Rogue business of vodacom

It is so unfortunate that even during a time of a global pandemic where people are loosing jobs left right and centre that Vodacom is not empathetic towards its customers. For a corporate to be socially responsible they need not be enforced by legislation. Good governance is good for business in the long term and helps to create customers who are advocates for the business.

My experience with Vodacom has been that they are a capitalist organisation that will thrive to profit from their customers at all costs.

I took up a data contract with Vodacom two years ago converting my prepaid number to a contract. I was amazed when I found out that in order for me to be able to see who was calling me(caller ID) I had to pay an extra fee.This service was free on prepaid. I was then cold called by their call center and they offered an upgrade of the contract, it was disclosed to me that I had to pay a fee of R150 to upgrade the contract. Telkom and MTN do not charge a cent if you want to upgrade a contract.

My data contract then came to end on 03/02/2021. I went to their outlet where I took out the contract to cancel it so that I no longer receive benefits of this contract. Reasons for me for cancelling the contract was that I had lost my job and would no longer be able to pay for this service and that I was not happy with their service and business model.

I was informed that contract will not be cancelled and a notice will have to be submitted and I will be debited for February and March. Now I did not have that much of a problem with a debit order for February as I was allocated the benefits of data. I have a problem however with a debit order for March. I am not working and have no income and will not be able to pay for that debit order. My understanding is that when a customer request a termination of a service after a contract has expired it should be fulfilled with immediate effect as delaying it has cost implications for the customer.

I have tried to engage Vodacom on their twitter inbox but they were not helpful at all. Customer service is a thing which does not exist at Vodacom it is only there when they are writing a sale, after ales service is non-existent.

I have honoured my obligation to Vodacom since inception of the contract between me and the service provider and have never for any reasons defaulted. For reasons stated above,I wish Vodacom to assist me in terminating our relationship as it has come to an end legally and that I be allowed to continue using my prepaid number.

On a final note, when I first took up the contract one of their staff members took my personal details and opened accounts using my details. This almost had a devastating impact on my life. Had I was not noticed by cell C that I am taking up a contract I would have had debts that I was paying for that I did not benefit from. Well employee was fired but no one from their service department tried to call me and took accountability at their poor internal controls and apologise for such an incident.

This has been my experience with Vodacom. Vodacom is not a service provider I would recommend for anyone close to me. Their business model is flawed and bring frustration to customers.