Unhappy new MTN customer (recycled number given is an inconvenience)

<p>I signed up for a new contract on 13/01/2017 at the MTN store in gateway. This was for the 50gb pm deal. It took two weeks for me to get my phone and SIM and it wasn't the phone I initially wanted due to stock but that was fine. It's impossible to get feedback from the store because no one answers the phone ( ********** ) no matter how many times one calls. That's when I decided to go to the store. I was then given a phone and apparently a new SIM with a new phone number. To my surprise when this "new number" was added as a contact on another phone with whatsapp it picked up someone else's profile and this person was still active and had his SIM with the number that was given to me and a number that was supposed to be deactivated. I was even chatting to this guy on whatsapp and he said that the number was still his. I found this to be unacceptable as it's an obvious risk for two people to have the same number. I then went to the MTN store at Gateway last week Monday and reported this issue and requested for a new number. I was told that if a new number is given, the contract I signed up for will not be honoured. This is unacceptable as it's not my fault that MTN recycles numbers or doesn't ensure that previous numbers and SIMs are actually deactivated. I was asked to write a letter and email it to the store so they can escalate this matter which I did the same day. To date there has been no feedback. I am still receiving SMSes and calls for the previous owner of the number and this includes account info, payment info, etc. Apparently the previous owner also has a legal issue with MTN. A new customer like myself should not be inconvenienced and put at risk be it financial or personal because of this issue. All that I ask is for a new non-recycled MTN number and for the contract that I signed up for to be honoured. Surely a reputable service provider like MTN is able to do this and can transfer the contract to a new number.</p>