UNACCEPTABLE and *********** service, or LACK THEREOF, from MTN

I don’t normally do any changes to my account over the phone, unless I get offered a better package on my contract or something. Unfortunately, I was caught in a messy situation which turned out to be ********** that came on to me. This is my UNFORTUNATE SITUATION of how I STRUGGLE with UNACCEPTABLE and *********** service, or LACK THEREOF, from MTN:

1. On Monday, 18 April 2022 at 09:57, I received a phone call from the number *** and was told that they are phoning from head office to verify a request for a sim swap. It turned out that it was **********, but unfortunately, I already supp**** them with two OTPs by the time I suspected something is not right.

2. Ten minutes later (18 April), I went to the nearest MTN store (Metlife Mall, Kabega, Port Elizabeth). I was told that my account has been maxed out by the ********** and that I should call customer care.

3. The following morning, 19 April 2022, I phoned customer care and after waiting 20 minutes on the line, the person who I spoke to had a bad attitude towards me and did not have any sympathy towards my situation and plainly said that I have to pay up the money and I must go to the police to get an affidavit and send only that to the ***** department via email. The email address supp**** by this person was “***”. (Query number: ***)

4. On Wednesday, 20 April 2022, I sent my affidavit to the following email addresses: *** & ***. After sending the email to these addresses, I received NO FEEDBACK of any kind.

5. On 26 May 2022, I received a SMS notification from my bank that an amount of R7506,18 was deducted from my account to pay my MTN bill. I reversed this transaction as I am not going to pay for someone else’s ********** transactions on my account.

6. On 28 May 2022, I went to a MTN store (Newton Park, Port Elizabeth) to pay the amount that I have always paid per month as per my contract. The gentleman at the MTN store informed me that there is no sign of an ongoing investigation on my account and advised me to phone customer care on “135” or I could phone head office on “***”.

7. I phoned the head office on Tuesday, 31 May 2022, just to be informed by the consultant that I also needed a certified copy of my ID to go along with the affidavit. (Query no: ***) That is something the man I spoke to on the 19th of April didn’t tell me as he wasn’t very sympathetic or in the mood to help me.

8. The next day, 1 June 2022, I phoned the head office again and spoke to someone by the name of Kholeka Mdabe. AGAIN, I had to repeat my whole situation over again in order to get someone to help me. This person supp**** me with her email address so that I can forward the documents to her: ***. I forwarded her the affidavit, certified copy of my ID, added the email I sent on 20 April 2022 and proof of payment I made on 28 May 2022. The following query numbers were received: *** & *** At 21:58 that evening I received these query numbers: *** & ***

9. On Monday, 6 June 2022 at 13:28, I received a SMS stating the following: “Yello Customer!! Your order has been submitted with order ref no: ***. Thank you for using MTN.” I had no idea what was going on as I did not submit any order. I thought it was part of the process of my ***** report. I then noticed that I do not have any data connection on my phone. I tried to make a phone call but couldn’t. MY SERVICES HAS BEEN CUT! UNBELIEVABLE!!

I phoned customer care and asked about the order reference number and the lady I spoke to informed me that my services have been cut. (Query no: ***) This lady I spoke to was so RUDE to me and told me that there is no way to connect my services again unless all the outstanding money is paid in full, or I will have to wait until the investigation of the ***** report is done before anything can happen.

I decided to go to a MTN store (Newton Park, Port Elizabeth) and told a lady there about what happened when I called customer care. The lady that helped me there suggested that she puts in a “payment arrangement” on my account until the investigation is done on my account. This “payment arrangement” was due to start on 25 June 2022 and my services was restored. The lady also told me that my debit order will ONLY be the amount she entered as the “arranged amount” and nothing more.

10. On Wednesday, 15 June 2022, I received a SMS stating that the query number *** has been closed. This is one of the four query numbers I received when I phoned customer care on 1 June 2022 and spoke to Kholeka Mdabe. I phoned customer care AGAIN to find out what the outcome of this investigation was as it is stated as “closed”. Andile Maletshal, the consultant, informed me that the query was closed because the relevant documentation that was sent IS NEVER SUBMITTED OR PROCESSED!!! (Query no: *** & ***)

AGAIN, I SAY, THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE *********** SERVICE from the so-called “best network in South Africa”. And not to mention that you call yourselves “service champions”, yeah right! So far, NOBODY showed any eagerness to help a customer in a sticky situation.

Anyway, so I forwarded the email that was sent to Kholeka Mdabe on 1 June 2022 to Andile Maletshal at *** shortly after I spoke to her (on 15 June 2022).

11. On Sunday, 26 June 2022, I received a notification from my bank that an amount of R7547,84 was deducted from my bank for my MTN account AGAIN. THIS WAS AFTER A SO-CALLED “PAYMENT ARRANGEMENT” WAS MADE UNTIL THIS ***** CASE IS RESOLVED. So AGAIN, I reversed the transaction immediately.

12. Today, 28 June 2022, I went into a MTN store (Metlife Mall, Kabega, Port Elizabeth) to find out what is going on with my account as there was a so-called “payment arrangement” was made on 6 June 2022. The person that I spoke to at this store was VERY IMPATIENT and RUDE towards me and came across as if he did not want to assist me in any way possible. He kept on telling me that the “payment arrangement” that was made is only going to take effect from next month EVEN THOUGH the SMS, FROM MTN stated it will start from the 25th of June. This consultant also told me, in a very ****y way, that my case will not be resolved. As if he is the one making the decisions. I was also advised by this person that A SECOND “payment arrangement” will have to be made and that I will have to wait until my services are cut AGAIN before doing so. WHAT KIND OF HELP AND ASSISTANCE IS THAT???? I also made a payment on my account – the amount that I normally paid as per my contract.

I asked this consultant at the MTN store (Metlife Mall, Kabega, Port Elizabeth) what is the use of reporting this kind of ***** – because even in while waiting to get through to the call centre, the computer voice says that OTP ***** should be reported as soon as possible - if my case will be thrown out. His reply to me was “so that MTN can be aware of it and catch the ******”. My question to him was the following: “How does this help me as a customer that has already been *****ed by these *********?” and he couldn’t answer me.

This contract of mine has been active since 2006, taken out on my dad’s name and then taken over by me in 2016/2017. NEVER have we ever encountered such BAD SERVICE from MTN. Everybody is IMPATIENT AND RUDE and doesn’t put any real effort in to HELP A CUSTOMER in need.

THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE FOR ANY CUSTOMER TO BE TREATED LIKE THIS. I TOTALLY LOST MY FAITH IN MTN AS I THOUGHT IT WAS THE BEST NETWORK – BUT CLEARLY HAS THE WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE! AND YOU CALL YOURSELVES “SERVICE CHAMPIONS” … I’M NOT SEEING ANYONE ACTING OR ASSISTING LIKE “CHAMPIONS” ARE SUPPOSED TO.

I would appreciate assistance on this matter as I REFUSE to pay for other people’s ********** activity on my account.

My experience of this situation, so far, is RIDICULOUS AND UNACCEPTABLE!!