Vodacom
Reviews and Complaints

My husband passed away on 08/08/2016 and this is when all my problems started . I went to your Vodacom shop in Festival Mall to trf the contract over to my name. This was done. I first had to battle to get one of the numbers changed to prepaid as it was not upgraded. After a lot of phoning and backwards and forwards to the branch Sue the assistant manager eventually got this sorted out. on 21 feb 2017 tel no [protected] was due for upgrade but we decided we did not need a new phone now. When I got my March account I noticed that we are still being charged a handset fee. On phoning 082111 on 16/3/17 i was told that all my contract start dates are all 08/2016 she logged a query and gave me ref no [protected] which was closed without being resolved I discovered when phoning 082111 again today when I received my April invoice again reflecting handset fee. Your staff just trf me from one department to the other. I am fed up with Vodacom. All my contracts are due for upgrade but I feel like just cancelling all of them and going to a service provider that wants to asssist his customers.

I have upgraded in May 2016 (i-phone S6). Right from the start the phone’s battery didn’t last for 4 hours where as my I-phone 4's battery, lasts for 2 days.

My husband visited the Vodacom shop in the Collonade where we bought the phone. One of their employee's advised him to go to the I-phone-store because this is a I-phone. He visited I-Store in Menlyn and they said the contract is with Vodacom, who should assists us. Back to the Vodacom shop with the I-phone and one of the employee's sent us to I-fix. I-fix did a battery swop but the problem keep occurring. Back to I-fix and their report was -the phone is unrepairable. Back to the Vodacom shop again. They then took the phone and sent it in to their repair shop who sent the phone back and report that there was a battery change, for that reason the guarantee collapsed and they can’t assist us anymore. Why didn't they send the phone to repairs, in the first place.
I've contacted their client service, every time a new person working on the
problem and we got no further. The last person said I must take the phone back to the shop. The shop send it again to their repair dep. they send it back with the same message.
The Vodacom shop want to know from me, who was the person assisting me in the shop - must clients ask every time that somebody assist us the names of employee's to have it for future reference? I this will become the norm, then who will get to their work again? Where will we get the time to do all this administration? At this moment, I'm paying for something I can't use. Just wondering where this I-phone's from - can't believe a apple product can't work properly.

On 8th of April 2017 I went to east Rand mall to get my business phone sorted out that switch of several times a day. What an experience. Shop 1, sorry sir but the one technician that's on duty is not there, we think he is on lunch but there is a shop with more technicians. Shop 2, sorry sir but we only do airtime. Shop 3, please sir take a ticket and wait, hour later, sir they still busy and it might still take a while. I left. Shop 4, went in and spoke to trainee who was standing next to a female technician, without looking up and just keep on tipping on a cellphone her only word, you need to take it to a repair centre.

I did an update on all my lines last year November and everyone know that a device only last 2 years. I went out and bought a router to replace my wifi device because my account is not important enough for Smartcom or Vodacom to support me with a new advice.

All I can say is this will be tha last contract renewal from Vodacom ever.

1.I was due for an upgrade on my wifi modem, so I went to the Secunda Vodacom 4U store where we have been customers for many years.Since our account just kept on going up every month, the lady convinced us if we upgrade to two modems with 5GB any time top, up our account will never reach R2000 again.What a laugh...now my account is more than it ever was before, since she did not give us aR299 upgrade she said she would do.We now pay R524.56 for the modems.Which I did not know because I have an mtn phone and was unable to open my accounts from vodacom!
2.With the new upgrade the lady cancelled the old modem-or so I thought, apparently she did not cancell it, so since Des 2016(when she said she cancelled it)the amount of R174 was deducted from our account.I noticed this in March when I was able to download the vodacom app on my tab and look at the invoice.Am I getting a refund for this because its not my mistake.
3.My husband took out a new contract with 800 minutes and 4GB data, now I notice we have been payingmore than R500 for data for I dont know how long.What are they going to do to give me my money back.
4.I am suppose to receive my data on the 1st every month, but I have not received anything yet.i went to both the vodacom stores and also phoned customer care-who kept telling me they cant help me.Then I was told the data is 10Gb daytime and 10Gb night owl-which nobody told me, and since January everything was fine, I could use the data anytime.Now whenever i try to connect is tells me i have run out of data-which is impossible because we have 20 Gb.Is anybody able to help me please.The guys at vodacom lodged a service request, and phoned yesterday to say my data has been loaded, but still i have received nothing.So I went there for the 5th time today.Another person helped me and also lodged a service request.Now I still dont have my data, and was told they will attend to the request on Monday.In the meantime I received my April account.So without using any data, I am charged R556.64.What is going on with this account?My husband is G Habig, now we receive invoices for H.Habig, which is his brother!Will I need to go see a lawyer to help me sort this out or will vodacom sort out their mess?

My LG phone switched off and it would keep restarting itself. I took it to Vodacom Ballito who sent it into the repair center in Umhlanga who kept my phone for 2 months. During those 2 months, nobody at either store could tell me what was wrong and it was always in some department or on its way back to Ballito. I eventually got my phone back and it did the same thing again. They sent it back again for around 2 weeks. I finally got it back without the back cover on and with my battery exposed. Nobody at Vodacom Ballito or the Umhlanga Repair Centre can tell me where it is and when I keep calling to find out, nobody can help. I am still sitting without the back cover 2 months later.

Can it be exolained how it is possible to get slammed with a bill of over R11000?! I have been with Vodacom for years and have had call limit activated with no issues. Now suddenly there is no call limit, I can't see who is calling me - for which I called customer care twice to sort out - and nothing. Your systems and software is at fault and I will not pay for your mistakes. Sort it out asap.

I, ve received a new Sony m4 aqua and still can't use it after many months because the phone is not working from the beginning. I have send. it in 3 times and still not working. Vodacom is useless with bad service. I will never take out a vodacom contract again and will inform people about the #### service. I have a new phone that does not work. Please advise me what to do

I was told recently that subscribers that have monthly accounts of R2000 and more, have the priviledge of upgrading every year.
I have been a subscriber to Vodacom since cell-call services were initiated in South Africa. To date I received one months free services as a "Thank You" some years back. Considering the amount spent with Vodacom, I feel this is a rather feeble incentive. The individual that told me this was subscribed with Autopage who went belly-up and subsequently subscribed with Vodacom. I would like to know whether this holds any truth and if so, why is Vodacom maintaining a Big Brother attitude towards its loyal customers who have all had a supporting role in bringing Vodacom where it is today.

Ek het 'n upgrade gedoen by Middelburg Mpumalanga Mall. Ek het 2 kontrakte, albei op my naam, albei verseker by Vodacom. Die 1 kontrak word deur my man gebruik. Enigste foon wat beskikbaar was vir my opgradering was 'n goue foon! My man wou nie die goue foon gehad het nie en die dame by Vodacom het gese ons kan fone ruil, wat ons gedoen het. Die dame van Vodacom het al my inligting van my S6 na die S7 oorgesit en die inligting van my "ou" foon (Sony) wat ek nou opgradeer na die S6 oorgesit. Sy het my versekering bedrag aangepas aangesien ek nou die S7 gebruik op die kontrak en nie die S6 nie. TOE KOM DIE WATERSKADE EIS. Dit is nie gedek nie want ons sim kaarte is in "verskillende" fone! ALBEI fone is in my naam, albei verseker by dieselfde VODACOM MPY! Hoekom het die dame van Vodacom my versekering bedrag verhoog wetend dan dat dit nie gedek is nie? Sy moes daar en dan vir my gese het daar is GEEN DEKKING AS EK SIMKAARTE RUIL NIE? Al wat ek nou kry na meer as seker 2 maande ek moet geduldig wees want eis is afgekeur!

my vodacom acc no- i0334368-0
in november 2016 i ported my vodacom cell no [protected] to telkom. from
then vodacom has deducted R211.49 off my account every month for the cell no number in question. i have phoned on numerous occasions asking to please correct their mistake.( ref no - [protected]/
[protected]) i have been pushed from pillar to post and nobody can help. i went into one of the branches in Port Elizabeth and they said they cant help i need to contact vodacom accounts dept. (0821946)
i have tried but nobody can get me through to them, then i spoke to a gentleman from customer care and he said i need to speak to cancellation dept cause the cell number has not been cancelled when i spoke to the cancellation dept, they said it has been cancelled i need to speak to acc dept, he said i wont be able to contact them cause my account is not in arrears. so now i do not know who to contact, im completely at a lose for words with the incompetent people vodacom employs.
i hope this complaint reaches the correct person so we can get this sorted out.
lloyd minter
[protected]

Copy of:

This is an enquiry e-mail via http://ombudsman.ombudsmen.co.za/find-an-ombudsman/ from:
Lynn La Grange

I have upgraded my vodacom contract in November last year. I was then paying almost 400 then. As living cost increased dramatically, i decided to go on a more affordable package. Elite mobile guaranteed that my new package will be R 209 pm all incl. And that my first installment will be in December. since then i did receive the new phone, however, vodacom is still billing me at my old rate. I have contacted vodacom who escalate the query every time, yet it never gets resolved. They are effectively steeling my money each month. Please help!

To whom it may concern

I was never made aware that if you do not use your sim card within 2 months the sim card becomes invalid and the number gets given to someone else. I bought a sim card for data purposes with an internet router, to use in emergency situations for when I do not have access to internet and I loaded 3GIG (R299) of data, when I wanted to use it it was not working. I phoned Vodacom and they informed they would reboot it and it would start working again and they would call me back, I am however still waiting for them to call me back. Then I went to a Vodacom shop (at Brooklyn mall in Pretoria) and asked them to help me and they informed me that if I did not use the sim within 2 months it becomes invalid. I am requesting a refund of R299 as I was never informed of this when I purchased the sim card and if I was informed then I would never have bought the sim card for this purpose. The staff on duty at Brooklyn mall today were very unhelpful (I went in at 3pm on 6 April 2017) and just informed me it is not their problem and there is nothing that they could do about it. I would recommend you inform customers about this rule before they buy a sim card and also give a notice to customers (via e-mail or sms) that there sim card is going to expire if they do not use it with a certain amount of days. I was very unhappy with the service and believe this is done in a way to exploit customers.

The number that I made payment to and is invalid is: [protected]
Please get back to me at your earliest convenience.

Kind Regards,

Okay, I know what you are thinking, I know that cellphone's apps use background data, and I know that airtime/data gets taken quicker now with the speed of the Internet and what what, I've done my research. This is different, I've made sure, I've make double sure. This is a fact. My data and airtime disappeared.
Here's my story: it was the first of the month, my months airtime finally arrived, a whole R200. So I tried the data bundle option which is 1Gig for 14 days which costs R99. Pretty cool right? Yeah so this leaves me with R100 of which I would have bought another data bundle after this one had depleted. Now I'm sure everyone knows that once you have reached, let's say 24mbs or 10mbs, it will notify you for warning. Every single time, without fail, and once your bundle has been depleted, it will notify you as well. Well, not in this case. I had zero warning. Nothing.
Okay that was firstly. Now, secondly, I checked my data usage stats, I attached the picture in this complaint, I only used 200 something mega bites.
Only to find out that ALL, yes, all my data and airtime had disappeared.
Explain that!
I'm furious.
I have tried to contact vodacom customer care lines, to which, they are always busy.
So yes, I'm pretty upset.

On the 22/02/2017 i emailed prematrue cancellation quotations as well as id doc and proof of payment for four contracts to be cancelled. Three were cancelled but one was not on 6/3/2017 i called and the contract was cancelled on 7/3/2017 a second premature cancellation amount was invoiced on 9/3/2017 i called and was told they would reverse said amount on 24/3/2017 i called again and the amount has not been reversed as yet. On 6/4/2017 i called but no one can give me answers as to what is happening. The amount is not reversed as yet almost two months later. I get transferred from one dept to the next no one calls back no one can explain or fix the problem. I need help please.

Good day

Was due for upgrade. Visited the Sasolburg Vodacom Branch on 2017.03.15.
Applied for upgrade was approved and promised to receive handset the Friday, the 2017.03.17. Only received the handset on 2017.04.02! The consultant was not proffessional at all as she at one stage also kicked her printer...omw...

I had to phone and visit the shop on several occassions with empty promises at one stage the Manager did not even have the courtesy to see me. This went on for the whole three weeks!

I phone Vanderbijlpark branch and spoke to a Mr Ryno Lerm - what a difference in service! Thank you Vanderbijlpark branch you will be in future the preferred branch.

My wife upgraded her existing contract in september 2016. Unfortunately vodacom continued charging her for the old handset post the full contract expiry.

Even after numerous complaints and visits to vodacom in the garden route mall (George), we cannot get vodacom to credit us for the extra charges (2 handsets and a "free" device, that came with the "new" contract) for 4 months in a row now.

Every visit, we are told that it will be rectified. Every month they keep on charging extra. I have been show on the system that the problem was logged, but no resolution. Vodacom is only interested in maximising profits, not customer service. If I was a corporate client, things would have been different.

Rick du preez
(George, garden route, south africa)

Employee: Johannes N.

After 4 days of back and forth disappointments and excuses, Ported my phone without giving me a new device thus disconnecting my mtn phone number. Then informs me the device I signed for will only be available in 2-3weeks.

All of this with no apology no sympathy, I am outraged and furious. This can't fall on deaf ears, Help!

I have a cellphone contract with the service provider and after my Galaxy S6 phone just switched off I brought the device to the Cape Quarter Green Point Cape Town Vodacom store to have it assessed. At the store, my phone was booked in and all pre-existing damages were noted by the consultant and recorded on the book in sheet at the store. The store sent my phone to their repair center in Maitland. A few days later I received a report and quote stating that my phone’s LCD had one crack but that this crack could only be seen under a special light. I disputed this for obvious reasons, first being that the phone (as was explained to me by the store) was wrapped in bubble wrap and sent to repair center which means it is susceptible to damage during transit and secondly, after seeking advise from Samsung, I was told that the likely cause of my phones condition that I booked it in for (switching off) was that it was in sleep mode which is common with the type of phone I have and would have nothing to do with the LCD.

The Technician I spoke to at Vodacom then said that the phone would be sent to Johannesburg for a further assessment as no one could tell me the link between the condition I booked it in and the LCD that was now all of a sudden cracked.

The Johannesburg engineers reported the same as the CT technician in stating that there was a crack I "couldn't see with the naked eye" and I was given a new quote (with an increased amount as compared to the first quote I received from Cape Town). I immediately asked that my phone be returned to the store I booked it in.

When I came to collect my phone, me and the consultant at the store observed the following which is contrary to my book in sheet:
1. 2 visible cracks as oppose to only one which was reported to me (we could see these cracks visible to the naked eye and without using this light so therefore, if they had been present when I booked in my phone, we would have clearly seen it and it would have been stated on my sheet);
2. A deep indent on the side of the phone (on the silver frame) next to the cracks;
3. Visible damage to the back cover of my phone;
4. My screen protector was removed

At this point I refused to accept my phone and took photos of all the damage I observed and stated above. The damage keeps increasing the more it's in Vodacoms care and no one can explain to me what is happening to my phone. It keeps getting repeated to me that it is pre-existing damage and yet non of the damage is noted on the book in sheet.

My phone now still remains with the Vodacom repair center. I visited the Cape Quarter store today where I booked my phone in and I am being told by the Store Manager that there is nothing that he can do about it? This is totally unacceptable as it is nearing a month and I am without my device.

I have been struggling to get a refund from Vodacom from last year November.

Getting hold of the right person is impossible! Getting hold of the accounts department is impossible! getting an e-mail from Vodacom is impossible!

In November 2016 I asked to activate my roaming as I was going over seas and needed to still be able to run my business. Not only did they charge me R5000.00 for the activation, they DID NOT activate it. I went over seas R5000 poorer and I didn't receive the service I paid for.

It is now April and I am still struggling for my refund. Every time I call Vodacom accounts, I get hung up on. The service delivery is pathetic! I was with Autopage and since Vodacom took over, it has been a nightmare. I don't know why we must be forced to deal with such incompetence!

WHERE IS MY R5000.00? and why can I not get a proof of payment?

Kosta Gouskos

Since July 2016, Vodacom has been charging me for a handset that I do not have and never received. Every month I have to send mails in order to have these charges reversed. Every month I am assured that the error will be rectified but this never happens. This is the worst customer service ever and I will not renew any mobile contract with Vodacom. I have spoken to various customer care consultants and the issue remains unsolved. I request that this gets resolved as soon as possible.