***** on my Vodacom account!!!!

My issue with Vodacom has been going on since September! Nothing has been done to help a loyal customer!!!! Over 2 years ago i took out an iPhone 6 (white) contract through Altech Auto page. Their services moved directly to Vodacom so when it came time to my upgrade i processed this through Vodacom directly.

In July i called Vodacom upgrades and spoke to a lady called Amelda over the phone and asked her to process an upgrade for the same phone, bigger memory and the black handset - i told her i was happy with the phone just needed more space.

I explained to the lady in upgrades that i do not make use of the open line sim card that was given to me by Autopage 2+ years ago as i did not ever want to occur a large bill, so i received a PAYG sim card that i am currently using. I asked her to put me on the cheapest tariff they could offer, which she confirmed was a TOP UP contract which would cost R349 a month for 24 months.

This got me mins, text and data - and said i would never occur a higher bill due to being placed on a Top up contract, i would just need to add airtime if need be. I said i would not be using it as i will just insert the PAYG sim card that i had been using anyway as i did not want to lose my number and never even received the open line sim card in the first place.

Despite the appalling service while waiting on delivery of my upgrade, i called about 20 times during July to check where my phone was i asked the lady in upgrades how much Insurance was to add to phone - she gave me a quote of R70 p/m. I accepted this and asked her to add this to my account.

I eventually received a bill expecting it to be R349 + R70 but got the shock of my life when the bill was R1400. I called the billing team and they explained to me that there was usage on my account and it came from data charges which i could not understand as i add my own airtime on when i need it as im using a PAYG sim card. I said to the lady that even if it was used y someone else - it was confirmed that the contract should be on Top up which was not the case! The next bill that came was over R2000.

My experience was really bad trying to get my query acknowledged by Vodacom. I spoke to 3 advisors who told me a different story and never blocked the sim card this ********* was using. So the bill kept on going higher and higher!!!!!

I eventually managed to speak to a Team Leader by the name of Tertius who promised me that he would take ownership of my account and get back to me once he submitted a ***** investigation. He finally blocked the sim card.

Tertius promised to call me back but only emailed me giving me generic information. The ***** team eventually asked him to get back to me!

This bill came off by debit order which i reversed as i explained to Tertius that until this matter was resolved i would not be paying anything!

I was asked to go to the police station to request an affidavit which i did. Vodacom came back explaining that the ***** dispute said that there was usage on my account which i never disputed - i disputed the fact that the usage was not occurred from me - and that i was expecting internal ***** as i had no issues for 2 years - only after i told the lady in upgrades that i was not using the sim card, there was usage and charges.

I also asked for a copy of my call records to confirm that the contract i asked for was on Top up, that I asked to add insurance but this was not given to me as i asked for which i think is going against my right as a consumer.

Following the emails to Tertius - Morne Nel was included in the emails which i assume is very important - i have asked for a call back from him as well but no response.

The stress, inconvenience and money wasted this has caused is really unbearable! Once this contract comes to an end i will definitely change my network and cut all ties with Vodacom - i honestly have told my friends and family and they are disgusted - i have had the WORST customer experience!!!!!!!

I have decided to get in touch with the Ombudsman since i have had no response.