MTN and Rewards Co has betrayed my trust and I encourage everyone who has been wronged by them to boycott them!

To express my utmost disgust and contempt for this company in a few words will not do me any justice. I took an interest in the MTN 5G unlimited wifi package of R999 and decided to do an application on the MTN website as my working hours do not allow me sufficient time to check in at a walk-in MTN store. When I got called by someone from the sales department to complete my online application, I had absolutely no clue that it was an external third party agent company by the name of Reward Co. who are the middle man between client and MTN that deals with the sales aspect of things. So I was on a long call with a lady at Rewards.co (I think by the name of Linda, I stand to be corrected) who confirmed my details and confirmed to me that there is indeed coverage of MTN 5G services in my area. What I found very odd is that she had placed me on hold like for approximately three minutes after confirming to me that there was coverage in my area for the R999 infinity package. After having me on hold, she came back to ''verify'' that indeed the services will definitely work in my area. I was happy to proceed, paid an amount of roughly R1564, and was told to wait 1 to 3 working days for delivery to take place.

To my dismay, after 3 days of trying to be patient in waiting, I discovered that their claims of 1 to 3 working days were factually false (as per their website's claim) as these are the number of days it takes for the package to first get sent to their official courier company (DSV couriers), and then once it lands up in the hands of DSV, it takes ANOTHER 3 to 5 working days for the package to be delivered to me directly. So much for the false promise of delivery reaching you in 1-3 working days! When the couriers finally came to deliver my package at my work address on the 22 October 2024, my manager released me from my working duties to present myself to the courier driver, with the understanding that the process would be quick as I just needed to do biometric verification and hand in my documents to receive my package. Due to my fingerprints not being verified on the biometric device, I had lost roughly 15 minutes of my earning time to comply with the security requirements of DSV couriers. Struggling back and forth, being unable to verify my fingerprints authentication, the courier driver advised that he believes that the biometric device was faulty as he claimed that this has happened to other clients as well. The driver then advised that he was absolutely going to come back again tomorrow morning, if not later the same day, as there are also other deliveries that needed to be made. This experience left a sour taste in my mouth, as I felt that I wasted 15 minutes of my valuable working minutes that had put my work on the backburner. And not only that, but the insane long wait just to get the device. I decided to take matters into my own hands as I rang the courier company back and forth for the next two days. I was infuriated with them as I advised the agent at DVS that the driver made a false promise to me, claiming he would be coming back the same day which he didn't, all they could tell me was that they apologise for the inconvenience caused (which did not even sound very genuine) however, that they are waiting on MTN to furnish them with the instruction to effect delivery again. Three days had passed when finally they came back the 2nd time where I had to lose another 15 minutes of my time as the biometric device failed on me again. Finally, after 3 frantic attempts, I could have a short burst of ''Hallelujah'', as the device was able to authenticate me and I was handed the package by the courier driver.

Upon arriving home, I plugged the 5G router in, very exciting to get my family connected. The internet connection lasted me approximately 1 hour and ten minutes whereby I could surf the web joyously during that window of opportunity. After the one hour and ten minutes passed, the 5G router ceased to pick up an stable internet connection afterward. I've tried every little troubleshooting in the book, it still did me no good. The following day I called MTN. I was passed from one department to the other. I spoke to five different agents from Customer care, to activations, to the MTN technical team and then to the MTN Coverage Department who all unequivocally confirmed to me that my area does not have the 5G coverage that will be compatible for the services to work. I was left confused, gutted and betrayed. I asked the agents at MTN: "Why does MTN sell a product which does not work?" and two of the four agents I spoke to advised me that the folks at Rewards.Co were probably desperate for sales. This got me fuming as I felt a victim to what I perceived as a snakes-oil sales pitch which appeared to me more as a **** than anything else. I was advised by the MTN coverage team to book the device in at an MTN store and then I will be issued with an IRMS number. During this whole time, I reflected about this and made me realize that I was conned in a massive way. Consider the following: the number of times I had to call MTN, Rewards.Co and DSV Coureirs from my non-MTN numbers which has amounted to monetary airtime that was cruelly consumed to call them, the amount of money I squandered paying for a non-existent service, and my combined thirty minutes of having to present myself to the courier driver (loss of earnings); these have all eroded my faith and trust in MTN, as they are the ones that contracted this questionable company called Rewards.co to facilitate their online sales. I called Rewards.Co on Monday morning (29 October 2024), and issued them with my IRMS number and they advised that I will get a refund within 21 days. When I heard that, it made me feel like I've been ****med all over again. I protested, asking the agent how is it fair that I should wait 21 days to get my money back for a product sold to me under false pretenses and which isn't my fault to begin with. I asked them why should I be made to suffer to wait that long for a fault which was theirs to begin with. I insisted on speaking to the manager who then came to the phone. She identified herself as Ms Varsha and apologised on behalf of the agent, saying that they will institue disciplinary measures against the agent (whether that does happen is anyone's guess) and she has promised to personally make sure that I will get my refund. I advised Varsha that the mental, emotional and financial toil this had on me has left me with no other choice but to seek legal proceedings against them and that I will not only make a complaint but that I will also report them to hellopeter and Trustpilot and will also encourage friends, colleague and family members to cancel their services with MTN, as MTN should be held responsible for contracting a shady company which is helping them bring their brand under disrepute.