Unsatisfactory solutions

First 2 years went great. Got unlimited wifi and made timely payments each month. Then December hit and I had to contact the consumer lines on multiple occasions.

November, I accepted a job in a new and bigger town, which meant I would have new options with regards to wifi and data from January. December 1st I called and gave the instruction to cancel my contract. Vodacom's Ts and Cs state 20 business days and 75% charge for early cancelation. The lady on the other side convinced me that a R 25 Whatsapp month to month would work out cheaper. She also insisted that I could not cancel yet. On the 5th of December I contacted Vodacom again and gave explicit instruction to have both the wifi and whatsapp package cancelled. I received no reply. I sent multiple other emails during December. No satisfactory reply was recieved. On the 2nd of January, I checked my invoice. With a shock I saw that I now have to pay R 650 (Wifi R 623 and Whatsapp R 25x 2), instead of the R 25 I discussed with the agent on 1 December. I called again. They were closed. I sent multiple emails. No satisfactory reply given. I contacted the Facebook team. An agent called me back, listened to my story and only put the cancellation order in now meaning that according to Vodacom I am liable for January's fees. I have asked for escalation within Vodacom and also contacted Icasa and the Consumer Council. This is not a suitable solution for me as I gave a timely order of cancellation.

Also during November and December we spent 3 weeks with no reception for internet and calls during loadshedding (and sometimes when there was no loadshedding). I also had to threaten the Facebook team then with Icasa and the Consumer Council as they did not read what I had asked them when I logged a query. The logging processes were also not adequately explained to me. I also had to do Vodacom's job for them in the sense that I had to ask people in the town if they have problems with network and then forward numbers to Vodacom. Vodacom refused ti listen to my complaint if I did not do that. Furthermore the solution provided was less than satisfactory, since we still had no reception even when generators were brought in. It still took Vodacom more than a week to fix the battery problem at the cell towers. No feedback was ever given as to why there are problems and when it would be fixed. I had to do my own investigations. This problem is not a concern for me anymore. It is just a warning for prospective clients regarding the difficulty of dealing with the customer care line as well as the unsatisfactory solutions provided.

What I can compliment them on is the timely response to my query about a double payment. Now I must just wait and see if the money reflects within 7 to 14 days.