SSS Cellular Insurance & Huawei East Gate

I bought a Huawei SE 11 tablet for my son at the Huawei East Gate Mall. They advised me to pay for insurance (around R300) so that if the device had an issue, such as a broken screen, they would fix it for free without any additional cost so I agreed. Unfortunately, the tablet fell while my son was using it, cracking the screen. I took it back to them for repairs on the 20th of June, as promised. They accepted it without any issues and assured me it would be fixed within 14 days. Later, however, they said I would need to pay roughly R500 for an unspecified fee. I agreed, asking them to inform me when payment was due.

After the 14 days passed, I followed up via WhatsApp, asking about the tablet’s status since my son was asking for it, but they never responded. I then visited the East Gate Mall shop in person, where they told me the device was being repaired and they would update me. I waited until I received a call (presumably from the repair company, with a 011 number) on the 22nd of July, a month after they took the tablet, stating that I needed to pay around R1800 to proceed with the repair. I called the shop, but they didn’t answer, so I sent another WhatsApp message.

On the 25th of July, they finally responded, saying the device is covered by Huawei Care (SSS Cellular Boksburg) and I only needed to pay an incident fee of R399, which I did immediately. 4 days ago, I called again since they were no longer replying to my messages. A lady promised to call me back within 20 minutes, but I’m still waiting as of today.

This situation is unacceptable, and if unresolved, I will have no choice but to take legal action or escalate the matter to Xolani (X-repo).