NEVER EVER EVER - TAKE OUT A VODACOM CONTRACT, IN FACT, BEST JUST LEAVE THEIR NETWORK ENTIRELY...

Vodacom's motto is apparently "Further Together" - Let me be the first to tell you that could not possibly be FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH IF YOU TRIED!

You will be much, much, much further in your life if you just go with anyone else. .Just don't bother even applying, the end of the contract is simply not worth the misery. Their philosophy is simple, get a client on a contract and then make their life a pain when it comes to the end of that contract.

The background to this complaint is that I am an admitted attorney with particular skills and experience in litigation, consumer protection and contract law. I recently assisted my pensioner mother with a particularly nasty issue with Vodacom concerning her vodacom phone contract.

The facts of the matter are as follows:

1. The contract (an upgrade from the previous contract) was taken out for a device in September 2020. The contract value was relatively small, with only R259 p/m payable for the device & airtime top-up.

2. The contract was for 24-months and so would naturally come to an end in September 2022 where after it would automatically convert to a month-to-month contract. The below is a detailed breakdown of the cancellations process and what transpired:

02.09.22 - Call with Vodacom Cancellations logged on the cell phone number in question at 09:24

05.09.22 - Call with Vodacom Cancellations logged on the cell phone number in question at 11:22 and 17:33

12.09.2 - Call with Vodacom Cancellations logged on the cell phone number in question at 13:59

19.09.22 - Call with Vodacom Cancellations logged on the cell phone number in question at 08:59

19.09.22 - Email Notification from Vodacom received: “We have received your request to convert 2773******* to pre-paid. It has been logged and will take effect on 2022-09-30 09:14:35. Please note that any outstanding usage costs will be billed in the next month's billing cycle. We recommend you use any remaining minutes and data before this date as it will be lost during conversion to prepaid. For any queries, please call Cancellations on ***.”

Note: SMS also received on cell number in question that the contract had been converted to ‘Pay as you go’

21.09.22 2 further calls logged on the cell phone number in question with Vodacom Cancellations at 12:12

*Fast-forward 4 months later and the following occurs:

06-02.23 Email with “Vodacom Notification ********* in the Subject Line: Attachment – Letter with ‘Draft Summons’ (watermark) and subject heading Final Letter of Demand. R1127.28 – R1.50 Total owing R1125.78.

09.03.23 SMS on cell phone cell phone number in question “Your Vodacom account has been handed over to our offices for collections. Please call us to avoid further legal action. T J Maodi Inc

09.03.23 - Call made to Vodacom Customer Services with no answer to try to discuss the SMS. A further email was sent to Vodacom Customer Services to the effect that I had cancelled the contract in September 2022, had received no further invoices after October and to please remove me from their debtors collection list.

09.03.23 Received an email from T J Maodi Inc. “We refer to your conversation with Joseph from our office please refer to the attached confirmation letter” The attachment was dated 09 Mar 23 confirming that Vodacom had handed over the account a further R100 was added to the amount owing for collection fees with the total amount owing R1225.78. Note: I my mother has never spoken with Joseph at the T J Maodi office.

What follows is a complete disgrace!

After receiving no assistance from Vodacom (despite trying to contact them) you are left to deal with an attorneys firm (by the way, you never actually speak with a lawyer, only some admin clerk/assistant who actually know sweet-stuff all about the law). I then draft a formal letter to these attorneys with a full and detailed factual context for them to approach their client to investigate and close the matter.

After sending the letter, I receive a call from some call centre person who then proceeds to lecture me (an attorney) about the law - knowing full well that whatever he is saying is not grounded in fact or law. After about 10 minutes of listening to this individual talk *******, I then asked whether he had even bothered to read the letter I had sent which has all the detail and facts enclosed - to which the answer was "no". He then phones back 30 minutes later after having purportedly "read" the correspondence. He then begins to tell me that Vodacom cannot be wrong and that what I said doesn't matter and my mother still owes the balance outstanding (mind you - this individual HAS NOT spoken with Vodacom and has most certainly NOT done any investigation into the matter).

25 minutes later and very angry, this individual eventually puts the phone down realizing that he isn't going to win with me and that there very much, is a DISPUTE! It is disgusting TJ Moadi Inc has the audacity to try to convince me that we have it wrong and that we owe Vodacom money! After trying in pained patience to get this person to understand that there can be NO BALANCE OF CONTRACT REMAINING because the CONTRACT CAME TO AN END BY ITSELF... I was still not successful and that ended the call for me because I have honestly had more rewarding experiences waiting for rocks to bleed.

Nevertheless, after the call (on a Friday afternoon) I discuss with my mother and get further supporting docs together to PROVE our side of the story. Further emails are sent and Vodacom legal collections is copied. After more to-ing and fro-ing Vodacom collections says WE must supply THEM with written proof that the contract was cancelled. Bear in mind for a moment that this is the same company with whom the contract was taken out, cancelled and subsequently sent off to debt collectors.

All in all, I would estimate that between my mother and I we have spent anywhere between 12 - 18 hours of WORKING TIME to get Vodacom to SORT OUT THEIR MESS!!!!!

All information, call logs etc are at THEIR disposal for investigation and review - but no, my elderly mother (as the affected party) must spend HOURS putting together documents to PROVE her INNOCENCE! WHERE ON EARTH DO THEY GET OFF WITH THIS SORT OF NONSENSE!

Oh, and once I finally got Vodacom to sort out THEIR issues, no apology is given... no phone call to explain why this mess occured just simply this email:

"Good Day

Thank you for your request. Please receive attached settlement letter.

Hope you find the above in order.

Kind Regards"

After this - I decided that this post and review NEEDED to be made because you (whoever is reading this) should be WARNED to avoid Vodacom at ALL COSTS! This treatment and attitude is not something that Vodacom is likely to remedy, nor is it likely that they will do anything about this. I honestly don't even expect a call from them after posting this because that isn't something they appear to do with anyone - let alone with their own customers!

I want this review to stay up until the end of time! Only then, when the universe is long dead, cold, devoid of all life, and the last stars have ceased to shine and there is nothing left but the endless black expanse of nothing... would it then and ONLY then, be appropriate to apply for one of their phone contracts.

I will henceforth ACTIVELY and wherever possible tell any person willing to listen to NEVER be a Vodacom customer (pre-paid or otherwise) and when they ask why, I will tell them this story and I will emphasize that YOU (the customer) whose hard earned money you pay to Vodacom is really just so the execs get enormous oversized bonuses and so that they can pay the USELESS attorneys they hire to prosecute their BOGUS claims...

I am an FNB banking customer and can honestly wholeheartedly endorse their FNB Connect services (also about 10 x cheaper than anything Vodacom has to offer) and things are resolved and dealt with professionalism and efficiently.

In parting, @Vodacom - here's a radical, revolutionary idea.... Why don't you just try contacting the customer FIRST before you just handover accounts and make a royal mess of things which end in posts like this.

Yours, in Never Doing Business With You Chayse Kriel