Vodacom
reviews and complaints

Utterly disgusted by Vodacom. After being a loyal customer for over 15 years, they are misleading customers and stealing their money. I have been contacted by them telling me that they know it's hard times and they want to help their customers. They migrated me to another plan and assured me that I will be saving money. Where I always paid R840, I will be paying R669. The consultant assured me that I will only pay the R669 and will therefore save money. After receiving my new bill, I will be paying R1049. How is that saving? The consultant never informed me about the handset fee that isn't included in the R669, after I asked him if the whole amount I will be paying is R669, as I know there are always hidden costs. He assured me that I will only pay R669. He also said the I have 30 days to go back to my old plan. Now I have to pay a penalty fee of over R500 to go back to my old package, a mistake made by their consultant by not giving me all the information. And they refuse to take me back to my old package. I cannot afford the new bill. They misled me and don't want to fix their mistake. So now I have to pay for their mistakes.

Seems almost pointless sending a complaint after reading the previous complaints of customers.And all done in vain, as clearly, its the same despicable service.I am waiting for 2 months after fibre was installed, yet no activation done, yet Vodacom happily debits me.I probably have spoken to every single technical specialist, all of which promise to call back and never do.Sent an email to the complaints department, Hammy was sorting the issue out apparently, then never heard from him as well.Sadly, this is the worst company to place your fibre needs with.Terribly regretful for choosing Vodacom who clearly have lost the plot.

Today I got the call of imposters as Vodacom agent, I received a message and later my number was offline.

my number is [protected] AD Msindo

please note I have never sim swapped my simcard

The Vodacom website is a patheticaly amateurish attempt to showcase their offers.

Searching for a particular phone gives you options for contract type, duration data and minutes etc, Once you have selected the criteria filters it presents you with hundreds of options, many of them duplicated several times, and many unclear as to what is being offered.

If you then look at a particular deal details, there is no back option. Pressing back takes you back to the beginning to having to reset all the filters individually again and then click through back to page 67 or wherever you were!

Different package options are not explained, packages just don't make any sense, like the identical phone and contract at the same price with or without a free powerbank, or extra free minutes or data.

Try this link to see just what a mess this site is.
https://www.vodacom.co.za/shopping/product-details/samsung_galaxy_a52_5g

All filter groups have to be applied separately. Why
Contract options between standard and red are described identically, so what is the difference?

Trying to navigate this website is an exercise in frustration. I challenge their board members to try find a deal using the website as a customer.

I have upgraded my vodacom contract this month and state clearly that of two phones one should be black and the other should be pink... At delivery of the two cellphone contracts vodacom delivered two pink phones. They had said I have seven working days to return the devices if unsatisfied and I call in three working days. When i called they said they will send a courier to come pick up the phone and change it but today when i called i was informed that vodacom cant do anything about it and wont be able to assist.

Can vodacom put as much effort in service delivery as they do in sales, when u try to contact them they take u from piller to post. I need to use the handset for work and cant wait for the courier any longer as if it's the couriers fault for sending the wrong colour handset.

I'm sadly writing this complaint as an unsatisfied customer of vodacom for over 15 years and if this isn't verified I will not hesitate but switch to service provider that is willing to render the service.

I have written several mails and whats apps to Lesly.[protected]@vodacom.co.za and also other people at vodacom but all what vodacom people do is making empty promises.There are 2 people relay trying to assist Antwanet and Tsepo but it doesnt seem they are getting support. I have 2 issues: Router issue and back up issue.

Backup issue: mail that i've send to Lesley 22June:
Afternoon Lesly.

You helped me previously regarding the fibre in Witbank Modelpark (about a year ago). My fibre was off again yesterday and the biggest issue is that my backup LTE dongle was also off again. From day 1 we had issues with this backup when fibre is down. I am really upset that Vodacom is taking money from me but when fibre is off then my backup doesn't work!

If you remember correctly you advised me that I must get this backup LTE dongle so that if fibre goes off, it will operate the same way a phone operates. This never happened, not in the last year! You are more than welcome to talk to Antwanet and Juan-Mari, the previous manager in Witbank dealing with fibre. They've been here several times to try and sort the issue out. Please talk to them, you can also check via your call centre how many times I complained about my fibre and LTE dongle backup not working.

As you know my wife and I are working for Eskom and still working from home.

I am the head of shift and we are dealing with all the customers in Mpumalanga and also a part of North West falls under us. We are dealing with customers like normal prepaid customers, rural customers, mines, towns etc. It's our responsibility to dispatch recourses to these different customer requests that have been logged via the call centres. If we don't action these calls in time it can have a massive impact on customers and can even lead to fatalities.

As you can understand we (my wife and I) CANNOT SIT IN A SITUATION WHERE OUR SYSTEMS ARE OFF/NOT WORKING BECAUSE VODACOM FIBRE AND BACKUP IS NOT WORKING. That's why I went the extra mile and got the backup LTE dongle but it's an absolutely useless exercise and money wasting. Now I've got a few questions and I need answers back from you ASAP:
1) When is Vodacom going to pay back the money they took from me of a product that never worked?
2) Why can't that LTE dongle backup at the back of my main Nokia router in the house not work as a normal router when I plug it in on my laptop? I was told by the Vodacom people who were here and your call centre it can't because it works only with the main Nokia router. If that can be resolved and that backup LTE router link up correctly then me and my wife will not have issues, except if your towers are also off.
3) If that can't be done then what are you going to do to sort out my backup as you were the one who suggested I must go this route to have a backup LTE dongle so if fibre goes off then the LTE will automatically connect to your network?
4) I hear that we don't really have fibre. We've got fibre here between the houses then it links up with the normal towers it will then operate the way normal cell phones operate via towers. Is that the truth or do we have 100% legit fibre cables all the way connected?
5) I also received feedback that if the main fibre base station goes off (what happened yesterday) then the LTE dongle will not work at the back of the Nokia router. That makes sense to me because every time your fibre goes down then my backup LTE dongle doesn't work but all our cell phones are still working…………..?
6) Why does the main Nokia router in the house resets itself one to two times a day in a 24 hour period for 3 to 5 minutes before we are then back on line again, every single day at different times?

Lesly I need an action plan and a solution from you please, this type of service is unacceptable.

Regards
Douw Jooste
[protected]

Router issue Ref no SR210705-790803. Last communication between me and Tshepo this morning:

Thanks Tshepo, much appreciated. I am also busy googling your executive team. Today i am going to make it my job escalate ALL my issues to the highest level at vodacom as well as to social media. Lesley said he will come back to me regarding a mail i've send him. He doesn't come back to me or reply my messages. Yesterday the team who was here didn't even had the correct tools to exchange the router i had to borrow them my tools, they said within a hour my fibre will be working up to now i still don't have fibre connection. Please understand i do appreciate your assistance as you tried from yesterday but there are other delayed issues that needs to be sorted and there are people who will have to take responsibility and accountability for whats coming. I will also lodge a complain at the court looking at these type of issues where customers dont get the service they are paying for and meanwhile vodacom takes a monthly premium. Like i said this is now outstanding for a month about and Lesley don't come back although he says he will come back and in the bigger picture this is ongoing for a year about.

We are battling now for 2 months to get assistance. Our phones and laptops connect to the Fibre but not our TV, which is a brand new one. It connected previously but for the last 2 months, it doesn't. The call centre advice us to get the TV checked out. It's done, it's working with other people's fiber connections. It's been tested etc by Skyworth itself. still no internet. It says connected then we get message can't connect via WLan?

On 4 July I spoke to Antena at the call centre at 11:28. Reference Nr: SR210704-788834, Promised that the technician will contact us in a day or so.

On the 7 July at 10:41 I spoke to Thabile, which confirmed that the call was sent to Roy Marlendt. She will follow up and come back to me. No follow up

On 8 July at 10:47 I spoke again with a person Aisa? She confirmed our call via email and promised to get back to me within 2 - 3 hours after she contacted Roy. I replied to her email around 16:00 to let her know that nobody came back to me. Also send a mail this morning again.

I've been a customer for ages now, but never experienced such bad service like now.

Please contact me as I would like to resolve this problem for now and forever.

We have a 10mbps line but for more than a month now om only getting 2-4mbps… I have phoned numerous times but seems that they do not know what the problem is and we sit with internet we cant use… terrible customer service. Ive done speed tests. Phone them every day. We cant even stream anything. My adsl line was better. And if i cancel now they want to charge me. But vodacom is not keeping their side of the deal…

I had a contract on [protected] and lost my job so I could not pay my account.

I offered to pay the value of the phone and any airtime used but Vodacom black listed me for R80 000. It is now almost 4 years later and I am unable to get anyone to speak to at Vodacom to get the matter resolved. None of my mails has been responded to and I cannot afford to pay Vodacom R80 000 for a service I did not use.

So we were extremely excited when they started trenching in our area about a year ago & couldn't wait to finally have Fibre in our home. During the trenching process, some representatives of Vodacom patrolled our neighbourhood & I was all too keen on signing up as I've heard nothing but great things from my acquaintances who also had Vodacom Fibre in their homes. So I received my router in Mid July 2020 but was assured that I'd only start paying for the service once the Fibre went live.
Finally! End of February 2021 we were notified that we'd go live & I called Vodacom to arrange installation of our router. 1st of March came & we were ecstatic to finally be connected to Fibre. THEN, the end of March I realized that an amount of R4849.98 was deducted from my account & it was for Vodacom. Shocked to my core, I first had to confirm which package I signed up for as I was under the impression that I was supposed to be paying R599 per month.
I logged the 1st Service Request on the 6th April 2021 & was assured that the billing issue will be investigated & corrected. To my horror, the end of April another amount of R5448.98 was deducted by Vodacom. Again I logged a call to have the matter resolved & at that stage it was confirmed that the incorrect billing stemmed from me being charged from the end of July 2020 to date. So at this point I'm relieved because the issue is known & all that needs to happen is for Vodacom to confirm that our area only went live in March & that my installation was in fact only done at the end of Feb 2021.
But no, the end of May the issue was still there. End of June... Still. So my service was suspended the beginning of June because my account is in arrears. I kept calling the billing department so that they can confirm the amount to be paid so that my service can be reconnected. That was more than a month ago. Still, no Fibre at home & NO ONE in their billing department can tell me when this issue will be resolved.
ALL I WANT IS FIBRE IN MY HOME & TO PAY WHAT I OWE!
Is there absolutely ANYONE in Vodacom who can make this call & sort this matter for me?
What makes matters worse is that I have NEVER received a phonecall to keep me updated. Each time I had to call in to check on the progress. Mind you, I never called everyday, I gave it at least a week & sometimes went as long as a month before making another call, during which time not a single person would call me to let me know what was happening.

Many thanks
Grant April
[protected]

My fibre account is a month to month, I was unable to afford payment in March and April 2021 so it was suspended but because I used the fibre in March 2021 for the half of the month I paid the full month now they are demanding payment for April 2021 as well and again threatening to suspend my account of put a default against my credit profile and denying rectifying my account for April 2021, this to me is fraud and dishonesty.

I was called by the lady for an upgrade and she said the money that Im paying will be reduced and amazing my bill has increased from R308.99 to R523 of which I never agreed on that with her and my initial contract suppose to end on August 2021 and she said I can pay for the last two months then cancel anytime if I want. But what confuses me is the fact that on the 31 July 2021 an amount of R523 will deducted how?

The account in question is in arrears however, there are no invoices or statements been sent. This is an issue as every time we phone in they are logging a ticket for back office and "getting back to us" which never happens.

I have phoned in several times and to the same result that they will send however that is never the case.

I noticed I`m paying more for Identity caller on my phone. I cancelled it now I cant see anyone phoning me even the people on my sim. I don`t want a phone that I can not see who phoned me. Please help why should we pay extra for seeing our contacts? I have never owned a phone or had a cellphone account where I should pay to see a number or name appear when people phone me. With R8.69 I can buy a bread for my family at Shoprite/Spar/Pick and Pay. When I`m going to upgrade I will be considering going to MTN, and I will be complaining to warn people of what is happening so that they do not make the same mistake than I made in taking a contract phone that does not show my contacts when they phone.

Kind Regards
MRS LORRAINE OLIVIER
7 Toorn street Ficksburg
9730
[protected]

Account number:
I7371656-8

Vodacom phoned me during June 2021 to migrate my phone to a new package, which happened 1/7/2021.
Suddenly my bill that is typically between R3500 - R4500 goes up to nearly R8600 ... HOW ON EARTH IS THAT POSSIBLE. But the aforesaid is only the tip of the iceberg.
3/7/2021 @ 19h00 Vodacom disconnect my phone
I called customer service 3 times and nobody can help
4/7/2021 I spoke to Venessa Tshabalala plus emailed proof of a R8600 payment to her - she confirms via email that it was received and noted on the account
4/7/2021 @ 19h00 the phone service is disconnected YET again
5/7/2021 I speak to Njabulo McHunu - sent through proof ANOTHER TIME - he reconnects and confirm it is noted
5/7/2021 @ 19h00 the phone service is disconnected AGAIN!
What type of service is this?

Afternoon
I called customer care to cancel my line [protected] on the 29th April 2021 and am on the 3rd month after cancellation I am still billed for the number, the is no valid reason why the contract was not cancelled on time as I followed your instructions correctly and you cannot do the same for me as a customer. I will be cancelling the other two lines when they expire [protected] and [protected] respectively.
Kind Regards
Moses Bilankulu
[protected]

Hello vodacom I'm afraid to lose my number because lack of customer service at some branch shop around soweto since Friday trying to do simsp my number it's [protected] please help

In May I was called to upgrade some of my contracts as I have 4 of them with vodacom. One of the numbers [protected] the person that called me did an open line what what and now the bill I have to pay is R1000 more of which am not willing to pay as I did not agree to doing that.
Oratile Bantsho
[protected]
Please assist me, vodacom people are always doing as they please with me year in and year out and money is always involved.

I was called yesterday that I won the competition by a guy named tshepo that I won a12samsung core, 4000 grocery voucher and r30 000. They send a massage with uncompleted pin number and said that I must redeem it with r220 airtime so that I will reach 100 points. I did and they asked me to transfer the airtime to this number [protected] so that they will resend it without benefits. Later they send standard bank wallet and said vodacom cjarity is mandela children fund must donate r3000

Vodacom SA charges for Fibre in my area R650, 00 per month for a 10mbs download and a 5mbs upload. Other service providers charge nearly half that for the same service. They are running a monopoly here. Unfortunately Vodacom is the only service provider available in my area. What a rip off. Can nothing be done about this. Furthermore if a speed test is done at any time, it records at 6mbs download, another rip off. When you phone the call centre, all they do is reset your fibre connection, where you get the full 10mbs for a couple of hours then it goes back to 6mbs, sometimes 4mbs. Absolute rubbish service. You dont get what you pay for.