Vodacom Data Store Baywest - Customer Service means DIY or go away

This review relates to the Vodashop in Baywest, opposite Checkers. I would like to be contacted by the owner, and not the manager because I have already dealt with her and clearly I am not a priority in her eyes.

On Tuesday, 07 August 2018, I went to the store in order to upgrade my phone, a simple process that should only take about 15 minutes. However, four days later I am still waiting for the upgrade to be processed and I am still walking around without my new phone. The staff at that store are the most unhelpful and *********** people I have ever had to deal with at a Vodacom store.

I had a choice between two phones, the LG G7 ThinQ and the Sony XZ2. I initially selected the Sony, but then the consultant changed my mind and thus I settled with the LG. The consultant then went on to enter the LG IMEI number into the Sony selection and everything went downhill from there. I sat for more than an hour in that store and then they told me to return the following day (Wednesday) after 10:00 because they had to process a reversal and that they would do that the first thing the next morning. All I had to do was pay the admin fee and I could take the phone. I returned the next morning and the problem was not resolved and I was advised to return that evening. Frustrated for not even receiving a simple phone call prior to me wasting my petrol and time travelling all the way back to the mall (I live quite far from the mall), I called the call center to lay a complaint. The store then denied saying that they told me to return and said that they were still busy resolving the issue. I returned again that evening as advised, and still it was not complete(this was my third trip to the store). On top of that, I now felt like an unwanted guest, receiving eye rolls and deliberately making me wait on them while they were doing who-knows-what in the store room. I have never raised my voice and remained courteous and professional at all time explaining to them that I would not mind waiting if I were at fault, but this was not the case.

The manager then told me the same old story about sending the request and that there was nothing that they could do further and that all I had to do was to remain patient. At this stage my patience was running very thin. She then said that they would resolve it by the next day (which was Women's day). I asked her if the head office would even be open and she assured me that they would be (it was not since it was a public holiday). I personally had to ask them if they could be professional enough to give me a phone call the next day to keep me posted as to the progress of the upgrade. The staff promised, come hell or high water, they would phone me first thing in the morning. They never did. The manager and her entire staff were incredibly unhelpful and simply walked away from me and continued on their laptops as if I was not there.

Friday, 10 August 2018, I had to personally phone the store again to speak to the manager who was busy at that time. The manager, as usual, did not get back to me after I was promised that she would. Later that day I phoned them again and said that I was on my way again to sort this out or otherwise I am cancelling it altogether. A lady answered the phone and said that she did not deal with me and that the manager and the consultant was not there. She said that the consultant would be back later and then evidently sighed when I told her I was on my way to the store (the attitude in her voice was quite evident). The consultant then phoned me back to tell me not to come in because there is nothing they could do. I did not believe this lame excuse anymore because there is always someone that can do something. I work in a corporate environment, I know this. When I got to the store, as usual, it was not done and their excuse was that the request was still pending. Previously the manager said that the waiting time was 24 to 48 hours. This time limit had been reached already and when this was pointed out the consultant then said that it takes at least a week to resolve. Why they could not pick up a phone and make a call is beyond me. I left the store very frustrated as all they said was that they would contact me again (I do not believe them).

I then made a stop at another Vodacom store (next to Game in Baywest) to find out their thoughts. A staff member immediately asked me to sit down and checked on the system and realized that the query had already reached its expiration date that evening and thus a response should have been received already. She then phoned the Trading Partners and they said that the other (***********) store had logged the request in the wrong department and it thus had to be redirected to the correct department. Another mistake that they did not even pick up. Then it would appear that the correct documentation was not even attached. The lady at Trading Partners then said that there was a simpler and quicker way that they could have dealt with the issue. All they had to do was send a copy of my ID and the documentation with a letterhead to the back office and the issue would have been dealt with IMMEDIATELY. The lady at the other store is keeping me posted as to the progress of this request now and she is not even getting a sale out of it (because unfortunately this store did not have stock).

I am completely disgusted at the incompetence and attitude at the Vodashop across from Checkers. They do not take their customers seriously and can only provide insufficient excuses instead of actually doing their jobs and solving the issue as it was their mistake (as they have admitted but refuse to do anything about it). Apparently another customer had to wait a whole week because they selected a certain color of phone and they processed it under a different color. This is pathetic and the manager allows them to get away with it and frankly does nothing about it. They told me this story to show me that all I had to do was be patient, but all that story does is perpetuate the fact that they continuously make stupid mistakes for which the customer has to suffer. It is no surprise that the other helpful store next to Game is always full of customers and this *********** store has barely any customers. This store will result in many people leaving Vodacom altogether.

With the amount of time, petrol and effort I put in just to get a simple upgrade... and then still being expected to pay an admin fee of R150 for a complete administrative disaster is PATHETIC.