Premature upgrade woes

My Iphone was badly damaged earlier this year. I enquired about a premature upgrade at a Vodacom branch in Durban and was informed that I will only qualify in August. I then purchased an inferior phone on a clothing account. Today I went to a Chatz outlet and was informed that the upgrade option does not appear and that I do not qualify for an early upgrade. They mentioned that the premature upgrade policy has changed and I can only upgrade in January. If this is the case, surely some kind of communication should have gone to clients who enquired about upgrades before the change in policy. I am not happy about this. I have been a loyal customer for many years, left with an extremely bitter taste in my mouth. All my planning and financial apps are synced on my apple devices and I was baring with the inconvenience of not having this on my phone, with my due upgrade in August in mind. Please can someone assist?