Three Vodacoms, a Call Centre, and Four Hours Later...

I had been using my Samsung S8 for 4 days before the mic stopped working, the battery life drained faster than my 2 year old Note 4 and the screen was unresponsive at times. I phoned the Vodacom call centre consultant who helped me renew the contract and one of the options he gave me was to cancel the upgrade, which meant that vodacom would come and pick my faulty s8 up, then I would have to go in store and renew the contract AGAIN and then Vodacom would give me a new device.

Thankfully I took the phone in to Vodacom Woodlands Boulevard where they told me had I done this, I would have had to pay a cancellation fee. However, I started to ask about the repair or replacement of the phone, how it would work and what I would need and the technition helping me went silent as to how the procedure works and had to leave me at the desk TWICE to go and ask someone else to help me. Finally I was told that I needed proof of purchase and that they could not reprint it for me because they weren't the store that did my contract, and that no other Vodacom could do it because it is a franchise and each store has its own system. I then told them I would need to do another sim swop, which costs R200, to reuse my sim in my old phone and then do it again once I got the new phone back, whether they were going to reimburse me. In short, I was told no and that that was my problem. Firstly, HOW is it my problem the phone VODACOM sent me is a dud, and secondly that I need to do sim swops because of it?

They then advised me to go straight to samsung in Menlyn, as they would check my phone in store and would be able to give my device back sooner.

Before going to Menlyn, I whatsapped the consultant who helped me over the phone to email me a proof of purchase, to which he rep****, "lol your mom should have those documents. I can only send you a screenshot of the purchase on my system and your imei number...." and then advised me again to cancel the upgrade and reopen it. I didn't even bother any further.

Knowing Samsung will require proof of purchase, I went to the smaller Vodacom in Menlyn where they were actually able to print my proof of purchase, unlike I was told. I then went to Samsung with all my goods and printouts, only to be told that my situation was in vodacom's hands, not theirs, as vodacom has their own repair centres etc.

Boiling by now, I strutted to the larger vodacom in Menlyn where they could not even find my phone's imei number on their system and had to transfer me to 2 different consultants before they were able to find it. I was then finally helped, provided with a sim adaptor and my s8 was booked in under warranty.

All in all, this is not the first time that vodacom stores provide me with different procedures around one common situation. I am absolutely livid with the time, petrol and patience I have had to waste on this single endeavor, thus I am looking vigorously into new cellular network providers.