1 reviews | Active since Sept 2025
P.... poor Vodacom experience
My Samsung phone crashed during a routine update and would not switch on, after a very frustrating interaction with the Samsung help line I was advised to take the handset to their local Vodacom service agent. This is when my frustration really peaked. The service agent barely looked up from his own phone (he was in the middle of another WhatsApp conversation) to attend to the issue. After fiddling around for a while, and not having any success, he advised that as the phone would not boot up it would need to be referred to their service center but I would need the original invoice from when I bought the phone despite me having the Vodacom warranty paperwork from Makro. As the phone was less than 1 year old I elected to take the phone back to Makro who forwarded the unit to the Vodacom repair center in Durban (Dbnhub). About 3 weeks later I received an update that the phone had been fixed but I had to pay over R700 for the service. As I considered the unit to still be under warranty, I queried the charge and was told that it was for repairs to the chip out of the corner of the screen and the warranty was no longer valid. Enough of the background - 1/ The phone was working perfectly prior to the failed update (even with the chipped screen) and I had made this clear to the service agents all along. I just wanted the boot up issue sorted out. 2/ None of the service personnel appeared to have any interest in attending to the problem, they would rather follow the party line of passing the problem onto someone else and hiding behind an insignificant and totally unrelated "hardware damage" to get around having to honour their guarantee. 3/ After another unsuccessful call to the Dbnhub repair center I advised them to bin the phone and that I would not be recommending either Samsung or Vodacom to anyone. By way of contrast: in the middle of this debacle I visited the IStore outlet (over the way from the "Vodacom Authorized Service agent" - what a breath of fresh air, the staff were friendly, knowledgeable, attentative and went out of their way to be helpful, they will be getting all my business and recommendations going forward.
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Kind regards,
Vodacom Consumer Website Team
Best regards,
Thank you for bringing your complaint to our attention.
Please be advised that a consultant will be in touch with you shortly to assist with your query.
⚠️ Important Notice: Beware of phishing ****s. Vodacom will never contact you via WhatsApp to request your personal information.
Kind regards,
Vodacom Consumer Website Team
Best regards,
Best regards,
Best regards,
To give Vodacom credit a consultant did call later in the afternoon, HOWEVER:
- On the first issue raised, that of poor customer service at the local service agent - he did not even bother to ask which branch was involved, his response: "What do you want me to say?". Clearly Vodacom has no intention of improving its service, if they did I would have expected a bit more interest in the matter.
- WRT the second issue, that of not honoring a claim under warranty he went to great lengths to explain that ANY physical damage, however slight, invalidates their warranties, analogous to a car dealer refusing to attend, under warranty, to a car that will not start because it has a stone chip on the front bumper! I can only imagine that their service department has a dedicated team of assessors diligently scrutinizing every incoming device, magnifying glasses in hand, for any scratch, dent, chip or any other mark which they can use to invalidate a warranty and give them the chance to make an extra buck. (To recap: the phone was sent in for a software issue, something totally unrelated to the miniscule (1mm x 1mm) chip in the glass at the very bottom corner of the screen which did not, in any way, affect the operation of the phone for 6 months prior to the software update crashing the unit).
Perhaps Vodacom should consider the following as a new marketing slogan:
"Vodacom - for carefree communications, we don't care so you don't have to"
The fact that there are 3 pages of negative reviews covering a wide range of issues (26 in all), in the 24 hour period between my original post and this update says it all.
To give Vodacom credit a consultant did call later in the afternoon, HOWEVER:
- On the first issue raised, that of poor customer service at the local service agent - he did not even bother to ask which branch was involved, his response: "What do you want me to say?". Clearly Vodacom has no intention of improving its service, if they did I would have expected a bit more interest in the matter.
- WRT the second issue, that of not honoring a claim under warranty he went to great lengths to explain that ANY physical damage, however slight, invalidates their warranties, analogous to a car dealer refusing to attend, under warranty, to a car that will not start because it has a stone chip on the front bumper! I can only imagine that their service department has a dedicated team of assessors diligently scrutinizing every incoming device, magnifying glasses in hand, for any scratch, dent, chip or any other mark which they can use to invalidate a warranty and give them the chance to make an extra buck. (To recap: the phone was sent in for a software issue, something totally unrelated to the miniscule (1mm x 1mm) chip in the glass at the very bottom corner of the screen which did not, in any way, affect the operation of the phone for 6 months prior to the software update crashing the unit).
Perhaps Vodacom should consider the following as a new marketing slogan:
"Vodacom - for carefree communications, we don't care so you don't have to"
The fact that there are 3 pages of negative reviews covering a wide range of issues (26 in all), in the 24 hour period between my original post and this update says it all.
Our records show feedback has been provided regarding your query
Regards Consumer Website Team
Best regards,
Our records show feedback has been provided regarding your query
Regards Consumer Website Team
Best regards,
I also understand that Vodacom expects it's customers to accept, without question, poor service delivery and excuses that are read out of the official customer care handbook, however it is what it is.
I also understand that Vodacom expects it's customers to accept, without question, poor service delivery and excuses that are read out of the official customer care handbook, however it is what it is.