Vodacom Upgrade Unresolved for more than a Year

<p> </p> <p>Good day Vodacom</p> <p>I did an upgrade last year at approximately end of July 2015 and after 3 wrong phones were ordered by Vodacom Alisom - which was either the wrong colour or size everytime, but luckily I had my old Note 3 which I was using in the meantime, though I had to pay for a new handset that I never received.</p> <p> </p> <p>Then they phoned me to announce that I can collect the 4th one. When I travelled all the way from Kriel to Witbank again - at my own cost once again - I was told the manager made a mistake. It was not my phone that arrived. I had to wait 3 weeks again and traveled again for the 5th time when I collected the 4th Apple iPhone 6s Plus 128 GB. This was the correct make, model & colour this time!</p> <p> </p> <p>In the meantime, after I received my iPhone 6s Plus(4th one - 2016/07/25) I sold my Note 3, because I already had old iPhone 5 and then the new (4th) phone 6S Plus and had no need of 3 iPhones. When I started using the iPhone 6 s Plus, I realised the speaker phone does not work and the normal speaker was so faint I could not hear people phoning me and the keyboard is faulty or freezes up from time to time.</p> <p> </p> <p>I reported this immediately and was told to book it in for repairs and they would then give me a loan phone. Again I traveled to Witbank at my own cost and this time they had no alternative but to give me a loan phone (one out of Noah's Ark) to use for a month while they 1st established if they could fix 4th phone or not. They informed me they couldn't and they had to order a new one for me again, because it was Special-Out-of-Box-Failure. That of course took another month approximately.</p> <p> </p> <p>Then I was notified that I could once again return this loan phone and collect the 5th new iPhone 6S Plus. I travelled again at my own cost (and I would like to emphasize that since end of May 2015, I was retrenched and had no passive income, which I informed the manager at Vodacom Alisom Witbank of). Before I left their office I insisted in testing this new phone 1st, but for some strange reason on Monday, 25 July 2016 (nearly a year later), they could not sync to Vodacom's WiFi to set it up & test it for me (my data was finished on that contract number). I told the manager that I will test it at home when I can sync to my mom's router.</p> <p> </p> <p>I got home that Monday, and immediately did the set-up & again it had the same problems as listed above. I immediately phoned the sales consultant on that same day, who assisted me & said the manager would phone me back. The manager phoned me and assured me that this was a new shipment & could not understand this & I'll have to bring it back again and see if they can repair it & will have to give me a loan phone again. If they could not fix it I will obviously receive a new one again if it is Special-Out-of-Box-Failure.</p> <p> </p> <p>28 July 2018, I phoned the manager at Vodacom Alisom Witbank, and explained to her that I have now been paying for a phone for a full year, but had no use of it and I would like them to down-migrate me for the cost of a new handset which I have been paying for a full year, but had no use of, and take the rest off a different phone that I will choose, seeing that the iPhone 6S Plus, seems like a very bad phone. </p> <p> </p> <p>I reminded the manager at Vodacom Alisom Witbank again, I have been without work for nearly 15 months now, it's a month later again & they still have not given me an answer & I cannot hear people properly and it's really a hassle with this faulty handset. I don't have the means to travel twice/thrice again: 1st, get a loan phone & hand in this 5th Iphone for repairs, 2nd travel again if iPhone could be fixed & if not, then choose a new one and then hopefully they will have a phone in stock of my choice or, 3rdly if not, having to order again a new handset of my choice and wait another 3 weeks and drive through again to collect.</p> <p> </p> <p>So if they can just tell me yes/no on down-migration for free - as I have paid for a phone for now 12 month's that I had no use of - and I then l'll notify her beforehand which phone I would like instead of iPhone 6s Plus. She can order it then in advance & once it's arrived, I'll collect it and hand back the faulty iPhone 6S Plus, (which I had to use during this time, even though it was faulty, otherwise I would forfeit the minutes, data & sms's without a handset & pay subscription plan for nothing). </p> <p> </p> <p>She informed me to rather phone lady directly at Vodacom Alisom Head Office, because she did e-mail my request to her on 2016/07/28, which was lying with her for nearly a month now. When I phoned the lady at Vodacom Alisom Head Office (2016/08/23), she informed me that the query has been with the director since 2016/07/28 & she is still waiting for the director to sign it off and just say no/yes to down-migration. </p> <p> </p> <p>On 2016/08/29 she told me on WhatsApp she will in the meantime send me a decent loan phone to Witbank & I must take faulty one back so that they can see if it can be fixed. I informed her on WhatsApp 2016/08/30 that I don't have money for petrol & if they could please send a courier with the loan phone & I'll send the faulty one back. Since then she never rep**** to this request and since then I've heard nothing from her.</p> <p> </p> <p>I again pleaded, I wrote more e-mails, I phoned Vodacom Head Office and the lady at Vodacom Alisom Head Office, if they could get approval for down-migration & fix old phone I would be more than happy, but at least I only have to travel once, instead of twice. </p> <p> </p> <p>I kept on phoning, because everything was quiet & nothing was really resolved between Vodacom Alisom Witbank and Vodacom Alisom Head Office Midrand. I eventually complained to various people at Vodacom Head Office itself and also sent numerous e-mails to get this resolved, but they also never came back to me or tried to e-mail me & resolve this upgrade issue.</p> <p> </p> <p>It is now nearly 13 months after my upgrade and I feel like exploding, but still no replies to my e-mails to complaints department and no reply from Vodacom Alisom Witbank or Vodacom Alisom Head Office and I am still battling with a faulty brand new handset.</p> <p> </p> <p>Is this the type of service I must succumb to from an Internet Service Provider as a consumer and then they actually expect me to pay them? I have always kept my account payments up to date, irrespective of my unemployment for nearly 16 months now and still no answers. </p> <p> </p> <p>Would anybody be happy with this kind of treatment (after you have done your upgrade a year ago) and no service and iPhone 6S Plus' which might prove to have factory faults of some sort, relating to this specific Apple device's fabrication perhaps? My sister's son had exactly the same problems with his & it seems like Vodacom is not reporting this to Apple.</p> <p> </p> <p>I am soooooo unhappy & frustrated. Can anyone help please or are there no laws that exist anymore to help the poor consumer in this unfair treatment?</p> <p> </p> <p>Regards</p>