SOFTLOCK

I am fuming mad!

I have been a contract Vodacom client since 2008 and always paid via debit order. My current debit order date is the 1st of the month.

This month, my debit order fell on New Years Day. As it is with most businesses, they do not collect on a weekend or public holiday, but will collect on the next available business day. I suspect that the next Debit Order Date will be 4 January.

Vodacom has not made any attempt to collect money from me and found me wanting. But instead, on Saturday night (2 January) I was spammed with over 20 SMSs from Vodacom telling me my account has reached 90% threshold and I was SOFTLOCKED.

At that point ALL my Vodacom devices stopped working. No data. No SMSs. No Voice. All gone! And good luck trying to get through to their 135 number. This is simply because someone ran billing and now my outstanding balance is double what it usually is. Clearly your processes are only as smart as the idiotic humans who press the buttons.

I had an emergency and I couldn't phone anyone for help thanks to this SOFTLOCK. I have a bunch of choice words for you, but this is a family platform and I do not wish to be reduced to your levels.

The upside to this whole thing is that the contracts for my 2 phones come to an end in April. Guess who is not going to be renewing his contract. Yes, me!