Pathetic service from Telkom

I have been trying to cancel my cell phone contract, which I had taken in September last year but to date, they still have not cancelled the contract. I took the contract at the end of September, for a LG Stylus 2, but was unhappy with the phone and had brought the phone in, just 2 days later, stating that I wanted to exchange the phone for another phone that I had initially had wanted to take but at the time that I was there to take the first contract, there was a LG rep there and even though my intention was to take the Huwaei P9 Lite, he had kept on informing that the LG Stylus was a good phone and maybe even better but it took a lot to convince me as I was still unsure that this was what I had wanted. Now I’m aware that nobody can really convince you of anything that you do not want to do but with the rep and the staff as well informing me continuously that the LG was a good make, I eventually agreed to take the LG. Two days later, I brought the phone stating that I was unhappy with the phone and wanted to exchange the phone for the Huawei P9 Lite but was told by the consultant that unfortunately I could not exchange the phone but that I would have to cancel the contract. I had asked them what the consequences would be as I had heard quite a bit about when people tried cancelling their contracts. The consultant told me that I would have to complete a cancellation form and send through to the cancellation department. She had also told me that they could charge the entire amount of the contract but also that they would also reimburse the money back into my account once the contract was cancelled. She had uploaded the cancellation form that I had filled out onto my profile, stating that I had wanted to cancel the contract and had told me that I was to also e-mail the document to the cancellation department from my side. She had said that it would take about 21 days for them to cancel the contract and also I would be contacted by the cancellation department, informing me that the cancellation is being processed. At that time of course I still needed another phone as the one that I had was giving me problems so I had taken another contract for the phone that I had wanted initially, the Huawei P9 Lite and had been using the phone and of course paying the monthly instalments. I had received the first bill and the amount had included both the amount for the LG Stylus 2 and the Huawei P9 Lite but I was told to only pay for the Huawei because I had not used the LG Stylus phone. So I had continued paying the instalments on the Huawei and ignored the amount for the LG Stylus 2 as I had thought that that contract would be cancelled soon but the instalments had carried over every month because they had still not cancelled the contract. I had contacted the customer service and they had told me that they wanted me to pay the entire amount due which was about R1500.00 and I had refused saying that I had never even used the LG Stylus 2. I had waited for the whole of October and then also tried calling Telkom’s customer service but they just told me that the cancellation form was on the system and that unfortunately they could not transfer me to the cancellation department as they had no lines at the department but only an e-mail address. So I had e-mailed the cancellation form again and then again in that same month had gone to the store but was told that I would have to just wait until the cancellation department processes the cancellation. I waited again in the month of November but still no luck, I never received any call from the cancellation department and every time I called the customer service , they told me that they could see when the cancellation was initially uploaded and that they would also log it again but still no luck. I kept waiting for the cancellation’s department to call but still nothing. In November, I received an e-mail from the cancellation department informing me that the cancellation was being processed but that I would have to bring the phone in as when I had taken the phone in September to change the phone, I was told by the staff that even though I was applying for a cancellation, they will not keep the phone as they could not be responsible for the phone and should anything happen to the phone then I would be responsible so I had kept the phone at home. The phone was off and kept back in the original box. When I received the e-mail to bring the phone in, I had went in on the weekend to return the phone but when I arrived there was told by the rest of the staff that the lady that had done my contract was on leave and that I would have to come back when she was in, further inconveniencing me as I also worked weekend’s and it was really though to get time off. I did leave then and came back the following weekend and the lady was there and she had told me that they were processing the cancellation and that it would not be long before it was done. I was being sent text messages from Telkom saying that the amount was overdue for the LG Stylus 2 and that I must immediately or that my current contract number would be suspended. In mid- December , Telkom had suspended my current contract number, which I was using every day and which had been paid up to date. I called customer service and they had told me that because both the contracts were under the same account that that was the reason that they had suspended my line. I was very upset and being that this number had been my primary number and now I would not be able to use it. They informed me that as usual my cancellation was being processed and to wait for the call from the cancellation department and that if I wanted my line to be resumed then I would have to pay the full amount which I was not willing to do considering first, that I had never even used the phone, secondly, had they cancelled the contract in October as it would have been over 21 days at the of that month, thirdly, they were inconveniencing me even though I had paid the instalments for the Huawei P9 Lite and it was up to date. My line is still suspended to date and every time I do call customer service, I am told the same thing , that the cancellation is being processed and that to resume my line, I would have to pay the entire amount.

Please can you help as I am aware that you help many people with similar problems, when it comes to consumer rights. I would really appreciate any help as I am at my wits end. The last message I did receive from Telkom , was that if I did not the pay the full amount requested then I would be handed over to the lawyers and the credit bureau would also have my information

It has now been almost a year from the date of said contract and still Telkom has not cancelled the contract. Plus for the other contract that I had taken for the Huawei P9 Lite, I am still paying for the contract every month but not receiving anything, the line is still suspended and I have no idea what to do. I am unable to make calls or receive calls or use any app on that phone under that sim card even though that contract is paid monthly and up to date.