Pathetic Customer Care - Pathetic Service from Vodacom!

Its a pity we can't give a lower rating.

Unfortunately Vodacom is not the same anymore. I received a call from Vodacom Online Upgrades Department on Monday the 9th of February 2026, the Vodacom Representative told me I was due for an upgrade on one of my 11 Lines. Yes, I have 11 Contracts with Vodacom, they're that good, well at least used to be. The Cellular Service and Reception is the best that there is, unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the Customer Care, Online Upgrades Department, Managers of Each Department or the Backoffice. Pity that they are so UNWILLING to solve my problems, yet are VERY willing to take my money.

I proceeded with Online Upgrade to Upgrade one of my Contracts, only to find out 2 days later that it had been canceled by Vodacom, with the reason being that they don't have my ID Number on the system. That's strange, how was the Upgrade approved, Oh wait, they were willing to take my money, regardless of Requirements met or not, and the Agent who called me, was more interested in his cut, rather than follow the rules.

Long story short, Zethembiso Mbonambi from Vodacom called me on Wednesday the 11th of February 2026 to ask me to email her my ID in PDF form, which I did.

I called Vodacom on Thursday the 12th of February to find out what was the hold up and was told that I needed to email my ID to *** and that Zethembiso was not meant to give me her personal Vodacom Work Email address. The agent that I spoke to with regards to sending my ID to *** was kind enough to wait with me on the phone, to confirm that she had in fact received my ID.

I have 2 Accounts with Vodacom. Vodacom was unable to merge these 2 accounts 4 years ago, as both accounts were on different systems, an Old System and a New system.

Today, that has changed, both accounts are on the New system, however, Vodacom cannot merge those accounts together - this is where Vodacom Backoffice comes in, they are the "More Advanced" department in Vodacom that can do this - but for some lazy reason or another, they cannot do it, and I, the Customer, with 11 Contracts with Vodacom, who works from 6am to 9pm Daily, must instead go to a Vodacom store and do a transfer of ownership from myself to myself. What will be done in the store, is they will take a copy of my ID, email it to Vodacom (Oh the Irony) and then Vodacom can Merge my Accounts... How lame is that? Unfortunately I cannot get to a Vodacom store as I have to work to earn a living, Vodacom does not care! Nothing can be done till I go to a Vodacom store. What is Customer care for?

I have been calling every day, since the 11th of February 2026 to see if there a solution, only to be told that my call has been escalated and that within 24 to 48 hours, Vodacom will call me back, probably to tell me that my call has been escalated... Sound fami****? Telkom Customer Care = Vodacom Customer Care.

There was One Customer Care Call Centre Agent, called Andile, that actually had a clue about how to solve my problem, but its been a nightmare trying to trace him down, as Vodacom no Longer keeps a Record of the Calls logged with Customers - How do i know this? Every time I've called Vodacom Customer Care to try get hold of Andile, there is no record of the Call being logged, and I have to start the Entire Process again, explaining to the Call Centre Agent that my accounts need to be merged in order for me to perform the Upgrade... Vodacom had no problem upgrading the contract 2 years ago, without my ID reflecting on their system for the Upgrade to go through, Vodacom, also has no problem taking Money from me, for the Account that has no ID associated with it, so why the problem now? When Vodacom has my ID and they have all my Details on Record? Heck, I've been a Vodacom Customer for well over 10 years, and this is the Service we get?

Maybe Vodacom should invest in a little more training for their staff of the relevant departments, as well as make sure that there is communication between the various departments, because to be "Ping Ponged" Telkom-style from department to department and spending almost 3 hours a day on the phone to Vodacom to WANT to continue being your Customer is an absolute Nightmare!!!

Its a pity, if there was a better service provider out there, I would move over in an Instant!

Unfortunately there is nowhere else to go, so I must simply suck it up, that this is how Vodacom treats its customers, and there is nothing to be done!!

So now, I, the Paying Customer, need to take time off work, lose money and go do Vodacom's Job for them, to go to a Vodacom shop and do a transfer of Ownership from Myself to Myself - and if this also doesn't work? Then what Vodacom???

Pity that the Customer Service is not what it was.