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- Sep 9, 2005
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I am Belgian with an extended visitor permit in South Africa. Which mean that I am allowed to stay 2 years in the country. But meanwhile I have applied for permanent residence as both, my girlfriend and I, have our own PTY being started now. I am also the director of a section 21 school for deaf children in Guguletu. I hope that with both our pty's and our school we will be able to give our little help to South Africa which is a beautiful country we really love it. But that's until you meet Vodacom people, who take away all your enthusiasm in starting a company in this country. I've experienced the worst service in my entire life! It started when we arrived in South Africa, Vodacom told us we need to have a bank account, altough I believe that it should be possible to remove the monthly payement from your credit card, I went to the FNB and opened 2 accounts (which we needed anyhow). Went back to the Vodashop and the same guy tells me that he needs 3 months statements, just as he could not have told me that before! But ok, as I am in this country for business reasons and that you can't do business without a phone I asked one of my customers to arrange the subscription and I am now paying him every 3 months.
Now 3 weeks ago I called the Vodashop in Pickbell parkade in Cape Town for a 3G card, Aziza told me that she needed 3 months bank statements and my ID, so I went to the Vodashop gave Aziza my Passport and the book with all my statements from the last year. She told me that it would take 4 to 5 days. Now that is in my opinion already way too long for a stupid 3g card (you get a house loan faster than that). But that was still in my hopefull days. After 5 days there was no news from the Vodashop so I went back and she told me she had no time for me now but that she would call me back later in the afternoon. If you believe that they would really do what they tell you forget it, you must really call back yourself to find out. In fact I went back to the shop, the first question they ask you is who have you been dealing with, now i believe that it this is not the customer's problem, as customer you make an application and every one in the company should be able to tell you what is happening with your application, I mean imagine she gets under a car then suddenly nobody can help all these customer because Vodacom aparently do not keep a record in their computer but only in a salesman' brain. Believe me if I tell my customer that I can't help them because my collegue is on leave, our company would be bankcrupt by now but then we are a private company I mean a real one not one as Vodacom.
Unfortunattely my story is still very long, I finally got hold of Aziza who told me that she needed the 3 last statements, altough she copied the statements herself, so she could have taken the correct one (what about if I just bought a dildo for my girlfriend last night, how do you feel about all your bank statements just laying there in a vodacomshop?). Anyhow, i faxed her the three last statements, again NO news, again I tried to call and call and call but always busy with customers. (Isn' it amazing such a bad service and not time for customer because too busy with other customers?)
Okay three days later the last story now is that the bankstatement are until the 8th of August only, well these are the last one I received and as this story as taken so long, now they want the statement until the present day ( if it takes another two weeks it will be invalid again of course)went to the bank, waited in the queue and got my latest bank statement printed, stamped and everything just as in the old days in Russia!
Went again to the shop to hear that now they want my workcontract (they probably never heard about privacy laws) As my employer is in the Netherlands I faxed them an English declaration from my employer that i have been working for my present company since 1998 and that I am the representative in South Africa. Meanwhile we are two weeks down the road and still no card. So let's go back to the shop, (I stopped calling it is useless they are not answering) now they want my full work contract (do they want to know how late I should be in the office, how the company car is arranged, how many time I am supposed to have the company car washed? I really wonder what) Of course my contract is in dutch as my employer and myself are both dutch speaking so now they wanted a translation!!!
This morning I got a phone call from a lady that did not mention her name or the company she is working for and she asked straight for the employement department, I don't know how it is with you but I do get these kind of phone call quite often and they always want a job, so therefore I tell the lady: "listen this is a one man company I am the owner, the cleaner and the employer" and she answered me "thank you this was Vodacom" SHIIIIT that was indeed the wrong answer but hey at the end you get quite nervous he? I called immediately to Aziza who was of course busy so i tried again a hour later but finally two hours later i get a call from her, but it was too late the card had already been refused.
So this is how you try to start a business in this country it does not matter if you have money or not, you will have to deal with these super-bureaucrates who want to know everything about your private life.
What I critisize the girl in the vodashop is that ;
She never call me back (except once) to tell me what is missing.
She copied the wrong bank details herself .
She had no clue which documents where needed when she started.
The shop has no idea what is happening with your case when the correct employee is absent.
What is wrong with Vodacom
They do not instruct the employees correctly about the required papers.
They ask for documents which a very private.
They are so bureaucratic that they do not look at anything else such as the amount of creditcards a customer have or his salary they just care about their forms.
they call people without announcing themself.
What now? Now I am told by a friend that i can just buy the card and then I would not have to supply a pile of documents. Why did the sleswoman not tell me that, while I told her that money was not a problem? My only concern is that I want to be able to shift to the competitors as soon as these are available so that these country can finally develop as I believe that Vodacom and Telkom are the main brakes in the developpment of South Africa.
Long live the competition !!!!
Now 3 weeks ago I called the Vodashop in Pickbell parkade in Cape Town for a 3G card, Aziza told me that she needed 3 months bank statements and my ID, so I went to the Vodashop gave Aziza my Passport and the book with all my statements from the last year. She told me that it would take 4 to 5 days. Now that is in my opinion already way too long for a stupid 3g card (you get a house loan faster than that). But that was still in my hopefull days. After 5 days there was no news from the Vodashop so I went back and she told me she had no time for me now but that she would call me back later in the afternoon. If you believe that they would really do what they tell you forget it, you must really call back yourself to find out. In fact I went back to the shop, the first question they ask you is who have you been dealing with, now i believe that it this is not the customer's problem, as customer you make an application and every one in the company should be able to tell you what is happening with your application, I mean imagine she gets under a car then suddenly nobody can help all these customer because Vodacom aparently do not keep a record in their computer but only in a salesman' brain. Believe me if I tell my customer that I can't help them because my collegue is on leave, our company would be bankcrupt by now but then we are a private company I mean a real one not one as Vodacom.
Unfortunattely my story is still very long, I finally got hold of Aziza who told me that she needed the 3 last statements, altough she copied the statements herself, so she could have taken the correct one (what about if I just bought a dildo for my girlfriend last night, how do you feel about all your bank statements just laying there in a vodacomshop?). Anyhow, i faxed her the three last statements, again NO news, again I tried to call and call and call but always busy with customers. (Isn' it amazing such a bad service and not time for customer because too busy with other customers?)
Okay three days later the last story now is that the bankstatement are until the 8th of August only, well these are the last one I received and as this story as taken so long, now they want the statement until the present day ( if it takes another two weeks it will be invalid again of course)went to the bank, waited in the queue and got my latest bank statement printed, stamped and everything just as in the old days in Russia!
Went again to the shop to hear that now they want my workcontract (they probably never heard about privacy laws) As my employer is in the Netherlands I faxed them an English declaration from my employer that i have been working for my present company since 1998 and that I am the representative in South Africa. Meanwhile we are two weeks down the road and still no card. So let's go back to the shop, (I stopped calling it is useless they are not answering) now they want my full work contract (do they want to know how late I should be in the office, how the company car is arranged, how many time I am supposed to have the company car washed? I really wonder what) Of course my contract is in dutch as my employer and myself are both dutch speaking so now they wanted a translation!!!
This morning I got a phone call from a lady that did not mention her name or the company she is working for and she asked straight for the employement department, I don't know how it is with you but I do get these kind of phone call quite often and they always want a job, so therefore I tell the lady: "listen this is a one man company I am the owner, the cleaner and the employer" and she answered me "thank you this was Vodacom" SHIIIIT that was indeed the wrong answer but hey at the end you get quite nervous he? I called immediately to Aziza who was of course busy so i tried again a hour later but finally two hours later i get a call from her, but it was too late the card had already been refused.
So this is how you try to start a business in this country it does not matter if you have money or not, you will have to deal with these super-bureaucrates who want to know everything about your private life.
What I critisize the girl in the vodashop is that ;
She never call me back (except once) to tell me what is missing.
She copied the wrong bank details herself .
She had no clue which documents where needed when she started.
The shop has no idea what is happening with your case when the correct employee is absent.
What is wrong with Vodacom
They do not instruct the employees correctly about the required papers.
They ask for documents which a very private.
They are so bureaucratic that they do not look at anything else such as the amount of creditcards a customer have or his salary they just care about their forms.
they call people without announcing themself.
What now? Now I am told by a friend that i can just buy the card and then I would not have to supply a pile of documents. Why did the sleswoman not tell me that, while I told her that money was not a problem? My only concern is that I want to be able to shift to the competitors as soon as these are available so that these country can finally develop as I believe that Vodacom and Telkom are the main brakes in the developpment of South Africa.
Long live the competition !!!!
.
