OPEN LETTER TO VODACOM – ***** & CUSTOMER CARE

Mr Shameel Joosub CEO Vodacom Group

Dear Shameel

I am writing to you as a long-standing Vodacom customer and a recent victim of “confirmed” ***** on my Vodacom account. I hope (but doubt very much) that this letter will be brought to the attention of your Customer Care Experience Team and your ***** Resolutions Services Team. This is my story: In November 2017, I noticed that Vodacom had debited my bank account with an amount of over R4,000 instead of the usual R1,200 monthly amount. Upon reviewing my Vodacom statement and invoices I was shocked to discover that there were 3 additional cellular numbers added to my account. With the knowledge that I did not take out any new cellular contracts, I immediately went to the closest Vodacom Store where the consultant informed me that these new contracts were opened during September 2017, there was no documentation attached and I would need to contact Vodacom ***** & Risk directly to resolve this. And so, my interminable experience with Vodacom Customer Care began. Confronted by the impersonal, pre-recorded, faceless entity which your company has become, and once I had worked my way through the menu of options by pressing the required buttons, I still ended up on hold for an excessive amount of time before I eventually reached a flesh-and-blood person - Customer Care Agent No.1. I was instructed to email a Letter of Dispute to ********** which I duly did that same afternoon and I received an automated email response with a reference number. How impersonal! A few days later, having not received any feedback whatsoever from Vodacom, I called Customer Care and Customer Care Agent No.2 confirmed that this was indeed ***** and that a credit note had been passed on my Vodacom account. So being pretty pleased everything was sorted, although feeling a little disappointed that I had not received any form of written confirmation or apology with regards to this case (as if it was just swept under the carpet) I carried on with my life. On this note, and as I am sure you are aware, Shameel, ***** is a ******** offence and as such the perpetrator in question should be ********ly charged and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. It seemed to me a little strange that there was absolutely no feedback or assurance from Vodacom as to how justice was served but be that as it may, I assumed Vodacom had it all in hand. Boy, was I in for a shock! On the 30 December 2017, I discovered that I had insufficient funds in my bank account. I knew that this was impossible as my salary had been deposited only a few days prior and I had not yet paid any of my December expenses. Upon further investigation and to my horror, I discovered that Vodacom had debited my bank account with over R37,000. I immediately contacted my bank to have the amount reversed. However, as it was past midday on a Saturday, the banks were closed. I proceeded to contact Vodacom ***** and, having logged a query with Customer Care Agent No.3, there was nothing else to be done until the next working day (which was 2 January 2018). And so Shameel, while you were holidaying your **** off, I was left penniless. My debit orders were dishonoured and I had no money to cover my rent or any other living expenses. I had no car insurance, no medical aid and exactly R100 cash in my purse. Rather a vulnerable experience to say the least. How, I ask with tears in my eyes, does a large corporate create such havoc in a customer’s life, and without so much as an apology? On 2 January, I received an SMS from Vodacom requesting whether I had had any feedback on my call and only when I responded with a resounding “NO”, was I contacted by yet another Customer Care Agent (No.4). It was only on 3 January that Customer Care Agent No.5 confirmed that the query was closed and that same day I spent approximately 2 hours at the Vodacom shop in Canal Walk emailing the *****/forensic department and removing all future debit orders for Vodacom. The consultant there also printed my December invoices (of which I had asked for twice over the phone and had never received). Guess what, Shameel? From the December invoices, it was apparent that the 3 ********** numbers were never cancelled and that, in fact, I was charged R10,117.14 Premature Cancellation fee for each number over and above the subscription charges. Are you kidding me?? After going to the bank to reverse the Vodacom debit of R37,000, I then had the frustrating task of sorting out dishonoured debit orders, paying additional charges for such dishonoured amounts and getting my life back together. So far my annual leave had been nothing less than stressful. On 7 January, I received the following SMS from Vodacom: Your debit order of R36 859.10 has returned as unpaid… What a JOKE!! Back at work on 8 January, and using precious company time, I spent the whole morning on your infamous Customer Care line where I spoke to Customer Care Agent No.6 about the state of my account. In addition, I sent an email to Vodacom confirming the ***** issues, requesting that all monies due to me in respect of the ********** cellular numbers since September 2017 be credited to my Vodacom account and stating that I intend to expose Vodacom publicly for their incompetence and lack of “Customer Care”. You guessed it, Shameel - No response. What I did receive, however, were numerous SMS’s and automated voicemails from Vodacom to say that I must pay my outstanding December account within 5 days. What a cheek!! I had hoped that someone – an actual human, no less – might take the time to sit down and personally review my ***** queries and emails and provide me with an accurate, concise and empathetic letter reporting the progress, action, feedback, whatever, on the ***** case and maybe, just maybe (wishful thinking) an apology for any inconvenience caused. It’s abundantly clear now that this is never going to happen – the concept of Customer Care within Vodacom has become Customer Care”Less”! Shameel, you once said that “If you are asked to do x – do x, y and z. You really have to push. You have to make yourself heard and show people that you can do more.” - BusinessTech 08/09/2013. Well, in my experience with Vodacom and from what I have deduced on various social media platforms and by entering the words “Vodacom *****” in Google, Vodacom is not delivering x, y and z to its clients, but rather to its shareholders who are solely responsible for you and your team’s massive and shameful remuneration packages. “Vodacom doubles its CEO's pay to R22m” -Fin24Tech 2016-06-17 10:57 Finally, Shameel, I believe in karma and I believe the world is changing. And us, the little people that make your business the success it is, will stand together and not take this shoddy treatment for very much longer. So, this is my Open Letter to you and it will be distributed far and wide to create awareness of the *****ings and doings of Vodacom once and for all! I can barely contain my excitement in awaiting your response… Yours sincerely