Damaged phone

Upgrade one of my bussiness contracts. After recieving and arived at home we discover that the phone does not charge and does not switch on. When I return the phone they told me that they need to send it away. This is how the system is working. They only replace phone if it was opend in shop and tested. If they do not do that its then your problem and then they need to send it away. Now I sitting with a contract without a phone but still need to pay even if I have no ohone and cannot use the contract. Did vodacom realy got this bad. Is it only vodacom or do the other phone companies treat their customers like this