Vodacom Airtime Deductions iro 3rd Parties

<p>In yet another instance of my airtime suddenly having been completely depleted, I contacted Vodacom customer "care" (an oxy***** if ever there was one...) to enquire if there was any daily internet content from 3rd parties being charged to me, It was no surprise to find out that this was indeed the case. The operator then immediately cancelled 3 subscriptions for internet content which I have no knowledge of subscribing to. </p> <p> </p> <p>In this regard, I have two burning issues.</p> <p> </p> <p>1. What right do Vodacom have to authorise allocation of my airtime as payment to 3rd parties without my informed consent. If I purchase airtime from Vodacom that is a contract only between myself and Vodacom. Surely, in terms of the CPA they cannot freely distribute all or part of this as payment to outside parties with whom I have not willingly or knowlingly contracted,</p> <p> </p> <p>2. Not withstanding the above, in the event that I do inadvertently contract with a 3rd party for internet content, I would expect Vodacom to send me an sms notification to this effect immediately when this happens. This would represent a bare minimum level of customer service.</p> <p> </p> <p>I can only surmise that Vodacom receives some form of kickback from these outside parties otherwise why else would they not look after my interests first.</p> <p> </p> <p>I would be very interested to know if any other long-suffering Vodacom "customers" have experienced similar issues.</p> <p> </p> <p>Stephen Legg</p>