"Vodacom is committed to the highest standards of business integrity, ethics and professionalism." - OR NOT, as I have experienced.

Vodacom, I must congratulate you!

On 3 August 2019, I took my device in for repairs to the local repair store in Cresta. The reason my phone needed repair was because when I plugged the phone in, the phone wouldn't charge... it seemed to reject the battery, which was the same battery I had when Vodacom delivered the phone.

Thami assisting me in booking my phone in, but not without the usual rigmarole of paperwork. The repair job is job number ***0. Interestingly, on the receipt, it states the device was booked in by Johanna Mokgathle. While Thami was booking in my phone, I had a grievance, and raised it with the store manager. She was with us almost the entire time, and quite frankly, gave the impression that she would rather spend time on doing anything else on her phone than talk to a customer. And, she couldn’t have cared less about my grievance, or even tried to help me with it. She simply shrugged her shoulders.

According to Thami (as his manager), the turn around time for repairs is 21 days, but usually it take a couple of weeks. On the receipt I received, it states that "I hereby confirm the above information and acknowledge that I have received the terms and conditions leaflet and that I understand and agree to the information contained therein." Included in the "Type" of repair on the receipt was "non-warranty", but Thami confirmed that this would be changed to "Warranty" once the device arrives with the engineers, AS LONG AS THE PROOF OF PURCHASE IS SENT WITH THE DEVICE.

On the 15 August 2019, I received an sms from Vodacom stating the repair job had been received by Vodacom Alisom Repairs. It then stated the turn around time for a warranty repair will be approximately 2 - 3 days. I was pleasantly surprised, maybe Vodacom were improving their communication and customer service.

2 weeks later, on the 30 August 2019, I received a further sms stating it is currently in the repair process and awaiting spare parts.

Today, I received an sms stating that the repair would cost just over R3,500 and that I had 2 days to accept or decline the quote. I called Vodacom Alisom Repairs, and spoke to Kabelo. Let me give credit where credit is due… Kabelo is exactly the person you want on the other side of the phone. She is polite, yet firm… professional, yet honest… and has the ability to empathise, but stick to the rules! Well done!!

Kabelo explained that according to the terms and conditions I agreed to, the warranty will be voided if my device is damaged. I asked her to send me a copy of the terms and conditions, as this was the first time I had heard about this.

Needless to say, in the terms and conditions, in BOLD, were the words Your warranty will be voided if your device is damaged. I suppose it is my own fault for not specifically requesting a copy of the terms and conditions and reading them before signing. I usually do, but I assumed the signed statement from Thami confirming the device would be covered under warranty as long as the proof of purchase was received was good enough.

If Thami and the store manager had explained that this was the case, I would not have sent the phone in for repairs. I was fully aware of the physical damage to the phone, as I could see it. And, Thami even made notes on the receipt that there was some external damage to the phone.

Over 6 weeks later, I still don’t have a phone, and my opinion about Vodacom hasn’t budged. Although, I at least have respect for one employee at Vodacom, Kabelo, who works at Vodacom Alisom Repairs, well done!

I am tempted to ask Vodacom to fix this phone, at no cost to me, but I think that is unfair. However, I was expecting the charging element to be fixed under the warranty. As this is not the case, I would accept that the Vodacom Repair Store in Cresta pay for the repair to the charging element (approx. R1,200). I don’t need anything else to be repaired, as it functions just fine as is.

I understand that Vodacom Head Office cannot ask the Vodacom Repair Store in Cresta to pay this amount, as I have been told by more than one employee that everything is franchised, and the store managers make the local decision. One more reason why I refuse to get a contract with Vodacom, and why I steer people to any other network!

Vodacom, the ball is in your court. I am looking forward to a response.