Failure to adhere to own policies

Hi there Vodacom. I wonder if you could direct me to the correct channel to follow regarding the following:

On Wednesday 20 September I did an upgrade of an existing account and received the new phone which came with the upgrade. By Saturday morning 23 September the phone had restarted numerous times, the OS kept crashing and at a point it wasn't able to get passed the loading logo after one of the automatic restarts of the phone. I immediately took it back to the Cell U City store where I got it in accordance with your 7 day OBF policy. They booked it in and sent it to you for reviewing.

On Friday evening 29 September I got the phone back stating that it just needed a software update. On Saturday morning 30 September I setup the phone again and started using it. By Sunday night, 1 October the phone had rebooted 28 times and various apps including the OS continued to crash intermittently.

On Monday morning 2 October I immediately returned it to Cell U City who took me directly to a Vodacom store around the corner where they then handed the problem over to them. The phone was again booked in and I was told that it again will be looked at and this could take 2-3 days.

On Wednesday 4 October I received a text stating that the phone was received by the advanced repair centre and was being assessed and this could take another 5-7 days. Job number: ********** 0

Now my questions / statements are as follows:

1. Why are you not complying with your own warranty policy in relation to OBF which states, and I quote:

"OBF terms and conditions:

i. Items must be returned within 7 (seven) calendar days from the date of purchase that is printed on the official invoice (proof of purchase).

ii. The original invoice (proof of purchase) as received at the point of sale must be supp****.

iii. All devices must be assessed by a Vodacom Repairs technician for any faults reported by the client before being exchanged. This assessment may take up to 7 (seven) calendar days. (Timeframe may be influenced by location, courier delays and/or public holidays).

iv. Devices that meet the OBF criteria but are faulty due to software issues (incorrect version of software) and that can be resolved by way of a software upgrade are not considered OBF at this stage in the OBF resolution process.

– A software upgrade will be performed free of charge in an attempt to resolve the fault.

– Should this software upgrade fail to resolve the fault, and the device renders faulty within 7 (seven) days of the software upgrade and/or still within a 14 (fourteen) calendar day period from date of purchase/delivery, the device will be approved as an OBF"

Available to view at: http://www.vodacom.co.za/vodacom/terms/device-warranty-terms-and-conditions

2. Of the 16 days thus far, I have had it for 5 and you for 11. Does this mean Vodacom has put my billing for this device on hold and will not be billing me for a device I don't have?

3. Why would you choose to frustrate your clients by sending them from pillar to post?

4. It seems your front end staff are not up to speed with your policies as when I pointed out that I was expecting a replacement of the faulty device based on your own policy, he informed me there is no such thing.

Nevertheless, I would just like the phone to either be replaced or the contract declared null and void, I'll leave the choice up to you, I'm sure it shouldn't require another 7 days for someone to make that decision.

Whatever you do however, please don't have someone phone me to come and collect that same device as I certainly don't want to be rude to anyone. I have lost faith and trust in that particular device and do not believe that it will not repeat it's problems.

Thanking you in advance.

Robert Kimberger

P.S. I do have video clips as well as screenshots of all the errors as they occurred which nobody at Vodacom wanted in order to accompany their review of assessing the fault.