Vodacom cant get anything right

I don't even know how Vodacom stays relevant in today's market. Their customer experience is an absolute disaster: from impossibly long waiting times when calling the contact center, to people passing the buck to other departments, and non-delivery of promised outcomes; the list is never-ending.

My most recent experience: I place an order on Black Friday morning (24 November) for a new contract, at around 09h00. I get my confirmation emails that the order was received and that an agent would call me back to verify the order. At 14h00 I call them back to make sure that the order gets confirmed successfully since I had no feedback yet: keep in mind I am operating under the "Free next day delivery" promise they so boldly advertise on their website. I speak to a lady who ultimately states that the order is confirmed and that RAM will be in touch soon to organize for delivery.

I go about my weekend, and on Monday, no call from RAM. Tuesday I call Vodacom again to inquire as to the order status (keep in mind they have already broken the next day delivery promise - even when reading all the terms and conditions thereon). The lady I speak to states that the phone is just awaiting dispatch and that as soon as it is released the couriers will contact me to arrange the delivery. I ask her to prioritize the case since I am going away on holiday on the 30th (Thursday) and want the phone by then.

Wednesday I call Vodacom again to verify that the order has made some sort of progress: I am informed that the order is not complete since they are awaiting supportive documentation i.e. latest payslips. I immediately become furious since I was already told everything was finished and the phone was just awaiting dispatch. I inform the lady that I am an existing customer with 2 other contracts and asked how can it be so difficult to get another line if I am already with Vodacom. She asks for my cell phone numbers and confirms that I am indeed an existing customer and informs me that the supportive documents is no longer needed, and that whomever did my initial order created a new profile for me as if I was a brand new customer who needed to be vetted. She states that she will escalate the matter back to the original consultant to take it up with her team leader who should contact the warehouse to release my phone for delivery.

I mean seriously, Vodacom is an utter failure when it comes to taking responsibility: they are slow, inefficient, customers have to point out all the errors all the time, they cannot realize their own mistakes, and they certainly do not keep to their "free next day delivery" promise.

Tomorrow morning at 10 I fly down to the Cape for a holiday: I was suppose to have my phone in my hand on Monday already: now when will I get my phone? Better yet, how will Vodacom even begin to make right this ridiculously poor service. I have been with Vodacom for nearly 4 years and I cannot remember a time that I did not have an ongoing problem with them: from disappearing airtime, over charging of accounts, incorrect addresses displaying on my invoices, wrongful charges on accounts, passing the buck to almost every other department. I've lodged numerous Hello Peter complaints over the years: and I always get offered FREE DATA to make up for their pathetic service. Listen Vodacom we don't want FREE DATA for your *****-ups, we want accurate and reliable service in the first place.

Please Vodacom, just get a clue!!!