Indifferent and poor Customer Service (Vodacom ***).

While I am fortunate to be able to work from home, I find myself in the very unfortunate situation of having to deal with Vodacom's "Customer Service". I see that I am not alone in my experience - and will be writing a letter to Vodacom's CEO Shameel Aziz Joosub (though I believe we should be addressing our collective concerns to the OMBUDSMAN instead). An efficient Telemarketer from @JustTalk signed me up to Vodacom Fibre in December/January - and I was signed up on an Interim LTE Solution in May 2021. The LTE was initially reliable, with Speed Test speeds of 4-7 mbs - but eventually dropped to 0.7mbs without change to location or usage. Queries lead to frustrated calls over the speed (during the course of a few weeks) - eventually ending in me wanting to discuss the lack of empathy with a manager. At this stage, calls were cut or I ended up in the original call queue - only to speak to another consultant and not a manager. What you need to be fully aware of, is that the only number you can call for help (***) is hit and miss. When you speak to someone who cares about their job - they do their job well and can be friendly and knowledgeable. If it's a miss, you will speak to someone who is tired and unhappy - and you will often hear music/TV's loudly playing in the background. More so - upon engagement with these representatives of Vodacom. you are left feeling that you interrupted leisure time and that you should apologize for the intrusion. This is not good customer service and no way to represent a brand! Unfortunately - if you have the same experience as me - you will speak to the latter kind of representative 80% of the time (and they don't care)! While so many are without work - it's a shame that these staff are resentful of calls (why is this - is it because of Vodacom, they onw company or are they just flooded by complaints ALL DAY). This should be a strong point to consider...are Vodacom just signing customers up so one one else does (only to leave them in the hands of understaffed and underpaid / under equipped representatives - hoping that when fibre is installed, all will be forgiven)? Back to the many calls you will make to "1904" - In these instances, you can never get back to an experienced person (with a good work ethic) - instead you are/will be told to email ***@vodacom as this clearly frees up their lines - allowing more complaints to come in, or allowing staff more leisure time during their (who knows, but this is certainly an impression I am left with). **My LTE stopped on Monday, during a work day - and without warning or notice. On yet another reboot, fault finding task, I conceded and called "1904". **Turns out my LTE was turned off, based on @frogfoot notifying Vodacom that my Fibre was installed. While I would be grateful to be on Fibre - as my employment is at risk due to the sporadic internet I have experienced - this was incorrect. **Many, many calls later - I find myself in a situation where I have no LTE and no way of undoing what Frogfoot initiated through Vodacom (which is the cancellation and deletion of my LTE Sim). Every call to the 1904 number requires another FULL explanation and often another unanswered email. In frustration I have asked to speak to managers - who are never more than one on duty, and they are never available and they never call back. My formal complaints to ***@vodacom are left responded to and "closed" days later (perhaps proving to the CEO that they are doing their job - which is a ********** lie). I went to a branch - and queued for a long time to be told that they cannot help (even to speak to a counterpart manager in Fibre). They clearly have an inside track as they told me to write down times, full names etc... as it's the only way to get any response or part ownership. ***What does this say about this department!? I called Customer Services on Monday - who promised an escalation of my concerns to the 1904 team. **I have not spoken to anyone since, but have had to provide personal information on two Identity Validation emails - days apart. It's now Friday - and a month since this error first happened. *********In simple terms - and as far as I can see - a simple solution; acknowledge with Frogfoot that my fibre has NOT been installed, have the LTE re-enabled, or send out a new Interim Sim card. *When I have contractually had my fibre installed - then the process I have experienced can be app**** (but not before then). All my bills were paid on time - so the breach in contract has been by Vodacom and not by me. Lastly - it is obvious that the 1904 numbers/emails are managed by a third party - outsourced by Vodacom. *They therefore have no direct attachment to the brand (we are signing up for).*They may not have the experience or training (of the brand we have signed up to).*They seem to hide behind emails and IVRs without any accountability.*Vodacom are either indifferent, unconcerned with the small percentage that need help in comparison to the profits to be made off the majority of Fibre. On a side note: it's interesting that the LTE ****le/Router Supplier by Vodacom gave me speeds of 4-7mbs. My PAYG Vodacom phone exceeds these speeds (10+mbs) and the PAYG MTN data gets 35-40mbs ...why is this? My questions of 3 months ago remain unanswered - is the 100 gig a month package throttled? I am 600 meters away from the closest Cell Tower and am in a built up residential area... Good luck...