Vodacom has stopped caring about its customers

I have been a Vodacom customer for 20 years and was due for an upgrade this coming October. In August a sales consultant from Vodacom contacted me, saying that Vodacom wanted to offer customers better value for money on their products and that since I was due to upgrade my contract, she could offer me more minutes and data for a similar price. I elected not to receive a new handset and wanted a contract only. I was under the impression that I would be receiving the same service as I had on my previous contract, only with better voice and data options for a similar fee.

2 weeks into the new contract, I discovered that all external services that I have subscriptions to that were billed to my Vodacom account (eg Spotify) were discontinued. I called the customer care centre and was informed that this is because I am now on a top-up contract and no longer on an open contract. I explained that I was not made aware of the difference during my conversation with the sales consultant and that I would like to return to an open contract.

I was then put through to migrations where I spoke to a very friendly lady, who assured me that this would be done, but that it could only be made effective from the beginning of the new month (ie 1 October). She said she'd be in contact during the month but I didn't hear from her again and I was silly enough not to get a reference.

Today, I called the customer care centre to make sure that this would indeed be done, only to be informed that there is no way I could have been promised that, because the earliest that could be done in 3 months from now, and that the process would involve cancelling the new contract at a fee and opening a new one.

I realize that this has all happened as a misunderstanding but if the contract does not suit my needs and its limitations were not made clear to me, I don't see why I should either have to live with (and pay for) something that doesn't work for me, for 24 months, or pay over R2000 to change it!! Especially since my conversation with the other employee in mid-September didn't go into any of this!

I find this entire process frustrating and confusing. How am I supposed to now obtain a contract that actually meets my needs without being punished for it? The call centre agent more or less told me that things are done this way and can't be changed, so essentially the customer and their needs are irrelevant and the corporate machine is the only thing being served here!

If I'm honest, the sales person should have looked at my history, examined what products and services I actually use, and recommended something that suits my needs. That is what I expect. What happened is that I got 'sold to' and expected that the product would suit my needs as it had before. After 20 years as a loyal customer, to have no one interested in resolving this satisfactorily is frustrating and disappointing to say the least! Where do I begin to resolve this? Vodacom has lost sight of caring for its customers.