Declining Service Quality and Ongoing Billing Issues

The area in which I live has very limited options for internet connectivity. This challenge is compounded during power outages, when one of the two available cellular providers typically goes offline. Until 2024, Vodacom had been the more reliable option in terms of network stability; however, service quality deteriorated rapidly over the past year.

During every power outage in our area, Vodacom coverage disappears entirely. I also began experiencing significant performance issues with my 100 Mbps LTE connection. Attempting to report these problems was, in itself, an extremely frustrating experience. Calls to the support line (082 135) would often remain silent before disconnecting, requiring multiple attempts before reaching anyone. In addition, if one does not enter a phone number quickly enough in the IVR system—or makes an error—the system responds with a message stating that only Vodacom customers may use the call centre.

After numerous service requests, I was eventually contacted by Vodacom’s network team and informed that they could not provide the 100 Mbps service, despite the connection having achieved those speeds earlier in the year. I was then told that the service would be cancelled from their side, and a courier was sent to collect the router.

Once the router had been collected, I was no longer able to use the service. Despite this, I continued to be billed monthly until the contract expired. Attempts to resolve the matter were unsuccessful, as the account was reflected as prepaid when I contacted the call centre, preventing me from querying charges or requesting credits for a service I was paying for but not receiving.

On every call, I was assured that a query had been logged and that I would be contacted within five working days. Instead, the queries were simply closed without any feedback or resolution. Rather than reopening existing cases, new queries were created each time, effectively resetting timelines and allowing the issue to remain unresolved while appearing to meet internal service-level targets.