Inadequate Service

I took out a contract with Vodacom which expired in February 2017. I did not wish to renew the contract so I went into a Vodacom store, informed the assistant of my desire to not renew the existing contract. I was then given a form to fill out which stipulated that I wanted my number to be moved from contract to prepaid once the contract expired and the last payment taken off as a debit order. The order was executed and I received an sms confirmation in March to say that my number is on prepaid. I thought the matter was then resolved.

Recently I was contacted by a debt collection agency (by sms!) stating that my Vodacom account has been handed over to Hammond Pole. I called the company ( ********** 746) and asked what the sms was about. They demanded payment for my Vodacom account which was in arrears. I told them that as far as I knew, my account was paid in full. I received no statement from Vodacom to say that any money was outstanding. I asked them for a statement and other documentation as proof that what they said was true and not ***** and their response to that was that i needed to ask Vodacom for that documentation and statement.

I then went into three different Vodacom stores to inquire about this issue. The assistants could not find my account on the system. All they could pick up was that my number was on prepaid. They could not verify that my account was in arrears. I was then given the number to the Cancellations Department. I called them and they could not assist me either. They gave me the number for the Legal Department. I called that number and an automated answering machine answered. i had to put in my ID number and cell phone number and an sms was generated to say that my account was handed over. No statement. No other details. Nothing.

I took to social media to complain about my frustrations (via Facebook). I was contacted by the team where i told them the same story. They told me exactly what I was told in the stores, where they could not help me and that I should request the documentation from the debt collection agency.

I have never in my life experienced such appalling customer service! How can Vodacom not notify me that i had a balance outstanding (if that was the case)? How can they still not provide me a statement to show me that I do in fact owe that money? I refuse to pay anything without seeing proof. This could be ********** or an error. I have exhausted all avenues to try and resolve this issue. I find it so frustrating as this is most likely affecting my credit score.

I would like someone from management to contact me to resolve this issue. This issue has been going on long enough and i am sick and tired of hitting brick walls when inquiring about this balance.

I have been a long time customer of Vodacom (12 years). This experience has made me move over to another network.