1 reviews | Active since May 2016
Terrible customer service, over-charged and different package to what signed up for.
I recently upgraded my contract at vodaworld midrand. Although the upgrade process took well over an hour and a half due to the slow service and poor vodacom systems, I still left a happy customer with my new upgrade. As per the adverti*****t and signed contract, I was to receive my device, plus 1gig free data per a month for the first 3 months as a promotion. Therefore the following month I was expecting my free data and therefore didn't buy a bundle. Half way through the month my data runs out and I realize vodacom did not give me my data. After at least 16 attempts (as per my call records) I get hold of someone at vodaworld who only after 3 times of calling them back escalated the query and explained that vodacom transferred to new systems and my contract was uploaded onto the new systemy late. The new system didn't have the old contract details and therefore they had to manually give me the data. So all well I expect to receive my free data plus a refund for the data cost I incurred due to not having this bundle earlier. Needless to say I get give 3 gigs which expire within a month (again wrong as should be 3 months). So again I try call vodaworld and the call Centre on 2 different numbers but no-one answers after 20 different attempts (as per call logs). Then my bill comes though and this is where it gets way worse!!! Since my contract was converted onto the new systems at a later date I am not getting charged R270 extra on my contract plus R120 for a data bundle I never signed up for. So I decide to call the call Centre. I sit on the phone with a supervisor for over an hour while he writes up my full query and promises me I will receive a reference number message within 24 hours. Well 24 hours pass and no message so I call back and needless to say there is no record of my query. So now I am furious and ask to speak to another supervisor who couldn't even more *********** if he tried. Eventually after him explaining that there is no way to recall my query from the previous day (ridiculous by the way since all calls are recorded), I sit again for an hour and explain my query to him. After I explain the full query he says I need to go to the branch I did my upgrade which is a food 30min from my house and I work full time. So off I go to the shop who then refer me to the custoner complaints area at Vodaworld. Customer complaints then refer me back to the vodashop who then argue that I must go back to customer complaints. I insisted that the lady at the shop come with me which she does and eventually I get my ticket to wait. Well I am sitting here currently and an hour later still waiting! What a disgrace of a service provider!
And the adventures of Vodacom's pathetic service continues. After 3 months of endless torture resolving my previous issue, someone competent eventually contacted me and to be fair assisted with resolving my initial issue. However after my initial period of data bundles, 6 months later i tried to purchase a data bundle via dialing *111#. All went well and i got the message that my account will be credited with the applicable data on receipt of an sms. The sms never came so i checked my balance which was nil and tried again. The issue persisted so i decided to put myself through the painful experience of dialing 111. After the usual holding on period of 20min i eventually got hold of someone who gave me the usual response "we will have to escalate a query". Now please let me comment on this ridiculous process - i am yet to phone vodacom and actually speak to a person who can resolve my issue. Why is there such segregation and seperation between the person who speaks to the client and the person who resolves (or never resolves) the issue. So to continue with the issue, the person eventually initiated my query and told me i can expect a response within 48 hours. Obviously 48 hours came and went and after a week i called vodacom back. Again i obviously waited a minimum of 20min and told the new person (because its impossible to ever speak to the same person twice), about my issue and told them that a query was escalated. This person accessed my profile and told me there is no evidence of a query being initiated regarding this issue. So i waited again for a enw issue to be escalated and insisted the person send me the sms with the reference number while waiting. Well another week later and i receive a wonderful sms to say my query had been closed. So i try buy data again and still the same problem. So i put myself through the painful experience of calling vodacom again. Eventually i get hold of someone and after now over half an hour of waiting the person says "sorry i do not know why your query was closed, i can see nothing was done. Please hold while i initiate a knew query". So as anyone could imagine i was furious and demanded someone to deal with this issue immediately (impossible task at vodacom because the person responble for dealing with the issue is what feels like, 15 processes 1000km and 25 people away from the person i was speaking to. Please not it has now been over 2 and half weeks of paying out of bundle charges. Well eventually i get an sms to say it has been resolved and call back and ask the lady on the phone if she can please process my data order so i know it is now working. I get an sms to say my account has been credited with 500MB as i requested and finally i was happy i no longer needed to pay out of bundle data charged. A little while late i get an sms to say my account was credited with a 5GB data bundle and now i was satifisfied that Vodacom was giving me this data to compensate me for the inconvenience as well as out of bundle charges that i received. So i left it at that but little did i know.
While checking my bank statement in September i see that my vodacom accoutn was much larger that usual so i download my statement and see that i have been charged R430 for 5GB of data!!! I cannot believe my eyes so i call Vodacom immediately and relay the story. As usual a query is opened and nothing is done. A week later the usual sms comes through saying query has been closed. I call back and as usual the response is "sorry we will open a new query as we can see the issue was not resolved". So i wait again and a few days later i get another wonderful message saying query closed followed by another sms explaining what my contract entitles me to on a monthly basis. Now please explain to me how telling me what my contract entitles me to, has anything to do with my issue that i raised. So i call back again and a new issue has been opened and currently i am waiting.
Unfortunately it doesnt end here - after countless hours and issues with vodacom i ask to please be put through to the cancellations department so i can once for all end this painfull and ********** relationship with Vodacom. I speak to the lady and she says " it will cost you R0 to cancel your contract, your upgrade was due in March 2016". I would have loved for a vodacom mistake to actually benefit me for once but im conscience got the better of me and i told the lady that it is impossible because i upgraded in April or so. She apologises and says she needs to call her supervisor, so i held on for 25min while these *********** people tried to figure out what was going on. Eventually the lady comes back to the line and says there appears to be a problem with her system so she will initiate a query for me so i can be resolved. So once again Vodacoms error becomes the customers problem. I am currently still waiting for someone to get back to me so i can cancel my contract.
I cannot seem to escape this company. I can only believe that vodacom actively search for the most imcompetent people this country has to offer to work in their call centres. Vodacom clearly focuses on keeping labor costs as low as possible rather than focusing on efficiency and quality of their service. I can only imagine it is in direct contrevention of the Consumer Protection Act to prevent a customer from cancelling a contract i.e. forcing me into paying for a service that one does not exist and two i cam getting over charged for. PLEASE can someone contact me to help me resolve this issue!
And the adventures of Vodacom's pathetic service continues. After 3 months of endless torture resolving my previous issue, someone competent eventually contacted me and to be fair assisted with resolving my initial issue. However after my initial period of data bundles, 6 months later i tried to purchase a data bundle via dialing *111#. All went well and i got the message that my account will be credited with the applicable data on receipt of an sms. The sms never came so i checked my balance which was nil and tried again. The issue persisted so i decided to put myself through the painful experience of dialing 111. After the usual holding on period of 20min i eventually got hold of someone who gave me the usual response "we will have to escalate a query". Now please let me comment on this ridiculous process - i am yet to phone vodacom and actually speak to a person who can resolve my issue. Why is there such segregation and seperation between the person who speaks to the client and the person who resolves (or never resolves) the issue. So to continue with the issue, the person eventually initiated my query and told me i can expect a response within 48 hours. Obviously 48 hours came and went and after a week i called vodacom back. Again i obviously waited a minimum of 20min and told the new person (because its impossible to ever speak to the same person twice), about my issue and told them that a query was escalated. This person accessed my profile and told me there is no evidence of a query being initiated regarding this issue. So i waited again for a enw issue to be escalated and insisted the person send me the sms with the reference number while waiting. Well another week later and i receive a wonderful sms to say my query had been closed. So i try buy data again and still the same problem. So i put myself through the painful experience of calling vodacom again. Eventually i get hold of someone and after now over half an hour of waiting the person says "sorry i do not know why your query was closed, i can see nothing was done. Please hold while i initiate a knew query". So as anyone could imagine i was furious and demanded someone to deal with this issue immediately (impossible task at vodacom because the person responble for dealing with the issue is what feels like, 15 processes 1000km and 25 people away from the person i was speaking to. Please not it has now been over 2 and half weeks of paying out of bundle charges. Well eventually i get an sms to say it has been resolved and call back and ask the lady on the phone if she can please process my data order so i know it is now working. I get an sms to say my account has been credited with 500MB as i requested and finally i was happy i no longer needed to pay out of bundle data charged. A little while late i get an sms to say my account was credited with a 5GB data bundle and now i was satifisfied that Vodacom was giving me this data to compensate me for the inconvenience as well as out of bundle charges that i received. So i left it at that but little did i know.
While checking my bank statement in September i see that my vodacom accoutn was much larger that usual so i download my statement and see that i have been charged R430 for 5GB of data!!! I cannot believe my eyes so i call Vodacom immediately and relay the story. As usual a query is opened and nothing is done. A week later the usual sms comes through saying query has been closed. I call back and as usual the response is "sorry we will open a new query as we can see the issue was not resolved". So i wait again and a few days later i get another wonderful message saying query closed followed by another sms explaining what my contract entitles me to on a monthly basis. Now please explain to me how telling me what my contract entitles me to, has anything to do with my issue that i raised. So i call back again and a new issue has been opened and currently i am waiting.
Unfortunately it doesnt end here - after countless hours and issues with vodacom i ask to please be put through to the cancellations department so i can once for all end this painfull and ********** relationship with Vodacom. I speak to the lady and she says " it will cost you R0 to cancel your contract, your upgrade was due in March 2016". I would have loved for a vodacom mistake to actually benefit me for once but im conscience got the better of me and i told the lady that it is impossible because i upgraded in April or so. She apologises and says she needs to call her supervisor, so i held on for 25min while these *********** people tried to figure out what was going on. Eventually the lady comes back to the line and says there appears to be a problem with her system so she will initiate a query for me so i can be resolved. So once again Vodacoms error becomes the customers problem. I am currently still waiting for someone to get back to me so i can cancel my contract.
I cannot seem to escape this company. I can only believe that vodacom actively search for the most imcompetent people this country has to offer to work in their call centres. Vodacom clearly focuses on keeping labor costs as low as possible rather than focusing on efficiency and quality of their service. I can only imagine it is in direct contrevention of the Consumer Protection Act to prevent a customer from cancelling a contract i.e. forcing me into paying for a service that one does not exist and two i cam getting over charged for. PLEASE can someone contact me to help me resolve this issue!