I will gladly give Mtn back their phone and cancel this contract and go to another provider that will offer me better assistance. I have supported Mtn ever since I've had a cell phone which is about 20 years and this is how they look after their "valued customers". After hitting into a brick wall, I decided that my last resort was to contact "hellopeter" and state my case and perhaps that way, a resolution may be reached. I may be reached on ********** .</p> <p> </p> <p>Kind regards,</p> <p> </p> <p>Karen Jansen van Rensburg</p> <p>ACCOUNT NUMBER: N ********** </p> <p>CELL NUMBER ********** </p> <p> </p> <p> </p>