Snazzy
Well-Known Member
I have been a Vodacom customer since I bought my first pre-paid sim card in 2001. I was a first year varsity student at the time, and have supported this service provider ever since. It saddens me to have to write this because my trust has been broken and my disappointment is immense.
When I could finally afford it (November 2007), I took out a package from Vodacom and received a new Motorola Z8 cellphone. It looked like a great phone, with all the features that appeal to a person that works in the media.
People warned me that Motorola are problematic, but yet again, I was trusting and believed that it would fine.
At the beginning of 2008, my phone would do the strangest thing. While using it, it would switch off by itself and then turn back on. I was not sure what happened because it happened occasionally. Then it started happening more frequently and would take longer to switch back on once it had switched itself off.
I can certainly vouch for the awesome colour display, because while it was rebooting itself, the screen would turn vibrant colours!
Eventually the problem got so bad that it wouldn't switch back on again, and the battery would be exhausted. If I charged it, it would just carry on rebooting and never turn on again.
On 19 July 2008, I send my phone into Vodacare at Midrand the first time. They fixed it and sent it back, and so for a while it worked again. Then the same problem started. Slowly at first; and then increasingly worse until again the phone would just never turn on.
I travel a lot on shoots, especially during that time. So I was forced to endure it, as I could not get time to go back to Vodacare and book it in for repairs again.
Eventually on 24 January 2009, I booked the phone in at Vodacare again. They fixed some stuff (I know nothing about phone parts) and sent it back. Yet again, my phone would turn off randomly and reboot itself, with the process of rebooting sometimes taking over an hour.
I was back at Vodacare on 30 March 2009, reporting the same problem for the third time. This time, they said there may be water damage, but they will book it in. They fixed some stuff again and I got my phone back.
When I got my phone back, it was scratched badly; the face was so bad that I could see the copper underneath. I also noticed that the cover over the sim card was still on the phone. I usually remove all parts from my phone. I asked the agent I was dealing with if they were sure that it was my phone? She called a manager who assured me that it was and that they would replace the front cover.
They then booked it in again on 4 May 2009.
When I checked all the parts that I had removed from my phone at home, I saw that I had indeed removed the cover over the sim card. I found this strange but, still trusting Vodacom, figured that maybe they had just given me a new one.
I received my phone back eventually with the new face, and yet again, my phone started rebooting itself. As usual this always seems to happen when I am travelling, and nowhere near the Vodacare in Midrand.
I eventually managed to get to Vodacare again on the 3 July 2009, and after losing my patience with the staff there, I was told that there is water damage on my phone. I said that it was checked the last time and they still fixed it? So how can there be water damage? The manager then claimed that they had done me a favour by fixing it the last time.
They booked it in again. And I received a call on 10 July 2009. They have claimed that the phone has water damage and they will not be fixing it. Do I have insurance? No I don't. I have the weird idea that in a fair world, that that is what the warranty is for.
I am very confused. Why was water damage not claimed in July 2008? I have not reported a new problem on the phone in all this time. It was the same problem, over and over again. I would understand if it was a new problem, but it's not. So why wait a year to just tell me, 'Sorry, its Water Damage this time'.
So I have no cellphone, a year wasted on a phone that was broken more often than it worked, and I have to continue paying Vodacom until my contract expires in November 2009. If I want to cancel, I have to pay them. I found that last statement really funny.
I will never support Vodacom again. I have even thrown away all pre-paid sim cards that I used for work purposes. I will be moving to a new service provider.
I will also NEVER NEVER EVER buy another Motorola, neither will any of my family or friends, because they have gone through this frustrating experience with me.
Vodacom have violated my trust and risk losing my continued support. In this situation, the only fair and just thing they can do, and the only way they can make it up to me for all the trouble I have gone through in dealing with them, is to replace the phone with another of a comparable nature. That is, after all, why the warranty on the phone exists.
There had not been any water damage claim to the phone when it had been sent in for repair initially. As is clear from the damaged and additional part, they also changed parts on the phone. It's quite likely that the water damage was caused by Vodacare while the phone was in their care, or that they replaced the relevant part of the phone with one that had been water-damaged.
When I could finally afford it (November 2007), I took out a package from Vodacom and received a new Motorola Z8 cellphone. It looked like a great phone, with all the features that appeal to a person that works in the media.
People warned me that Motorola are problematic, but yet again, I was trusting and believed that it would fine.
At the beginning of 2008, my phone would do the strangest thing. While using it, it would switch off by itself and then turn back on. I was not sure what happened because it happened occasionally. Then it started happening more frequently and would take longer to switch back on once it had switched itself off.
I can certainly vouch for the awesome colour display, because while it was rebooting itself, the screen would turn vibrant colours!
Eventually the problem got so bad that it wouldn't switch back on again, and the battery would be exhausted. If I charged it, it would just carry on rebooting and never turn on again.
On 19 July 2008, I send my phone into Vodacare at Midrand the first time. They fixed it and sent it back, and so for a while it worked again. Then the same problem started. Slowly at first; and then increasingly worse until again the phone would just never turn on.
I travel a lot on shoots, especially during that time. So I was forced to endure it, as I could not get time to go back to Vodacare and book it in for repairs again.
Eventually on 24 January 2009, I booked the phone in at Vodacare again. They fixed some stuff (I know nothing about phone parts) and sent it back. Yet again, my phone would turn off randomly and reboot itself, with the process of rebooting sometimes taking over an hour.
I was back at Vodacare on 30 March 2009, reporting the same problem for the third time. This time, they said there may be water damage, but they will book it in. They fixed some stuff again and I got my phone back.
When I got my phone back, it was scratched badly; the face was so bad that I could see the copper underneath. I also noticed that the cover over the sim card was still on the phone. I usually remove all parts from my phone. I asked the agent I was dealing with if they were sure that it was my phone? She called a manager who assured me that it was and that they would replace the front cover.
They then booked it in again on 4 May 2009.
When I checked all the parts that I had removed from my phone at home, I saw that I had indeed removed the cover over the sim card. I found this strange but, still trusting Vodacom, figured that maybe they had just given me a new one.
I received my phone back eventually with the new face, and yet again, my phone started rebooting itself. As usual this always seems to happen when I am travelling, and nowhere near the Vodacare in Midrand.
I eventually managed to get to Vodacare again on the 3 July 2009, and after losing my patience with the staff there, I was told that there is water damage on my phone. I said that it was checked the last time and they still fixed it? So how can there be water damage? The manager then claimed that they had done me a favour by fixing it the last time.
They booked it in again. And I received a call on 10 July 2009. They have claimed that the phone has water damage and they will not be fixing it. Do I have insurance? No I don't. I have the weird idea that in a fair world, that that is what the warranty is for.
I am very confused. Why was water damage not claimed in July 2008? I have not reported a new problem on the phone in all this time. It was the same problem, over and over again. I would understand if it was a new problem, but it's not. So why wait a year to just tell me, 'Sorry, its Water Damage this time'.
So I have no cellphone, a year wasted on a phone that was broken more often than it worked, and I have to continue paying Vodacom until my contract expires in November 2009. If I want to cancel, I have to pay them. I found that last statement really funny.
I will never support Vodacom again. I have even thrown away all pre-paid sim cards that I used for work purposes. I will be moving to a new service provider.
I will also NEVER NEVER EVER buy another Motorola, neither will any of my family or friends, because they have gone through this frustrating experience with me.
Vodacom have violated my trust and risk losing my continued support. In this situation, the only fair and just thing they can do, and the only way they can make it up to me for all the trouble I have gone through in dealing with them, is to replace the phone with another of a comparable nature. That is, after all, why the warranty on the phone exists.
There had not been any water damage claim to the phone when it had been sent in for repair initially. As is clear from the damaged and additional part, they also changed parts on the phone. It's quite likely that the water damage was caused by Vodacare while the phone was in their care, or that they replaced the relevant part of the phone with one that had been water-damaged.
