EXTREMELY BAD CUSTOMER SERVICE

<p>I booked my phone and tablet in on the 05.01.2017 at Vodacom Canal Walk. A lady by the name of Megan assisted me. Her lack of help was very evident however it could be that I walked in at 19:40 as the store closes at 9PM. She went about booking the phone and tablet in for repairs. I was not sure if all my pictures and contacts were backed up. She said that they would charge me to transfer my contacts or back it up. She then asked another guy whose name I was not able to pronounce (I speak under correction but sounded like Mtitile - they might call him Theo). I attempted to pronounce his name, upon me saying it correctly I was told in a very unfriendly tone that I should not attempt to say his name at all. He spoke down to me as if I did not understand what import and export of contacts were whilst he was showing me the screen. </p> <p>I asked Megan if she could see when I last upgraded, due to her not having access to view all those details she was unable to assist me. In the interim period Megan assisted another customer while I waited. I waited for almost 15 minutes and closing time was soon approaching. When I eventually got Megan’s attention again, she asked another colleague of hers to assist me. She took her bag and left for the evening. The other lady who assisted me was Janine if I remember correctly.</p> <p>She assisted me with booking in my phone and tablet. Due to the fact that I was not contactable as my phone and tablet was booked in, I gave my friends contact number so they could notify her when my phone or tablet was ready for collection. </p> <p>I collected my phone on the 13 January 2017; the same lady who assisted me the evening of booking my phone in gave me my phone. The phone was completely dead; she told me that they could not fix the screen as the USB port needed to be replaced. I asked her if the phone was working she could not respond because the phone was completely flat. I asked her to put it on charge and that I would come back and collect it.</p> <p>I think my initial experience with how Canal Walk dealt with me stayed as the customer service was not GREAT AT ALL. I questioned her about my tablet and she advised that the tablet was still in JHB and that they would notify me when it arrives. </p> <p>On the 23 January 2017, I called the store and spoke to Stephany who advised me that they called me on 19 January 2017 which I did not receive on my number. I called again on the 24 February 2017 and spoke to Feyzeka who said that the tablet was with the technicians and she would arrange for one of them to call me. </p> <p>I received a call from a technician by the name of Clement and was advised that even though my tablet was under warranty they were not able to repair the tablet free of charge due to the fact that the USB port needed to be replaced.</p> <p>I find it very strange that both my devices could not be repaired due to the “USB PORTS” needing to be replaced. I could not understand this because I did not intentionally wear out the USB port. The USB port is only used to charge the phone and unplugged once fully charged. The tablet is used on a rare occasion. I always take care when plugging and unplugging my charger.</p> <p>He advised me that the cost to repair was going to cost roughly R1000+. I advised him that I would call back to advice if they must proceed with the repair. I followed up with an email on 31 January 2017 and received a response from Stephanie Gelbart. In her email response she advised that they needed approval in order to proceed with the repair.</p> <p>I responded to her email and advised her to proceed with the repair and also requested the cost due by me for the repair. . She sent me an email reflecting an amount of R1066.36 as well as calls made however from the trail provided, contact was only made twice to me and never again.</p> <p>On Friday 3 February 2017 I spoke to Megan Joseph to follow up if the tablet had been fixed yet. She advised that she can't see anything on her side whereby I gave them permission to proceed with the repair and my tablet was currently in store. I forwarded the email correspondence between myself and Stephanie onto her. Megan did not acknowledge receipt of the email nor have I received any response from Vodacom since my last email.</p> <p>I followed up with another email on the 23 February 2017 to enquire the progress of my tablets repairs however I HAVE NOT RECEVIED ANY FEEDBACK. The service received from Vodacom staff is TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. All customers MUST always be kept in the loop of what's happening. It puts their minds at ease but all I have received from the start is EXTREMELYBAD SERVICE and no one is taking responsibility for anything.</p> <p>At this point in time, I am thinking of moving to another network even though I have no issues with the network itself.</p> <p>I called the store again this morning and their phones just rings. The phones hardly gets answered and maybe I am just frustrated cause it's been over a month but common courtesy is to keep your client in the loop and respond to any query/questions they may. </p> <p>I wonder if anything positive will be coming from this after all I still need to pay R1066.36 for my tablets repairs which should have been covered by the warranty as I did not break the USB port. My phone’s screen could not be replaced as well due to a broken USB. I find it very strange that the screen could not be replaced even though the USB port was broken. I patiently await VODACOM Canal Walk to get back to me and put my mind at ease. </p>