Extremely disappointed customer

I have been a Vodacom customer for over 10 years. I’ve had more than 4 contacts and I never had an issue.

I must say that I am very disappointed with how the network is treating me as a loyal customer currently.

I took another contract at a Vodacom shop in Queenstown, Eastern Cape. I was told that should I experience problems with the phone within the first 7 days, I should take it back and they will replace the handset. I took the contract on the 30th of May 2020 and within a day, the phone gave me problems. I took it back on the 3rd of June and they said they would take it for an OBF in Mthata and that they would call me back after 7 days which they didn’t. I called back and they said it’s been sent to Johannesburg and I should call again. Today marks 16 days and no body has come back to me. I called Johannesburg repair centre and they told me they couldn’t find any issues with the phone, and that it’s being sent back to Mthata and from Mthata, will be sent to Queenstown for collection. I was advised to take a video of the issue if it occurs again.

I know it will happen again because it happened 3 times before I took it in. My issue now is that I will take this video, the phone will be taken to Mthata again and then couriered to Johannesburg. This then means it will possibly take another 3 weeks for them to give me an update. In the mean time, I don’t have a phone and I have data and airtime that I haven’t been able to use and that I’m forfeiting in 11 days. How is this then fair for me to pay for a phone I do not have and airtime and date I haven’t used at the end of the month?