Not paying back the money Vodacom owes me

<p>I paid in January a premature cancellation fee that was quoted by Vodacom, in order to cancel my Vodacom cellphone account. On the 4th of May I noticed that Vodacom started billing me again. I followed up with Vodacom and found out that the account was not closed and that the premature cancellation amount was used as a deposit on my account. After numerous calls to Vodacom's retensions department I finally managed to close the account in June. Thereafter I was told that the money will be refunded to my bank account, but they require a copy of bank statement. This I forwarded no less than 3 times to the email address that Vodacom provided ********** The last person I spoke to was kind enough to provide me with another email address that finally got that item resolved. Subsequently I am told every time I phone ********** that the refund amount have been paid back into my Vodacom account - the account that has by then been closed! How that is possible, nobody knows! And then I am told that everything is in place and that I just need to be patient since I cannot talk directly to the department that actually handles the refunds.</p> <p> </p> <p>Not once did Vodacom so far tried to contact me (email or by phone) to confirm in writing how long waiting period I must provide before following up or anything. The last time I called everything was confirmed was 23 days ago and still no money has been refunded. Today when I went through the whole system to talk to the accounts department I got transferred to some electronic switchboard when I insisted that I speak to a manager that can give me a date by when the money will be refunded. </p> <p> </p> <p>This is absolutely ridiculous! Imagine how much interest Vodacom accumulates by not paying back the money that they admitted that they billed you for and just keep you waiting untill they decide when to pay it back! A lot of my colleagues just gave up at the end of the day since it takes so much effort and frustration to get Vodacom to get the contract terminated that they are willing to continue paying Vodacom for something that they are not using anymore.</p> <p> </p> <p>I basically have no recourse in this matter, as it will cost me more to get a lawyer to take on such a big corporate firm for just a few thousand rands. I will never ever in my life subscribe to any cellphone contract again!</p> <p> </p> <p>What makes it more difficult is that I am currently working in Windhoek, so I can only phone Vodacom and not go and see them in person.</p>