Have Vodacom Lost the Plot?

<p>My debit order was returned on the 15th May - unpaid. My fault entirely. I was concerned and did not want to have my service suspended. On the 17th May, i went onto the Vodacom Website and was amazed at all the options and features that the company offers, including and option where the company states that you have an option to pay at a later date, selected by you/me. I selected the 2nd of June and the full amount. I submitted the request and was rewarded with a return mail that said: I quote: That has been excepted. the amount and the date. Being a sceptic, i decided to call Voadacom the next day to confirm the they had in fact registered my request and have it verbally confirmed. After a brief discussion with the operator/Vodacom representative, I was assured that they had recieved my request and it was accepted. 3 days later, my service gets suspended. When I call in, I am told that although I had gone through all the steps as described above - " there is no gaurantee" that I/you would not get suspended without warning.</p> <p> </p> <p>When asked, then why there was no mention of the possiblity of suspension on the website - no one could provide an answer. This is plain wrong Vodacom and is a plain misrepresentation of the facts!</p> <p> </p> <p>Secondly, perhaps even more importantly, I noticed that my account was steadily increasing month on month and I couldnt figure out why, so when the above occured, I asked the representative what "content services" were. They are addons? I had roughly 5 of these and they were costing around R 5.00 each per day! I never app**** for them never, solicitated any website asking for any services, but, there they were! The representative removed them without a problem and I informed him that Vodacom must NEVER load anything onto my account without my express permission. I was told I would have to write a letter to that effect. I did not - this was on the 17th May. However, when I had the above problem with my billing, I again enquired as to whether anything had been added to the account - yip two of these "content services" were back. They then informed me that they would e-mail me a specifice form to fill in and return so that I would no have a recurrence. That was yesterday, I've called the centre twice and two people have assured me that the form is on it's way. Still nothing.</p> <p> </p> <p>Vodacom , must be getting a cut from all ( and I believe there must be thousands of unsuspecting clients ) the "content services" and therefore it simply suits them to shut up aboutb the problem. Why cant they simply inform the client via sms ( as the banks do when a transaction takes place ) that I/we have added a "content service" and that I need to reply yes if it is OK or No if not! They definely have the tech to do this, its just NOT IN THEIR INTERESTS.</p> <p> </p> <p>So good on you Vodacom, no wonder you are the biggest -</p> <p> </p> <p>Regards</p> <p>Neville </p>