Service suspended immediately

I recently missed a payment or rather, was late with a payment of my Vodacom contract after having been a loyal customer for many years and having paid on time and regularly. Instead of any form of warning by sms or email, my phone was suspended immediately. Despite the fact that the agents in customer service I dealt with were very friendly, the service was not re-installed until I made payment. We are talking here of ONE month LATE payment and not an accrual of debt over months and months. I simply asked for a bit more time to settle my monthly bill and for the service to be ire-installed in the meantime as my phone is vital for my business as a freelancer. This experience together with my Telkom experience on relocation will definitely make me look into competitors. Thank goodness they are coming up and let me hope they work more customer-friendly and appreciate loyalty.