Trying desperately to return a faulty upgrade phone - process practically impossible!

<p>I am really hoping to be able to turn this complaint into a compliment when this issue is resolved. I have spent my entire day so far trying to sort this issue out with Vodacom via the call center and in store but no luck. </p> <p> </p> <p>I received an upgrade iphone 7 last week (to the day) and the home button on the phone is not working - it froze a few times and now not working at all as of this morning. In the Ts and Cs it is extremely important that this is resolved today - because the next thing I will be told is that it cant be replaced because it is out of the 7 days (today is day 7). </p> <p> </p> <p>After 4 calls to the call center (each over 9 minutes long) - I kept getting passed around to various people who couldn't help and then getting transferred back to the general call center and starting all over again and being put on hold - tried calling the direct upgrades line too but all that consultant heard was "I want an upgrade". After being put on hold again I gave up as I had a meeting - there was a missed call from a Vodacom number but when I tried to call it back - straight back to the general call center and back to square one. </p> <p> </p> <p>In frustration I decided to go to the Vodacom store in Rivonia after my meeting - to their credit they did try to help me but all they could do was call the call center while I sat there - they were also passed around and had to call twice. </p> <p> </p> <p>I was told to email "vadmin" email address and send them the details of the problem - the store said I need to do it urgently as today is day 7. I have so far received a response from a consultant but had to resupply details like my ID number and phone number which were supp**** in my initial mail. </p> <p> </p> <p>It has been a totally stressful and impractical process and it has taken me most of the day to get to this point - surely there is a better way to solve urgent client problems rather than passing them around on the phone and a store actually having to call their own call center in order to help you? </p> <p> </p> <p>I am a loyal Vodacom customer, have had the same number for 18 years, but this incident has really dented my faith in Vodacom's ability to resolve client issues.</p> <p> </p> <p>Hopefully it will be resolved through the vadmin email consultant soon - at least now I have an actual contact person which is a good sign! </p> <p> </p> <p> </p>