Vodacom unreliable services

I am sorry but I am highly disgusted for the service provided by Vodacom. For an entire month I have been waiting for Vodacom to refund me and still waiting for a mistake on their part. About 5 weeks back I decided to open a contract with Vodacom. When the contract had not activated within the 24 hours as stipulated, my husband and myself went back to the store to query. The error was picked up when the sales person read the number aloud and the last digit of my cellphone number was incorrect. He then corrected the error and notified the relevant department at Vodacom to fix the error. Thereafter everything was sorted.

On the debit order date, more than R3000 was deducted from my account instead of the approximate R700 that should have been deducted. I immediately called Vodacom on 111 to make a query. The lady who then helped me then logged on my account to see what the problem could be and low and behold... Vodacom cancelled the incorrect number which was initially put in the system as my number as a contract from my account. She immediately said she would escalate the issue and would send me a query number and that she would keep in contact with me to let me know if my query has been dealt with. As stated I received the message. To be safe, my husband and myself went to the Vodacom store to make the query with the guy who helped us. Unfortunately it was his off day but we had left a message for him and our numbers so that he could contact us and we notified one of the staff of what we were experiencing. A few hours later I received another message stating that the query had been closed, followed by a phone call from the same lady indicating that the query has been raised and that I would receive the money back into my personal account within 7 days from that day. 7 days came and went. I called again just to be told that it shows on the system that I would receive it on 12 Septembee 2018. The 12th September came and went. I called again on 13 September which a lady answered and transferred me to the quality department. A man answered and said that he was sure the lady said 7-14 days the payment would be made into my account. I told him to go back to the phone call the woman made on 1 September seeing that all calls are recorded for quality purposes as he is implying I misunderstood what she had said. He said that I would receive my money by 14 September or early the following week. I warned him that if I do not receive the money as stated that I will be laying a complaint as it would be more than 15 days that I have not received my money back.

The following week I still had no messages or money transferred to my account. Once again I called but I asked to be transferred to the relevant department to make my complaint. The lady whom I spoke to said that she needs to transfer me to the cancellations department to lay my complaint as they are responsible for this particular issue. I found it very unfair though that I had to be the one dealing with the issue when it was Vodacom responsibility as they made the mistake. She apologised and thereafter transferred me through to the department. Once I was transferred and having to explain my story again and request to lay a complaint, the lady who answered tells me that they aren't able to refund it as it was a cancellation. At this point I was furious as I had to endure this struggle for my own money that Vodacom took on their mistake. Because of my frustration the lady said she needed to speak to her supervisor and placed me on hold. After waiting for a few minutes a man answered. With no warning this woman transferred me to ANOTHER department....and again I had to explain the story and request to lay a complaint for the 3rd time. The man proceeded to tell me I should go back to the Vodacom shop as the person who made the initial mistake perhaps made the incorrect cancellation. I angrily told him that if that was the case, Vodacom would and should have picked it up from the initial call I made on 1st September. Instead they are messing me around and it took 3 departments to get through to get my complaint through yet no one could take it.

I went immediately back to the shop where I found the guy who did the sale. His first question upon seeing me was how are things to which I responded not good and that I still have not been refunded. He proceeded to tell me that he is shocked as he followed up with Vodacom accounts and they assured him that my refund was processed and I had received it. He then assisted me and we called into accounts at Vodacom again. They looked at my account to which they said that it showed that the refund was processed yet it was not indicated on the invoice. They then contacted their solutions department to find out what the problem was. My call was then transferred to the Vodacom Solutions department. I was fortunate enough to have someone who was willing to look at the problem and try and find a solution after both myself and the Vodacom store salesman explained the issue. He then said he would follow up and notify me about any progress made. He also found that the system showed that the query was only processed on 12 September but it was not dealt with. On Thursday following the call, I received a call from another department who wanted to confirm my banking details. When she mentioned my bank account number, the number was incorrect by one digit although all other details was correct. I corrected the bank account number but somehow she said that it was not processing. She said she would try again to call me once she finds the problem. About 2-5 minutes later, she called back to ask am I sure it is a Standard bank account and not an ABSA account. Firstly why would I give an incorrect bank name and secondly if a debit order was performed, why would my details change suddenly. She said she would try again and get back to be. A few minutes later, I received a text requesting I check and correct my banking details at the Vodacom shop. I immediately went to the store just to find that one part of the details was incorrect yet when I confirmed the details on the phone with her earlier it was correct. Eventually they corrected it at the Vodacom store. The following day the Vodacom Solutions department called me again to follow up and I notified him about the issue and that I corrected my banking details. He then followed up with the same department with regards to the refund. The lady dealing with the payment said that she had spoken to me and that it was still not processing. This was on Friday evening and since it was the weekend he could not do anything further until the following Tuesday as it was a long weekend. I told him that any mails he sends from then onwards with regards to this matter that I should be CC'd in the mail.

On Tuesday he called and said he would follow up with regards to the refund. He had no response so he took the matter up further. This communication carried on between Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday morning I received a call from the Vodacom Solutions department indicating that the refund had been processed and should reflect on my personal account within 48 hours.

It is going for 120 hours.... And still Nothing.

This is the most ********** experience I am having with Vodacom. What is so difficult to reverse a payment? It is ridiculous. Over R3000 is a lot of money. To Vodacom it may seem like nothing but we have people here still trying to make a living. It is inconsiderate.