DISGUSTING SERVICE BY VODACOM

On the 21 October 2019 I reported a ****** cellphone to Vodacom and they asked if they should block the sim card to which I answered Yes and the next day on the 22 October I went to a Vodacom Shop to do a sim swap since my number is a contract one which was done and I was informed that after 3 hours it will be working. After 3 hours it was not working and I did contact Vodacom to enquire and I was advised that the sim swap was successful and the only problem is the arrears on the account and this means I will not be receiveing the service I subscribed for but I can be able to recharge myself and also use the number as prepaid which was the case before my cellphone was ****** and I was advised by the Customer Care consultant that unfortunately the sim card has been blocked hence I cannot do any of the abovbe including receiving calls or using it as prepaid at I used to and the blockage was not due to the Outstanding amount but because it was reported as ****** and the only people who can unblock it is Subscriber Collections (***). On Wednesday, 23 October I contacted *** and I was advised that they cannot unblock it until the arrears are paid to which an arrangement was already in place for end of November and December 2019 and I understood that. On Thursday, 24 October 2019 I realised that I will have extra funds and contacted Vodacom (***) again and requested that a debit order be made on the 25 October 2019 for the full amount of arrears to which I was advised that it has been submitted and it will be made. Little did I know that this will be the start of my frustrations with Vodacom.

On the 25 October I noted on my bank statement that the debit order is not reflecting on my statement and I did contact them and they advised that the debit order has been submitted and it takes about 3 working days for it to reflect on their side whether it was successful or not and I was advised that I should contact them on Wednesday, 30 October 2019 as it will be reflecting and I had no problem with that. Come Monday, 28 October 2019 my bank statement does not reflect that Vodacom has debited and I did contact my bank and they advised that there is no outstanding debit orders reflecting on my account and especially the Vodacom one and this frustrated me because it meant that there will be further delays. I immediately contacted Vodacom and I was advised again that it shows that the debit order is done so I should call them on wednesday(28/10/2019). On Tuesday, 29 October 2019 I was advised that I will have to send the proof of payment or Bank Statement reflecting the debit order that was made. On Wednesday 30 October I saw that the statement now reflects the debit order having been made and as a result my bank balance was also reduced and I did contact Vodacom and was advised that they are waiting for Bank notification that the debit order is successful and that I should contact them on Friday (01 November 2019) or alternatively I can send the Bank Statement and they will attach it to my account and allocate the payment and my lines will be active within 24 Hours of sending the Bank statement which means they would be active by Thursday (31 October 2019) I realised that this will be a quicker and efficient process and I e-mailed the statement to *** at about 09h45am and at about 13h00 I called again to confirm receipt and I was advised that the statement has not yet been attached to the account and they could not even advise if it was received or not as they said it will go through the admin and they are the ones who will attach it. However I was given a Team Leader being Zanele Khoza's e-mail address being *** to send it to her and I did that at about 13h12 and again was advised that within 24hours they will activate the lines.

No response was received from Zanele and/or anyone from Vodacom. On Thursday,31 October 2019 I did contact Vodacom and they advised that my lines will be active on Friday, 01 November 2019 after the Bank has confirmed debit order and I advised them that I was told that if I send the Bank statement then it will be much quicker and the consultant did advise that it is not like that and I should wait so my question was what was the use of sending bank statement if I have to still wait for the bank and why am I being given different answers? Nevertheless I became patient and called in the afternoons and after advising the consultant of the bank statement that was sent, she checked with Zanele and advised that it was still not attached nor the payment allocated to the account and that Zanele is in a Team Leaders meeting and she is not sure what time they will come out thus she will send the e-mail to her and I also did sent the e-mail of follow up to Zanele after that call. Today I called and still when I spoke to the Consultant it seemed the statement was not yet attached and she put me on hold and I guess it was to consult with Zanele.

Now the bigger problem and most frustrating thing came again, as if the whole situation was not frustrating then I was told by the Consultant that according to the Bank Statement it shows that my debit order was unsuccessful to which I disputed as I advised her to check it thoroughly because if it was unsuccessful it means it was going to reflect that amount again as being Return To Drawer (R/D) and that if she checks the balance it reduced from an amount of R7355.76 to R2367.49 after a debit of R4988.27 by Vodacom and she put me on hold and came back and told me that my statement does not make sense and hence they can't activate my account or number and I have to wait for Monday, 04 November 2019.

I find this poor service unacceptable from the Network that I believe I had a good relationship with for over some years where I started as a prepaid user until I converted to Contract. I am not sure whether I will be able to continue to recommend Vodacom to friends and family as I used to do. I myself I'm even thinking of switching from this Network due to having been given a run around and more frustrations by Vodacom especially because I have been calling everyday and when the day arrives to activate the services I am told stories and beside giving them an extra benefit of a doubt they still continue to treat me like I committed a crime by having the arrears which I settled. I feel as if Vodacom wants me to feel that I owed them so they will make pay for it. I cannot stand up for such stress, I have serious problems to deal with so I might have to save myself this kind of stress and maybe switch to MTN after the end of this contract. How on earth can my bank statement not make sense? How on earth can an amount that was debited and when declined does not reflect on bank statement and still my balance was reduced? What the Hell is it going on here? Did the Consultant ever sat down with an exprienced person who knows how to analyse finances or bank statements and analyze my statement before taking false conclusions? Furthermore why is the Team Leader not responding to the E-mail I have sent regarding that statement? I want my account to be reinstated hereof. My contract number is ***.Please contact me urgently on ***.