Not Getting what I PAID For - Part 1 - There are 2 parts to this review

Vodacom Part 1 No Internet Services Provided. I work as a freelance writer and in order to source work, do my research, write my articles, and stay in contact with possible clients I must have a constant reliable Internet option. In August ‘23 I signed a contract with Vodacom to provide me with that Internet option, Early in February 2024 possibly the 7th - this date can be checked by reference to the date I handed in my router at the local Vodacom office. For the purposes of this document, I will use the 7th February 2024 as my base date. 3 days before that, i.e. the 4th my router stopped working at midday. I had no Internet connection for the rest of that day. I blamed Eskom. On the morning of the 5th without me doing anything to the router, my internet connection was restored. I had internet, but again only until midday. It then went off for the rest of the day. Now maybe it was not Eskom. Same thing on the 6th. I had internet connection until midday, then it went off. Now I knew it definitely was not Eskom. This is now 3 days in a row that I have had no internet connection from midday. The fact that my router restores my internet connection itself without any adjustment or configuration from me confirms to me that there is nothing wrong with the router - My opinion. This loss of internet connection for 3 days at midday is not co-incidental. This is deliberate. For whatever reason Vodacom is switching me off at midday. This is not what I signed a contract for. This lack of internet is costing me clients and possible future work. On the afternoon of the 7th, I take my router to the local Vodacom outlet and make them aware of the problem. They tell me there is something wrong with my router and they will have to send it away for repairs. My argument that there is nothing wrong with the router as it works for 6 or 7 hours in the mornings without any problem falls on deaf ears. Vodacom insists it is a router problem so I hand over my router and ask for a replacement - I cannot work without the internet. I am paying R500 a month for a reliable internet service. Vodacom has contracted with me to supply that. I am not getting what I am paying for. As far as I am concerned Vodacom is in breach of the contract. Vodacom does not have a similar replacement router to give me. I get given what I will call a “ ****le” and get told to use that until my router can be repaired and returned to me. This ****le is worse than useless. It stays connected for a few minutes, then it loses connection. I checked everything I was told to check and managed to reconnect, but again only for a few minutes then the signal was lost again. Every day for a week I was in the Vodacom outlet complaining about this ****le performance. At first, it was a SIM card problem, then it was a battery problem, then it was because I was in arrears in my account. I challenged that but was assured that was the problem - because I cannot work without the internet I paid up ( R1100) on the grounds that I would argue this “ arrears” later. Paying those so-called arrears made no difference at all to the ****le’s poor performance. I go back to Vodacom on Wednesday the 21st and am assured my router will be back by Friday the 23rd. I go into Vodacom on Friday the 23rd to collect my router (Vodacom I know a lot of you have company cars so you are not affected by the price of fuel - but it is damn expensive and all these trips to the local branch are adding up financially). My router is not back. I must continue with the ****le. As it is worse than useless and is only frustrating me and stressing me out, I hand it in and tell the consultant to cancel my contract. When I was told I would have my router back by Friday the 23rd I was also told it would not be the same router I had handed in. I would be getting a newer more efficient router. Until the “cut-offs at midday” started happening I was perfectly happy with the router I had, so I asked why and if there were any additional costs involved.? I was told “ No” with regards to costs and the reason why I would not be getting my original router back was because it had been taken out of their product list as it had a ‘history” of giving problems. When I asked them if they knew it had problems why was I given it in the first place? - The answer was “ I do not know. Perhaps the consultant, who no longer works at the branch, was not aware of the situation with that model router “ Even a 1 star rating ( Terrible) is too high for the standard of service I have received