BILLING DISPUTE, CPA BREACH & BUSINESS DEFAMATION: Misrepresentation and Maladministration

BILLING DISPUTE, CPA BREACH & BUSINESS DEFAMATION: Misrepresentation and Maladministration. I am lodging an urgent formal billing dispute regarding a contract change processed in February 2026. This contract was explicitly sold to me as a 3GB data + 100 minutes package for under R300 per month.

Instead, I have been billed approximately R800 per month for the past two months. An unauthorized 40GB of data was added to my profile without my consent, and I received no out-of-bundle warning notifications, which violates ICASA regulations.

I would not have agreed to the extra data as we have uncapped fibre at home, where I spend the vast majority of my time.

Severe Business and Reputation Impact: Because these unauthorized funds are being deducted directly from my commercial account, my business partner/business manager has formally accused me of ***** and financial mismanagement. Vodacom’s gross billing errors and failure to provide clear tracking/references have directly compromised my professional reputation, caused severe internal conflict, and placed my business relationship in immediate jeopardy. Due to systemic management failures and misdirection by your staff, I am escalating this directly to Head Office:

Misrepresentation by Ex-Employee: The employee at the Ndlambe / Port Alfred branch who processed this contract failed to disclose the true terms and costs. I have since been informed that this specific employee is no longer employed at the branch.

Operational Strain on Ground Staff: The Port Alfred branch currently has no on-site manager. It is being run by a single agent who is under an immense, unfair amount of pressure as the sole representative for the region, assisted only by a trainee.

Because of the resulting queues, I had to physically visit the branch four separate times while trying to attend to other urgent business matters. This ground agent is highly competent and doing her absolute best; the operational fault lies squarely with the management structures above her.

Misleading Refusal of Reference Numbers: When visiting the Ndlambe branch, the branch agent called Vodacom support on speakerphone so we could both talk to the agent. When I requested a formal reference number for the conversation, the call centre agent explicitly told me, "Your reference is that she will call you." No such callback ever occurred.

Systemic Delays & Obfuscation: On Monday, 11 May 2026, I spent approximately 4 hours attempting to acquire answers via Vodacom WhatsApp and dialing the call centre, which remained entirely busy and unavailable, before finally receiving a callback.

Call Recording Access Issues: While customers are vehemently reminded that all calls are recorded for quality and security purposes, the customer care agent I dealt with seemed entirely unconvinced that this recorded information could or would actually be retrieved to verify my case when I raised it as proof. Furthermore, this agent continually changed the story, altering what she claimed to see on her screen regarding my new agreed monthly amount.

TOBI Callback & "Sibusisiwe": Today, 13 May 2026, I requested a callback via your TOBI chatbot. The agent who called me back stated that my reference number was simply her name, SIBUSISIWE, again failing to provide a standard alphanumeric system reference number.

My Demands: An immediate audit of this account and the reversal/refund of all excess charges billed above the agreed R300 threshold for the past two months to clear my name within my business. Written confirmation that my migration back to my previous month-to-month plan will officially take effect on 1 June 2026 without any penalty fees. Written confirmation that I will be able to cancel this contract at any time thereafter, without any penalties, termination fees, or administrative delays. Delivery of standard, official alphanumeric system reference numbers for the cases opened on Monday and today.

Please note that I have funds available in my FNB account, but I will actively dispute and reverse these unauthorized debit orders through FNB if this matter is not resolved within 7 business days.

Your call centre insists that only the branch can resolve this, while the branch is hamstrung by corporate system limitations. If Vodacom fails to resolve this financial misrepresentation internally, this full timeline—including the operational neglect by the East London regional management, the corporate/franchise ownership failures to properly staff the Ndlambe region, and the resulting corporate defamation—will be submitted directly to ICASA and the National Consumer Commission (NCC) for formal adjudication.

NOTE: Vodacom's 14-day cancellation window for new contracts often expires before consumers receive their first itemized bill at month-end, creating potential unfair contract terms under the Consumer Protection Act. The company, which is majority-owned by Vodafone Group and heavily influenced by large institutional investors, faces scrutiny over these practices, which have led to fines. - As billing is after 30 days or at month end, subscribers would not be alerted to policy irregularities till after the window period.