2025 Black Friday Blocked: How Vodacom’s Upgrade Offer Cost Me Double -A Timeline of Failed Promises

On September 19th, 2025 at 12:14 PM, I received a call from Melisa Goldstone, from Like Minds repreesenting Vodacom, offering me upgrades on two existing Vodacom contracts. The first offer included 400GB daytime data and 400GB nighttime data, plus a Vodacom tablet, all for the same monthly fee I was already paying. This was a significant improvement over my current 300GB allocation. I confirmed the data split (day/night) with Melisa twice, and she assured me that the offer was accurate. I accepted the upgrade based on this confirmation. (Call recordings are available for verification.)

The second contract upgrade offered 40GB anytime data (up from 5GB) and included a Vivo Y04 smartphone, again at the same monthly cost. I explicitly stated to Melisa that I only wanted data, not airtime, and she confirmed this twice. She also mentioned that if I changed my mind, I could contact her on 082134, a number which turned out to be inactive.

On October 1st, 2025, I accessed the Vodapay app to verify the upgrades. To my surprise, the first contract reflected only 200GB daytime and 200GB nighttime data, not the promised 400GB split. The second contract showed 160 minutes airtime and a once-off 30GB data bundle, which was not what I had agreed to.

At 3:34 PM on October 1st, I contacted Vodacom’s online customer care and spoke with Mpho, who logged my request to cancel both upgraded contracts. Mpho assured me that my previous contracts would be reinstated, allowing me to take advantage of Black Friday deals in November, which had been my original intention.

Approximately two weeks later, while working from home, RAM Couriers arrived unexpectedly to collect the two devices. I had not been informed by Vodacom about the collection process, so I declined to hand over the devices. (Call recordings confirm no prior communication regarding this.)

On October 13th at 08:56 AM, I called Vodacom again to follow up on the cancellation status. I spoke with Edwin, who informed me that the cancellation request had been voided due to non-collection of the devices. I explained that I had not received any instructions or arrangements for the pickup. Edwin then reinstated the cancellation process, stating that my original contracts would be restored once the devices were collected within 5 to 14 working days. (This is also confirmed in the call recordings.)

After the 14-day window passed, I called Vodacom again on October 29th at 12:26 PM to follow up. Edwin, who had gone on leave the day after our previous conversation, informed me that the request had stalled in the system. He promised to follow up and return my call, which he did. However, during our discussion, he claimed that he had previously instructed me to return the devices myself—a statement that is false and contradicted by the call recordings.

As of now, I am uncertain whether my cancellation has been properly processed. What’s most frustrating is:

1. I was forced to return the devices via PostNet, without prior instruction. 2. I will likely miss out on November Black Friday deals unless I take out two new contracts, resulting in four active contracts for one month due to the notice period.

This situation has left me paying double in November compared to my original contract costs, all due to a *****ulent offer that was not honored. I had clearly communicated to Melisa that I was waiting for Black Friday deals, and I have consistently followed up on the cancellation process. Now, I am burdened with additional contract costs just to access the data-only deals I originally wanted.

I am deeply disappointed and shocked by how Vodacom has mishandled this situation, leaving loyal customers vulnerable and unsupported.