******* by call centre to take out contract i can't use

On Friday, 31 May 2019 around 9am, I received a call from a vodacom call centre. The call was to discuss the amount that I currently spend on airtime per month and to offer me a product at a better rate. The person from the call center informed me that seeing as though I spend so much money and have been a long standing customer of vodacom, and haven’t missed a single payment for more than 10 years, they would like to offer me a contract at a special rate of R399 for R550 of airtime. I told the person that I need a contact that can cater for both my airtime and data requirements and not only airtime.

The person assured me that I can add additional contract onto the same SIM card which will include a data contract at a special rate of R199 for 20GB (daytime and 20Gb nightowl).

I agreed to these terms. He later on went to tell me that they need to deliver a new SIM card to me and that is the only way that the contract can be activated - and I was told that the new SIM card improves the connectivity of my phone and voice call quality and vodacom have brought out these new SIM cards to deal with their poor connectivity issues.

Furthermore he told me that I would receive 2 SIM cards. I specifically asked him “why do I get 2 SIM cards? How does it work?” And he assured me that as soon as I receive it, I just follow a quick process of dialing 135 and thereafter the contracts are linked to one SIM card on my existing number.

This is what I understood from the call and this is what I expected to receive. The SIM cards were delivered and then I inserted the new SIM card in my phone. I then called 135 only to be told that I have been ******* by the call center into buying 2 contracts which I cannot transfer onto my existing number. I initially thought this person must be making a mistake and at the very next opportunity I had, I decided to go into a vodacom store to find out if this was true. The consultant that assisted me said the exact same thing - that I was ******* by the Vodacom call centre to sign up for 2 contracts which cannot be transferred to my existing number.

I have proceeded to call the after sales center in order to cancel these contracts as I don’t know what else to do.

The fact of the matter is that I do not understand how this can be allowed. I do not understand how you can waste someone’s time to this degree. I am so frustrated and angry that I do not want to be a customer with vodacom at all, and I am willing to change service providers as a result of this.

I would really like to understand what has happened and if someone can please investigate this.