Vodacom contract sorrows

I received a call from a Vodacom Telemarketer in September 2018 which I later discovered was an outsourced third party. I was told that Vodacom has a promotion and my data and minutes will increase, but I would not be paying more for the service. I then repeatedly and clearly said "So i wont be charged more than what I'm paying right now", and she answered in the affirmative.

Lo and behold I received my first statement in October 2018 and my bill has increased from between R900 - R1000pm suddenly to R1700pm. I immediately contacted the call centre to inform them that I simply cannot afford the instalment, I was put through to various people until i was told that if i want to 'downgrade' back to my old package then I would have to pay a penalty of R3500. I couldn't believe it, I was then told that if i call back when this third party outsourced sales team is operating then I can take it up with them and request the voice recordings to prove my claim etc... what an absolute nightmare, i don't even know who these people are and they said they were calling from Vodacom.

I was provided with reference number: 1- ********** ********** on 1 November 2018, and I was told that someone would contact me within 7 business days to resolve the issue but nobody has contacted me since.

Now I'm sitting with a contract that is ridiculously expensive (I received another bill for R1700 for November 2018), and i cant afford it, I can't go back to my old package without paying a massive penalty, and i cant get a response from Vodacom, so please be very careful when telemarketers call you.

Vodacom - please help a loyal customer that has already paid you thousands and thousands of rands over many years.

Reagrds

Mr M Toefy