Vodacom
Reviews and Complaints

We have small farm in the Groot Marico area of North West Province. We are located 8 km in a direct line but are receiving our signal from a tower located 9 km to the west of our location. We have an acceptable signal strengthin the early morning (say 05:30) but from around 07:00 the signal strength deteriorates to zero. This has nothing to do with the signal per se but is indicative of inadequate bandwidth availability for the user population of the area. Every time I complain to Vodacom Customer Services I am given the same story about signal disruption due to atmospheric conditions which is rubbish. Vodacom need to start treating customers with some acceptance that we are not all completely technically challenged. They are overselling available bandwidth and that is plain dishonesty.

I receive a monthly allocated airtime of R200 as per my contract. The month of January this was not allocated to me, I called Vodacom customer service several times and to date still have not received my airtime or any feedback on why this was not paid. I call a week ago and they said they see it was not allocated but there is a back log and they will get back to me, To date not even a single follow up. I called twice, still no feedback. This is a total inconvenience as this whole month I ended up paying for my own airtime, This is an unplanned expense.

I have been a loyal Vodacom customer for over 15 years and it is so sad to experience such poor customer service, Vodacom your standards have dropped.

Don't know if I will ever get feedback or my airtime, we almost going to a new month.

Disappointed !

I've waited 24 hours to recieve my data bundles I won.

250 MB and also 75 MB
I didn't recieve it.

Please fix this or something.
I'm starting to regret joining Vodacom.
I actually need the data because the prices are so much higher than they used to be.

Is this play every day just a hoax or something? Because I might just move to MTN who has better services.

I have recently upgraded to a new contract, (G connect wifi Tarrif My gig 3 for R219 per Month - cell no: [protected]) althoug the first invoice made out was correct (Invoice B690778615) the second one which I have recieved for January is R3, 436.56 ( Invoice - B698776592). I have loged a call with Vodacom on Thursday 19/01/2016 but still nobody has came back to me with this request. I had to phone 4 times to follow up and NOBODY can tell me what it's for, the reference number is S4-NAJ36-6X8W2. I spoke to a consultant at Vodacom to block the contract till this issue is resolved, but this contract cannot be blocked due to the contract behing faulty? I am requesting to cancell this contract Immediately and having a credit or dispute sent to me for the balance of R3, 436.56 for I have not agreed to have an open line contract. I am extremely unhappy with this service because after requesting a block on the account, I am still being billed unfairly since I stopped using this wifi on Thursday 19/01/2017. There will not be enough money in my bank account for the debit to go through for the total amount, only the amount I have agreed apon of R219.00. I am going to go the Consumer Protecting Act if this is not being resoveld within the next week. Please will you assist me as soon as possible. Thank you. Inekhe

ON 24/1/2017 at 15h15 I received an sms from Orbit Cellular S 7690 operating the Vodacom shop in Lifestyl Cente Kloof Street Garden informing me a new line is being added to my account. I immediately phoned and the lady who answerd said yes my daughter is there. I told her my daughter is not in Cape Town. Next thing the same lady spoke to me in another voice pretending to be somebody else..she then put the phone down. I phoned back and informed the lady to arrest the suspect as Im on my way there.
Whe I arrived at the store i was told by the manager that she is not a security gaurd and cant arrest people. The application was done with my Jan 2017 Vodacom bill ( something I have not even received yet). The appliation was done by a staff member Ralph Burgers ref [protected]. This person is not working in that store for a long time already.
There is video footage in the store that will proof the incident.. Lets see if your fraud departmnet will be doning something.. This is only the 6th fraud case on my account in the past 24 months!
I like the fraud departmnet to review the video to see that there never was a person who applied for the account and that this is an inside fraud!

I have emailed on 6 Dec, and 8 Dec and 12 Dec and 13 Dec and 4 November 2016 to the following adres: [protected]@vodacom.co.za to stop my debt order i will pay by eft before the 7th of each month, i went twice to a vodacom shop to stop my debt order!until today no one responded to all my emails or queries! I dont want a late debt order, when i opened my acc with vodacom i stated it must go off on the 4th of each month but instead you still took it on the 7th and this month on the 9th of Jan 2017!

Today i phone to get bank details and the lady said there is a penalty fee of R100! I will not pay a penalty fee i have instructed on 5 ocations for vodacom to stop it with out any one bothering to respond to my emails, or the shops where i went! I need it to be sorted out, i have my prove off all emails i have requested vodacom to stop it, and no one even bothered to phone and follow up on way may debt order was stopped by me, i had to phone today the 24/01/2017 to get bank details, with also not receiving bank details! Call me back so i can eft R199.00 asap! i will not pay penalties fees

0n the 16 January 2017 my cell number [protected] was ported to 0616202611with out my concern. I was notified by my bank on the 17 January that I have made changes of my number on my in-contact details because I have ported my number. Then on the 17 January I called Vodacom customer care I talked to Siphokazi she told that my number was ported to cell c but it will be reversed back to after 7days. I called again I talked to Thandi on the 19 January 2017 cause I was really not happy that how can I be told that my number will be reversed to me after seven days yet when it was ported without my concern it was a twinkle of an eye then Thandi said I should wait for 5working days it will be back to me. Now I'm getting a different story of 7days and 5 days. I realised that Vodacom doesn't consider the importance of a number to their clients. I waited still for 7days. Today I called Vodacom enquiring about my number to be reverse I'm told Vodacom is waiting for cell c to reply back to Vodacom. This feedback tells me that Vodacom doesn't take situations serious and which means cell c overpowers you that you have to wait for them yet I'm Vodacom customer not cell c customer. This tells me Vodacom doesn't care whether it loses a service with the client and it doesn't even care how long I have used the number with you Vodacom. Vodacom doesn't even care whether how many things are linked to the cell number. I can be contacted on [protected]@zulu.org.za [protected].

In Nov and Dec 2016 I emailed a Vodacom store in connection with our signal problems, and to get Vodacom to replace our signal booster for us. After repeated emails to follow up the store said that Vodacom is just responding they will follow up.
On the 12/01/2017 I phoned Vodacom myself and lodged the complaint, they gave me a ref no: 1-[protected] and said I will get a call back ASAP.
On the 16/01/2017 Marius contacted me to get my location. I then send him our location via whats up.
On the 17/01/2016 I asked Marius what and when will this matter be resolved, he said it is with the Radio Planning dept, they will contact me.
On the 18/01/2017 phoned again to follow up. The Vodacom call centre lady said she will put in an urgent mail to the dept to contact me ASAP.
On the 20/01/17 phoned again to follow up and asked for a manager to assist me - Motketse then said that they will phone me on the 20th to make arrangements. Motketse then later that afternoon phoned me again to follow up if I did receive a call - which I did not, he then said he will follow up again, but I must get a call that day.
On the 23/01/2017 - I phoned Motketse to complain that I have not receive any call yet?!?!? He then contacted the dept again - after holding on for over half a hour he came back to me with the following info:
The dept should have contacted me to explain the process - which they failed to do so. from the 17th it takes 14 days to replace the signal booster. So by no later than the 2/02/2017 (2 Feb 2017) our signal booster will be replaced. How unprofessional can Vodacom get?
Now I will have another 10 days to wait and see if Vodacom delivers on the promise they have made, unfortunately I have no confidence at this moment and will see what happens, how ever if they do not come out by the 2nd Feb 2017 we will cancel all four of our contracts with them due to failure on their part to provide a service to us as promised.

Vodacom's has probably got the worst customer service ever. Yesterday I bought 1GB data as my bundle was done. It showed successful and I even got a mail to confirm it. Couple hours later still no data. Then I bought the same amount again, still no data a day later. I phoned them twice to look into this matter as I was now charged out of bundle rates as I have a open line. The second time I phoned their response was it's still pending you must wait until it goes through! So I asked them who is going to pay the ####ing bill because of their service not working! I bought data over my banking app and still it won't go through so who's problem is this. Their only other solution is oh please switch off your data then if you don't want to be charged. Bull#### man I need my data on I work with my phone. This was the last to convince me when I upgrade next month to move to another network. We pay so much money for #### services!

Please, can someone sort out this problem! When it was time for my upgrade I changed from an open line to a 2gig top up on my cell phone in November 2016. At the end of December I received a bill exceding R2000! I changed because my daughter is at university. I was informed that the amount was to settle the last part of the "open line".
After several phone calls I was assured that I am on the top up and will not receive such a bill again... Not true. This morning I received an sms indicating I am paying R2 per mb ( this should not be the case). This means I am still on the open line! This is not my mistake.

I am querying the below:

1. The data that has been charged on my account as highlighted on the attached report,
A. 3 gb mi promo – r 218, 42 – november 2016
B. 1 gb mi promo – r 21.08 – december 2016
C. 1 gb mi promo – r 130.70 – january 2017

I do not understand the above charges, why they have been added on my account. Please forward me the agreement I made with you and reasons, why they have been added these on my account.

2. Attachment b is the notification I got via sms, 28 december 2016, notifying me that I have 100 mb left. Please forward me detail as to:
A. When did I deplete this 100 mb, for the out of bundle data charges to be charged.In answering this question please also factor in the once of – 1gb that I loaded.
B. When and where was the notice forwarded, advising me that I have depleted the data, that comes as part of the vip package that I am on.

3. Request for content services to be cancelled from my account. I called in today to have the content charges deleted from my account, please kindly cancel these.

4. Ref: [protected]

I am seriously aggrieved by the overcharging and unexplained expenses on my account. My account is overdrawn as I am still awaiting the refund due to me for the december/data invoice.
My credit record is affected and also incurring bank charges which each day that passes, with the money due not being paid.

Hallo Vodacom,

In May 2016 I extend my contract with you for another two years. I was on a Red advantage package and actually extended the contract by down grading to a smart L package. I actually wanted to move to a different service provider at the time and needed to get a from your upgrades department. The reason for me to move to a different company was 1: better deal and 2: that fact that I could not do an early upgrade in April, since I missed the early upgrade amount with a ridicules R5 on my average bill and I needed a new phone, since my Iphone broke and was irreparable.

During the call your service representative at the time preformed a price beat, whereby he offered me 350 min and an extra gig of data over and above the 500mb at that time on the smart L package.

Give the fact that we have had a long standing relationship, I decided to stay, even though the minutes was not exactly the same as what your competition offered.

My thinking was that I would save money by doing this transaction, however every month I account was much higher than on my previous contract. In December 2016 I went into a Vodacom shop to try and ascertain what was costing me money? The representative indicated that I went over my voice allocation, which they on the system could see was 250min.

Subsequently my 350 min that was promised to me was never allocated to me via your upgrades department.

I phoned Vodacom and logged a "work document" reference [protected]

I was also instructed to phone the upgrades department in the new year (2017). Which I did, the lady that helped me basically said that she will not be able to help me, since the cannot listen to telephone calls longer that six months old and effectively told me that it is my word against theirs. I asked here if I could speak to a supervisor. She indicated that all the supervisors was in a meeting and that they will phone me back on that same day. Which never happened.

I waited another day and phone again, when I asked to speak to a supervisor I was placed on hold and it sounded like a very lekker party happening in the background, needles to say after a much time have passed being on hold, I put down the phone and retried the department two to three times, where the phone just kept on ringing.

The next day I phone again, this time asking for a supervisor, the representative that picked up the phone did try to help me... he saw that the work document was logged on my account and he said that it was being attended to and the outcome would be available within a week... That was two weeks ago and I am still non the wiser...

So hopefully this time round I will get the problem resolved by logging an complaint.

If it does yield a resolution I have a couple of questions:

1. If you do decide to give me what was promised, the extra 100min per month, will that be applied to the past and will I get a credit for every months I paid out of bundle call rates?

2. If you can't find the call and or you don't want to give me what was promised, I will need to upgrade, since given the current track record it is useless to fight with you, moreover just being another number to Vodacom, irrespective of my long standing relationship and I would need to manage my risk by upgrading my contract back to a red advantage, the contract I had previously. In that case I will be sure to not renew my contract in 2018 and you have a reluctant customer for give or take another 15 months or so, which will probably not Vodacom at all.

I look forward to your reply, I suppose at your earliest convenience as has been that case thus far.

Regard

Gert van Wyk
[protected]

this is the 3rd complaint, and still nothing has been done. every time someone is calling me and said it would be dealt with in 3 days, but i am waiting now since 12 Jan 2017. i went to Voda shops 3 times and also nothing.. i had a pre-paid Blackberry phone before, and then i took out a contract with a Samsung phone on 22 Sept 2016. and since then they still deducting that R59 from my airtime for the internet and Whats-up service, I DEMAND a rufund NOW and that service STOPPED. the ref, nr sent to me on the 12th of Jan 2017 said it will be sent to a support specialist. Clearly that Specialist is not doing his job, or you are just ignoring this complaint. according to the sms they are going to deduct that R59 again on the 7th of Feb 2017. according to the information received from VODACOM. that blackberry service should have stopped at the end of Des 2016, That was the reason why i changed, and took out a contract. BUT to my supprise . So it is sure that this is a SCAMM or just Vodacome making some extra money .PLEASE attend to this problem AND SOLVE IT and REFUND MY MONEY AND STOP that service

My upgrade was on the 1 January 2017, I went to upgrade which I did. I got my phone two days later, the phone was working at the shop at beacon bay Vodafone shop in retail park. When I gothome the phones speakers didn't work and it showed that there was a problem with the sim card. I took the phone back the next day, he said he will send it to samsung. A week later they contact me and say they can't give me a new phone as it's the software was installed incorrectly. So they re installed it and I went there today to fetch it. AGAIN THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH THIS PHONE! I AM HIGHLY DISGUSTED IN VODACOM AND SAMSUNG! AS THE PHONE HAS COME BAVK WITH THE SAME PROBLEM. WHY MUST I SETTLE USING MY OLD PHONE AND PAYING FOR A NEW UPGRADE! THIS PHONE IS NEW I DEMAND A NEW PHONE! I am extremely disgusted with Vodafone's service and Samsung as a brand! I will NEVER BUY ANOTHER PHONE FROM VODACOM EVER!

The problem started from the first of January 2017 I would call from my Vodacom number [protected] and suddenly the other person can't hear me or I can't hear them. It sometimes happens 3 to 4 times within the first 5 minutes of the call. I would hang up and call again. I thought it may be my handset but several other people also complained about the same thing. My daughter [protected] in Hartebeespoort and my son [protected] in Polokwane have had the same problem.

I have reported this phenomenon on 3 separate occasions. When asked if somebody else has complained of the same thing happening, I have been assured that it is an isolated case and nothing like this has been reported by other Vodacom customers. After my second complaint somebody from Vodacom called me and told me as it was not dropped calls they cant give me free minutes? I said I don't want money of free minutes, I just wanted Vodacom to fix the problem because it is frustrating the hell out of me. I was also informed that the problem was due to "network congestion" and by another consultant that it must be a problem originating from the cell tower closest to me. Why then are people in other parts of the country experiencing the same problem?

The last person from Vodacom that I spoke to, actually told me to complain using this forum. He was at least honest enough to admit that several other people have also complained of the same thing happening to them.

What is going on? Why are we as paying customers of Vodacom being treated like ignorant fools and kept in the dark about a technical problem that is affecting our quality of service from Vodacom?

If this issue isn't addressed quickly or at least acknowledged by Vodacom, I am taking my money to another network and will be sure to tell everyone I know about the poor service I have received.

I phoned Vodacom, Due to an arrangement with them for payment on the 25th, our lines were still blocked. The first person I spoke to, was friendly and professional, I waited an hour without the agent getting back to me so I tried phoning the call center again.

I spoke to three different agents and each of them placing me through to collections and each time they keep cutting the line ( Which is extremely un professional as I am wasting my valuable time by getting cut off ). One of the agents sounded extremely condescending which is not the correct method of providing service as far as I understand each company that wishes to strive for greatness treat there customers with RESPECT and without any disrespectful tone! This is not the first time. I expect action or I will spread the news that Vodacom employees agents that are rude to there customers.

As I explained one of the agents (Paul last agent to assist me) and sorting out my issue it's the way the agents speak to there clients. The way the agents handled me as a client I feel disrespected and feel like changing my service provider in the future.

Feel free to investigate the recordings. Or call me and get the info.

Regards

Salome Fouche

I called 082111 regarding upgrading my fathers phone [protected], he is almost 70 and i work for him, so does my mother [protected] and my brother [protected]. Together we pay you over 10 000 rand per month through Watson Mattheus Consulting engineers. I have to upgrade my fathers phone, he will NOT call you to do so. He does not have a computer, whats app or knows how a sms works. Your staff are not prepared to help and when I said I will cancel all the numbers and move I was simply told to call another number to do so. My number is [protected]. Please help me as I dont understand this level of BAD service

Last week (11th Jan 2017) I completed my application for a new contract and phone over the internet and telephone, thinking that it should be easier than trying to get to a store with my work being very demanding etc.
I also requested to keep my old prepaid number.
However it turns out that it would have been better to just take time off of work to go in store to do the application instead. They delivered the phone on Tuesday this week (17 Jan 2017) with the incorrectly sized sim card for the phone, they sent me a duo sim instead of a nano sim, so I anyway had to go in store and purchase another sim card on my own account. And then when they are doing the sim swop I learn that they did not migrate my old number at all, as I had requested (more than once when doing the application). I've had to sit on the phone for ages just to get through to someone to assist me in migrating my number, being sent from one person to the next. I was told, after eventually getting to some who was able to help, it will take 2-5 hours then the number will be migrated, but it is now 20 hours.
I have no doubt that it will eventually be done and so on, but my frustration is that it turned out to be such a mission by doing an online/telephonic application and order instead of going in store, whereas it's supposed to be the opposite way round.
I am also not pleased about the fact that the airtime and data I had purchased for my prepaid number (for work purposes) will be forfeited once the migration in complete, and one is not able to send these amounts to a "friend/family member" in the interim. And I have been informed that other networks allow you to carry it over... so this also irked me.

I have requested a copy of my contract on the 11th of December 2016, and sent the documents requested on the 13th of December to Vodacom and received a confirmation that they had received it.
Since then I have called them about 6 times and keep getting promised that they will sort it out and get back to me.
Today is the 20th of January 2017 and I still have not received anything from Vodacom.

Good day,
I did an upgrade on 22 Dec 2016 on my contract, [protected]. CAT B40, which is supposed to be waterproof. This phone was exposed to water, and immediately there after stopped working. Handed the phone in early Jan, the phone was not even 2 weeks old. And now you want to tell me that it can not be repaired and you will not replace this phone? this is not acceptable, and i would like the ombudsman details in order to lodge a formal complaint. Repair #[protected] . You can contact me on [protected] for any queries.
I have had contracts with vodacom for many years, and i am really not happy with this.