1 reviews | Active since Apr 2013
International Roaming issues
Firstly, I am resorting to Hellopeter because Vodacom no longer accepts complaints by email. I tried their useless TOBi chatbot (doesn't recognise "complaint" or "refund") and their customer so-called care line 135 just sent me an SMS from the chatbot and then cut off. The SMS sends a menu of options to respond to but none apply to me. So companies like Vodacom are narrowing our channels of communication with them so much that we can't find a way to complain other that Hellopeter!
I am a prepaid customer and I recently switched from Cell C to Vodacom with the sole purpose of having international roaming while travelling in Denmark and Sweden (Cell C does not offer it in these countries for prepaids). I left SA on 14/1/2025 and arrived back in SA yesterday, 22/1/2025.
Before I left I purchased a Travel Data Bundle for R99, mainly to enable Google Maps and for family members to contact me from SA via Whatsapp.
1. International Roaming in general
The Vodacom roaming service in both Denmark and Sweden was abysmal. It worked intermittently but most of the time there was no service. I don't believe this was due to my physical location as it would come on for short periods even when I was in my hotel room.
I tried forcing connection to other mobile operators but the result was the same.
Overall I think I used only about 20 MB of the 1 GB bundle that I purchased and it was on the whole time. I ended up relying on hotel WiFi to download Google Maps to use offline.
2. The Travel Data bundle
a). Annoyingly, it automatically activates when you leave SA, not when you reach your destination. So it automatically activates when you reach a stopover - sitting at an airport with free WiFi - when you probably don't need it. I think it would be better if you could choose when to activate it.
b). The automatic renewal is, in my opinion, a rip-off. My first bundle expired the day I was due to return home and, as mentioned above, it had hardly been used. So I didn't want to spend another R99 for nothing. The Terms and Conditions page on International Roaming states: "7. Customers can opt-out Vodacom Travel Data Bundle offer via: o USSD *135*130# or the VodaPay App". I tried both several times. USSD kept telling me invalid code or something and the only option I could find in the app was "Deactivate International Roaming" which kept responding with the message "Unable to deactivate International Roaming ... please try again later". So the Travel Data Bundle was renewed against my wishes and I have not used it at all.
3. Request for a refund
Please cancel the Travel Data bundle and refund me with R99 in airtime for that useless and unwanted auto-renewal.
Please respond by email, not by phone.
At 13h16 yesterday 27/1/2026 I received a phone call from Vodacom in spite of my requests to be contacted by email. I asked the caller to send me an email.
At 13h25 I received the following email from Vodacom:
"EC-28T7-2C32D6
To assist you further, kindly provide us with a brief description of your query along with the number in question.
Please note that protecting your account against ***** is a priority. Before we proceed, we need to verify that you are authorized to request information on this account. Kindly provide the following details:
ID Number
Bank Name and Account Type
Debit Order Date
Once we have successfully verified this information, we will be happy to assist you with your query.
Regards
Vodacom Consumer Website Team"
This appears to be a standard email. I rep**** as follows:
"My query was fourfold:
1. A general complaint about your international roaming service in Denmark and Sweden, which was hardly ever working. I provide this feedback so that you can try to improve it.
2. A suggestion to make the activation date of your Travel Data Bundle electable rather than automatic.
3. A complaint about the automatic renewal of the Travel Data Bundle and my inability to cancel it.
4. A demand for a refund (R99.00 in airtime) of the automatically renewed Travel Data Bundle because it was automatically renewed against my wishes and in spite of my attempts to cancel it.
Full details of the above are in my Hellopeter review.
My ID number is ************X.
My bank details are irrelevant as I am a prepaid customer and I have no debit orders with you.
In addition, I would like to make it clear that your Tobi chatbot is useless for the type of issue that I raised, and the lack of other channels of communication basically forced me to resort to Hellopeter."
This morning 28/1/2026 I sent this:
"Apologies, I forgot to include the number in question. It is:
*********X
(which is the one you phoned me on)."
At 13h16 yesterday 27/1/2026 I received a phone call from Vodacom in spite of my requests to be contacted by email. I asked the caller to send me an email.
At 13h25 I received the following email from Vodacom:
"EC-28T7-2C32D6
To assist you further, kindly provide us with a brief description of your query along with the number in question.
Please note that protecting your account against ***** is a priority. Before we proceed, we need to verify that you are authorized to request information on this account. Kindly provide the following details:
ID Number
Bank Name and Account Type
Debit Order Date
Once we have successfully verified this information, we will be happy to assist you with your query.
Regards
Vodacom Consumer Website Team"
This appears to be a standard email. I rep**** as follows:
"My query was fourfold:
1. A general complaint about your international roaming service in Denmark and Sweden, which was hardly ever working. I provide this feedback so that you can try to improve it.
2. A suggestion to make the activation date of your Travel Data Bundle electable rather than automatic.
3. A complaint about the automatic renewal of the Travel Data Bundle and my inability to cancel it.
4. A demand for a refund (R99.00 in airtime) of the automatically renewed Travel Data Bundle because it was automatically renewed against my wishes and in spite of my attempts to cancel it.
Full details of the above are in my Hellopeter review.
My ID number is ************X.
My bank details are irrelevant as I am a prepaid customer and I have no debit orders with you.
In addition, I would like to make it clear that your Tobi chatbot is useless for the type of issue that I raised, and the lack of other channels of communication basically forced me to resort to Hellopeter."
This morning 28/1/2026 I sent this:
"Apologies, I forgot to include the number in question. It is:
*********X
(which is the one you phoned me on)."
Thank you Vodacom.
My complaints about the lack of reliable roaming in Denmark and Sweden were not even acknowledged. My complaint about the single channel of communication ("TObi") being forced on us was also not addressed or explained.
I am not changing my rating - they made me jump through hoops to get a refund that should not have been necessary in the first place.
I am now considering this matter closed.
Thank you Vodacom.
My complaints about the lack of reliable roaming in Denmark and Sweden were not even acknowledged. My complaint about the single channel of communication ("TObi") being forced on us was also not addressed or explained.
I am not changing my rating - they made me jump through hoops to get a refund that should not have been necessary in the first place.
I am now considering this matter closed.