To whom it may concern
I find it utterly disappointing to have to resort to laying a complaint or having to become irate with call centre agents just to have a decent service rendered to me.
I have been a loyal client of Vodacom for more than 12 years with the same number and for the past 7 days I have been unable to use my phone because Vodacom has locked me out of my phone without cause.
To provide more context. My father had a contract with Vodacom which administration I dealt with. Statements came to me, and all queries were done through me. The monthly premiums were being deducted from my father’s account monthly. On the 3rd of October my father lost his battle with cancer and passed away.
Within days I notified Vodacom and they told me repeatedly that because I am not the account holder I cannot make enquiries on his behalf, as I am not an unreasonable person I understood the legality of what they were saying as frustrating as there feedback was. I then got a nice gentleman to listen to what I had to say and he sent me a premature cancellation quote (because by then I wanted nothing to do with Vodacom).
As you can see it is dated the 15/10/2019. I sent through the relevant documentation and no follow-up was done on Vodacom’s side nor mine, which I take ownership for ,I had to assist with the rest of my father’s estate and a cell phone contract was not at the forefront of my mind.
By the end of November my father’s bank account had to be frozen due to normal processes with any demise. Vodacom was quick to notify me that the account was in arrears, I then again queried the cancellation of the account and was referred to retentions who advised they had received no notification of my father’s death, much to my annoyance.
With one call I was able to replace my father’s banking details with my own and I settled the arrears immediately.
Fast forward 6 months later…
I received notice from the executor of my father’s estate that they have settled his Vodacom account (as all his creditors had to be paid) to the value of R 5 966 as quoted in the document received from Vodacom in October. I immediately contacted my cellular provider who put such a bitter taste in my mouth with regards to their lack of professional conduct and just plain incompetence.
I requested to speak to someone in management and this is where my already appalling experience with Vodacom turned into a nightmare.
I was ”assisted” by MORENA THABANG RAETO on the 15 May. I explained in detail the above tale and he was sympathetic to my story and said I needed to provide him with my Id,3 month bank statement and my proof of address. The very next day on the 19th of May I sent all supporting documentation. (during this time Vodacom promptly removed my banking details and my account went into arrears, this was also my first and last call with Morena)
By the 1st of June I had not received a call from Morena and when I made an enquiry regarding why this process was taking so long and that this bill was unnecessarily in arrears now. Morena then advised he was assured that a Vodacom store manager would contact me and he will check with the manager and get back to me. That was the last communication I received my Morena Raeto. Since then he has either blatantly just ignored all my emails or blocked me and I was then forced to contact the call centre. I have spoken to so many agents and they all say the same nonsense about how he is a team leader and they cannot just call him nor transfer me to him. They will send him an email and he will get back to me.
So this dance went on for about 2 weeks with no contact from Morena, not even a email to tell me there are delays, he could even have blamed the delays on the current pandemic. I would just have been grateful that he wasn’t ignoring me!!!
My cell phone went radio silent on Monday without any notice which took me from being highly irritated to IRATE instantly. I spoke to Philisiwe Ndebele, Tembeka Mabusle ,Dumisani Shongwe, Itulmeng,Rachel to name a few and they all tell me after I explained my entire story for 20 minutes that they cannot help me and they will send Morena an email to contact me. Any human reading this must understand that by now I’m in tears with this disgusting service. Not one person I spoke to took any accountability or initiative to help. I have been calling Vodacom twice every day since my cell service was terminated and waiting in that queue just to be told they can’t help.
All I want to do is pay my Vodacom account as I have been doing for literally years . This account should be reflecting in a credit and still my phone has been disconnected for 7 days already.
I am pleading with someone to help me fix this!!