abusive charge by Vodacom

I am diplomat in Cape Town, the holder of the corporate cell number ***x (Vodacom line) and I want to ask help in relation with the issue I experienced with Vodacom services during the night of August 12th, while traveling on board of Turkish Airlines (THA), from Cape Town to Istanbul – Bucharest, while the phone was connected to the WIFI of the Turk Telkom (the sole provider of this services on board of the aircraft, as confirmed by Turkish Airlines). Although that the phone was connected to WIFI (as the specific sign appeared activated on my cell-phone), after 12 minutes of usage, I start receiving messages from Vodacom that I have to pay an accrued debit of roughly 40 000 ZAR for data usage. Mentioned to be made, the moment I start to receive the message I was already flying for 4 hours, at 10,000 feet altitude, most probably flying over RDC. I informed the crew immediately and they were both surprised and irritated, since Vodacom could not provide such a service on board of their aircraft, for security reasons. They refer the case to their management and I received the letter in this respect. After I landed, I have submit the complaint with the cabin crew of THA, I received the letter from Turkish Airlines that the only WIFI provider on board is Turk Telkom (so no Vodacom data provider is authorized and however I was not aware about such an available service, nor about any applicable fee). I have provided Vodacom with all the requested proofs and on September 12th and I only received a discount of ¼ from the total amount, offer which I declined for the reasons related to customer care rights’ infringement, considering myself abusively charged for fees which are not applicable, while the phone was connected to a WIFI network; in case the phone was automatically connected to Telenor Aviation Mobile system (as Vodacom indicated me in written in the letter sent on October 1st), I consider that I should have been aware in prior about this possibility (i.e. the data can be used on board of an aeroplane and also with respect to the related applicable tarriffs). Please note the roaming agreement executed with Vodacom does specify any tariffs or rates applicable while traveling on board of an aeroplane, nor about such a possibility! Vodacom even confirmed in written that my account needs to be credited (in an internal email sent in Afrikaans to the concerned branch) to the extent I provide the relevant documents (i.e. from Turkish Airlines) – and luckily we got a copy of this email. Although I have provided Vodacom with all the requested proofs, a very unprofessional lady explained us by phone “that there is no obligation of Vodacom to inform us in prior about their applicable tariffs on board of an aeroplane and it was actually OUR duty to call Vodacom to call and get informed in prior about their tariffs and fees applicable during the flight and we should have called them in prior, in this respect”. Despite the fact that I have tried to get in touch with the higher management, to escalate the issue to another level, Vodacom simply ignore me and suspend both cell-phone lines, as off on November 1st. Please note I am a diplomat in Cape Town (1st tier Government level of representation) and I have strong doubts that my phone was actually tracked during my flight overseas and abusively connected to a satellite (Telenor Aviation Mobile), with which I have no agreement with, I have never expressed my consent to be charged for it, I was not aware in prior about the applicable tarriffs, nor about the availability of this service. I can understand the need of Vodacom to track the diplomatic staff, but at least, I assume I should not be charged for such an abusive attitude.