Vodacom - SA's leading joke of a cellular network

I wish I could give less than one star, even that is too much!

On Monday 6/8/2018 I called the Vodacom upgrade line to process an early upgrade as my current handset packed up and it was out of warranty. I spoke to Nomsa and everything ran smoothly: She confirmed the device I wanted (S8+) and processed the upgrade. I got a call from her about an hour later saying that they didn't have stock of the device in black as I requested, but that gold was available at the warehouse and if that was okay she would go ahead. I agreed to this and shortly thereafter received an SMS asking me to confirm my order, which I did.

I later got a phonecall from another consultant who wished to confirm the details of my order, and when everything was completed I was told I would receive everything in 3-5 days and that I should enjoy my new handset.

Days went by to which I received no tracking details, no firther communication, nothing. So today (10/8/2018 - Day 4 because of the public holiday) I decided to follow up as the handset I am currently using needs to go back to its owner this weekend. I was informed that my order status was set to "back order" as there was no stock available of the phone in gold. This was contradictory to the conversations that I had had earlier in the week.

I told the consultant that this was unacceptable and that I would accept the phone in any colour, but my job depends on me having a phone at all times and I can't now start a new order from scratch and wait another 5 days for delivery. I asked if there were absolutely no stores in the country with an s8+ available and I was told to drive around and look for one. This kind of treatment is absolutely unprofessional. There were no managers available for me to speak to.

Now I have been told that a manager would call me back, but this is more than an hour ago and - at the end of the day - I'm still sitting without a phone.