Vodacom R99 internet starter pack rant

[adamr]

a few months back bought a R99 internet starter pack from vodacom the 100meg for 12 month deal with a modem ... a week ago i decided to use it ... went in to get it all rica'ed etc ... and lo and behold was told

"sorry u took too long to use so the number was recycled and you cant get the 100meg per month, we need to give you a prepaid sim and you need to recharge it yourself ... " blank sim no data no voice no sms ... nada on it

this sounds like down right robbery ... i paid for something, i should have been told if i dont use it or activiate it in time i will lose it as part of the sale ... whether it cost R10 000 or r1 ... if i bought a product that said i will get 100meg per month i expect to get that ... not to be told oh sorry if u did not use it you lost it and there is nothing we can do ... need some advise on how to approach this from a principle point of view ... its just R100 ... but principally this is just wrong ...

 

[Rocket Raccoon]

How could you have bought the sim without RICA-ing it in the first place?

 

[adamr]

dion wired did not rica the sim and said i need to get it rica'ed at a vodacom outlet ... now i really did not want to waste my time arguing with a sales person at dion wired and said "ok"

 

[krieg]

If you only RICA the sim now and activated the sim you should get the data for twelve months after activation. Or did you activate the sim more than 6 months ago and now the number is recycled due to non use?

 

[adamr]

only activated the sim now ... was sealed all this time

so i find it rather thuggish to just recycle the number and tell me "ahhh sorrrreee, if you dont use, you lose" ... ok im being a tad dramatic ... but in a nutshell thats what i was told

 

[krieg]

Was there a number on the modem? This is very strange as you only get allocated a number after activation via sms. Reason being there is a limited amount of numbers. I don't think you lost the data if you are using the sim card that came with the modem. Check the balance of your data bundle under promotion bundles. If you still have problems you should contact 191 from the sim card you purchased.

 

[adamr]

no number allocated .... got the sim ... rica'ed ... needed a nano sim for ipad so asked for a swim swap ... they said wait a day for number to appear on new sim ... i ended up waiting a week ... went into store and then told sorry number got recycled ... but you absolutely correct there was no number to start with

 

[adamr]

is there a vodacom rep on here

 

[krieg]

You sure the original sim card doesn't work? Sounds like they did nothing and gave you a bull excuse. If the original sim card is still active simply go to CNA and get a prepaid nano sim for like R10 and RICA the new sim. You then need to place the nano sim in a phone and dial 100 and choose option 2 for a sim swap. Option 1 is for a new number. A consultant is then suppose to call you back to verify through security questions if you are the owner.

 

[adamr]

think ill do that ... thanks

 

[D4N]

think ill do that ... thanks

Did you ever come right with this? I'm sitting with 5 of these starter packs still sealed

 

[Paul Hjul]

ja I am not seeing any reason why you cant migrate a SIM to the offering. I imagine it is simply a consequence of something that was honestly quite inconceivable namely people purchasing this to stockpile and not redeem.

In fairness to Vodacom this particular offering is intended to drive uptake of entry into internet connectivity and there are likely limits on the number of accounts released onto the market and the provisioning planning would make assumptions that work on the 12 months starting up soon after purchase.

My understanding of the CPA though is that you should be able to redeem the "voucher" that the product represents within 3 years but it is also possible that the redemption actually occurs on purchase so Vodacom would actually be allowed to take up the months its been sitting around.