Extra charges on my account

I signed up to a new contract with Vodacom effective 1 March 2025. A day or two before, I received SMSes stating that my new package was being activated and also received an SMS stating that my OneNumber had been deactivated. I called Vodacom to tell them that they had deactivated my OneNumber after that SMS and that I needed it back for my Apple Watch. They did something on their side but I could not get it activated on my Apple Watch. I was then told that I need to go into a Vodacom store, which I did. They could not get it to work either so they logged a technical ticket for the issue. A day later I received a call from a technician stating that the issue was that the call centre had activated an eSim for me instead of a OneNumber and said that he had sorted out the issue. I managed to connect my Apple Watch successfully and thought that was the end. Until I received my latest bill.

I now received a bill with two connection fees and three OneNumber subscription charges. I called Vodacom and spoke to an absolutely useless agent called Ncamisile who insisted that because they reconnected my OneNumber I am liable for the connection fee. I asked how could I be liable for a connection fee when Vodacom deactivated my OneNumber in the first place and I had to jump through hoops just to get back to where I was in the first place. I explained everything that happened and spent most of the time on hold during that call, which was well over half an hour. Eventually she gets back to say that they owe me a credit without any apology or acknowledgment that she had been wrong in insisting I am liable for the costs. I confirmed which amounts needed to be credited, which was lucky because I had to point out an amount a number of times before she could even see it. Then I get told that the credit will only reflect on next month's statement because it is too late now even though it is Vodacom's mistake that I picked up and called as soon as I received my invoice and statement.

Again, this was not the end of it. I now get a call back from the same person saying her team leader wants me to send her the SMS that I received. I explained that I received the SMS in February and deleted it ages ago. She says well then they can't credit me because I can't provide proof that Vodacom deactivated my OneNumber. I asked to speak to her team leader or supervisor and got brushed off. I again told her that it shouldn't be on me to prove because surely Vodacom can see that they had deactivated it. I even told her that they can listen to the call recordings when I called immediately after my OneNumber stopped working to listen what I said then about receiving the SMS and my service being deactivated. Now I get told the team leader is busy with investigations. I asked what investigations and got told they are checking on the system who deactivated it. Which surely they would have done in the first place but it seems I am dealing with a clueless bunch of people who are basically trying to get rid of a customer and trying to pass on costs to me that they caused in the first place.

This is absolute *******. Both the fact that I get charged these costs and dealing with *********** people who clearly don't understand the issue.