Vodacom billed me incorrectly, then admitted they owed me – now delaying refund

Vodacom billed me incorrectly, then admitted they owed me – now delaying refund

This has been one of the most frustrating experiences I’ve had with a service provider.

I had an active contract with Vodacom. In early March, they sent me an invoice (dated 03 February) charging me **more than double my normal monthly premium**, even though my contract had already been cancelled.

I lodged a formal dispute and made it clear that I would escalate the matter to ICASA.

Only after that did Vodacom contact me and admit that they had made an error and that **they actually owed me money (±R723)**.

They then directed me into their refund process — which has now become just as problematic.

Timeline:

* 9 March: Refund request logged and all documents submitted * Vodacom confirmed 7–14 working days * 16 March: Told refund will take 3–5 working days * 20 March: Told I will be paid that Friday or latest Monday 23 March * That date passed with no payment

Now Vodacom claims the 7–14 working days only started on 19 March, which contradicts everything they told me before.

It gets worse.

On 24 March at 10:06 I called Vodacom and was given [***](mailto:***) as their complaints email.

I tried to send an email and it failed because the address does not exist.

At 10:46 I called again and another agent confirmed that this is the email address Vodacom gives customers, even though it is not functional.

So customers are being given a complaints channel that doesn’t work.

This whole situation shows:

* Incorrect billing * Only correcting the issue after escalation threats * Delayed refund processing * Conflicting information from staff * A non-existent complaints channel

I have comp**** with every request immediately, yet Vodacom keeps shifting timelines and failing to honour commitments.

I am now requesting:

* Immediate payment of my refund * An explanation for the incorrect billing * An explanation for the conflicting timelines * Access to the recorded calls * A functional complaints channel

If this is not resolved, I will escalate to ICASA.

Vodacom needs to fix both its billing and its refund processes.