Vodacom's pathetic service shines brightly

I've been a Vodacom customer for more than 25 years. I am a Red contract client, which, according to Vodacom, should mean something. It means absolutely nothing. I did an upgrade last year, taking a new Samsung with the upgrade. The phone is a few months old. In January the phone would not charge. On 25 January I dropped the phone of at Telepage in Port Shepstone. They confirmed it was a warranty claim, and gave me a seven day turn around time for repairs to be done. After 7 working days I called, and they informed me that they are still waiting for spares. Obviously no one at Telepage even bothered to follow up on the spares that was supposed to be dispatched by Vodacom's Advance Repair Center. Telepage eventually decided to send the phone by courier service, Ram Couriers, to the ARC. I heard nothing, and eventually called Vodacom Customer care. All they can say is that they will send an e-mail escalating this repair. Whether this was ever done, I would not know. The consultants are working from home, so there is no supervision. The fact that there was no constructive feedback means that no mail was sent to ARC. Eventually I get a SMS wanting me to accept the quote. I had no idea what that was about, as I received no quote. Going back to Telepage I eventually found out that the quote was for a cracked screen. Quote was over R 3000,00 Technicians at Telepage confirmed that when I handed in the phone and that when they dispatched the phone, there was no cracked screen. This presumably happened while the phone was in transit by Ram Couriers. This is a problem that must be sorted out between Vodacom and Ram Couriers. Today, after 1 Month and 3 days I found out that the phone is still at the ARC and that nothing has been done on the repair side. When I opened the Hello Peter page, an I saw what Vodacom's rating was, I could understand why their service / customer care is so bad. During this month no feedback was received from Telepage, ARC or Vodacom, unless I di the calling. I came to the understanding that; 1) Vodacom could not care less about their customers. They have thousands of them, so losing one or two does not bother them 2) Once you signed the contract, they can do what they want to for the next 2 years. They laugh behind your back at your ranting and raving 3) Having a Red contract give you no improved service. Their add promoting priveledged treatment is a lie. It is a good way to squeeze more money out of you.

Vodacom service is pathetic, and unfortunately it is impossible to do something about it.