Vodacom

I went to Vodacom Blue Route to upgrade my contract with Vodacom on 6 June, just before we went away for a 10 day vacation in the Eastern Cape. On the 7th day of having the brand new iPhone 6S it completely died. It wouldn't turn on and it didn't respond at all to a charger. We were in Jeffrey's Bay, where there is no Vodacom store, but I logged the issue at a Vodacom Chatz store as soon as I could get to one so that there was a record of the problem within the 7 day period. Before this, I tried to call Vodacom Blue Route numerous times from different phones as soon as it happened, but there was no answer. We tried again from the Vodacom Chatz store, and again, no answer. I also spoke with a store in PE who mentioned they couldn't help me and I need to take the phone back with it's box, etc to Blue Route. I was also told to "try charge it overnight and see if it works in the morning". We arrived back in Cape Town on Monday, 17 June, and went straight to Blue Route to return the device. I waited ages to speak to a consultant who was super unhelpful and unfriendly, and gave me no information about what she was doing to process the issue. After asking her she mentioned that they would call me once they had looked at the phone and the request had been processed. Call me on what, exactly? I didn't have a spare phone at home and she told me they don't have replacement phones at that store. I was told that I would be emailed or called within 3-5 working days with feedback - either the phone can be repaired, or I would receive a brand new phone from the store. On Wednesday, 19 June, I was called after 5PM to request proof that the issue was logged in Jeffrey's Bay, and to be told that the phone was still at Blue Route and had not even been sent off yet. The consultant eventually found the complaint that had been logged (on the Vodacom system, not anything that I would have access to) and said she'd provide me with feedback within 5 days. This was already on day 3 since taking the phone in. I called the store this afternoon to ask for feedback, after hearing nothing still, and was told that the device had been returned to Blue Route without being checked. The consultant had escalated it and it was going to be collected again today to be checked, but she mentioned it will need to be sent to JHB for repairs if it can be repaired. Otherwise they would provide me with a new iPhone 6s. She said she hoped to have feedback for me by Friday. Friday would make it more than two weeks without a phone, and with nothing being resolved; all this time I am paying for a new contract that I cannot use. I find it absolutely shocking how I am questioned about the time period to return the device to store, and yet Vodacom can continue to extend their time to respond to me. I have done everything in my power to meet the requirements to log the issue, even interrupting a family holiday to drive out of my way to a store to ensure I could at least log the issue since the store wasn't answering the phone, and there was no store within 80km of where we were staying. I run my own business and I am losing money every single day that I don't have a phone. I was one of the unlucky ones to receive a faulty device, but that is not my fault - Vodacom is taking absolutely no responsibility for this and I'm the one paying the price? How much longer do I need to wait to hear from them? Your 3-5 day period is long over, I cannot go another week waiting and wondering. I need to be given a new phone urgently, or my contract needs to be cancelled.