Vodacom Fibre Promises are Empty Promises

Vodacom bought Evotel, the original Fibre Internet supplier at our complex, The Cambridge in Bryanston, last year (2017).

On Tue, Mar 13, 3:30 PM I received an email from Vodacom about a deal for former Evotel customers who were now Vodacom customers about a deal - the following is copied from the email: “During the month of March 2018, you will be migrated from the old Evotel pricing to our new Vodacom Fibre price plan (on your current package), as previously communicated.” On my package I would now be paying R679/mo. instead of the current R1008/mo. They said it would happen automatically.

On Tue, Mar 20, 7:31 AM I mailed Vodacom with this request: “I am interested in upgrading to the 100 Mbps (upload and download) line speed listed in the table below at the new monthly subscription price of R1049. Will you please let me know about my options to migrate?”

On Tue, Mar 20, 2018 at 11:10 AM I received a response: “Your request has been noted. You will be notified about your upgrade as you will need to approve the new package.”

On Apr 10, 2018, 4:19 PM, the following message was received from Vodacom ********** that due to the VAT increase: “The migration will now take effect on 1 May 2018. Your Vodacom invoice will indicate the old pricing with a credit for both March and April 2018 so that you are not negatively impacted. The following invoice will reflect the correct amount going forward.”

On Thu, Apr 12, 1:25 PM, I received email from ********** saying: “Kindly receive the promotion that we are running for all the Evotel customers Kindly fill in the application form , and forward it back to me if you are interested.” I filled in the form, choosing 100Mbps up/100Mbps down speed for R1049/mo. and sent the signed form back on Apr 23, 2018, 3:06 PM. Onalenna responded at Apr 23, 2018, 9:50 PM to say: “Please note that your monthly premium will change automatically on the system , if you need to upgrade please call the number follows ********** ” - thus disregarding that she had sent me a form herself which I needed to fill in for an upgrade. Apparently that was the wrong way to go about it.

When I got through to the call centre, I was informed that there was no deal for The Cambridge - I spoke to a condescending person who referred me to the website and then asked me if I saw anything about a deal for The Cambridge (there was nothing on the website).

Onalenna then called me to tell me that my speed would automatically be upgraded at the special price - it did not happen and when I followed up with her, she emailed me on May 2, 2018, 7:23 AM to say: “Kindly call this number . they will assist you ********** ”, to which I responded on Wed, May 2, 7:35 AM: “Onalenna, we’ve gone through this. You referred me to that number before and when I called they told me I couldn’t upgrade and that I should contact the administrators. I emailed the administrators and thereafter you called me and assured me that my speed will be upgraded. I expect that to happen now. Please advise if there is someone else I can escalate this to?” She responded on May 2, 2018, 7:55 AM: “Ok I remember you Mr. Olivier Please ********** the thing is I cannot do the upgrade on my side.”

I sent mail to the provided email address and received a message from ********** indicating an error: “Your email to Vodacom has been REJECTED. Please resend your request making sure that the below rules are adhered to.”

During all this a certain Sophia (no surname provided) sent me a Quote for the 100/100 speed, but it was not the special price - rather the normal price! I emailed her to say that the Quote needed to be adjusted and she never did that.

Over the months I must have called them 30+ times - I started to get to know the voices. Every time I spoke to someone they would promise to get back to me and then nothing happens and I would call again. Some would promise me that Sophia would get back to me on the day, but she never did. One person told me that upgrading was a 30-day process.

My last communication to Vodacom about this matter was an email on Tue, Jun 12, 9:47 AM wherein I formally complained to Vodacom in an email - the feedback I got was this generic message on Sat, Jun 16, 4:26 PM: “With regards to the Fibre query please contact Fibre support team on ********** (free call from Vodacom line) for further assistance. Alternative email ********** They are available Mon - Sun from 6am till 10pm”. I don't know if they recorded this in a formal way as a Complaint.

I would have expected far more professional and prompt service from Vodacom, and I would have expected them, as a listed company, to take my complaint more seriously. I will be considering further actions to take, as I believe that I am owed money by Vodacom because they made a promise of reduced monthly fees, which did not materialise.