Vodacom fails on all levels, customer billed R146 000

I HAD a contract line with Vodacom for more than five years with an average monthly spend not exceeding R2 000.

In August 2016, I received a bill of R146 000 after having been out of the country the previous month.

I went to a Voda Shop to complain and Vodacom conceded to my contract line having been hijacked via a fraudulent SIM swop while I was out of the country, which fraudulent activity Vodacom said they were aware of and I shouldn’t worry.

At the time, I was told I could not do a SIM swop to retrieve my line as my account was in arrears to the extent of the fraud, which amount needed to be reversed by their accounts department before a bona fide SIM swop could be effected.

Needless to say, a month went by with no word from Vodacom and, upon another inquiry at the same shop in September 2016, I found out that not only had the fraud amount not been reversed, but another bill of R76 000 had been added.

Vodacom had not only failed to reverse the initial R146 000, but also failed to block the fraudulent spend as the account was still active. I was told to submit an affidavit to their forensics department at Vodaworld, which I did and never got any feedback or my line back.

My contract had been due for an upgrade in December last year and I could not have this effected as my account was still in arrears to the extent of the two fraud amounts.

At some point they reversed the R146 000 but not the R76 000 and I still could not upgrade or do a SIM swop. I have spent the past 10 months between July 2016 and April 2017 without a line while trying to get Vodacom to resolve this.

In April this year, they eventually reversed the R76 000 and at that point I thought I would be able to finally do an upgrade and SIM swop and get my line back but no, wait for it… Vodacom wanted me to first pay for the accumulated monthly subscription for the 10 months I did not have my line.

I protested that this was a service I could not use through no fault of mine and their compromise was that I pay for the handset.

I eventually paid for the residual on the handset in April under protest, and at that point still could not do an upgrade or SIM swop as they now needed to do a portfolio review because the account had been in arrears for so long.

And then they decided to activate a new contract as an open line (which package I never had in the past nor asked for) and promptly billed me for April and May – in the meantime, no upgrade has been done or new SIM issued. It’s a fancy package I couldn’t use.

For 10 months, I have been without my line. To this day no explanation has been offered and there’s been no apology.

And I was made to pay for a service I could not use in the 10 months since this fraudulent SIM swop through Vodacom’s system failures.

Vodacom now expects me to pay for April and May subscription on a package I did not ask for nor able to use as they still could not give me an upgrade or do a SIM swop.

In despair I have asked for the account to be closed and converted it to a prepaid line. Julani Majola

Georgie: I sent the complaint to Vodacom two weeks ago and was assured it would be “escalated”. Nothing further.