Vodacom Executive Team CEOs Office fails to uphold promises, Vodacom doesn't care about Clients at all!

After taking time off work two weeks ago to try to resolve the problems I’ve had with my iPhone repair through Vodacom, Vodacom executives have again failed to deliver on their promises.

I drove all the way to Vodacom World Midrand and had a discussion with Mr Thato Chuene and Mr Siseko Ndotshayisa.

I wouldn’t be pursuing this repair case for over FIVE months if I knew my warranty claim had no merit. Vodacom repeatedly attempt to reject my legitimate warranty claim even though I have provided substantial evidence of Apple Warranty policy to my favour.

The Vodacom repairs team didn’t get the memo, or failed to interpret properly the memo of the new Apple iPhone Warranty policy: 3rd party screen repairs no longer void an iPhone warranty, when there is a warranty claim unrelated to the display. Which in this matter is the case, my phone had an overheating fault and an issue with the home button - a manufacturer defect.

This paragraph can be found in the emails I was sent in emails from late November 2017 (from Mr Delion Green) with the Apple Warranty Terms and Conditions, as well as on the Apple website and numerous tech websites reporting on the new policy.

The second part of the issue is that Vodacom claims the Vodacom phone warranty overrides the Apple Manufacturer Warranty, which is false. The Vodacom Warranty is in fact an auxi****y warranty, while the Apple Warranty is absolute and covers all devices, regardless of where it was brought from. I have also confirmed this from iStore SA and the Vodacom website, which show Vodacom merely carries the Manufacturer warranty and is just the agent.

Since the phone was purchased through Vodacom, Vodacom is the warranty agent, so in order to send the device through to Apple to claim from the Apple warranty, it must be booked in through Vodacom and Vodacom must send it to Apple.

The common misconception in South Africa is that to send it to Apple directly, should there be an Apple warranty claim, it must be sent through iStore SA. This is incorrect, iStore SA is privately owned by the Core Group, which is an Apple Wholesaler/Distributor in SA.

Vodacom is able and must send the device to Apple directly, this “Apple” is different from the Core Group SA headquarters, where Core does their own repairs on devices they sold.

The issue is Vodacom has procedure to follow before a device is sent to Apple, else managers at Apple will complain to Vodacom about process not being followed. And Vodacom’s Warranty Ts and Cs have lesser coverage and stricter terms than the Apple warranty, even though the Apple warranty is absolute. (3rd party screen repairs are not allowed in Vodacom’s auxi****y warranty, yet they are allowed in Apple’s absolute warranty.)

So a claim directly to Apple’s warranty is near impossible because it will always fail the Vodacom procedure check. Which is completely unfair and biased to big corporate Vodacom. This all means my legitimate warranty claim will be rejected before proper merits of my case are considered only because Vodacom refuses to bypass procedure and send my device to Apple, once off for this exceptional case.

Mr Chuene shook my hand while looking me in the eye and promised to reconsider all the merits of my case from an unbiased perspective so as to hopefully get my device repaired fairly under the manufacturer warranty.

He promised me, while looking me in the eye and shaking my hand, to deliver a comprehensive, supportive email by a deadline of the close of business on Friday 23 March 2018. And he failed to deliver on his promise.

As I am writing this, it is the morning of Tuesday 3 April, and I received nothing from Mr Chuene or Mr Ndotshayisa, after giving it plenty time acknowledging the possible long weekend or room for accidents or sickness. Not even a note or an excuse about a delay. Even after sending this in an email to over 12 members of the Vodacom executive team I did not even get ONE reply or response apologising for a delay. Nothing. Vodacom does not care!

Simply, broken promises. Atrocious customer service. This is the CEO’s office, with effective executive powers. And not even they could uphold their promises or their WORD.

When Vodacom decides to get their management act together and care about their customers, give me a call. I don’t want to hear from anyone in the CEOs office giving me a call now, they don’t care about me so why should I care to take a call from them? I will only accept a call from a real executive. And it better be good news that my phone is going to be repaired under warranty.

Until then, I will never recommend Vodacom to anybody. Be prepared to lose tons of business. Way more than a phone repair cost that you have to allegedly absorb even though the claim is legitimate. I’ve had enough. This was the last straw. If a PERSONAL visit to the CEOs office can’t even get a proper response or attention, nothing can. I give up. No one deserves your terrible service.

If or when you decide to change, and when you’re ready to give me what I deserve, a phone repaired under warranty back, give me a call. Until that attitude change I will never recommend anyone to use Vodacom as their trusted service provider and phone dealer.