Vodacom's unpromising Fibre deal and after sales support

Hi everyone,

I didn't think I would need to resort to this but I feel my voice is going unheard by Vodacom because I do not see any action being taken but only empty promises. I recently had fibre installed at my home by Vodacom using Vumatel. I originally was planning a month to month contract but the sales consultant had advised that they have a new package that includes a UPS but only available if taken with a 24 month contract. Therefore I opted for that in light of the coming stage 4 load shedding. This was on 2nd November. Consultant advised that it should be delivered in 3 to 5 days.

On Thursday, 4 Nov, I was happy, initially, to see that the delivery was shipped out for that day. The delivery was to contain the Wifi router and UPS as I was promised. However only to realise they attempted delivery to the incorrect address given by Vodacom. I phoned RAM and they said I must contact Vodacom to correct the address. I phoned Vodacom and they advised they'll update the correct address and send to RAM. I phoned RAM again they said they'll only deliver on Monday, 8 Nov. Good news though, Vumatel did arrive on Thursday, 4th Nov, and installed the fibre but I could not use it yet because I did not have the wifi router.

On Friday, 5th Nov, Vodacom phoned me to activate my line but I didn't have the wifi router which I thought they would've known from the previous day's call. They assigned one of their engineers who phoned and advised that he will come to my premises with a wifi router and activate.

On 6th November the engineer came and activated my line. YAY! 50Mbps.

Now this is where things went downhill all the way.

On Monday, 8th Nov, RAM made a delivery but only delivered another WiFi router. Both RAM and Vodacom had sent me a notification to say that the delivery has been made. The delivery box does not state what the contents and it was a big enough box to assume both devices were in there. That was absolutely frustrating especially knowing stage 4 load shedding was that week. I phoned Vodacom, the consultant advised that they can't do anything about it and I must phone RAM and give them the order number Vodacom uses with RAM to arrange delivery. I phoned RAM. RAM said they can't do anything because they receive the parcel from Vodacom to deliver. RAM advised that they do not keep the details of what's included in the parcel from Vodacom and I need to contact Vodacom.

On Tuesday, 9th Nov, I called Vodacom about the UPS and they said according to the request the parcel had been delivered. I told Vodacom it was only another Wifi Router. This means vodacom did not note it down on the 8th. The consultant said they'll log another request for it to be delivered which will take another 48 hours. I advised them to escalate because it was part of the package. He said he will and will keep me updated. This was sometime in the morning. I called at around 2pm for an update. The new consultant advised that the previous consultant did not direct the request to the correct department and she had to fix it. So basically if I didn't call this wouldn't have been picked up. This consultant advised she will contact me before her shift ends. She did but advised there's no update. I asked to speak to her manager or team lead and she said she gave my number and they will me back. Did not receive any call back.

On the 10th, 11th and 12th, I had phoned Vodacom and spoke to different consultants and none of them could give me an update besides that the request is sitting with their warehouse department. Even a resolution manager phoned me and promised they will resolve this and I don't needs to make any calls. Basically I could not use the fibre during all load shedding times which I could've been using with the UPS for the ONT and wifi router especially seeing that I work from home. And I guess this is why they created the package with a UPS. I had to reactivate my LTE with a different service provider for a stable connection during that time. My LTE wifi router did have a small UPS which lasts 2h30min. Basically this means I'm paying 2 service providers for Internet connectivity. I sometimes had to use my phone data, with Vodacom, in order to work.

On 15th Nov, I called Vodacom and they still didn't have any update. The consultant advised she will escalate to their warehouse leaders and ask for a resolution manager to be assigned (which I thought was already assigned) and call tomorrow morning to have a conference call with the resolution manager.

On 16th the consultant did call back and put me through to a resolution manager as promised. I explained, again as I have to many consultants before, what the issue is and the fact that vodacom has not fulfilled delivering of their product to me.

Then on the 17th Nov morning, Internet connectivity was not available even though the fibre was up. I did the powering off for 5min and still no luck. There was no load shedding then. I logged a call via the app did not receive a call back.

On the 18th I called Vodacom to report the issue and they did reset the line but still no Internet. They said they will send it to their back office to investigate. Which takes up to 72 hours for a response or engineer to be assigned.

Today, 19th Nov, I still have no internet connectivity via Vodacom fibre and they haven't delivered the UPS. It hasn't even been a month on Vodacom and so many issues and inefficiencies. Is this what i have to look forward to on an ongoing basis? It is really stressful and frustrating as I can't afford to have this much interruption and instability with Vodacom fibre. Not only that, I feel like I have been ******* by Vodacom to get into a 24 month contract. And it seems unfair that they will bill me at the end of the month for the full amount without providing the full product. I'm also paying for another LTE service provider because I can't trust the fibre from Vodacom. And Vodacom will obviously not be liable for that. I was even told by another vodacom consultant that another customer had the same issue with not getting the UPS. I guess this is a known thing.

I honestly do not know what to do now. I guess the best option is to cancel this contract and hope vodacom does not charge me. I feel others should be made aware of this before taking this package and also what to possibly look forward to judging from my experience.

Hope this helps!!