MY FIRST MONTH WITH VODACOM (HELL)

On the 3rd of June I went into a Vodacom store at Cresta to purchase a phone. I got a contract for a Samsung Note 10 Lite and was told all the paperwork would be emailed to me and the sim would be activated within 24 hours.

By the 5th the sim card had still not been activated nor had I received any communication from Vodacom regarding my contract and had to drive back to the store to provide my ID number for them to activate the sim card. A week later my account was debited by vodacom without my knowledge, I called into the customer care to enquire about the debit and was told the sales person who assisted me was suppose to inform me that a pro rata debit would go off a few days after the purchase. By then I had still not received my contract and had to go back to the store to request it. A few days later the phone I had gotten started acting up and developed a purple patch on the screen. I went back to the store I purchased it, where I was told to go to the vodacom repair store downstairs as they handle repairs and loan phones. When I went to the vodacom repair store downstairs, I had to basically beg for assistance from outside the store as the lady was not willing to open the doors or atleast come to the door to hear my concerns. I was then sent back up to the vodacom sales shop, where I previously was, and the consultants were not willing to assist me, even though I was previously there and purchased the device there. I had to stand at the door, close to tears as nobody was willing to assist. I was embarrassed and disgusted at the service I received. It was honestly unbelievable. When they saw, that I am not willing to leave without any assistance, they finally helped. A few days after handing my phone in for repairs, I received a sms saying that my phone has been received for repairs and the turn around period for warranty repairs will take 2-3 working days. That is almost 2 weeks ago, and I am still without a phone that I am expected to be paying for. The worst part of all this, nothing is ever communicated to me, I have to go out of my way to find out what is happening. The Fourways repair Centre where my phone is being repaired can never be reached on the number they provided, even when trying almost every 10 minutes by the hour. The only information received about the status of the repair, is when I again had to drive back to the store for them to contact the centre, only for them to be told they are waiting for parts. This would have been better received within the turn around time communicated, rather than me going back and fourth trying to find out what the status of the repair is.

What I hurts the most is that the phone is barely a month old and I have only really used it two weeks and still have 23 more months left of my contract and I am wondering if this is worth it.