********* advertising and inability to fulfil a simple order

With my trusty phone deciding it is time to retire, I decided to order a Nokia 8 from Vodacom's website. What was supposed to be a simple, straight forward transaction has turned into one of the most frustrating experiences which I can think of.

First of all was Vodacom's website which had issues finalising the payment of the order. This eventually led to me losing the ability to log into the Vodacom website. After several calls to the call centre and being referred back and forth between the call centre and different Vodacom stores, I decided to use a family member's login details to order phone, while I sorted out my access to Vodacom's website. After dealing with a few completely clueless call centre agents, I finally managed to get to a very helpful lady who realised that this was indeed a system related issue and logged a service request.

The first technician to respond to my request did the bare minimum and just informed me to register on Vodacom's website... This despite me explaining that I was unable to do so due to Vodacom's website reporting "technical errors". Only after a further request to remove all my information from the system, was I able to re-register my account.

In the meanwhile, my order was not processed and delivered as per Vodacom’s next day policy. As detailed on Vodacom's website, deliveries should be completed by the next day, provided that orders are placed before 12. As quoted DIRECTLY from their website:

"We offer FREE next-day delivery for orders confirmed on or before 12:00 midday from Monday to Thursday, and where the delivery address is in a main city centre. Orders placed on a Friday will be delivered the following Monday or first business day thereafter if there are public holidays. "

When my phone was not yet delivered by Wednesday, I was informed by a call centre agent that next day delivery was an old promotion and was no longer applicable, despite showing very prominently on Vodacom’s website and being detailed extensively in Vodacom’s terms and conditions. The phone was only invoiced and collected by the courier company three working days after I placed the order. Eventually, after five working days, the phone was delivered.

When I placed the order, I ordered the phone colour as steel. I can’t say that I am surprised, but Vodacom managed to also stuff this up and delivered a blue phone… What I thought was supposed to be a simple call to get sorted out, amounted to more frustration, as I was referred from one department to another. The “online” department informed me that they are only able to assist if the phone was acquired by means of a contract. As I paid for the phone in cash, my only option was to email vadmin to arrange for the phone to be collected and exchanged. I have not even received an autoresponse from the aforementioned email address.

Seriously Vodacom, this is 2018, not the medieval ages. You are giving Telkom a good run for their money when it comes to redefining poor service. Please, I want the correct coloured phone delivered within the time frames as per the terms and conditions which you clearly advertise on your website.