Vodacom's new strategy provokes more questions - suddenly smart isn't so smart anymore.

<p>Being a loyal vodacom subscriber for more than 20 years I suddenly experienced running out of data and airtime which never happened before and discovered with Vodacom's new strategy a Smart package was no longer fitting the smart description. Quering data usage even with extra once off bundles purchased, my query submitted on the 6th June has delivered no response. On the same day 3 plan changes were requested for 3 different Vodacom numbers of which 2 falls under business. On the business numbers I received multiple Migration Quotes ********** & ********** via email. These were signed and request to move from smart to red package had to be submitted on business letterhead, identification of director/members and signed quote to Vodacom business on 0 ********** 01. My own personal number received an sms message shortly afterwards that migration request was being processed. On the 24th June I contacted Vodacom business on ********** spoke to Brenda who assured me that even though I haven't received sms's on business numbers for migration it reflected on the system and should be finalised by the 26th June 2017 - reason for not receiving sms's was due to business and personal not dealt with in the same manner. When I logged in today I saw that no changes were made to these business contract plans and contacted Vodacom again spoke to Gloria who said the Vodacom business number 0 ********** 01 should not have been used even though this is the only number reflecting on the migration quote form with no email adress. I was requested to ffwd my quotes via email on which I asked if this mean that we have missed out on the rugby jersey promo that was advertised with the red plans and she said most probably. This is dissapointing but even worse the billing shows we will be paying a lot once again due to the option of being on a plan that provides more data was not processed. That is on the business side. My on personal number was an even bigger nightmare. The migration request let to the following which in my 20 years + has never happened before with any plan change. On the 30th June last day of Smart XL plan all my calls received showed as unknown and after a few rings the call was dropped without me answering. I contacted Vodacom and was told that this happens since my information is reset and by calling Vodacom the call identifcation is loaded again and billed to my account at R9.50 pm. After this call my calls came through and I could see the numbers. On the 1st July(1st day on new plan) I wasn't able to send an MMS message contacted Vodacom again and was told that my handset was faulty and should visit an IStore which I knew was not the problem, and my query was not resolved. On the 2nd July(2nd day on new plan I wasn't able to make calls since my airtime showed zero minutes tried to purchase airtime with the x100# unsuccessfully, then tried the bank and purchased R200 of airtime. I contacted Vodacom for a 3rd time on my 2nd day on new plan and was told that it sometimes happens with a migration that the cellphone number in question must be synchronised before it will work effectively. I explained to the call centre that I was struggling with the poor service I received from Vodacom referring to the previous calls and she informed me that on the red plan that I was one will not be able to send MMS message unless I purchase airtime to be transferred to allow MMS messages. I told her that I've always been on contract and any prepaid option was not an option for me. She suggested another plan being red plan select + which will cost R999 instead of R1099 on the top up red select being the reason not being able to send MMS messages. However should I wish to do so I would have to pay the R1099(plan which I was on for 2days but not having the benefit of using since sychronisiation was needed)+R999 = R2098 which I refused since how was I to pay for a service plan that wasn't working even a day before the plan was changed. This migration caused a lot of frustration since I missed a lot of calls affecting my work. I was then told that the next option would be to wait until the 31st July and then request the red plan select +. Speaking to Gloria today at Vodacom business I informed her that I have no confidence or trust in Vodacom's service delivery. HOW CAN SO MANY THINGS GO WRONG leaving me with more questions and confirming that maybe the new strategy's intention is not to provide a better more affordable option to its customers but rather how much more can Vodacom benefit from providing incorrect information, outdated forms and details and call centre staff being incompetend to advise and provide the correct information and assist customers to solve queries rather than creating more frustration and valueble time waisted.</p>