BE CAREFUL VODACOM AND SAMSUNG DEALS

I upgraded to a Samsung S9 at Vodacom on the 21st of June 2018. I was told that I received a R500 Samsung voucher, Samsung DeX pad and a memory card as part of my upgrade - and all I had to do was download the Samsung Rewards app and go to a Samsung store to redeem my items.

I informed the Vodacom employee from the start that I was leaving the following day for a trip to Europe and I specifically asked if I had to do this all by a certain date as I was going away and she said no. Another employee then mentioned that there was however a 2 week period in which I must return the phone if there were any problems.

On the 31st of July 2018 I visited the Samsung store at the V&A waterfront to redeem my items and all I got was my R500 voucher. Confused at what type of deal I was falsely promised, I asked the Samsung employee how I could redeem my items and they said I must go back to Vodacom. The Vodacom employee that sold me the package only then informed me that the campaign ended on the 5th of July and advised me to send an email to the Samsung Rewards help department. I got a response from the head of customer care at Samsung Rewards saying that I had to have claimed for the DeX pad and Memory card through the Samsung Rewards app before the campaign ended on the 5th of July 2018 and that they only had access until the 10th of July 2018 to accommodate customers with manual claims, therefore she could not help me. She gave me the terms and conditions of the campaign.

These terms and conditions were not brought to my attention previously by Vodacom despite the fact that I specifically asked if I was required to redeem anything by a certain date. I was not clearly informed that I was required to redeem the items on the app and visit the store before the 5th of July 2018. I only returned from my trip on the 8th of July.

I expected a lot more than I actually received, making me one highly unsatisfied customer that has been a loyal customer to Samsung and Vodacom for many years. I feel like I have not received fair treatment from Vodacom or Samsung with regards to receiving what I was told I could and would just like to warn everyone to be very careful when considering any deals from these firms because I was mislead.