Vodacom Insurance is a ****. Has unwritten clauses with unspecified terms.

Vodacom is really a textbook case of how to lose customers due to petty red tape. I have had Vodacom Red contracts for years, diligently paying a very generous monthly payment. This includes the insurance etc. etc.

As things go, I dropped my phone accidentally several times, with one rather bad one earlier this year. I approached the Vodashop (unspecified location) in about February to see what can be done to fix it. At this time the phone was still working, and I intended to repair it before doing an upgrade, which I was due for. The staff suggested to me to rather take the phone to the Main Centurion branch, as this is what they were going to do in any case, and that it would just take them a week longer. I then left and carried on with my life, aiming to drop it off when I have time. In May the screen died fully, and i moved to an old backup phone. The phone was put in my safe and left until some weeks ago when I took some time off work. Took the phone to Vodashop (unspecified location), and booked it in. Explained the story, filled in the forms. The shop support staff advised me to say the phone was dropped a day or two before, which I did not agree to, as I said this was not the case.

Phone went in, got a call this morning to say claim was declined for not being in use... The phone was broken. Do I walk around with a broken phone for weeks, and what would that solve? When I requested the details on the exact allotted time to do so, they stated that they cannot tell me. This is unacceptable.

I could not find a clause in my contract that stated how long after an incident that disables the phone it needs to be reported, or claim submitted, but this seems nonsensical. I understand for lost phones, but ones that have been damaged should have different (or at least specified) requirements.

I will be taking this up with the ombud and will be closing my accounts with Vodacom.

Thanks for nothing.