Database issues and customer service

Sometime between November and December 2016, the name associated with my Vodacom account (which has always been held in my own name, paid for by myself) was spontaneously changed to that of my father. I found this out a few weeks ago, and since I was trying to upgrade my contract, I was required to get an affidavit that I was indeed who I said I was and that the contract in question did in fact belong to me. After several hours of administration, followed by a five day delay while the documentation was processed, I did eventually get this corrected.

Subsequent to this I made multiple attempts to upgrade my existing contract (to a SIM only package – no phone). While the staff at the Vodacom4U store at Cavendish Mall were friendly, their service left a lot to be desired. The first staff member (Marcus) who assisted me on 28/10/17, never filed the paperwork or filed it incorrectly (resulting in a missed migration deadline of 1 November, which meant I would have to wait another month until the upgrade became effective). When I inquired about this telephonically on 3/11/17, another staff-member (Jason) promised to investigate and call me back in a few minutes (he didn’t). After repeat attempts to get hold of him he eventually returned my call to apologize – he had forgotten. He promised however that the upgrade application would now be submitted and appear on the system within 24 hours. Alas, it wasn’t. The following week (on 7/11/17), I went into the store. Frustrated by my repeated unsuccessful attempts to complete a simple upgrade process, I politely asked to speak to the manager. This was unfortunately not possible as there was no manager on site; the staff were unsure when (or if) the manager would be in that day. Jason began to help me. I reminded him that he had promised to submit this application last week and he seemed taken aback by my assertion that he had not followed through on his promise. He gave Marcus (who was working at a nearby outlet that day) a call to ask him to submit the application. With a smile, Jason assured me it would now be done. I informed him that I would wait to see the confirmation on his system. “Are you serious?” he asked me. “Very serious”, I rep****. I had heard enough empty promises from Vodacom staff in the last week. So I waited. Fifteen minutes later (after a repeat call to Marcus) the application was eventually completed and I could see the application on the system. No apologies were offered.

The next day (8/11/17) my mother (who also has a Vodacom number, on a separate account) got an SMS to inform her (me) that the quotation had been processed. Seemingly Vodacom had mixed up our accounts.

The last few weeks of interaction with Vodacom have proven immensely frustrating and have wasted a considerable amount of my time. I do not need an apology, but I would be grateful if some positive change could come of this. To this end, I have some suggestions for Vodacom: o Simplify your web-based upgrade process as I found it misleading (I narrowly escaped being saddled with an additional contract, instead of an upgrade). If you don’t believe me, log in to My Vodacom and follow the upgrade links. o Sort out your database. My account and the accounts of my parents have several unique identifiers (mobile numbers; account numbers) that should make it impossible for the details to merge or become confused as has now happened on two occasions in the last few weeks. o Keep your existing customers happy. Customer retention is more important than new customer acquisition. If it was your fault (which in this case, on all occasions, it was), apologize and take corrective action. As a principle, but not necessary in this case, a gesture of good-faith (e.g. a complementary data package, a voucher, etc.) would also go a long way to restoring good relations after such incidents. o Getting things right the first time is important. Getting things right the second time is critical. I did not get a sense that the Vodacom4U staff had any sense of prioritization after they messed up the first time. o Insist on managerial oversight of staff. It should be possible for a customer to appeal to a more senior level when junior staff are unable to assist. When staff members do not perform, institute retraining, or disciplinary action where necessary.

I sincerely hope some good comes of this review. I like the Vodacom brand and business. I hold shares in the company and I want it to succeed. I would prefer not to be contacted for the sake of apologies but you are welcome to contact me if you need more details to address the issues raised above.

Yours faithfully,

Alex Doruyter.