Cell C
Reviews and Complaints

During may 2013 I applied for a 2nd contract with cell c with which I am with for the past 7 years - on 26 june 2013 I made payment of r166 + r422 to cell c, however only on the 1st contract reference number as I thought that cell c would notice the 2 exact payments for the same customer who have 2 contracts with them. Not much brain teaser here to take notice of this, however to my surprise cell c kept on phoning me with the confirmation that I am in arrears with the 2nd contract. Which I am technically not - I requested them to journal the credit which was obviously for the 2nd contract as I paid in the exact amount due on the 2nd contract and they refused - saying that they are not allowed to journal any payments, even though it was for the same client. After numerious telephonic attendances to the cell c call centre and still not getting anywhere, I visited the cell c shop in the kolonnade centre in pretoria and they also could not help in explaining to the incompetent personell at the cell c accounts department and I just got a "sorry" from them.
On 26 july 2013 I once again made two exact payments of r261 + r150, which was the exact amounts due on contract 1 and contract 2 and once again I am not in arrears, still cell c refused to journal the credit to the correct contract (Same client remember), even though I once again paid the exact amount owing and due. My 2nd contract was suspended.
I registered a formal complaint at hello peter.com on 6 august 2013 and I was contacted by a team member of the cell c escalations team on 8 august 2013 who promised that she would organize the credit to be journalled to the correct contract and activated my 2nd contract again.
Much to my surprise my 2nd contract was suspended again on the 12th of august 2013 due to the fact that I am in "arrears".
This company is the most incompetent company I have ever been in business with and I would never refer any person to do business with cell c. What other entity would refuse to journal a credit to help a client.

Cell C is the worst service provider there is. On the 01/07/2013 I phoned Cell C, becuase I want to stop the contract and pay it up. They gave me a amount of R692.65, I asked if that is the full amount due for this contract, yes they said. I paid it the same day, email the proof of payment and cancellation of contract to customer service Cell C. No reply, after two weeks I phoned Cell C again just to find out if they got the payment. Yes they do, but I still owe them one months money R159.00. I asked how is that possible if I paid the full amount for the contract and query it. I phoned there head office and later Sidefree Valoyi phoned me and said he listened to all the tell conversations and Cell C is going to credit my account and it will be 0. On the 07/08/2013 I phoned Cell C just to find out did they credit my account, no they say I owe them now R674.26, service fees. I just lost it, because how can you pay the amount you are given and then they will credit the other amount and then there is service fees that come later. Sidefree phoned me again, no I do not have to worry everything is going to be credited. I asked him, please send me a email where he just stated what he told me over the phone, so I can have proof, he said he is going to send me immediatly a email, that was this morning and no email yet, it is after 15h00 already. He said why did I not contact him, did he know that when you phone, you will hold for more then half a hour and still nothing. He gave me a number, his direct number, well this number is engage all the time. All I want is the proof what I was told over the phone by Sidefree is the truth that I owe Cell C nothing.

hi I had a contract with you guys years ago which has been settle according to my knowledge, how today I received a call from j.m.attorneys stating otherwise .Please inform me as to how and why this has happened as that contract was settle.i admit I have had many issues with cell c .In which I have sent many faxes to you guys .Now im not sure if this is a way of cell c trying to extort more finance from customers . I want a complete statement as to how and where this extra cost came from ?

Good day

Trust you are well
I would like to log a complaint about cellc, the network provider, on the 29th of may I upgraded to a Samsung galaxy s4 for R399 which comes with a gig but chose the straight up 50 by mistake I only realized that when the 1st top up that I was on straight up 50 so called cellc to change the package to straight up 100 for R399. The upgrade was done in may and we only got the first top up on the 1st of July and realized the package I’m on, and I was still billed for June.
I have been calling since last 2weeks going for 3 now without any assistance, I first spoke to Zama on Monday 1st July 2013 who logged a call and told me I will get a ref number via an sms and feedback in 4-5 business days and nothing happened, then spoke to Mantshebo who did the upgrade and advised to speak to her team leader and still haven’t heard anything. I know the error was on my side and I’m willing to continue with cellc but not with the package we not happy with, emailing you is my last resort as the call centre is unable to help. I again called Mantshebo who I did the upgrade with on the 5 July 2013 to find out if she has escalated with her team leader, she told me these things take time and that he will call me, up until now she has not, I had to go to the store at Carlton centre for assistance and send emails to their customer service email address.
I then was advised by a consultant at the cellc store at Carlton centre on the 13 July that I might be charged for migrating before the new contract is 3months old that I accepted, I would like to be migrated to a straight up 100 for R399pm, Yes I was upgraded to a straight up R50 for R399pm and I didn’t know I have to pay R349 meaning the R97 goes towards the data and sms’s?

And I also enquired at the store if the if the straight up R100 is a special and he said that is the original price and the special has been on the entire time as I’ve been trying to change the package and it’s still advertised at R399pm. And I also saw on your ads that R449 is a price for a straight up 200 so will I be on straight up 200 and getting straight up 100 benefits? Because on a straight up 200 they offer 200 minutes, 200 smss and 200mb + 824mb they want to put me on a straight up 100 but pay the amount on a straight up 200, is this fair? Currently I’m on straight up 50 I get 50smss and 50mg for R399pm. The staff is very unprofessional and don’t do follow ups with the customer and I don’t feel I did a big mistake by upgrading with them.
Please assist me with this matter if it’s possible.
Regards.
N

I had a sms today from a place called pholosa telling me a cellc acc has been handed over to them for debt collection, I must pay this amount before 06 june 2013. Today is the 19 june 2013. I called this number very confused as I do not have any cellc contracts with anybody. The lady on the other line on behalf of pholosa collections agency called melody was very ignorant, I told her I will not give out my personal information as I do not know this pholosa place and I do not have a cell c account, I asked her to send me the proof she has that this account indeeds belong to me she kept on asking me what proof must she send. I asked to speak to a supervisor she told me first she cant put me through and that I must not shout at her and then she said no the supervisors are busy. I asked her again to fax me the proof that this account is for me, she again asked what must she sent as she has a lot of information. I told her I will contact cell c myself and find out what this is about.

I took out a new contract with cell c on 24 may 2012 at the blue route mall store. The phone I wanted was on a blackberry casual chat 100 contract, where I would receive 100 off peak minutes (I can only make calls after 8pm and weekends). The subscription would be r169 per month, which includes the off peak minutes, itemized billing, and bis. As, I was not happy with this, the consultant (Nikita) informed me that after 4 months I would be able to convert the contract to a top-up, where I would pay r175 and receive r175 airtime per month. This would include bis.

After 4 months, I went into the store and asked whether I could convert the contract to a top-up contract, as I was earlier informed I could do by the consultant (Nikita). She then told me that cell c no longer offers that option, as their structure had changed since the last time I was in the store. The only option I had was to pay my & ldquo;commitment fee” (Which I was never informed of) plus bis, plus one of their new contracts, which would give me (For example) 50mb data, anytime minutes and sms’s for an additional r50. This would total over r200 per month. I also informed them that I was being billed for internet, when I am paying for bis. They said that they would contact their it department and get back to me, however, months later I am still awaiting their response. I was told that I need to contact their area manager earl moses. I had to call their regional office, which I would be billed for, as I would only get hold of them during office (Peak) hours. I called the regional office several times and earl was never available. Eventually earl called and listened to my dilemma, said he would escalate my problem to johannesburg, and get back to me as soon as he could. This took place months ago, and to this day I am still waiting for earl moses to follow up and get back to me.

Due to the fact that the matter was not being resolved, and the bad service I was receiving, I decided to post on hello peter on november 28 2012. Within hours of my posting, cell c responded by stating that one of their consultants sisa would contact me shortly. I did not receive the above mentioned call after 3 days, and then wrote on cell c’s facebook page. I received a response within an hour. I was instructed to do all kinds of things and was again told that sisa would contact me shortly.
After almost 3 weeks I eventually got the call from sisa. He would not listen, kept giving me the same story that everyone else did. After being on the call for while, I eventually agreed to pay my commitment fee (Mentioned earlier) and to take the top up 30 option. Sisa said that he would guarantee that I would get my bis for free for the remainder of my contract. He instructed me to stay on the line while he makes the changes to my contract. He dropped the call a few seconds later, and did not call back. I waited for a while for his return call, which never came. I later checked my balance, and found that I only had 20 talk time minutes. When I had over 100 minutes before sisa called. He failed to tell me that when the contract changed my existing minutes (Which I had paid for) would fall away.

I went back to the blue route store on tuesday 11 december 2012 to speak to the store manager & ndash; she was smoking, I waited about 10 minutes for her to get back. Eventually qonita effendi got back from her smoke break. I explained my situation to her. She said that she would escalate the matter to johannesburg, and call me first thing the next morning. Qonita called at 11am on wednesday (12 january 2012) morning, and said that the refunded airtime (To replace the minutes that fell away) should be ready for collection by friday 14 december. I also asked her to please get their regional manager (Rethaai asmaal) to call me, since the area manager was incapable of properly dealing with the matter, I never received that phone call.

I emailed blue route store to ask for feedback on the reimbursement. I received a response saying that I need to refer to a list of numbers, which was all. I went back to blue route store on thursday 20 december 2012, as I had not received any feedback. The consultant who spoke to me said that the qonita effendi the store manager had already left, she went to call on her cell phone, but there was no answer. She took my details and said that she would sms me later that evening to let me know whether she got hold of qonita or not. I did not receive an sms.

Qonita called me at 2pm the friday (21 december) , a week after she said the matter would be sorted out. She informed me that the replacement airtime was ready for collection. I asked her why she did not follow up and communicate with me, she got nasty on the phone, did not apologise or acknowledge her lack of service.

I then called the regional office, and was informed that they do not deal with customers; I was not even allowed to go to their offices. I called their customer service centre, who directed me to the customer service call centre, where I was told that they do not deal with complaints over the phone. I was given an email address to which I could email my complaint, as & ldquo;no one deals with complaints over the phone”.

I went back to the blue route mall store on friday 21 december 2012 to collect my airtime. I asked one of the consultants to please call the store manager qonita (Store manager). She came out 5 minutes later, barely greeted, said she’ll get my airtime. She then sent one of the other consultants to bring the airtime to me. I asked the consultant to please call qonita, as she was the one handling the matter. I was told that she was on a call. While waiting I asked the consultant to please check my account, so that I could know how many minutes fell away, which were to be refunded. I was told that I needed to log onto my account via their website as they do not have access to such information (I did so at a later stage, after leaving the store, but the website does not allow one to view such information). Qonita made me wait for over 10 minutes before coming to the front of the store. I asked why she hadn’t called me with feedback, she said she did and that the matter was resolved. That was not the case, I received terrible service, and all I wanted was to be kept informed about the progress of the matter. Qonita was extremely rude, would not allow me to speak, she kept shouting over me, in a store full of customers on a friday evening. She eventually stopped interrupting while I was speaking, she stood behind the counter, with a look of disgust on her face, and kept saying & ldquo;er, er” while I spoke.

She was extremely rude and unprofessional. As I said to her, communication is not only about the words you say, but body language plays a big role. Her body language spoke volumes. She slouched, looked disinterested, frowned. This was the worst service I have ever received and it filters down throughout the business. Regional managers (Rethaai asmaal) do not get back to you, area managers (Earl moses) do not follow up, store managers (Qonita effendi) are just plain rude and unprofessional and consultants (Nikita) are not adequately trained. All I wanted is what I was told I could receive, and in trying to obtain that, received pathetic service.

As I was a student in 2012, and have just started working, I am unable to get myself out of the contract. My faith in cell c has been totally destroyed and my wish is to sever all ties with your company. Regrettably I am bound by a contract, to which I did not agree, based on false promises.
I am sending a copy of this letter to various consumer-rights columns in the media, as I have received absolutely no customer service from cell c.

i patience khumalo would like to complain have got a complain wiTh a cell phone, my phone just went off and has been paying That phone ever since i took it its a contract phone, has been paying insurance on The 28Th Jan i went to boulders mall in mid rand and was served by Sandra .wen i asked for a loan phone They said They don't have, i must phone customer service, This morning i phoned customers service in jhb i spoke to Denver pillay at cell c repairs he told me There is noThing They can do if The shop don't have a loan phone i must go to oTher shops, which means i will go all around looking for a loan phone .I'm not happy because That phone is my life I'm doing business wiTh it please take This mater as very urgent coz i cant stay wiThout a phone now i can be contacted on [protected]/[protected]

I went to cellc on saturday 22nd dec to apply for a phone contract. After my application and supporting documents were sent to cellc, I was informed by jennifer from cellc bayside, centurion mall, that I was approved. We were present when she called cellc and the verbal approval was granted. After that, she told us we must wait because the contract is being drafted and will be sent to her shortly. She got my phone and tablet from the store room and placed it on the counter. After 2 hours of waiting, she called cellc again only to be told that there was a something wrong with the application and it has to be referred to another dept. We left without a phone and said everything should be sorted out monday. After no contact, I called bayside and they said they knew nothing yet. I went to cellc in [protected]@reds and they informed me that my paperwork has been lost twice. I was contacted by them later to inform me that my application is lying at the cellc ***** dept! It's wednesday today and we still don't have answers and my application cannot even be found anywhere on the cellc system! I feel like a criminal in the manner that I am being treated! We've spent a fortune in calls to cellc, no result! I have now spent r300 on airtime trying to get answers out of you!
Daniel brink on behalf of my fiance carmen gerber.
Call me [protected]
Your reference number is: [protected]

Cell C contacted me app a month ago and asked if I would be interested in a R99 micro simcard for my Ipad which will have 2Gig data every month. I said I was rather interested in a handset, obviously to the same value.

Cell C sent me the simcard which is not what I wanted. It took me a whole day plus R300 airtime later to cancel the contract because the line was already activated. They have still not collected the parcel, its still sealed in my cupboard.

After 2 weeks of trying to apply for a handset contract Kerry Minni at Cell C told me I do not qualify! How can I qualify for a data contract but not a handset contract.

I still have all the email correspondence where she tells me I must be listed on ITC which is why I was declined!

One person told me the reason I do not qualify is because too many applications have been done in one month? Another person told me its because there is already an existing contract which was the micro simcard but I have cancelled it.

I am really disappointed at the poor poor service and unacceptable attitudes at Cell C. How can I be approved for something and all of a sudden declined?

on the 24 th of October 2012, my cell phone stopped working it showed no sim connection on the screen. I later went to the ceel c store in galleria and the consultant assited me - he punched my cell number on the computer and saw that the sim was off and that mmy phone was not able to make or receive calls or sms. He then changed my sim card and broke my old sim card, he mentioned my sim card was old. I wanted to pay with my debit card but he said they were off line, so I paid cash. I then went later on to withdraw money and it showed I had insufficent funds in my bank account.On contacting my bank it was found that whilst my sim card was off my bank accounts and credit cards was cleared out via internet banking. All monies were transfered into my savings and then transfered out to other beneficeries. When my cell phone was reconnected, I did not receive any message from the bank to confirm security of the internt banking or any verification for internet banking(usually i will get an sms to show transfers etc has all my banking activity is linked to my cell phone. My question is how can this happen if my cell phone was not working how could the fraudesters have excess to my number and continue with the internet transactions. I have contacted cell c last week 22 November for proof of the sim swop as the consultant in the store did not give me a receipt but had me sign a document for the store - (i did not take a copy of this, ) the lady on the helpline asked me if i was sure he broke the sim card and also said to me that she cant help and will refer the case info the the "back office" not sure what that meant, then she cut the call or disconnected me I did not receive any info since. I am sure they have my number as they work with your cell number and ID number to sort our challenges. I have not herad any thing since. Please can I get some feedback from Cell C regarding my above situation. My name is Kasthurie Naicker, my cell number [protected]

Cell C keeps debiting my account for money I don't owe them. They sold me a contract ensuring me of no changes occurring. That was my biggest concern. When the contract was activated that which I queried is exactly what I didn't want to happen. I submitted an online complaint. I phoned. I emailed. None of the technicians wanted to help. I explained how crucial the service was. They were suppose to escalate to a manager. This all happened beginning July 2012. I'm still waiting for a manager to get back to me since then. The days I phoned they were in meetings. I submitted online that I wanted the contract terminated. I emailed them that I wanted the contract terminated. Now they want to charge me for service I didn't request. I have a copy of the email sent to them in July this year.
Now they have deactivated my services completely. My details are Claudia Stiglingh ([protected]@eskom.co.za) [protected]
Cell C number [protected]

Complaint 1: on sunday 30/09/2012 I was debited by cell c for an amount of r604.29. I am not even a cell c customer so how they got authorization to debit my account is beyond me. I escalated the query on 30/09/2012 where I was given a ref. Number & was told to email bank statements to, which I did. On 1/10/2012 I contacted the call center where I was told they have not received my statements because I used my call reference number as a subject and not my cell phone number, I am not a cell c customer therefore I do not have a cell c number. On 1/10/2012 I spoke to a team leader by the name of shaldene saib who I emailed my statements to again.] I got no assistance from anyone at cell c showing any form of concern for my situation or the fact that they have unlawfully taken money from me & now my account is short money for debit orders. After sending my statements to shaldene on 1/10/2012 I was told that it will take up to 72 hours to sort. On 2/10/2012 I spoke to neville who was also just as unsympathetic & unconcerned about my situation. Cell c unlawfully debits my account and now they inconvenience me in order for them to give my money back

Complaint 2: I have gone into the 3rd week of empty promised from cell c. After my initial query logged on 30/09/2012 I have been in contact with many cell c customer care agents and team leaders. I was promised that full refund will be in my account on 15/10/2012 and I still haven't received anything. Mbongeni ntshangase from cell c is now no longer replying to my emails and I have had no further correspondence from cell c. This is appalling. It looks like cell c will gain the profit of my r604.29 that they debited from an bank account that belongs to someone who doesn't even have a cell c contract. I have been in tears trying to sort this out. The financial strain it has put on me and the problems it is causing at work for me to be on the phone all the time to get answers from cell c. The service provider doesn't care about the customer whether they belong to cell c or not nor do they care about the urgency of the matter when taking money from someone they had no authorization from. This matter was internal and was a fault at cell c now I am suffering for their incompetence. Flipping useless people at cell c! Can not believe that no one can help me after stealing my money

I have changed banks and all corresponding documents have been submitted to mbongeni ntshangase at cell c. He advised my new banking details have been loaded for refund and that I would have payment from cell c no later than monday 15 october. It is now tuesday 16 october. Mbongeni is ignoring my emails and no one at cell c can tell me what is going on.

I am horribly stressed as this is causing financial problems for me and cell c count give a dam.

After having my line suspended numerous times due to "payment received late" a person by the name of Blanche Opperman got in touch with me, after my first complaint on Hello Peter, and it was arranged that i will pay my cell phone account via EFT and submit my POP directly to their accounts department ([protected]@cellc.co.za) with the message "Please allocate payment for account xxx. This worked well for last month.

Come this month again, it's been three days since the mail was sent and to date have not even had a read receipt. My line have been suspended once again even after sending the mail 3 times! Now you phone the USELESS customer service and the voice tell you sorry we can't put you through to a consultant right now
Further to that i mailed Blanch about the fact that when people phone me "my number doesn't exist" and again, no read receipt, no response. So Blanch, Thank you, for NOTHING.

I hope after this second complaint i get SOME joy out of Cell C. If it wasn't for the fact that you want to charge me thousands to "move" my contract to another service provider like MTN, I would have been long gone from Cell C. but no worries... the clock is ticking

Cell C does not appear to care in the least bit for their customers. Weather you have kids at home to keep contact with, your business correspondance, or even if you might face a life and death situation. They seem to have a coman curtisy of total ignorance in there manner of satisfying their customers.

I have a second contract phone(Black Berry) with Cell C and they have chosen to breach our contract point no. 11 in the subscription agreement and barred my number for a non payment for a service called GET IT for which I opted out for and never received, when the message for the application verification was sent to me a day later.

Evens that have taken place are as follows:
 I received a call from GET IT on the 28/06/2012 I did agree however was having second thoughts about it overnight I changed my mind, I received a notification of my application via sms the following day and opted out/stop.
 On the 12/07/2012 I called GET IT to double check if it was cancelled to my distress I was informed it was not.
 A week thereafter I received a call from one of Cell C’s customer care consultants notifying me that my account was in arrears of R83.00, I asked how could this be possible when my contact is for R100.00pm. She then explained that GET IT debited the banking details from my details and it bounced back because the account had been closed. I then asked whom gave GET IT permission to debit that account whereby for the last 18mths Cell C has not used this account and has been receiving cash payments from me? With all the intellegance of these consultants they could not answer me.
 I was then refered to the GET IT department once again the skilled trained consultance’s could not answer my questions, this matter was then refered to the management level of GET IT, with great expectations of this matter being solved as efficient and effectively, not one of their managerial staff bothered to call back with a resolution to date.

I Just received an sms stating that from the 8th of August you should recharge with prepaid airtime to pay for content services, because you will no longer be able to pay for this using your Control Chat Top up airtime. Now i ask with tears in my eyes, is that not the reason why we get these contracts in the first place? So that we can use this airtime for these purposes. i might as well go on prepaid and pay for it, and switch to another service provider. The consultants don't do their work, you wait forever, you almost never have signal to make a call, use your Internet on your blackberry, not to mention the cost of these calls! This is the last time i deal with cell c!

Cell C advertise data airtime 24GB for R1, 299. No further details is given. It is advertised with the 3GB for R399. Underneath the 3GB it says valid for 365 days. There is no further info on that line.
On the previous grouping the second line do give the details of the validation period under each product. Thus the 365 days is applicable to all the products in that group.
The telephone operators disagree but do not want to transfer the call to a senior manager or director to solve the problem. They say it is 2GB per month for 12 months.
http://www.cellc.co.za/data-prepaid-packages
Cell C personel sucks

I have had a cell c contract for the last 7 months. my phone along with other personal belongings were stolen and i followed procedure for the claims. the store were i bought the phone informed me that my sim card was not in the phone when my phone was stolen and the insurance will probably not pay. First of all, i never had an insurance contract. my cellphone contract just states that i am insured and there is no where in my contract were it is stated that my sim card must be in the phone at the time of loss or theft for them to pay out.
I tried to get hold of cell c department for 2 days in a row now, first consultant told me that they dont have an insurance department and i must go back to the store. The store insists that i call 084140 because they cannot follow up on my claim for me. everytime i call 084 140, the cosultants say they are putting me through to the insurance department but i just keep holding and no one ever answers. i have now spent R300 on airtime and i still have not spoken to the insurance depatment.

I am really disappointed and am seriously thinking of moving to a different service provider.

Mahlatse
[protected]

I had 2 contracts with cell. I lost a sim to one contract called cell c and had it blocked. this happend a year and a half before the contract expired. As cell c charges the most for a sim swop i ignored it and lost my R50 airtime in this period. I was contacted by a consultant and advised that should i upgrade i will not be charged for the sim. I agreed. The package was delivered but without a sim card. I called immediately and was told that one would be sent to me within a day. I received it almost a month later. Within this period of me receiving the phone and the sim calls were made from this sim. I almost fainted when i got the bill. After numerous calls i was told that i had found the sim card i lost all that while back and was using it. The sim card they send me is still in its packaging to this day unopened.
I have spoken to more than a 100 people and they have all come to the same conclusion based on one idiot: that i found the lost sim and inserted it into my phone. My hundreds of emails were deleted without being read. This has been happening since January last year and still no success in getting anywhere with cellc. I can't believe that they are all so stupid. I have even gone so far as to contact the CEO's office and they put me back in touch with the ###s i was dealing with in the first place.

I have now decided that I'm going to tell the whole world about how useless they are and that fraud is cool with them. I will be writing articles to our local newspapers and will tell who ever will listen to me. I destroyed my daughter's sim after i got her set up with another service provider.

I received a new phone on contract on 2011-03-11. I have called 084 145/7 the whole of Friday only to listen to music! Also sent 2 e-mails to customer service - NO REPLY! I took the phone to Cell C in Gateway on Saturday to see if they could assist me. No luch as I was told I did not purchase the phone from them! I have been on my landline since 08:00 this morning, it is now 09:25 and still listening to music! Quite frankly can Cell C send their couriers again to collect the phone as my contract hardly started and do not get ANY SERVICE FROM THEM!

Date 28th January 2012

I am having problems with Cell C. My Cell C contract in question is cellphone number: [protected].

On Monday the 16th of January 2012 I went into the Cell C store- Davenport Branch, to process my upgrade from a R145/month Casualchat Plan, to a R369/month SmartData Plan. I would receive a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 as a device on the SmartData Plan with 200mg/month free data thereafter Data would be charged at 39c/mb. After numerous visits to the store, on the 24th January 2012, I finally received a phone call on my current number [protected], from the Davenport Cell C store informing me that my tab was ready for collection.

I went into the store and Nomfundo, the consultant, processed my upgrade from the Casualchat plan to the Smart Data Plan. I was given the Galaxy Tab and told that the SmartData Plan was activated. Nomfundo further informed me that when my free 200mb were depleted, a message would be sent to my Galaxy Tab Device. Informing me of such, she suggested that I purchase a 3Gig CellC Data Package and insert that Sim card into the device when my free Data had expired, as it was a cheaper alternative to their regular Data Billing. I decided I would see how long it would take me to use 200MB of data and when the message popped up, I would go into store and purchase the 3Gig package. I happily used my Galaxy Tab thereafter.

On the 26 January 2012, a mere 2 days later, I attempted to connect to the internet with my Tab, but received an error message stating that there was 'No internet connection' available. I went to work and tried again in the late afternoon, asuming the problem was network related. I was still unable to connect to the internet. At approximately 5pm I called Cell C's (help)line and spoke to various Cell C consultants in all departments including technical and accounts, their names: Primose, Pearl, Michael and Sindisiwe. Team Leader Chalin was on break at first, and later would not get on the phone but coached a consultant through my enquiry.

Eventually through a series of conversations, it was accertained that my account was hotlined i.e. My account was suspended due to what Cell C considered 'unsually high usage'. My bill at that point was R1439, 79. I was informed by Pearl that I would need to pay 50% of the full amount in order to reconnect my service. I asked for a bill to be emailed to me, before I pay the 50% amount. I was informed that this was not Cell C's policy as bills could only be generated by their system by the 7th of February 2012. I did not think it right to pay a bill without any physical evidence of the amount owing, but was told that nothing could be done to get me that bill or to reconnect me without payment. I am a Durban Artist, and needed to be connected and online for work purposes that evening, and expressed my desparation to Pearl about my deadlines. Her response again was that there was nothing they could do.

When I enquired as to why I was not sent an sms, email or given a call before my account was suspended, Pearl informed me that they had done so. However, she read out a number: [protected] which is a residence I no longer reside at. I was confused as to why she didn't call me on my current cell phone number, the same number I was called on by Cell C staff, informing me of my arrival of my Tab the previous week. In the week of waiting for my Tab to arrive, I had provided them with my current contact number, as well as an alternative contact number i.e. My live-in fiancee, Dhaveshan Govender.
These number however do not reflect on the contract I have or Cell C's records. The numbers on the contracts are [protected] and [protected], which are my old pre-paid Vodacom numbers. The number they called is not on the contract.

At 6pm on the same day, my sister, Neebha Budhoo, arrived and attempted to help me, by calling through to the Cell C Help Line and she spoke to Sindisiwe. Neebha was also informed of the 'high usage'. Sindisiwe could not explain why it was considered high usage when Neebha explained that the contract was 2 days old so there was no precident for usage. Sindisiwe confirmed that the bill was R1439.79 plus a subscription of R145. When she was informed that these details were incorrect as I had upgraded to a SmartData Plan with a monthly subscription of R369, she continued to assert that I was currently at that time on the R145 CasualChat Plan. The was nothing she could do.

On the 27 January 2012, myself and my fiancee went into the Davenport Square Cell C branch at 8:30am. Nomfundo got into the system and called through to the Helpline. They informed her of the high usage and we now noted that the bill was R1600+, despite my service being suspended the previous day and despite Sindisiwe's assertion that the bill will remain at R1439.79.
While Nomfundo was on the system, we noted a figure of R145 still listed on my account, and no figure of R369 was found. Nomfundo seemed a bit confused but assured us we were on the SmartData Package.
After her call to the help line, Nomfundo apologised to me and explained that it was not possible with Cell C to upgrade from a CasualChat plan to a SmartData Plan, she would have to cancel the Xasualchat plan and reapply for a SmartData Plan inorder for me to retain usage of my Tab. I would have to return the Galaxy tablet until the SmartData contract was processed. There was nothing she could do.

We asked to speak to a Manager, and were told that the Manager was off sick. We then asked to speak to the assist manager, Tammy. Nomfundo then told us that Tammy was out of the store currently and that she could not be called because she had left her phone at the store. We had no option but to wait for Tammy. After 9:30am, Tammy strolled into the store. I explained my dilemma to her and she immediately got on the phone with their Cell C Helpline in the back office, I was not present during that phonecall. Tammy returned a little while later, apologised and explained that CasualChat contracts cannot be upgraded to SmartData contracts, but for some reason the computer system programme Cell C operates on, allowed Nomfundo to process my upgrade.

Tammy went on to explain that Cell C understands that the error was on their side, however the store will not pay for my bill, but Cell C headoffice would, as they understand it to be their mistake.
I was assured that the bill amount that had risen to R1600+ would not be debited from my account as I am not responsible for the error in billing. The process would take a few days to rectify i.e. Cancelling the bill and resetting my account to the correct subscription. Tammy said that she could reconnect my service but advised that if I used the reconnected service, it may appear as an admission to my responsibility towards this bill, so I should rather wait a few days for her to settle the matter. Tammy then suggested that inorder for me to get work done that I should purchase the 3Gig DataPlan in the meanwhile. There was nothing else she could do. I purchased the DataPlan for R399 once-off, valid for one year. I immediately swapped Sim Cards and am currently using the 3Gig card, on Tammy's advice.

On the 28th of January 2012, I received a phone call at 10:45am from Katherine, the Davenport Store Cell C Manager, who was back from sick leave, calling to inform me that the information she was given about my account is as follows: the bill of R1600+ is correct, that I have been moved over to the SmartData Package as of the 24 January 2012 and I will be charged at the rate of 39c/mb. I immediately went to the store with my fiancee. When I got there Katherine said she had confirmed that my bill is correct because I have used up the data which amounts to R1600+. When my fiancee asked for a breakdown of how much data was used from the period 24th Jan-26 Jan, Katherine claimed that she was unable to do so, as the system will only generate a bill after the 7th of February 2012.
Katherine then went on to say that Cell C does infact allow Casualchat plans to be upgraded to SmartData plans, which contradicts what Nomfundo and Tammy said the previous day. Katherine acknowledged that the Helpline provided false information to Nomfundo and Tammy. She said that we should 'forget what happened yesterday' as everyone was miss informed and when I asked: does that mean Cell C helpline cannot be trusted, she replied yes.

My finacee lost his temper and eventually left the store as Katherine refused to acknowledge our previous conversations with her staff and helpline and further stated there was nothing she could do with a smug smile on her face.
When I asked her why she was smiling and questioned her approach to a serious matter, she again smilingly responded, that Cell C gives you service with a smile.

Katherine eventually contacted Nomsa, a Cell C supervisor, who spoke to me and she was no more helpful than anyone else I had spoken to.

So as of the 28th of February 2012, I have a bill in excess of R1600 and the matter can only be investigated once they are able to provide me with a bill. I have a Cell C contract which states that I receive 200mb free/month and afterwards be charged at a rate of 39c/mb thereafter. I find it highly unlikely that with the downloading I did over the 2 days I had service on my Galaxy Tab that I would be able to accumulate a bill exceeding R1600 when data is charged at 39c/mb.
In order to do this I would have had to download data exceeding 4Gigs. This is highly unlikely. However, if Cell C could give me a breakdown of my data usage, and prove that I used this data in the way that they say I have, on my new upgraded plan, then I am willing to pay this bill. Even mentioning the excessive rates to the Cell C consultants, they were taken aback, which makes me think it is some sort of system/computer error that had billed me more than I am responsible for. After seeking advise from an intependent IT consultant, he claims it is impossible to download 4gigs of Data in two days especially looking at my device downloading history.

Date 16 February 2012

On the 15th Feb 2012 I went into the store and my bill now sits at R2000+ and even after Katherine having escalated my bill on the 28th of January 2012 they are still explaining to the helpline what my issue is. So my question is what was the point of escalating my bill two weeks ago if the issue is being queried as a new query 2 weeks later? Tammy in the Davenport Square Branch handled the query, and she gave me an invoice which shows my usage in minutes and Rand value, however Cell C charges at a 'per megabyte' rate for data used, yet their bill does not reflect a megabyte breakdown of my usage. There are several inconsistencies in this bill with regard to duration and cost. Tammy also pointed out that the bill incorrectly charges for a full subscription rather than a pro rata amount as my contract began mid-month.

On the 17 of Feb 2012, Katherine the Cell C manager calls me to tell me they have the per mega byte breakdown of my bill in question, and that Cell C have admitted to their mistake in charging me incorrectly for my two days I was on their network. Katherine proceeded to tell me, in the week that followed, that I should put a stop order on my Cell C debit order for this account, so that my incorrect installment does not get debited from my FNB account on the 1st of March 2012, and this will give Cell C til the end of March to correctly credit my bill, when I will go into the store manually and pay, which all depends on how long Cell C take to fix the problems they've created.

27 February 2012

I get a phone call from Patrick from Cell C billing department, who claims that Cell C admit they incorrectly billed me the wrong Rand value, and that they will credit me R1066 for my data usage, and he assured me they will amend my pro rata subricription from the incorrect billing of R369 to the correct figure of R51 for subscription from the 24 January 2012 until the 31 January 2012. He claims that my Rand value for data used is R468.02 and that my usage in data was 1142079 for the two days I was allowed on their network. I asked for a new printout of my bill with a per/megabyte breakdown showing me the corrections they have made to my bill, which I expect to be sent to Catherine at Davenport Square for me to collect a hard copy, as before. Patrick then went on to say they were charging me 60c/megabyte which completely condradicts what Cell C store employees as well as helpline consultants have told me since the 24 January 2012. 10minutes after speaking to Patrick, I went into the Davenport Square Cell C store, Catherine was on the phone with Patrick, and she says he then claimed a rate of 50c/megabyte was the billing charge. Catherine maintained that the figure she and her staff were told was 39c/megabyte.So the inaccuracies in what I've been told continue. Someone MUST take responsibility for the lies and length of time it is taking to fix the problem with my bill. I refuse to pay more than 39c/megabyte.

As a consumer I feel abused and wish no money to go out of my account to pay Cell C until this matter is resolved.

Yours sincerely,
Shika Budhoo
Cell: [protected]
Email: [protected]@yahoo.com
Website: www.shikabudhoo.yolasite.com