Vodacom
Reviews and Complaints

If you are reading this and you are a new cell phone customer or are planning to change your cell phone provider, let this serve as a fair warning. I sincerely recommend you avoid Vodacom like the plague, especially if you are planning to enter into any contracts with them, sign debit orders, etc. Trust me on this, you will regret the day you opened an account with them or buy anything from them.

I have been a Vodacom customer for more than 15 years. Never, but never did I imagine the day would come that I would get such poor service from any company. Look, service can get pretty bad in this country, but Vodacom really does rank among the poorest of the poor. They are pathetic. Things have certainly changed over the years and gone downhill so fast it makes your head spin.

Don’t believe me? Then try this for yourself: look for their Customer Care number. Where do you lodge a complaint? Go ahead; try to find someone to talk to. And I am not talking about dialing 100 or 082111 – that is a complete waste of time because you will not find any option at all that will connect you with someone who you can lodge a complaint with. Go ahead and see how far you get. Their complaints department works solely by email. I wonder why? I tried that too – no joy. Just got two standardized template responses from some faceless person.

If you are still reading this, I guess you are curious about my story. Well, it is no big deal really. My cell phone was stolen recently. I am a prepaid customer (thank God..less drama!) and I wanted to get my old number back, for the simple reason that all my bank sms’s and other notices goes to my existing number. I wanted to avoid the effort of having all my details changed everywhere I am listed as a client or customer. I wanted nothing more from Vodacom that just that – my old number.

Well, it took me almost a week and I had to go to FOUR different retail stores, as well through their so-called “customer care via email”, to get it sorted. The only reason I got it fixed eventually was because I got lucky, no other reason. Forget about getting any support from Vodacom Customer Care – it is a joke! In fact, I don’t think it really exists.

After being ignored, offended, insulted and shunted by four of their stores, I finally ended up at Vodashop in the Kolonnade Center in Pretoria. I was served by an individual by the name of Charnelle Smith, who (believe it or not) is the so-called ‘Team Leader’ for the store. Ms
Smith was very impatient with me and clearly not in the mood to serve anyone, especially not me. She kept rolling her eyes and shrugging her shoulders. First off she was visibly disgusted when she discovered that I was a prepaid customer. Sies man! And on top of that I had the audacity not to RICA my sim. Despicable me!
Next Ms Smith informed me in no uncertain terms that I could not get my old number back, unless I give her a list of the five phone numbers I have dialed regularly from my phone. Now, I ask you…do you know which 5 numbers you phone the most? And can you recall them all from memory?

Ms Smith said that if I could not give her 5 numbers there was NO OTHER WAY that I could prove that the number belonged to me. The implication is therefore that it is much easier for the criminal, who stole my phone, to sim swop my number than it is for me, the owner. All he needs to do is copy the numbers off my phone and submit them to Ms Smith and her efficient team at Vodashop…and voila…he is the owner of a brand new phone number linked to all my bank accounts!

Charnelle Smith offered me no alternatives or options to prove my ownership; she was also not going to make any effort to go outside her little operational box. She said that the system requires 5 numbers and that was that. For example, she did not suggest I call someone I know and get numbers of family and friends I may have dialed. She was also not interested in me bringing her a set of bank statements for the past 6 months / year (what the heck I have proof over YEARS) that I used my bank account to recharge my account. All she said was “computer says no…”. End of story. She could not help me and she had no intention of trying to keep me as a Vodacom customer. The computer says no.
Since all I wanted from Vodacom was my old number, I might as well go to another company and start on a new prepaid sim card. I would only lose my old number, but they would lose a loyal customer who has spent at the very least R50, 000.00 with them over the past decade, on phone calls and data bundles.

But Ms Charnelle Smith, Team Leader of Vodashop Kolonnade, could really care less and did not even flinch when I explained to her that Mr or Ms Zwelethu Sigege, Senior Consultant (nogal) at Vodacom Customer Care at her Head Office referred me there. Since customer complaints management appears to be non-existent in the company, it comes as no surprise that Ms Smith could care less. Her attitude clearly showed that she thought my little issue was a storm in teacup and that nothing further would come of it. I guess she had much bigger fish to fry, no doubt.

Well, I did promise her that she will be hearing from me again. Therefore the effort with writing this long story down. I am going to post this on every complaints website and consumer message board I can find. Since Vodacom offers no decent customer complaint support – well then I will just complain to the rest of the world. I will be spreading this information as far and wide as I can manage. The least I can do is warn other potential customers. And maybe this will get Ms Smith some more training, because she desperately needs it.

By the way, after I left Vodashop I dropped in at the Vodacom 4U in the Kolonnade and guess what…I was lucky enough to bump into a friendly, professional and helpful young man by the name of Lloyd Germishuys. Lloyd clearly had an above average IQ and took his work seriously. So, there is a tip for Cell C, Heita and MTN…if you are looking for more people to join your team…call Lloyd, because his talent is wasted where he is now.
Anyway, Lloyd listened patiently to my boring, sad story. Then he offered me a seat, asked me two or three simple questions (for instance, the date and amount of my last recharge) and within ABOUT 5 MINUTES I HAD A BRAND NEW SIM, I HAD REGISTERED MY DETAILS WITH RICA AND I HAD MY OLD NUMBER BACK.

5 MINUTES….THAT’S ALL IT TOOK MS SMITH.

What Vodacom does in future is really no longer concerns me. I am so done with them. I will be transferring my number to another service provider. Maybe Cell-C is an option, after all those promises they have been making on billboards and TV.

And to Mr Lloyd Germishuys, I would just like to say…get out of that company as soon as you can. You can do better. And thanks for your kindness. I was a victim of a hijacking last week and lost my car, wallet with all my bank cards, my ID, driver's licence, cellphone, etc. Everything. Your patience, kindness and support was a blessing to me, may you receive it in return threefold.

I was promised to have my phone returned to me within 7-10 working days, on thursday and friday I was told the phone will be either be at their shop on the thurday, friday or monday. as it was waiting in the que.

it is the 11th day and they tell me that it will be at the shop on tuesday!
I will be charging them R50 for every day that it is late.

I have phoned them every day since i handed it in, to find out what is going on with my phone!

I am not happy!

To whom it may concern. My wife gave me a cellphone contract with a blackberry curve. All was fine in the beginning and after a month the phone just went off all the time. I need my phone for business as I need to be contactable 24/7. I then took it back to vodashop in festival mall, and the manager informed me that I need an up-grade on my phone as this will solve the problem. R300.00 later he said this will be fine. Why was I not told about this in the beginning. 2 days the later the phone was worse than before, kept on turning on and off. I took it back to the store and asked them to fix it, this is where the fun starts. Sorry it will take up to 15 days, but if you take the phone yourself it will take + - 3 days. So you must drive out to a vodacare shop, which I did and this could only happen on a sunday.

As I dont have time to drive all over the place, I used the internet and made a complaint and it was funny when you send a email and the response was as follows

Yebo valued vodacom customer!

Thank you for your e-mail. This is an automated response to confirm receipt of your email and provide you with a reference number: 000uva6bfragexvr.

A contact centre consultant will respond to your query within 12 - 24 hours. Please do not reply to this email.

This was sent on the 01/11/2010 and nothing happened. I then resent another email on the 06/11/2010 and nothing happened.I then went to vodacare store in boksburg and that was a waste of my time and petrol.

No tech works on sunday's so why keep the store open, I had to leave my phone at the store and they said that they will get back to me on monday or tuesday. How do I work, the manager said that there has been a problem with sim cards so this could be the problem?

I know that this will not be fixed

A very unhappy customer

On the 4th of september 2010 I submitted my phone to vodacare (Hatfield) , pretoria, to be repaired. I received a sms that the phone is fixed and went there on the 11th of september 2010 to fetch it. I tested it in the shop only to find out that it has still got the same problem! It was not fixed! I re submitted it under same job number 5999702 and heard nothing of them. I sent a e-mail 30 september 2010 and was advised that the phone would be ready the next day and tham I would receive a notification. I did not receive any notification and again had to send a e-mail on the 4th of october 2010 to enquire about the status of the phone. Eventually some one called tobie phoned me to enquire about my sim card number and size. He mentioned that the phone will now be sent to vodacare head office whilst this was said to me on a previous date also! He also said that the phone will defenitely be ready on tuesday 12 october. On the 4th of october now a month later I received a sms that the phone will now be sent to head office under a new job number 6052020. I gave them time and sent a e - mail on 12 october to again find out the status. I also phoned on the 12th of october 2010 and was advised that the phone is still not fixed and I must wait for a notification from them.
I realise that it is a samsung phone they are battling to get fixed and that the problem could lie with samsung but in the mean time I sit with no phone! To me this is unecceptable and need explenation!
Thanks

Last week, Monday I asked to be ported from CellC to Vodacom, I was told this would take 24-48 hours. Four days later I still hadnt been ported so I phoned Vodacom, they apologised and said there was a problem but that there technical department told them I would be ported thursday night guarenteed. Friday still no port, so I phoned again, yet again I was guarenteed that it would be done by Friday night, It is now monday a week later and I still havent been ported, I need this urgently because I cant activate my work email on my blackberry till i go to Vodacom.

I dont mind if they have problems, but Im being guarenteed that the problem is going to be fixed and given a specific date and then nothing happens. I would just like someone to take responsibility and tell me what is happening with my port because apparently Vodacom doesnt have a clue.

I got an Ericsson handset on 07-10-07 with a 2 year warranty. In January 2009 the handset did not charge the battery any more. On 27-01-09 it was handed in at Vodacare Menlyn (job no.4343596) An SMS was received on 13-02-09, handset repaired and ready for collection. The handset was collected on same day, repairs guaranteed for 90 days When I tried to charge the battery, it was still not possible, it was taken back to Vodacare on 14-02-09 (job no.441025). An SMS was received on 24-02-09, the handset was ready for collection. When I went to Vodacare I was informed that the handset was not repairable because of soldering damage! I objected, the only place where soldering damage could have occurred was at Vodacare. It was handed in again (job no. 4444469). On 4 March an SMS was received that the handset was ready for collection, it was still not repaired, I handed it in again, it was went for higher level repairs (with battery and charger) (job no. 4493781). I never saw the handset again, numerous visits (30 April, 8 June, 10 June, 15 June) only resulted in promises that I will be phoned, it never happened. A letter of complaint was sent to Vodacare on 25-09-09, no explanation yet.

Early in Sep I handed in my Motorola V8 to Vodacare, for repair (under warranty) because the screen had gone blank. I got it back and a week later the screen again went blank and the volume control was now also US. On 2909 I handed it in again. On 1110 I went to Vodacare and Ash told me that the repair would cost R572. I referred him to his records and he agreed that something was amiss. He would call me back. On 1810 I again went Vodacare to be told that now the back of the phone was cracked and the screen was broken and that the phone had been removed from warranty! R572 was again quoted for the repair. What are they smoking? The phone was inspected when it was handed in and nothing was broken. If anything is broken now, it was broken by the amateur techies in PMB.
Guys this is ridiculous. please sort out my phone. The Vodacare franchise in PMB gives Vodacom a bad name and should be sorted out. They are stupid, arrogant and rude. (See my complaint of 17 Feb about the same issues - they just dont learn!)

One of our users received new 3G modem, after installation needed to phone activation centre to activate SIM card, Phoned number printed on booklet, refered to activation centre 082 1945, holding on for over an hour, no answer...tried over & over.

It's now the next day... trying again.. 'we're transfering your call to the next available consultant', ' I hear the drums echo in the night, WE'RE TRANSFERING YOUR CALL TO... Turns to me us to say...'

Is there no one working at vodacom any more ? Is there one person in Vodacom that is capable to answer a phone and activate a sim card ?

Yesterday aftrenoon, a consultant from Midrand (Sandy) called me to tell me that I had short-paid my account for the month. I asked him if I could pay the remaining amount at the end of the month with this month's bill and he just said yes. Never explained anything to me. 10 Minutes after talking to him my phone was barred. I called this morning at about 08:26 morning and spoke to a lady by the name of Ntombi, she said there was nothing she could do as it was the system that barred the phone. She said this witha a very lazy and I don't care attitude. Even when I asked her questions, the only answer she could give me is 'there's nothing I can do, its a system that does this'.

Are consultants jobs not supposed to be to help the customers, advise the customers accordingly and answer questions that they may have? I have to say, the service I received from Vodacom was really bad. Not impressed at all. Can soemmone call and explain this to me because I still have have questions which ahve not been answered. The consultant cound not answere them. I aksed Ntombi to ask her manager to call me but don't see that happening.

I took out insurance from vodacom to cover my xperia x1. The consultant signed me up for the premium band which is r12000. I have been paying r149 for the last 18months without any complaints. I lost my phone 2 weeks ago and decided to claim. The consultant had advised me if my phone was lost, stolen or damaged, I would have the phone replaced or I could upgrade and pay in the difference of the new phone and r12000. I informed the vodasure consultant (Raymond) of this. And he said its fine. They are only paying me r2800 as my phone is still available. What!I asked him if this is the case, then why have I been paying insurance premiums for r12000?Raymond says that it is my duty to advise vodasure that the phone value has dropped. I mean come on, I dont work with phones. All I knew was that phone was insured for r12000. I asked to speak to his manager and was told that he would call me within 15mins. Couple days later and no phone call. I complained to vodacom. They said that vodasure is a separate entity and will refer the query to them. If that is the case then why have vodacom trademarks on the insurance form and why sell this insurance at vodacom stores?Eventually vodacom got pieter from vodasure to call me. The guy was extremely rude and from the onset was not going to help. Further email correspondence - "the client is claiming for a sony ericsson x1 with a replacement cost of r2882-95. As this phone is still available that will be the replacement. Insurance replaces the customer?S loss and puts them back in exactly the same position they were immediately prior to the loss, you cannot better yourself at the cost of the insurance company". If that is the case then why charge me r149 a month. I asked pieter for a refund of all the excess premiums I have paid. He refused! It appears that it is okay for vodasure to better themselves at my cost. Today another premium for r149 was deducted from me even though I have queried it this from the 18th september. As per the vodasure website, the premium value is determined by the replacement value of the phone. My premium has been r149 therefore my replacement value is r12000. This is disgusting service. Are they forgetting that they are a service provider!

Just over a week ago my husband &I decided to subscribe to Vodacoms advertised BlackBerry. We began @ Clearwater but unfortunately once we had signed all the necessary documentation we were informed there was no stock. We patiently waited 5 days, each day being told stock will arrive that day, until I made the decision to go else where. Clearwaters service was helpful &it was due to headoffice not sending stock.

I made a few calls & found that Fourways has stock. We arrived to be told that unfortunately I need to have cancellation documents form Clearwater even though the contract was never activated. Bronwyn supplied the phone & requested documentation form Clearwater. Next snag encountered was until that paper work cleared the sim would not be activated. We reapplied in my husbands name. Sorry you cannot link 2 different credit cards to one name (separate billing). The final straw was when the application was declined due to fact we applied for another contract in the last 3 months. All this for R150month. 10 days later 8 calls & my sim still isn't connected. What will it take? Your franchising killing your brand, stores are not interested in service delivery.

My phone was stolen, and the %$*&%$ who took the phone ran up a huge bill of international calls (about R6000). I went into Sandton City Vodashop to have the sim locked, and was told that it had been done and that the new sim would be active in three hours. Apparently the Vodashop was actually unable to swap the sim because the sim was locked... (i.e. no calls can be made from the sim) The following day when I still could not use my new sim, I called vodacom, at about 9, and was told that the sim swap had just been done, but that the phone was now definitely locked. In fact, calls were still made on the line until three hours after that, when the sim swap actually happened. Vodacom personnel told me that it was not my fault, and that the vodashop should refund me. The vodashop owner was very helpful, and admitted that it was definitely not my fault, and pursued it as far as he could, to no end. So despite everyone agreeing that it was not my fault that all the international calls were made after I requested the sim lock and swap, Vodacom still charges me for the calls. I call that theft!

I desperately needed a new phone - mine was stolen and my old 'back-up' one packing up. I gave my name up at Tygervalley's Vodacomshop for the new Samsung Star because they had no stock. A week or two later I phoned them - they never put my name down on the growing waiting list. The person said they will phone around and see if they have stock anywhere else and phone me back. Never happened. I then went to another vodacom shop and enquired about the phone. I waited and were promised twice that 'this' week it will come - two weeks later still nothing. So my husband applied online at Vodacom direct. at this stage we were informed there was no stock in the country of this phone (but the ads continued for this phone although they can't provide it). My husband enquired later about delivery to be told they will get back to him. My husband emailed again - no reply (to this day). So almost two months later I received my phone - delivered without warning that we needed copy of ID, proof of residence and my husband had to sign - he was at work. So much drama and at last I have it - please improve on your communication to customers - keep them informed and reply to emails.

I tried to open a Vodacom contract but am unable to as I do not have a credit history. There is no consideration taken of each applicants situation. I do not have a credit history as do not have any accounts at shops(as would rather just pay by cash). I showed my 3 months bank statements which shows that I do not have a cash flow problem and have the money to pay for the phone account. I showed my payslips, but this did not help. I even said that they could cap my cell phone bill or my parents would go surety but I still could not get a phone contract!

Today [protected] I had the unfortunate experience of trying to sign up a vodacom contract at the Metro Store in Vodaworld. I applied on Sat 05th Sep for the Nokia 2630 with a free TV and DVD. They claimed that there was no srock and asked me to come back during the week. After numerous phone calls I spoke to the manager Ozayr Carrim, who advised that there was stock and I should come in. Having taken time off work to go to Vodaworld, I approached Ali Moosa(sales rep) asking for assistance. He was rude and arrogant demanding to know who assisted me on Sat, but I was unsure. He became extremely irate when I could not remember. I asked why this would be an issue and if he could please assist, given my limited time. He was trying quite reluctantly to find an excuse not to help and kept sending me elsewhere for assistance in the store and proceeded to raise his voice in a condescending tone. I asked for the manager and demanded an apology for this rude behavior and even then Mr Ali Moosa refused to admit that he was rude and kept making excuses for his behavior. This is a pathetic display of customer service and a poor reflection of vodacom.

I have 2 Motorola Z8 handsets. One of them is shutting itself down so often that it is unusable. Vodacom did repair it, but after getting it back its condition has not improved at all. I still have a few months to go on my contract, and I took good care of the phone. Now I am sitting with a broken phone, while still paying for my contract. Time to dust off one of my OLD phones.

I was told about a new product by Vodacom's Data Call Center, called Advanced Data Bundles, while I was wanting to buy a data bundle for my cellphone. According to the agent, one of the features of these new data bundles, was that one can achieve higher data transfer rates. I decided to purchase an advanced bundle, but was disappointed to see that the data transfer rate was still as slow as before. Upon querying this, I was told by another agent that these new bundles was as yet untested on cellphones, and that 3G data cards would also receive priority within a certain cell. Thus, I was conned into buying a product at almost twice the price, with the same poor performance. This is totally unacceptable!

I have 2 numbers on my contract and spend a fortune on my phone bill everymonth, you'd think that one would at least get decent service for one's loyalty. I requested via vodacom customer care online to deactive the blackberry service on my 2nd number, but what do they do? They deactive it for both numbers. I called them yesterday to report the problem and was told that I am mistaking and that it is active. Surprise surprise, it is not. I'm not getting any mails on my blackberry. I phoned this morning at 11h39 to report the issue again, and was told they would phone me back immediately. Still waiting. I phoned again at 13h47 to report the issue and was told sorry their system is down. I asked if they can phone me back once it is up and running and was told no they can't. How useless is that? They *** my request in the first place and now I have to phone after them the whole time? Absolutely pathetic. I don't even know why i'm surprised, vodacom has really such a bad reputation and consistently delivers bad experiences. Absolutely shocking.

I have a vodacom 3g contract. About 2 months ago I started experiencing connection problems. The connection & ldquo;times-out” and leaves web pages hanging. To get the connection working I have to disconnect and reconnect (Every 1 & ndash; 15 minutes). Customer service has said there is a prob with the network itself. Proof of this is: 1) the signal strength is not the problem, even on & ldquo;very good” the constant time-outs occur, 2) I have tested the connection on another computer, 3) my close friend who also lives in buccleugh experiences the exact same problem (He’s escalated to icasa). The problem has not been resolved despite 5 customer service calls including 'escalations to the correct department', talking to supervisors, and sms's saying that the network problem has been resolved. The amount of time I have waisted testing, trying to resolve or otherwise work-around this problem is inculculable. My complaint is with senior management who, it appears, knowingly abide by a breach of contract. I’m angry. Is vodacom going to refund me for 2 months breach of contract? Do I also have to report the company to icasa? Class action…?

I have been trying to get a response from someone who have actual ability to make decisions. I have been calling the VODACOM 0821944 service repair centre since Friday without any satisfactory response. Empty promises from the call centre operators that the supervisor will call me comes to nothing. One brief discussion with the supervisor lead to an empty promise that his manager will call me. This did not happen.

My query relates to an Apple iPhone which has been faulty in the way it connects to the network from the day I got it. It is a known problem that a large number of iPhones do not connect to the network properly and drops calls and the network intermittently. This is not detrimental but is a source of constant irritation, so much so that I eventually booked the phone in for repair or in the case of the iPhone nothing can get done to it in SA so it should be replaced. 7 Days later I get the call that the liquate indicator on the phone shows red. The phone has never been in the water or has in any way suffered damage or loss of operability due to liquid.

No one is getting back to me that I can have a satisfactory conversation with. Worst service in the country!