1 reviews | Active since Feb 2012
Vodacom has ****** my flagship mobile device.
I bought a Nokia 8 from Hi Store in October 2018. It was a Vodacom device but I paid cash. The phone had a few issues - crashing apps etc - but overall was a fantastic phone, Nokia's flagship device, and excellent value for money. I decided to wait until the warranty was about to expire, then buy myself a new cheaper phone (Samsung A51), load everything onto it and hand in my Nokia for repairs. I didn't want to lose info so thought this the best plan. My plan was to continue using the Nokia once repaired, and keep the new Samsung as a backup.
I took my phone back to Hi Store Canal Walk and they suggested that things would resolve more quickly if I went next door to Vodacom and handed it in for repair there. I did, and that's where my terrible nightmare began.
Vodacom has taken possession of my phone. No discussion, no permission, they've essentially confiscated it and have refused to return it to me. I call it theft because it's my property, not theirs, and they've taken it without my permission. They seem to think it belongs to them and I have no rights. They have offered to replace my flagship phone with a cheap device because my old Nokia 8 has meanwhile dropped in value, as phones always do. They have given me a choice of a few completely unacceptable devices that don't in any way meet my mobile needs, and in no regard whatsoever compare with the phone they've now ******. I need a smallish device that fits in my pocket, works quickly, waterproof, gorilla glass, and a good screen dimmer for using when I can't sleep. I also enjoyed the excellent screen resolution and good camera. They can't offer me anything of the sort. I truly want my old device back with its crashing apps, because even with its problems it's about 10 times better than my new Samsung which has more problems than any phone I've ever owned, and crashes several times a day. I hate this phone. I would like to hand it back to Takealot where I bought it but can't, because four months later Vodacom still refuses to return my precious Nokia 8 for me to load my info onto it.
The irony is that I have no business with Vodacom, my contract is with Cell C. How can they presume to think that they have rights over my device that I paid cash for? Surely this is *****ing? Surely if they want to offer me a replacement, they have to give me a choice about whether to actually take the replacement or have back my faulty device? Or offer me something that compares? Their position is that I have no say whatsoever in what happens to my own phone, even though it was fully paid for and under no contract with them or anyone else. They believe that my cash phone actually belongs to them. How can that be?
I phoned Nokia to enquire about it, but they claim that it's never been returned to them for repairs and they know nothing about where it is.
What an absolute cheek Vodacom has. I want my phone back. Nobody at Vodacom can explain why they believe they have more right to my phone than I do. I have been in again and again and have literally begged them to return it to me, but they have flatly refused. It was working, with an occasional app folding, so I guess somebody at Vodacom fancied it for themselves. I doubt I'll ever see it again. Disgraceful business practice.
It gets better.... He then explained that Vodacom had unilaterally decided to break up my phone for repairing other people's devices. So other lucky people get to keep their flagship Nokias, while I get to replace mine with some very basic, hopelessly incomparable device, courtesy of the great Vodacom.
My phone was still under warranty, so if they needed to sacrifice one, mine should have had priority over all the out-of-warranty devices in for repairs. I can only guess mine was the one in better condition, with more working parts that could be used as spares.
It gets even better.... Lance's parting shot was to say that I had received an sms from Vodacom to advise me that I would be getting paid out. He said he had checked with the store and that they say they had definitely messaged me. He argued that if I had rep**** to that sms I could have saved my phone. What *******! I never received any such message. To make sure, I did a search for Vodacom in my messages and found exactly two - one on 28 October to say my phone had been received by the store, and one on 29 October to say it had been received by the repair centre. Absolutely nothing further. Maybe he realised that they have no defence against what they've done to me so he's now trying to come up with something.
Whether they end up paying me out some piddly amount or not, I regard it as theft. It was my device, I should have had some say in what happened to it. Lance thinks I'm talking about sentiment, but I'm talking about the features I need in a phone. I'll probably need 3 to 4 times what they pay me, to get something comparable.
When I handed my phone in for repairs, I did not at any time hand over my right of ownership. But according to Lance, I did. It's a disgrace.
It gets better.... He then explained that Vodacom had unilaterally decided to break up my phone for repairing other people's devices. So other lucky people get to keep their flagship Nokias, while I get to replace mine with some very basic, hopelessly incomparable device, courtesy of the great Vodacom.
My phone was still under warranty, so if they needed to sacrifice one, mine should have had priority over all the out-of-warranty devices in for repairs. I can only guess mine was the one in better condition, with more working parts that could be used as spares.
It gets even better.... Lance's parting shot was to say that I had received an sms from Vodacom to advise me that I would be getting paid out. He said he had checked with the store and that they say they had definitely messaged me. He argued that if I had rep**** to that sms I could have saved my phone. What *******! I never received any such message. To make sure, I did a search for Vodacom in my messages and found exactly two - one on 28 October to say my phone had been received by the store, and one on 29 October to say it had been received by the repair centre. Absolutely nothing further. Maybe he realised that they have no defence against what they've done to me so he's now trying to come up with something.
Whether they end up paying me out some piddly amount or not, I regard it as theft. It was my device, I should have had some say in what happened to it. Lance thinks I'm talking about sentiment, but I'm talking about the features I need in a phone. I'll probably need 3 to 4 times what they pay me, to get something comparable.
When I handed my phone in for repairs, I did not at any time hand over my right of ownership. But according to Lance, I did. It's a disgrace.