Cell C
Reviews and Complaints

It's sad how even if you an outstanding amount, cell c will still not remove your name from itc & ldquo;cell c does not remove names on itc, however we only update your status”. If you pay something, especially if it's a measly amount like r700, why cant they take your name off itc. They have probably never had to struggle with getting finance.

It's a sad affair when a 'popular' company like cell c really does not give a rats ### when their clients are going through a difficult time (Even if they told them they would be late with payment).

I placed an complaint about a cellc problem on hellopeter on 4/6/2008 (Also see comp posted 20/3/08) , this company gets the oscar for incompetance) my daughters phone was stolen 15/5/08, reported and sim blocked 16/5, they managed to eventually blacklist the handset on the 23rd, after 7 faxes and several calls (Be warned, it takes phoning daily and half their manpower to get this right) , I submitted my insurance claim (Csurance) on the 23/5, again on 29/5, after posting my complaint on hellopeter 4/6 I get a call from nothando mlonyeni who refered me to natasha gopi at csurance. Natasha informed me very arogantly that the reason my claim was not processed was because my account is in arrears. Cellc was informed of my new banking details in writing and it was changed before month-end as they confirmed in a conversation 31/5 while doing a security check (Recorded conversation thank god!) , naturally their was a glitch in their system and my debit order was never changed but as usual this is not cellc's problem but mine. Strange thing is that my insurance claim was not processed from the 23rd to the 31st of may before my account was in "arrears". I paid the r600 up on a new phone on 10/6 (Emailed proof send by fnb as well as emailed natasha to notify her it was done) , I received confirmation from cellc 11/6 (By sms) that they received my money, I have been mailing natasha (And cc nothando - the damage control lady for cellc who by now knows me by name) , not one of my calls to natasha ([protected]) was answered or returned as well as e-mails to both natasha and nothando. I phoned cellc today, 12/6/08 and was told that my money was only received today (Yesterday morning's sms must have been a mistake) and that that my phone is still not on its way. I have had it with cellc, I dont want any calls from them with any more of their blantant lies, empty promises and pathetic service. They even tried to blame their bad service on me by attempting the pathetic "arrears" excuse, this is a perfect example of a company with people with no ethics, I find it in very poor taste. I requested the name and contact e-mail address of the md and was not given the info by nothando. I would appreciate your help in this regard and would be too happy to give you the details of my previous run in with cellc as well.

In 2006 one of our Cell C contracts expired and the company decided to transfer this number to MTN. All necessary documentation was completed and provided to Cell C and MTN and this line was transfered to MTN. Since 28 July 2006 our company has been paying a monthly payment for this contract to Cell C and MTN. Cell C was contacted numerous times without luck. They refuse to stop this debit order and never come back to sort this problem out and keep on deducting this monthly payment from the company account.

I work daily with MTN, Voda and NEVER have i experience such terrible service.

Customers must become aware about cell c 's fraudulent billing system. Cell c continues to bill clients even though contracts are cancelled. I cancelled my contract afer twenty four months. I was billed for the twenty fifth month. The staff are also trained to defraud their clients. Integrity and fair business practices are not part of thier customer policy. Plainly cell c is in business through fraudulent ways and not because they are competive. They do not understand the meaning of fair. They make every effort to defraud their clients. I have never had any joy with them since having two contracts with them. My other contract which was insured by them was repudiated, when I had a claim. There is every evidence that cell c has no integrity.

It is frustrating dealing with the customer service as there is no service. Why is a company like cell c still on the market. How does one report this unfair business practice to ensure that other unsuspecting clients are not taken for a ride by this company. They seem to be thriving in the market only because they are defrauding client. They will never stand a chance with their competitors as they lack professionalism and honesty. They will never be able to maintain high standards like vodacom and mtm. They thrive on the unsuspecting.

My cell ([protected]) was stolen on the 31.03.2008 I've been calling cell C everyday as I followed procedure to make a claim I received a fax today stating that my Cell C sim was not in the phone @ the time it was stolen which is not true. I've appealed against their decision not to replace as I use this phone for business (receive calls) this no. appears on my business cards + pamphlets and I would have never falsely reported it and lost already 9 days of business (calls) if that sim was not stolen. I am very disappointed in the accusation. Their efficient service starts when they convince us to use them as a service provider and ends when we experience a problem!

Hi, my husband has 2 contract with cell c for a few years now. September last year my lg kg 800 chocolate phone just went completely white. It was in brand new condition. At first the chatsworth branch refused to take it in to repair & then later in nov 2007 they sent it to ixia for repairs. 2 months passed & they did not call me. January, I called the chatsworth shop & was told that the repair center were still waiting for parts. Eventually in feb. The lady from their branch called to say that the phone could not be repaired due to a fault from the repair persons side & that they were going to replace my phone with a brand new phone. A week later my husband goes to the shop to collect the phone & is quite shocked when they hand him a second hand phone with scratches all over the front & back. They then denied the brand new replacement and said that they will send the phone back to ixia & get the covers replaced.

On the 26 march the lady at their branch e-mailed me that the phone will take 1.5 weeks to return. Once again 1.5 weeks later she calls to say that they cannot find replacement covers & would like to give me a second hand samsung 900. I have tried on several occasions to contact the repair person at ixia but to date he has not made any reply to my e-mails or messages. I have had no contract phone for 5 months now. I am still paying the contract amount. I also called the cell c toll free no. Several times & at 1 time really believed that someone was going to assist me. From the beginning I have had to deal with lies and don't care attitudes. I have never in all my life experienced such horrid service delivery. I am so stressed & frustrated.

I purchased 2 cell phone contracts from cell c at canal walk & plusmn; 4 months ago and during the first day I experienced some problem with the phone, samsung e250 - I was then told by one of the agents, actually by the manager as well that it's not the problem anymore... They told me they might take it in, unfortunately can't replace it but will send it in for repairs it will take up to about 8 weeks... Might even take 3months. The guy actually recommended that I take it in to the agent for samsung cell phones in montegue gardens, cape town. I ended up doing this because I was just not in a mood for an arguemnent. After numerous calls to finding out whether my cellphone is fixed or ready for collection, I finall received it and to be quite honest - it's working perfect now. During the past 4 months myself including my wife has tried several times to get in contact trying to find out why my account has not been debited as per my contract. Infact - I got billed and debited, but it was for the wrong amounts - up till today we found out that my or our names has been given up for bad payment record with the itc legal department - why ?
The service is pathetic - you call from a landline phone only to find out aftre being on the phone for more then half-an-hout, that the person can't actually help you. My wife ended up settling 2 of the outstanding ammounts only to find out its too late - our names is in the q for bad credit records, etc. - I am not a typist, but I know write fromn wrong. I am a family man I will not stand on the pavement while someone is trying to rob, badmouth or make it impossible to make a honest living. Plz help

I will go to all the news papers in the western cape, maybe joburg, but I will definitely approach the canal walk cell c branch about this matter - afterall, I did purchase the phone with them.

My name is ecliff dodenburg and my new vodacom number is : [protected]

Warm regards

Cell C continues to bill me 4 months after I canceled my contract. I had to go into the bank and make a stop payment just to stop the deductions. I have written 15 letters saying that I am no longer with them. The staff are incompetent, at this point because I have tried to be nice to them i am going to call them STUPID because that is a more accurate word for them.
I have submitted letters to Eastgate branch, greenstone branch, four ways branch, Head Office on Rivonia road, and head office in Sandton. I have called but have hung up after waiting for 40min (i refuse to spend any more of my money calling them. They owe me close to R600 and refuse to pay me. I have proof of all this including all the letters that have been copied and signed by various Cell C employees. Why they are still in existence is beyond me.

You will read and understand this e-mail...

I have mailed a copy to customer service and am posting it here. Please all of you reading it, comment so they
Can actually see the response and maybe if we pray, management might start thinking over there.

I really am dissapointed to be forced to actually have to sit down, type a customer complaint and mail it.
It is pathetic. I would like to express my immense dissatisfaction with cell c.
I cannot even remember how long it is that I have been experiencing problems with your service.

I am going to be honest and straight seeing as management over there avoids contact with their customers.
The service you are providing is extremely poor. First off, the gprs/edge/wap which is utterly disgusting.
Your speeds are poor and more over, it seems and i'm not over exaggerating, cell c's gprs system
Goes off atleast 6 times a day, and the only response to this is = what is going on over there?
It's been going like this more a year now, I have never heard of another cellular provider in the world that
Has such poor performance and handles their customers they way you do/or ignore them. It seems people at
Management lack managerial skills, and where are not going to blame someone else over there like poor managers
Tend do, a real manager accepts responsibily for their project's success or failure. It is common sense to do
Planning, if you cannot grab the concept of planning and providing for growth in your company, close your doors.
It seems as if you cannot cope with your really minimum client load, and yet you still advertise and take new
Customers on, sacrificing the service quality of your existing customers. And this crap that is going on over
Weekends is frustrating. The chances of a user (Any network) getting through to a cell c user is almost zero!
You are damaging your own image and quality of service. I had an emergency twice now on seperate accounts where i
Had to call my mother which is a cell c user, and after 72 (My phone stoped count) redials if not more i
Actually got hold of her. Phoning the customer centre they tell you, "the network is overloaded,
Please keep on trying". - what the hell?! You are then lying if you say you provide cellular services because
You can't make phone calls over weekends. And if it happens again and I am in a similair emergency situation,
I will take legal action against cell c as you say you provide services which you don't - I think it will be in my
Favour after stating that there is always room for error, but error does not mean on 20 seperate occasions
Redailing 72 times before getting through.

And what's worse—even now in the week, if you call a cell c user, first you hear, the nummber does not exist,
Then you try again, then you hear it rings but they lie to you, it never rang and the other person gets an sms
A day later stating he had missed calls, that's if you're lucky, and if you try again, the number does not exist,
Perhaps you get through on the 4th time - this is in the week, when the load is little - this is really unacceptable.

And the cellphones you provide are always old, and behind the stock that the other companies have. Also, if you
Are a cell c user and your phone is broken which you did not break, but which cell c broke or sold you that is broken
- they simply make it your problem, my samsung phone, including the same phones my brother and sister have, all
Keep on switching on and off, which they refuse to repair, because mos we aspired and want to waste money and
Pay for broken phones and get our money stolen!

And why the hell do you switch off customer care when there is a problem, never has one of the other networks
Switched off their customer service because of a problem, you are refusing to listen to your clients and you
Know it. I myself am an it systems engineer and I can tell you the incompetence of your call centre is getting
Tiring. If ever, even if my mom is the contract subscriber, I ask a siiimmmppllleee question like "is cell c's
Gprs system up and running at the moment?" they tell me we can't help you because we need to speak to your
Mother, it is a simple yes no answer! Then the best of all is they don't know how to help you, one of
Them kept on asking me, what do you want me to do sir... How should I know, it's your company, you pretend like
The fault is with my phone... And they tell you : "sir switch off your phone for 2 minutes" - what is that
Going to help huh?

I send a lot of e-mails at night and do some work over the internet, almost every night after nine, if I connect
My phone to my laptop, the link is dropped because their servers aren't working, it is pathetic, I am getting a
Vodacom hsdpa contract at the end of the month, because I can't use an unreliable service. And I heard you throttle
Your clients with the bandwidth, meaning every user's internet works for 4 minutes more or less, then stops working for
3 minutes, then the process is repeated, this is frustrating when sending mail online od doing internet banking,
You can't keep logging in for the rest of your life!

And let me state for the record, it is not the fault of the people working in the customer centre either, because
They can only perform as much as you, management, train them. It is not their fault the company is incompetent.

You are extending people's contract's without their consent and you keep on stealing money years after the contracts
Have expired! I can promise you that I speak for most of the clients, we are sick and tired, and there are
Enough of us out there to take legal action. Your company is already failing and you keep on going at it out of
Incompetence.

And the excuse of your systems can't handle this or that request is crap, because then you are using dos from
1920 and you are using cheap software - stop looking for excuses!

Eeverywhere I go I will be spreading the word about your poor service and providing everyone with evidence.
I will also be complaining about you to the international mobile service quality board (Imsqb) and as well
As to icasa. I do believe that if enough of us complain that our customer rights are being violated, we will win.

As soon as my contract expires i'm gone.

And you will respond to this because it is the final and last correspondence that I provide and never get a
Reply on.

Volgende keer sal julle my in afrikaans help.

Utterly disgusted
Johan

I would like to express my immense dissatisfaction with cell c. I cannot even remember how long it is that I have been experiencing problems with them.

I have two contracts with cell c. When the contracts were taken out, the contract was not on my name, due the fact that I was not 21 yet and the law required this. The banking details however, were on my name and this was the account that was debited every month.

The first problems started in the first month I had a contract. I was billed for this I did not understand. Whenever I requested and explanation, I received none. I was told that nobody can assist me in any way, as I am not the contract holder. This really frustrated me as I was the one who was paying for it at the end of the day.

A few months later, I tried to transfer the contract to my name. I went to the cell c store in cavendish, and submitted all the documents that they required to make the transfer. I then spoke to oriel khan from the customer complaints department, who told me that no enquiry was actually made to transfer the account to my name.

I asked oriel to assist me regarding the transfer of ownership. The surety I provided was declined. I obtained new surety and tried again. I e-mailed oriel numerous times enquiring as to what the progress of the transfer is, but to no avail. I

in the month of september my bank details changed and I had asked oriel to update these, which she did. At the end of october, my account was not paid because according to the customer care department of cell c, the bank details on record were invalid. The details that were on record, were in fact my old details, which oriel had told me, she updated. How is it possible that one month the details are correct and the following month they have reverted back to the wrong details?

I contacted the customer care department and spoke to a lady by the name of bonolo. She told me she is unable to assist me due to the fact that the contract is on my name, she cannot tell me what the process of the transfer of ownership is because the person that I am dealing with is supposed to assist me.

I spoke to kevin, at the call centre, who was a super star. The only competent person I have dealt with at cell c. He assisted me very well and eventually the transfer of ownership was completed.

I have posted numerous complaints on the site www.Hellopeter.com, you can view them here: http://www.Hellopeter.com/search_results. asp

It is now february, and once again, I am furious.in the month of december, my account was not debited. I passed this off as a mistake on cell c’s side. When now, by the end of january, the payment did not go off, once again, I was concerned.

I called the contact centre, only to discover that once again, cell c managed to get hold of my invalid bank details with the closed account. I updated these details, if my memory serves me correct, on friday. I told the gentleman to please re-submit the debit order. I was told that this was done and the payment should go off within two working days.

By this morning, tuesday 08/01/2008, the payment did not go off. I contacted the call centre to confirm that the correct details are on record. This was confirmed. I went ahead and posted another comment on hellopeter.com as this seems to be the only way in which to get cell c’s attention.

I was informed by the lady who contacted me, that the claim was never resubmitted. As I am sitting here am shaking with anger and disgust.

I feel that you have breached your side of the contract and I do not feel that I have received adequate service from you. Therefore I feel that the contract I signed is no longer valid.

I spoke to somebody in one of your customer care departments and tried to explain to her that I feel the contract should be cancelled, without me paying any penalties. She kept telling me, in a very abrupt tone, that this would not be possible. The conversation kept on going in circles, until I eventually, gave up.

I no longer know what to do and I truly feel that you have not honored your side of the agreement. Therefore I feel the contract should be cancelled, without me being penalized. I feel that I have no other choice, but to resort to the media and my lawyers.

I am currently on my third consecutive Cell C contract. When I renewed my contract in September this year, I was sent a Samsung D900i directly from Cell C. Two and a half months later, my phone was making no sounds so I therefore was unable to hear incoming calls and sms alerts. I reported the faulty phone to Cell C and they said it would take four to six weeks to repair. When I asked a about a "loan phone" during the repair time they told me that it is "not their policy". If I do not have a friend or family member that can lend me a cell phone during the six week repair period, what am I supposed to use? I do not have a home phone and therefore rely on my cell phone. My phone is only two and a half months old...surely it must have some sort of warranty? Cell C's service is nothing short of shocking and as far as I am concerned, I have been a very loyal customer. I am now into my fifth year with them. This will most certainly be my last contract with Cell C.

I moved to an Active Chat 220 in February this year. Cell C politely forgot to bill me in Feb and double billed me in March. Now for a conservative cell user (Average bill of R600 per month), a R1000 bill nearly made me faint. Well I first lodged my complaint on the 08th March 07 and to date (27.03.07), nothing has been done. I have even gone as far as emailing the CEO. Not ONE person at Cell C understands that I want a credit and I want to pay off that subscription bill not invoiced in Feb, over three months - NOT ONE PERSON! I have been told that they don't do credits, that I have to manually pay them back the payment arrangement as there system doesn't allow for highly complicated things like what I asked for, AFTER signing an acknowledgment of debt! I have never signed one of those before - the irritation is that they are making THEIR mistake MY problem! I have now had it and have quoted the CEO's office with Cell C's Code of Conduct with no response yet... They do say you can complain to Icasa or take legal action... I think Ill try Icasa first. This has now gone from a simple query to me fuming over the worst service I have ever received from any company... Ill be canceling my contract as soon as I can...