Don't Trust Vodacom

I am writing this on behalf of my Mother, who is a very trusting person.

On the 15th of December, she received a phone call from ***. The person who called her, identified himself as Roy from Vodacom Business.

He stated her cell phone contract was about to expire, and proceeded to tell her about the iPhone 12 specials. She was obviously interested, but wanted to speak with me (her son) first. She was clear about that.

At precisely 11:23, she received these text messages at EXACTLY the same time: There wasn’t even a millisecond apart...

Tuesday 11:23 ----- Vodacom SP: Upgrade quotation ***8 has been generated. Should you have any queries, please call ***.

Vodacom SP: Your contract has been extended to 31/05/2023. Should you have any queries, please call ***.

Vodacom SP: Your upgrade request has been processed. Should you have any queries, please call ***.

Your reference number is ***8. Dial *111# to manage your account. Power to you. T&C's apply.

Your upgrade to Smart TopUp S+ will take place on 15/12/20 -----

I phoned Roy on ***. He immediately told me my call was being recorded which is good. He then told me, that my mother HAD asked for this upgrade that would cost R1200+- per month with the phone. He also told me that he's not in sales and that his job is to tell people how to save money.

So, to clarify - Roy isn't from Sales... His job is to advise how to save money. His advice is: a. Get a new iPhone 12 b, Stay on your same package which is: Monthly minutes 200 Monthly SMSs 200 Monthly data 650MB

This I did find interesting, as nothing would save her money. But she would be in for another 24 months and an iPhone 12 she doesn’t need.

Firstly, I asked him how much over her monthly contact she pays, and he said +-R900p/m. That R900 was out-of-bundle data. So, I asked him, why he didn’t just offer her the renewal of her contract, no phone and an add-on data bundle. He didn't have an answer for me.

Anyway, I asked how much an additional 3Gig would cost. He told me; The Contract + The iPhone 12 + 3Gig Data would be R1308.

He also told me the iPhone WOULD be a 128GB, Black, iPhone 12. And that it would arrive within that week. So, we ended the conversation at around 11:41 with a recorded understanding that the iPhone WOULD arrive that week, and that it would be a Black, 128Gb iPhone 12.

Closer to the end of the week. We phoned him, asking of the progress. He said "There’s a Christmas Backlog". We told him this wasn't acceptable as he made this promise. And he promised to phone us back. We have not had a single call back from Roy, nor am I able to get hold of anyone at ***.

The head office checked the quotation reference, and said that there hasn't even been an order number generated.

So, I find this sort of ********* business practice and promises disgusting! I find Roy’s facade of 'caring' about customer needs, and 'not being a salesman' truly heinous.

We have held this specific contract since 1998. Meaning about 23 years.

As a result of this, we will be cancelling the contract.

Thank You Vodacom (Your Reputation Precedes You!), Thank You Roy (Who works at Vodacom Business "SALES", but isn’t in Sales?!?!)

Sincerely, Disgusted Customer