Pretty much what I expected from Vodacom, thanks for confirming that staying away from you is a good idea.

I took out the order for the Nokia 8 Sirocco on Black Friday at 9 in the morning.

An email was sent to me with a reference number. It also said that I would be contacted within 24 hours. I wasn't contacted in 24 hours, so on Saturday, I phoned them. They were closed. On Sunday, I did phone, but was told that they were sold out, despite the deal still showing on the website, no indicator of being sold out. I tried to explain that I tried to buy it on Friday, but nobody contacted me. The consultant didn't much care and just told me that she can't find me on the system and that my reference number means nothing.

I app**** for the deal again on Sunday, received a reference number. No call back.

On Monday, I contacted Vodacom via their live chat, asked, on two seperate occasions to be called back, nobody phoned me. So, I went to a Vodacom store, they told me I can't get the deal in-store, only online. So, I phoned from their phone, as I'm with another network, so it would cost a fortune to phone Vodacom as it takes about 20 minutes to reach a consultant. Finally, after 20 minutes, upon finally speaking to a consultant, they told me that the deal was sold out very early on Friday morning, which is not true as people still managed to get it Friday afternoon.

I also complained on Twitter, where they sent me to their terms and conditions, which state that if the deal wasn't concluded, tough luck. Problem is, I did everything I could from my end, they didn't phone me, but because we didn't conclude, it's not their problem. Always great when a company would rather hide behind terms and conditions, rather than trying to accommodate a customer. It's your fault that I didn't conclude the transaction, Vodacom.

I've always heard that Vodacom's service was bad, hence staying away from them. But, figured it's a good deal, would give it a try. All Vodacom did was confirm that their service is abysmal, and they would rather hide behind terms and conditions.

So, essentially, companies can advertise anything they want, and when you try to take up the offer, they can ignore you until the offer time is up and then say, oh, but we didn't conclude the transaction, so it's not our problem. Wonderful business model you have there.