Follow-Up Complaint: Ongoing Device Blacklisting Issue – No Resolution Since November 2025

This serves as a follow-up to my original complaint logged with Vodacom on Hello Peter.

I was advised that a customer service consultant would contact me, which did happen on 21 December 2025. During this call, I verbally explained the same issue detailed in my written complaint. I was informed that I needed to complete a blacklisting/un-blacklisting form, which would be emailed to me, and that the matter would be taken further from there.

I comp**** fully. I completed the form and emailed it back on 22 December 2025, after which I received an automated response confirming that my service request had been logged, along with a reference number.

To follow up on the progress, I personally visited the Vodacom store at Zevenwacht Mall on Wednesday, 31 December. The in-store consultant checked the system and advised me that the feedback linked to the service request logged on 22 December stated that the device (IMEI provided) had been successfully un-blacklisted, and that the store should inform me accordingly. However, when the consultant attempted to blacklist the device again in order to obtain the required ITC reference number to proceed with my insurance claim, the system once again returned the same message indicating that the device is already blacklisted. This directly contradicts the system feedback stating that the device was un-blacklisted.

We are now in 2026, and since November 2025 I have been sent back and forth with no concrete resolution, no consistency in feedback, and no successful assistance — yet I am still expected to pay.

The service I have received as a paying customer is completely pathetic. The ongoing lack of answers and accountability has placed a severe financial and emotional burden on me. I am honestly at the point where I feel like crying, as there is no clear resolution in sight and no one appears to take responsibility for resolving this matter.

There appears to be no empathy or consideration for the financial strain this places on me, especially in the current economic climate. I am paying for a device that I do not physically have access to.

I was further instructed to do a SIM swap, which I did in store at my own cost. Ironically, Vodacom was able to make a sale from this, yet as the paying customer, I remain dissatisfied. I now have my number retained, but no device to use it on, rendering the service effectively useless. This situation is unacceptable. I am paying for something I cannot use due to ongoing internal system issues and contradictory information provided by Vodacom representatives. Every instruction given to me has been followed without success.

Should this matter not be resolved urgently and conclusively, I will have no alternative but to escalate this complaint formally. This will include lodging a complaint with ICASA, requesting intervention from Vodacom Executive Care, and pursuing remedies in terms of the Consumer Protection Act, as I can no longer continue to absorb financial losses caused by unresolved internal failures.

I request written confirmation of resolution or a clear, actionable update within 72 hours of this complaint being acknowledged. Should this deadline not be met, I will proceed with formal escalation to ICASA and Vodacom Executive Care without further notice.

Vodacom’s accountability and immediate intervention are now required to resolve this matter.