Deceased Account

My mother passed away over 13 months ago. In the month after she passed, my father and I went into a Vodacom store and cancelled her contract supplying Vodacom with copies of everything needed for a deceased estate as well as upgraded my dads contract and WiFi accounts. Two months later my father was informed that in fact my mothers contract had not been cancelled and the account was in arrears by R274. We went back into the store and the consultant we had dealt with no longer worked there. We were told he must not have submitted through all the paperwork we had supp**** and because we had taken it at Face value that it had been done, we had to start again. This was now towards end of March 2020 and due to the start of COVID I could no longer go into the store and had to deal with the store manger over telephone and email. At this stage my late mother’s account had an outstanding amount of R274. Over the months of March and April , I sent no less than 6 emails to various emails addresses I was requested to send the information through to. These emails included all supporting documents to cancel the contract. Eventually, I was sent the form to be completed which I did and sent promptly back to Vodacom. I was also given the bank details and a reference to use for payment of the R274. The reference was however incorrect and could not be accepted by internet banking. The store manager told me to try adding various symbols to the reference and it still was not accepted. I must have tried to pay this amount in excess of 8 times with various combinations to what Vodacom had asked. At this stage COVID was here to stay and I was dealing with my grief as well as watching my father sink deeper into depression at the loss of his wife and being alone. The Vodacom case slipped my mind.

Fast forward 6 months and my father received a phone call today from a debt collector saying my mothers estate owes Vodacom over R1000 and he has been handed over and has a mark against his name. He is in an absolute state at not only the way Vodacom has handled my mother’s estate but by the way he, as a customer of Vodacom has been treated.

The situation is unacceptable and I am so frustrated by Vodacom's incompetence. This is ethically immoral as we tried to cancel the contract within the first month of my mom passing. How can we have given the same information to various insurance companies, MultiChoice, Telkom, multiple Investment firms, Discovery and Absa and they all handled the estate with care and understanding and got the job done at the first attempt.

I am going back into the branch tomorrow with ALL my emails and supporting documents. If I am not able to settle the outstanding amount and receive confirmation that my mothers cell phone contract can be laid to rest - My fathers contract, my contract as well as my husband’s business contracts and staff contracts will NOT be renewed by this *********** company. I’m sure MTN would be happy to receive ALL this new business this year.

I look forward to a senior vodacom representative contacting me to explain how it is acceptable business practice and what Vodacom are going to do to finalize this matter. ***: BE Jacobsen ***