1 reviews | Active since Feb 2020
Theft by Smartit with possible Vodacom collaboration
I have a small uChoose Flex 65 account of R65 a month with Vodacom. I made one call of 26 seconds today, my first since 19 December - and suddenly I had zero airtime left. When I phoned Vodacom on 082-111, I was told that I had no money because "I" had subscribed to a daily subscription of R7. This is crazy because I haven't even switched on my phone since December. All that Vodacom was prepared to tell me is that the company drawing the money was called Smartit. A few questions: How can Vodacom deduct this money from my account when they have no proof that I subscribed? How can Smartit get access to my account when my phone is not even on? How can Vodacom send me a a detailed account each month but not show me the details of these "subscriptions"? This is blatant theft and *******ion enabled by Vodacom. What if I was a poor person and this was my only communication. At least I had the wherewithal to contact Vodacom and try to sort it out. When I phoned the help line the operator was able to "block" the subscription, so hopefully it will be discontinued. It just makes me wonder - shouldn't Vodacom confirm these subscriptions with the account holder before they deduct the money? Of course they should, trouble is, I think that it is Vodacom staff have most likely got access to our personal data and are exploiting it. Furthermore, Vodacom are obviously making money out of these ********** deductions so why should they protect their customers!!!! The only thing positive out of this experience is that Vodacom reimbursed me with R65 airtime. I just wish that Vodacom had an ethical and honest business approach. I also looked up Smartit and guess what, there is no such company in existence. Needless to say no service could possibly have been delivered to my phone any way. Another thing that Vodacom should do is check whether these "subscrpition" companies are bona vide businesses before taking our hard earned money. .
