Vodacom excels at bad customer service

So now I know why it’s called “fibre”, because getting it is a real test of one’s moral fibre. Especially, it appears, if you are going to get it done through Vodacom. The urged to curse and swear and do mean things to strangers is almost overwhelming.

After having my front yard decimated by Vumatel’s cabling crew (Flowerbeds simply dug up and destroyed) I decided that I might as well enjoy the benefits of the new fibre capacity in my neighbourhood. So, having perused a plethora of options and “special introductory offers” I finally settled on Vodacom. Why? Because a friendly, although somewhat lethargic salesman, had given my wife a pamphlet along with his direct contact number. The pamphlet offered a reasonably priced monthly, uncapped service. It also promised free installation of the fibre connection to my home. Lastly, it promised a free router, and 100 GB of data, whilst I wait for the aforementioned installation. Perfect. I phoned the salesman on the 30th of November 2018, to verify that these offers were indeed true and valid. He assured me that this was indeed the fact and we arranged a time and date for him to visit my home on (Monday) 3 December, to complete the necessary paperwork for the application. At the appointed time, the salesman arrived and we completed the forms together. I gave him the documents that he required from me (copy of my ID, proof of residence and recent payslip.) At the time he assured me that the application would be vetted within two days and two days after it had been approved, the interim router would be delivered. (Thus, four days in total) This was excellent news, seeing as I was looking forward to a decent internet connection in time for Christmas, when I had a couple of days leave. Sadly, this was not to be.

On Monday 10 December, after 5 working days (7 days in total), I phoned the salesman. He apologised and said that he had only been able to submit my application on Friday 7 December, but that my application would be vetted and approved within two days.

On Tuesday 11 December I received an SMS from the salesman, stating that the vetting system had been “offline since Wednesday”, but that my vetting would be approved within “48 hours (maximum).”

On Friday, 14 December, after still no word from Vodacom, I phoned again. This time the salesman transferred me to his manager, who apologised for the delay, but reiterated the system problems. Later the same day I received an e-mail from Vodacom, requesting the documents I had provided at our original meeting. After another phone call to the salesman, he confirmed that Vodacom did in fact have the paperwork and needed nothing more from me. I had a call from the subcontractor who would do the actual installation of the fibre and ultimately arranged a date for the second week in January. At least, so I thought, I would have the interim router delivered within a day or two. By 18 December (15 working days after the original meeting) I sent an SMS to the salesman to enquire about the router. He responded that his manager would phone me. Needless to say, he didn’t. The following day my wife phoned said manager, who explained that the router had been dispatched, but that he would follow up. On the 20th of December I received an SMS from the manager, in which he copied internal Vodacom correspondence, indicating that there are no modems available in the warehouse and that, considering the festive holidays, the modems will only be dispatched on the 27 and 28th of December. I expressed my disenchantment with Vodacom, but up to now, have not heard another word. Today is the first day of January, 29 days after the initial meeting and guess who still does not have a Vodacom router.