BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE

I have been a Vodacom cellphone customer for more than a year, and everything went well until I decided to take out a fibre contract with Vodacom. Unfortunately, the entire process has been extremely disappointing.

Firstly, I waited an unreasonably long time for the router. When it finally arrived, the fibre connection only started working more than a month later after I had to phone and query the delay myself. During that call, the consultant asked about the payment. I advised him to process the payment on the same day as my phone contract. He also asked if he should combine it into one payment, and I agreed. However, the debi-check was never completed.

When the payment date arrived, my bank rejected the debit order because Vodacom did not do the debi-check process correctly. When I called in, the agent placed me on hold within the first few seconds of the call, without verifying anything with me. After about six minutes of holding, she told me I owed nothing. When I explained that the payment did not go through on my end, she suddenly changed her answer and claimed it was because I did not have funds in my account—AS IF SHE KNOWS WHATS HAPPENING IN MY BANK ACCOUNT .

I requested to speak to a team leader. She called him without muting her microphone, and during the process of the call as well, she was speaking to her colleagues in her own language, which I found unprofessional. When I finally spoke to Craig, the team leader, he insisted that I must pay the amount plus a R100 penalty. I explained that this was not my fault. He then cold-transferred me to Collections.

Once again, I had to explain the entire situation, only for the agent there to blame me and my bank. I requested that the incorrect charges be removed and that the debi-check be sent. I have now been waiting for more than an hour, and it seems nothing has been done.

I have always believed Vodacom to be the best service provider, but after this experience, I am extremely disappointed and disgusted with the level of customer service I received.

How can I get this matter resolved without speaking to *********** people?