Utterly disappointed

Where do I start with this horrific experience. I bought a Huawei P50 pro on contract at the MTN store in Mall of the Soouth on the 25th of July 2022

The phone was fully functional with NO PHYSICAL OR LIQUID DAMAGE. On the 15th Of December while attempting to charge with the original charger that came in the box I noticed that it was not charging. I then left the phone in charge hoping it would charge, after some time I noticed that it wasn’t charging until it switched off. I then put the phone back into its original packaging and took it back to MTN Mall of the South on the 22nd of December where I was told that they cannot take my phone because the Huawei service centre was closed for the festive season and would reopen in January and the process of fixing the phone takes 6 to 8 weeks. We then went in to the store on 11 January where we were told that we should come in the following day with the invoice received upon purchase . In hindsight the delay was because no one knows how to book in a devise for repairs at the mall of the south store beside Deborah who was available on the 12th of January and that is when the phone was received by MTN mall of the south.

After the phone was booked in, I received a call from MTN on 24 January 2023 advising that the warranty was rejected because the free 4i ear pods were not returned with the phone. Confused as to how this affects the charging port not working, I then went back on the 25 January 2023 to MTN Mall of the South to return the ear pods. I then received an SMS on 26 January 2023 from MTN advising that the phone was repaired and would be dispatched in 3 to days. To my surprise I received a call from MTN Mall of the South on 27 January advising me that their system wasn’t allowing them to book the phone in and we should come collect it and take it to Huawei ourselves because they had just received news that their store would be shutting down permanently on 10 February 2023.

I was then confused as to why I received an SMS stating that the phone was repaired and then the very next day being told the phone was never booked in to begin with.

I collected the phone on 27 January 2023 and took it to Huawei Melrose Arch on 29 January, where I was advised the ear pods were not required because the issue was with the charging port. So MTN made me run around for nothing and just dragged this entire process for the heck of it. I was then told the phone is still under warranty and I would be contacted as soon as it is ready. The very next day I received a quotation of R8346.00 from Huawei for the repair. I then called Huawei to find out why I was being charged for a phone that was still under warranty and boom I was told the phone had liquid damage.

Now my main concern is that I do not know what happened to my device from the 12th of January when it was booked into MTN to the time it was eventually booked at Huawei. I am 100% sure that the phone did not come into contact with liquid at any point before I returned it. Why did MTN send me an SMS stating that my phone was repaired when it actually wasn’t, how do I know that my device was damaged in the hands of the store and then returned back to me when the damage was done.

In closing I feel that there has been so many irregularities from the moment I mentioned that my phone does not work to me receiving an sms saying that my phone was repaired and will be dispatched to it all of a sudden being declined and now out of warranty at MTN and now after an assessment at Huawei it has liquid damage.

I am under the impression that my device was mishandled by MTN and they need to fix it or provide a new phone because when I gave my phone to MTN mall of the South it did not have any liquid damage or physical damage and the truth of the matter is that I only used this phone for 5 months. This is broad day *******.