wayfarer
Expert Member
We (wife and I) have been called multiple times by Cell C over the past 2 months, reminding us to upgrade our contracts. Both our current phones are faulty: crashing, dropping calls, struggling with signal, battery life of 1 to 2 hours. I was scheduled to leave Mpumalanga for Cape Town this morning (Monday, 1 June) for a few weeks (with my wife remaining behind with our 2-month old baby), so we headed to the nearest Cell C on Saturday (30 May), in a neighbouring town - only to be told that our debit order for the month has "probably" not registered on their side yet, and they can only call "Pre-legal" to resolve the matter on Monday.
We have a monthly debit order, running for the past 24 months (in fact, the past 48 months on previous contract too), and we have never missed a payment. The SMSes confirming both contract debits came through at 6am the Saturday morning, on schedule, and we showed it to the store assistant. Frustrated at having to waste time and money, I returned home empty-handed. I was forced to cancel my flight to Cape Town, as I could not leave my wife alone in Mpumalanga without a phone, as we have no acquaintances here.
I turn to Hellopeter, and wait. My wife and I are both called this morning (Monday) by a Cell C rep. He apologises profusely, and informs us that the error was on their side, and that he can see that we have a clean record, and no history of late payments, and everything is clear. He expresses his disappointment that the store assistant did not do the necessary checks and assist us. According to the rep, the store assistant could have done all the paper work manually and issued the handsets, and resolve the admin issues afterwords, as their computer systems showed we were clear. The rep offered no recompense for the serious inconvenience, and instead offers to have the phones couriered within 7 days (normal call-centre upgrade procedure) or we could return to the store in person. He further informs us that the store manager was apologetic for the slip-up, and hopes to receive us in-store to apologise personally.
Reluctantly, after work, we head back to the store in the neighbouring town, as I have to go to Cape Town tomorrow.
"Sorry sir, we cannot process the upgrade until you're up to date with payments!" My word. We ask for the manager, who comes forward and says his hands are tied. I relate to him everything the rep told me, and he confirms having been called by the rep and sorting the problem out, including inviting me back to the store to activate the upgrades. "But Mr. Customer, Pre-legal works normal office ours, and we cannot activate an upgrade while there is an account problem. The system shows you owe Cell C nothing, but it won't upgrade because of some unknown account problem. You came to us too late in the afternoon. Pre-legal is closed now. Come back tomorrow." My wife cannot leave work during office hours. After another 20 minutes of presenting my case, I leave, empty-handed again. (And I have a tyre puncture on a dark, rural road, on the way home.)
What now?
We have a monthly debit order, running for the past 24 months (in fact, the past 48 months on previous contract too), and we have never missed a payment. The SMSes confirming both contract debits came through at 6am the Saturday morning, on schedule, and we showed it to the store assistant. Frustrated at having to waste time and money, I returned home empty-handed. I was forced to cancel my flight to Cape Town, as I could not leave my wife alone in Mpumalanga without a phone, as we have no acquaintances here.
I turn to Hellopeter, and wait. My wife and I are both called this morning (Monday) by a Cell C rep. He apologises profusely, and informs us that the error was on their side, and that he can see that we have a clean record, and no history of late payments, and everything is clear. He expresses his disappointment that the store assistant did not do the necessary checks and assist us. According to the rep, the store assistant could have done all the paper work manually and issued the handsets, and resolve the admin issues afterwords, as their computer systems showed we were clear. The rep offered no recompense for the serious inconvenience, and instead offers to have the phones couriered within 7 days (normal call-centre upgrade procedure) or we could return to the store in person. He further informs us that the store manager was apologetic for the slip-up, and hopes to receive us in-store to apologise personally.
Reluctantly, after work, we head back to the store in the neighbouring town, as I have to go to Cape Town tomorrow.
"Sorry sir, we cannot process the upgrade until you're up to date with payments!" My word. We ask for the manager, who comes forward and says his hands are tied. I relate to him everything the rep told me, and he confirms having been called by the rep and sorting the problem out, including inviting me back to the store to activate the upgrades. "But Mr. Customer, Pre-legal works normal office ours, and we cannot activate an upgrade while there is an account problem. The system shows you owe Cell C nothing, but it won't upgrade because of some unknown account problem. You came to us too late in the afternoon. Pre-legal is closed now. Come back tomorrow." My wife cannot leave work during office hours. After another 20 minutes of presenting my case, I leave, empty-handed again. (And I have a tyre puncture on a dark, rural road, on the way home.)
What now?
