Buying additional data

Vodacom has excelled themselves again in the lack of customer service, but then it is not unique to them. Last night I received a SMS that I was about to run out of data on my 3G connection. I did what I normally do in these circumstances by going to the website to buy a once-off bundle – either 2GB or 5GB. To my horror I discovered that the 2GB bundle has been discontinued and to make matters worse the 5GB bundle can now only be bought as a recurring item and to put the cherry on top it now costs R399 compared to R289 for the once-off bundle! I was under the mistaken impression that data costs are coming down! There was NO communication about these changes! I visited the Vodashop in Picbel Parkade to enquire what was going on. Apparently these changes came in on the 1st February. Now if I run out of data I have to visit a Vodashop for a once-off bundle – what if I'm out of town and there is not one within a day's drive? True to the form of major service providers the customer WILL always lose.