Cell C
Reviews and Complaints

Good Day sir or Madam

I received a call from a Cell C rep telling me about the specials they have:

• She sold me 12G for R150 per month and a phone both for R469 not sure, but I know it was below R500 per month.

• I told him that I don’t want to pay extra as I have financial difficulties.

• To my surprise only the sim card was delivered, when I called Cell C, I was told that the phone is on route.

• They said if I don’t receive a phone by the 15th I will be expected to pay only R150.

• Later a wrong phone was delivered and I returned it back to Cell C.

• I received a bill of R600 and I visited Cell C in Vaal Mall to enquire about it and the teller there said it is an open line that indicates that if my data is finished I will be allowed to use more, but at a price.

• I told him that was not the agreement I reached with Cell C.

• He said to me, as from that day the account is limited to R150 and I agreed.

• Later I receive a bill indicating R1000 and after few months it went over R2659, now it is sitting at R11 308.

• For R150 to go to R1500, it would take 10 months and my account is less than 10 months.

• I wrote letters for months to Cell C requesting their assistance, but I failed.

• You are my last resort at Cell C, may you please intervene and solve the issue of my account.

Yours sincerely

Jaxa Andile

From: Andile Jaxa (GPEDU)

Sent: Thursday, 11 August 2022 19:15

To: Help Desk

Cc: [protected]@gmail.com

Subject: Complaint about the treatment I am receiving at Cell C: [protected]

I contacted customer care many times, wrote numerous emails, but up to today no help except bills that are claiming that I owe.

Good Day,

In the last week of June, a Cell C agent called me repeatedly to sign up for a data deal that was 30GB day & 20GB night data at R250 p/m, he advised me to purchase a prepaid sim which the deal could be activated on once I had rica’d.

On the day I accepted the deal, I asked him three times whether this was a month to month contract and if I would be able to cancel at any time, to which he replied yes I can cancel the “contract”, but that there would just have to be a 30 day “notice” period & a cancellation fee which I agreed to. At no point did he mention anything about it being a 24 month contract. I had moved from a month to month package on RAIN and the last thing I wanted was a contract.

The sim card and deal were active from 30th June [protected]), from the start, I was unable to get 4G, I was only able to get “H”. Please note, the cell phone that I am using was bought at Cell C Clearwater, it is a dual sim, and my other sim is my Cell C number [protected] (which has never had connection issues). I called their technical department and they explained that I need to change my settings to roaming etc, despite their assistance we were unable to get 4G. We tried everything including switching the ports that the sims were in.

On Saturday 2nd July I called tech support again to see if they could assist & was unable to get it sorted, I then went to the Cell C shop in Clearwater Mall to see if they could assist. They too were unable to assist. I then asked the lady who assisted me to cancel the data deal as I did not wish to pay for something I could not utilise, she advised that as this deal was not done through the store I would have to call 084 143 – which I did immediately. When trying to cancel the deal, I was advised that this was a 24 month contract, which is not what I was told as mentioned above when I accepted the deal.

Between the 2nd and 8th of July I made multiple phone calls to try get the matter attended to. The previous reference numbers being [protected] & [protected]. They eventually cancelled the contract approximately a week later - when the agent confirmed my contract had been cancelled, the lady was unable to confirm the amount I would need to pay for the data used but said she would call me back. She never did.

On the 7th of August I noticed that there is an almost R 9000 account due as at end August with includes the “cancellation fee”. I then called again on the 8th of August and spoke to Mathapelo to dispute the cancellation fee, I was advised that they will respond to me within 24 to 48 workings hours.

They finally called me back on the 18th – the said that since he said “contract” during the phone call, it automatically meant it was a 24 month contract.

Irrespective of this, to my knowledge, as per Consumer Protection Act in South Africa, I was within the “Cooling Off” period and requested that my “contract” be cancelled with immediate effect. I was happy to pay for any data used but I am not willing to pay for any form on cancellation fee.

I am not in a position to pay such a massive amount of money for a service I never received, it is more than what I pay on my bond.

Hi I'm Annekie Kamanga, I lost my phone on the 11th July 2022, which number is [protected] and device is Nokia I've been contacting Cell C customer service . The device was insured and insurance want the ITC reference. On the 10th August I received the blacklisting form and send it back on the same day, till today I didn't receive a ITC reference. I don't have Cell C store at my area I've to travel 300km to get to the nearst Cell C store.

Please can I have the ITC reference ASAP because the insurance want to process the claim.

Please contact me on [protected] with ITC number.

I’ve been requesting a paid up letter and I called the call center on the 16th of August they said I should pay 5900 and I did, the next day I called and another assistant told me there’s another 380 outstanding and I’ve payed the amount i was owing on friday 19 august 2022 and i called to cancel the subscription i had then i've sent multiple emails to [protected]@cell.co.za yet there's no response. i've called the call centre multiple times and they can't seem to help yet i need this letter urgently. I’ve been calling everyday since then, I just need the letter and that’s it

I am Phumla Tinara my cell no [protected] I'm laying a complain regarding cell phone that was supposed to be blacklisted ,i phoned on the 11/08/2022 for my cell phone to be block a consultant said to me they will call me for the reference the same day which he did not .I phone Monday the consultant i spoke to she said to blacklist will take 24 to 48 hours but still today there is no ITC number from the .I phoned several times today with no look they say the case is still pending.Im in need of cell phone ,this is not fair i am very angry

I applied for a contract while being a cell c prepaid customer and received the device on the 14th of July 2022.

They forgot to offer me a the option to port/migrate my phone number.

A day later I phoned and asked them to do this.

They said it would be done in 1 hour. On the later my phone number was still not moved and I was contacted to say that the migration will happen within 1 business day.

On the 19th of July, I called to follow up to which they stated that they were still busy with the migration.

I gave them a week and on the 28th of July I went to Telkom (where my phone number came from originally) and asked if they could take my phone number back to their service at which point they pointed out to me that the phone number was already moved to them 2 weeks ago and has since been recycled.

I then contacted cell c (by email) as their website states that they can take the device back within 14 days.

Following which I received a phone call from their complaints handler Moses Mofokeng, who was nothing but arrogant and rude and demanded that I pay for my device upfront, to which I stated that I had enough of Cell C and asked for a settlement quotation.

He stated that the quotation provided was valid for a month. This was sent to me by email on the 4th of August 2022.

I have since made the payment on the 18 the of August 2022, to which Mr Moses Mofokeng replied stating that I owe an additional ZAR 103.94.

I don't see how I can owe additional funds if my quotation was valid for 1 month and the settlement paid during that month.

Also, because of the mess up with my phone number, I am not getting the service that you are charging me for so why am I being charged a prorated amount?

My contract with Cell C came to an end 2021. Both my husband and i were on the exact same contract/ We opted to go with Vodacom. Vodacom cancelled the contracts and ported our numbers over to vodacom. However Cell C continued t debit my account. When i querieed they told me that the data portion of the contract was never cancelled. However my husbands contract was cancelled. Exact same contracts. Very strange.

Anyway i queried this will Cell C in March 2022. I went to their offices in Midrand. We listened to voice recordings and can hear me requesting cancellation etc. At no point did anyone from Cell C tell me that there is a Data portion outstanding.

I have not gotten anywhere with Cell C. On tuesday 16th Aug i called Cell C and they said the contrct expires on the 26th Nov. If i want to cancel i pay the 3 months outstanding, call back in 24hrs and they will confirm the contract has finished.

When i contacted the cancellations department this morning, they told me they cant cancel the contract. Vodacom owns the number . I have to port back to Cell C then purchase a new Cell C card sms them my cell no and then only can they cancel the contract. If i dont do this the contract will continue to debit my account even after the 16th Nov.

At this point besides paying over for a year i just want to cancel my contract. i have met my obligation in terms of the contract .

Please can someone assist me here.

Thanks,

I've been under debt review and was recently removed from Debt Review.

I got my clearance certificate.

When I tried to do a upgrade at my nearest Cell C I was informed that if I hand in the clearance certificate I'm able to do a upgrade.

I've send the necessary documents. I was informed that I can't upgrade with just the letter, I need to call XDS and have the status removed.

I've done so, and got a credit report to show that the debt review status is removed.

I then went back to the store to take my credit report and try again to upgrade.

While in store I was informed that their vetting department won't accept the credit report.

They will call them anyways (not while I'm in the store yesterday, they will call this morning.

This afternoon I called the store for the outcome and was informed I need to wait 30days.

From my side, I've done everything possible.

My credit report clearly states that I'm no longer under debt review.

Since 19 May 2022 we have been struggling to get info from Cell C on monies owing, cancel contract and the change of banking details. E-mail correspondence available on request. We have called the numbers from Cell C more than 50 times where they advise us that either the security questions failed or that I should visit the branch. On Monday, 08/08/2022 I went to Cell C in Woodlands where Monica assisted me as my numbers [protected] and [protected] were suspended. The debit order went off my account on 30/07/2022 with double of what it is suppose to be. On Saturday, 13/08/2022 I went to Cell C in Woodlands where Monica was not helpful. She said that I must send an e-mail to Cell C, I advised her that the operator advised me to go to the branch. Monica said that I owe money and that she cannot activate numbers [protected] and [protected]. I still have no service on these 2 numbers. I also have 3 fibre lines and she could not tell me why I have 3 fibre lines. Can someone please urgently assist with the following:

1. What monies do I owe?

2. Re-activate numbers [protected] and [protected].

3. I also want to cancel these contracts due to non-service and the accounts being suspended without any monies that I owe Cell C.

Margaret Fouche

Jul 25, 2022, 7:23 PM

to ComplaintsBoard.com

Good day

What is the status of this issue. When i tried following Up, it said mailbox is full and i am still being harassed by cell c for payments on a contract i requested them to cancel in 2020.

Margaret Fouche

Mon, Mar 28, 3:22 PM

to ComplaintsBoard.com

Good day

Please note your mailbox is full and this issue is NOT resolved. Cell C want me to pay for a contract that i cancelled (which they have obviously NOT cancelled) and then tell me to go to the app (which i do not have access to for more than a year on that number) or phone (which i don't have minutes to waste). I did my part. They need to sort their part out as i am NOT paying what they now state is outstanding on a so called active sim.

They asked when they could phone, i said after 14:30 today...what happens? They phone me at 10:00 and at 14:00 while i am in meetings (Thus why i stated only after 14:30 today). So now it makes sense why they could not get it right to cancel a contract if they can't even follow a basic instruction of when my availability is (based on their request to let them know). This is completely unacceptable and i am really getting annoyed with this scenario

I want Cell C to sort their stuff out and cancel this contract (without me having to phone in again) and as i mentioned i am not paying any money on a contract that should have been cancelled

Margaret Fouche

Fri, Mar 25, 7:30 PM

to ComplaintsBoard.com

Thank you for your response. The problem is. I don't have access to this number anymore. They state i owe over R800 which i don't as i have cancelled my contract with them in 2020. They need to resolve this issue as it is their problem and should not be making it mine because they did not adhere to the cancellation in 2020

Mail Delivery Subsystem

Fri, Mar 25, 7:30 PM

Recipient inbox full Your message couldn't be delivered to [protected]@complaintsboard.com. Their inbox is full, or it's getting too much mail right now. The

I have been trying to get a paid up letter and a refund from Cell C for over a month now.

Contacting customer service is a waste of time because all you get is a reference number that no one follows up on. When I call to follow up, I'm just provided with yet, another case number.

If I overpaid you for a service then it's only fair I'm refunded and provide the paid up letter too. The lack of actual customer service is absolutely disheartening and embarassing.

My phone was stolen on 4 August 2022 at which time I phoned Cell C (an hour after the incident) to ask them to blacklist it (this is needed for the police to issue a case number and for me to process an insurance claim). I was informed that it would take 24-48 hours. It is now 12 August, almost 7 days later and the phone is still not blacklisted. I have phoned the call centre daily, Friday 5 August, Monday 9 August, Wednesday 11 August and Friday 12 August. No-one can advise me on why there is a delay and the only thing the call centre can do is put on the system that the back office must resolve within 24 hours. This was done on Monday 8 August and again on Thurs 11 and Friday 12 August. I run my business off this phone and am unable to do online banking. Surely blacklisted phones need an expedited process, cell c would do well to review their issue escalation process and blacklisting response times. I've been a customer for 6 years and will certainly not be renewing once my ITC (blacklist number) is received.

-After several e-mails, calls and visits to Rustenburg Mall Cell C, my contract upgade Earpods has still not been delivered and the excuse is that they can't reach us for the delivery, but CELL C PATHETIC SERVICE calls the data number wich is in a router for wi-fi! We e-mailed them to state where to call on the primary numbers and issued them the numbers and today again the same LAME excuse! What to do?!?!

-And i promise this contracts will NEVER be upgraded again!

-And please tell the switchboard people at call centre to grow so manners and to be polite!

I tried getting couches on credit recently, but could not. I was rejected due to an outstanding Cell C account back in 2017 which I was not aware of. I phoned Cell C and the consult I spoke to, informed me that I need to phone Blake & [censored]. as I have been handed over in 2018.

Blake & [censored]. told me that they are no longer dealing with Cell C contracts and I had to email my complaint to [protected]@cellc.co.za, which I did. Another consultant phoned me, I had to explain the situation for the third time only for her to tell me that she'll lodge it with the Legal Department and the Legal Department will contact me.

It has been 5 days went by and I received a random email from the above mentioned email, stating that I should send my ID number before they could continue. I replied with my ID number and a screenshot of confirmation from an email I have received that the Legal Department will contact me.

It has now been 8 days and no one has contacted me! I would like this matter resolved as I am not aware of this account and if I did open the account in 2017, Cell C should explain to me why I never received any phone calls or statements regarding the owing amount for the past 5 years?

My contact information and address only changed recently, so Cell C has no excuse to why no attempt was made to communicate!

"I have been given a run around at Cell C I paid up the outstanding balance of the contract on 14 April 2022 and sent a email to *********** but still it reflects that I still owe the outstanding balance. I have been calling several times to their call center and they will require me to send the proof of payment of which I do provide they even ask for a bank statement proving that I made the payment since I did an EFT, I also provided that but still there issue hasn't been solve, even yesterday on the 20 July 2022 I called them with regards to the issue the agent He will escalate my issue to a team leader apparently they were still busy on calls and I was informed that they will call me but they never did, then I took a liberty to call them again today 21 July 2022 at 11:05 am of which they requested the documents again and I did provide them with the proof of payment they said the team leader will call me since He/She is still in the meeting I am still waiting for the call"

The above is the review I wrote on the 21st of July 2022 on helloPeter with regards to unresolved issue with outstanding balance that was full paid then Cell reach out again trough hellopeter and requested the the supporting documents of which I provided and they assured me that the issue will be sorted out but now I'm harassed by their SSDA third party collection agencies requesting the same documents I provided to Cell C, which make me question the level of customer service offered by Cell C as they are still giving me a run around regarding this issue and the sad part is that this affecting my credit score now I can't even go apply for a bond and car financing

I received my latest statement and low and behold Cell C billed me for R2023.99. I called the contact center and a lady advised me that my contract was now on a month to month basis as the two year contract I had initially taken has expired and no discounts are applicable therefore the data contract was now R1499.13. This is considered fraud and is illegal as Cell C without my permission went ahead and renewed the contract on a month to month basis. I did not receive a call nor any other type of communication from Cell C informing me of this. I am not prepared to pay this as Cell C acted fraudulently and they need to adjust the statement and the debit order accordingly. Furthermore, Cell C also overcharged me on my July debit as they took off a prorated payment as the contract had expired on the 23/07/22 and this is also fraud.

In July 2021 I was made aware that I have 2 contracts that were open on my name fraudulently. I was put through to Cell-c customer services where a consultant confirmed the contracts and assisted me in deactivating the cell numbers. She then advised me to do an affidavit and sent it with a certified copy of ID and bank statement to the fraud department: [protected]@cellc.co.za. I sent the requested documents and on the 21 July 2021 I received an automated response indicating that the query will be attended with 48 hours. I have never received any feedback or response from Cell-c since. I have sent numerous emails, contacted their customer services to no avail.

I have also been harassed by their collections department, which upon finding out that it is a fraud query, they were unable to help, all they kept saying is that they will escalate the matter of which I still have not received any feedback or response.

I then started receiving call from 2 law firms (MBD- [protected]@mbd.co.za and SSDA- [protected]@ssda.co.za) claiming to be representing Cell-c, making enquiries about "my account". They continued harassing me as Cell-c did. I then sent them both the required documents and they have since went awol. One law firm confirmed receipt of the documents and indicated that they have sent all to Cell-C and they were still awaiting their feedback.

I am now blacklisted for a case that was reported to cell c and the law firms representing them. All three are unprofessional and unhelpful. What is frustrating more is that there is no contact number for Cell-c fraud department, they can only be contacted via email that in the the whole year since this happened have never attended to my issue.

Please assist me in resolving this, so that I can sleep peacefully knowing my name is cleared. I am desperate and unable to live my life freely.

I called call centre, I am being told the information I am giving keeps getting rejected by the system, today i called 3 times all those times the verification failed. Funny thing is Friday I called and verification went through.

I sent proof of payment to email given by support agents on the Cell C facebook page. But I am nolonger getting responses on that email.

This service is very dissapointing to be honest. My experience throughout having a contract with Cell C was nothing but struggles.

I just want to know why do cell c say I owe them R5188 I canceled my contract 2020. I want to loan money at the bank they did not approve my loan because they say I owe cell c money. I called cell c they told me they handed me over to the dept collectors I called the dept collector he told me they written it off and returned it to cell c 2020. I called cell c again cell c cant tell me why I owe thad money or for what I want thad money off my credit score. Please let me know what my next step should be.