Deplorable Service

<p>I recently upgraded my contract with a Vodacom consultant by the name of Hilda.</p> <p>The contract as per our telecon was for a S7 edge, on smart m package with 1GB free data for</p> <p>a total amount of R699.</p> <p>It was not disclosed to me by the consultant that I would still need to pay a handset fee for my previous device.</p> <p>After explicitly stating that my budget for a contract is R699</p> <p> </p> <p>A month later I was billed for the old handset and the new contract, upon the debit of my account I visited Vodaworld</p> <p>to querry the situation, The consultant could not assist me as she claimed that their systems where offline.</p> <p>I proceeded to explain the situation to her, she then took down my details and promised to follow up.</p> <p> </p> <p>3 weeks passed I did not get any feedback from Vodacom, I then called in to get an update, I spoke to a consultant named</p> <p>Arthur Maumela. He advised that there is a request logged on my behalf ref 1- ********** 7273 he proceeded to tell me that no one has looked into the matter as yet. I then insisted that I get some feedback immediately. I was then advised that he cannot assist as this will need to be addressed by the upgrades department. I was then transferred to another agent from the upgrades department who was *********** as all the other Vodacom employees that I have had interactions with. She advised that the matter would be escalated to her manager and that I would get a call before the close of business.</p> <p> </p> <p>Low and behold 2 weeks later I still did not receive a call from them. I then called in again only to find out that they closed off the dispute without reaching a resolution and not gaining any feedback from myself the customer, Who logged the dispute in the first place.</p> <p> </p> <p>Further to this last week I noticed my account was downgraded to a smart s from a smart m contract and I did not receive my 1GB of Data.</p> <p>Infuriated and all shades of disgruntled, I went back to Vodaworld and spoke to an agent by the name of Penelope Maluleke</p> <p>she then contacted the upgrades department as she could not see the terms of my contracted loaded on the system.</p> <p>She also noticed that 2 different employees of Vodacom handled the upgrade Hilda had the telephone conversation with me and another employee, who’s identity has not been disclosed to me, processed the upgrade on the system.</p> <p> </p> <p>I then insisted on the voice recording to which I provided a reference number. Penelope then had no choice but to get a hold of the upgrades department to request the recording, however she was advised that they were unable to retrieve it at that point and time. I insisted on a dispute being logged with a reference number but she said she cannot log one as it’s not part of Vodacom it’s another company. I was then provided with an email from Penelope which she received via the upgrades department stating that it has been escalated and</p> <p>I should receive feedback within a week. I was also told that my account will be moved to smart m for the month free of charge and that they would get the back office team to load my 1GB data. My account was moved to a smart m however it was not free and I am still to receive my data. This completely baffles me because I have always been on a Smart M with 1GB data free contract. This confusion should not exist nor should I incur any extra charges.</p> <p> </p> <p>I have since responded to Penelope via email expressing my concerns on discontent, and she has graciously decided to ignore me, true to Vodacom employee standards</p> <p>of gross unprofessionalism.</p> <p> </p> <p>I would like to investigate the option to terminate my contract with Vodacom according to the guidelines stated in the consumer protection act, bearing no further financial implications to myself the contract holder. Please advise the process to terminate the contract, potential liabilities that I will face if these liabilities are too high from a financial perspective I would to re-negotiate my contract. I have been to Vodaworld customer care on numerous occasions and requested the voice recording of my upgrade to which I have still not received, but I am still charged for services that I explicitly did not agree to. This poor customer service and unprofessionalism is totally unacceptable and highly disrespectful to consumers. I would like to resolve this matter as a matter of extreme urgency as I cannot continue to spend rands and cents on a contract terms that I did not agree to</p>