What did I pay insurance for? My one-sided relationship with Vodacom:

This HelloPeter complaint is about Vodacom giving incorrect advice that a damaged handset would be insured until the end of the month, when the contract renewal would come into effect, and therefore that the damaged handset would be repaired under their insurance.

On 13 December 2017, I went to the Craighall Vodacom shop to get my iPhone 6 repaired under the Vodacom insurance which I had been paying for consistently.

The in-store sales agent told me that I would likely be without a phone for up to 21 working days whilst the phone was being repaired. However, she advised that because I was due for an upgrade (and had been due for an upgrade which I had not accepted for over 2 years), I should accept and pay for the upgrade on that same day, and the iPhone 6 would still be repaired under the Vodacom insurance, as the insurance would subsist until 1 January 2018 at which point the new contract would come into effect.

The agent advised that I take my broken iPhone 6 to the Sandton branch myself as the repair turnaround time was much quicker than leaving it at the Craighall Vodacom shop, who would then send the phone to the Sandton branch on my behalf. The agent assured me that, despite my paying for and accepting the upgrade on that day, the iPhone 6 would still be fully insured up until 1 January 2018 when the new contract would come into effect.

On 15 December 2017, as instructed by the Craighall Vodacom store, I took my broken iPhone 6 to the Sandton Vodacom repair centre where it was accepted onto their system. I was told that they would contact me once the repaired phone was ready for collection.

On 20 December 2017 I was informed by the Sandton Vodacom repair centre that Vodacom insurance had rejected my repair claim due to the fact that the insurance was no longer in place for the iPhone 6.

I immediately attended at the Craighall branch with the same sales agent who had assured me that my iPhone 6 would remain insured until 1 January 2018. The agent again told me that my iPhone 6 was indeed insured until 1 January 2018, and that the insurance company had made a mistake. She said that she would phone Vodacom insurance to explain to them that the phone should be repaired under the insurance as the insurance was still in place for that phone.

The Vodacom insurance rejected the claim once again. Vodacom insurance informed me that it would cost approximately R5,000 to fix the phone.

Vodacom, through one of its agents, mislead me by stating that the insurance for my iphone 6 would subsist until 1 January 2018. I would never have accepted my upgrade at the time that I did if I had known the result would be a cancellation / rejection of the insurance for my iPhone 6. It was only subject to the advices, assurances and actions of the Vodacom agent that I accepted the upgrade. I consistently paid for insurance and have been a loyal customer at Vodacom for many years, spending a large amount of money each month on my phone bill, only for Vodacom to reject my claim pursuant to the incorrect advices and actions from one of its agents / unwarranted rejection by the Vodacom insurance.