Cell C
Reviews and Complaints

I have called the call center on Monday, still no response. MI I'd [protected], I want to know the reasoning behind the exuberant billing that I get from cellc. Strange part is 1month the billing will be lower Eg R1600 and next month Eg R1900 if not R2000, why this? And if I check the detail billing, my usage is same, I do not go extra. I thought this account was curbed to R1600 each month, why is it going above that. I am not happy about this!
Mr BB Semenya

I've lodged my complaint with you regarding my device which need to be collected for repairs, since there is no store nearby but to date no action from your side.
I'm very disappointed and I've never missed my R250 premium. Is it worth it. Should I go on doing business with you.

I'm stuck with a device which is not working but paying the insurance..

I had a contract with cell c and then I was file in legal field then I paid that money I were supposed to... but now that account everytime am trying to do something it appears I need help!

I had 4 contracts with Cell C, 2 of them were coming to an end and I submitted a cancellation letter on 1 June 2021, stating that the contracts should be terminated as at 30 June 2021 and no further debit orders to be deducted for those 2 contracts. I was then debited for 4 contracts in July and August. I submitted a request for a refund in August as I did not expect Cell C to debit me for 2 months after submitting a cancellation. I have been on calls with them since 3 August 2021 and since then I have been speaking to agents that said they will sort this matter out and they apologised for the inconvenience. Ref:

Today, 1 September 2021, I have still not received a refund, nor have I received any communication from Cell C. I called in and spoke to an agent today who says I do not qualify for a refund as a cancellation takes 30 days to be processed and that the cancellation only took effect as at the 31 July 2021.

I do not think that this is fair to customers that cancel and follow protocol only to be disadvantaged and charged for benefits not used. I have been a client of Cell C for more than 4 years and after receiving such pathetic service I would definitely not recommend anyone to use their service.

I am absolutely appalled to receive such terrible service and I will be taking my money elsewhere once the balance of my 2 contracts have come to an end.

Mrs R Pillay

31/08

I have been receiving statements with a zero balance for a few months - Cell C never debited my account as agreed. I called a few times and they said my account balance is Zero. Now you debit my account for over R3500 in one go without my authorization.

I want my money back and this issue sorted asap - I can't afford to pay this amount now how must I provide for my family.

Below is proof of the statement

I have started the upgrade on the 16th of August and on the 18th of August I have received the email confirmation to receive the Samsung A32, colour black.
The service delivery was to be delivered between 4-7 working days. No communication was received during that time from Cell C at all. I had to call in every day and most of the time I could not get through.
When I got through on the 30th of August, the sales consultant assisted me and spoke to her supervisor who then advised that they are experiencing a backlog of 2 months. She called me back later the morning and told me that they do not have stock of the black Samsung, only blue. I had to accept it, what else can I do? She then told me that someone will call me back on the same date from the Retentions department to order the blue device, however this will start the process from the start again and I will have to wait another 7 days.
I did receive an sms yesterday on the 30th of August 2021 with reference number [protected] notifying me of the query logged.
To this date, not one person has called me back from the Retentions department. This is a serious issue as Cell C has broken their agreement with me. I would like this issue to be resolved as soon as possible.

Good day

I was retrenched and therefore fell behind on payments.
I called with an attempt of making payment arrangements, this has been a back and forth for 4 months. They asked me to send through my retrenchment letter and never heard from them again. Cell c then froze my account, of which I am still being billed for regardless of me not having access to the benefits. I paid a portion of the outstanding balance to attempt to cancel the contracts that are paid up, I have 5 contracts linked to my account, 2 are paid up and yet they refuse to assist me with that until the account is paid in full. 2 of those contracts are on a month to month data service, so I fail to understand how I cannot have access to those.
I feel as if I am being kicked while I am down.
Please assist?

Below is the case number I was given by Cell C, also the retentions managers who refused to assist with the cancellation

Case number: [protected]
Manager: Thabile Same
Kebone Thukhutha

Lost my sim card and have been trying to do a sim swap, I pass all the questions and then when it comes to receiving the otp nothing comes through, so basically nothing gets done . I've had this number for years and hold 2 contracts with cell c but you guys aren't very helpful and it's frustrating that I now lose out on business

Good day

I have settled the account that was handed over to SSD, the attorneys advise that I must call cell c to assist with the letter, since last month trying to reach cell C Legal Department, please assist me with paic up letter.
We have received your query and will attend to it shortly. Your reference no is: [protected]. An SMS will be sent to you when your query has been resolved. Cell C
PHUMLILE
[protected]

Hi

I've paid up my account in Jan 2020 already and yet it's still showing as active and blocking me from opening other accounts. I have called the call centre many times but still the issue is not resolved. I demand that this be taken off my credit record with immediate effect. This is really bad service.

Contact number [protected]

"Please bear in mind I am at the CDH office with wifi running and my data is off as I have access to my office"... I had a balance of R100 on my account on the 24/8/2021 and bought data while at the office for R15 to top up, the next minute my units are gone, no calls were made during that time as I was in the office "connected to CDH Wi-Fi, called 135 spoke to an agent by the name of Karabo Makgalemele for over 28 min she then told me her supervisor Nokuthula Sihlango will call and she didn't, called back and spoke to Emmanuel, who then told me a Team leader Nomusa Shange will return my call, she didn't as well. The only correspondence I have been receiving is Reference numbers with unresolved issue at had. Ref [protected] @ 17:57
Ref [protected] @ 20:02, Ref [protected]@7:55, this is by far the worst service I have ever received as a client from Cell C for over 10 years using this number really... I just need to be refund my funds back. The last insult was from Sinqobile Tlangulela this morning telling me to go through my settings and switch off my data like a kid," wow" I have never called Cell C to complain until now, yet they can't value their clients at all... I am very angry and disappointed with the service as a whole.

I have requested for a phone repair insured by Cellc since 8 July 2021. I have called multiple times and yet my phone that needs to be repaired has not been fetched till today.

I'm a loyal paying customer but I'm not treated as such. Your service is very poor.

I would like to hear from you as soon as possible on how to resolve this issue.

I have please to see that so many people have complaints similar to mine. It would make a perfect class action against Cell C as I have promised on emails to you which fall on deaf ears, blind eyes and completely incompetent staff!

1. I gave notice on a contract in store 1 month prior to expiration of contract.
2. I then went back in store to call from there as I don't trust Cell C and wanted proof.
3. 5 months later I am still being billed for a contract that no longer exists. There is also billing for "call forwarding" however the sim was destroyed and has not been in a phone since March /April 2021.
4. I picked up that my EFT payments were not reflecting on my account and asked for a statement of account and was sent an email confirming that there was an issue on their billing system and payments were not being allocated!
5. I refused to make payment this month and I am currently being held hostage because they say I owe over R8000, however have admitted in writing to a problem on their payment allocations and have suspended my line.
6. I am placing on record, that I refuse to make another payment until I get all the previous months of cancelled contract costs taken off, a full recon sent to me from your accounts department reflecting all my payments made and an explanation how my account is now at over R8000 from May/June 2021 when my contract amount due monthly is less than R1300 per month!

Your contact numbers don't work either and you just don't care about those who have supported you for years. Never forget who made you big... little people like me.

I will rather get a new number and fight this case as a class action against you then pay to get my line back on. It's the principle and not the money that matters most, especially when you deliberately hold us hostage to your incompetence systems and staff!

On the 02/08/2021 my phone was stolen(phone number [protected]), I report it with Cell C on the 04/08/2021.Cell C said that I will received my ITC number within 48 hours, on numerous occasions I phone Cell C to get my ITC number which till today(18/08/2021) I have not received. I have spoken with more than 6 customers care agents and with 2 managers( Sarah ref no([protected] and Vusisiwe ref ([protected]), nothing has been done. I struggling to get the ITC number.

Good day
I was legible for an upgrade, so I asked for a Samsung A32 phone, then they sent me a Samsung A12 phone wrongly, then last week Thursday 12 August, cell c came and to collect the phone to return it to them. I called from friday the 13 August to find out that they did not received the phone yet, then they said it will be Monday 16 August off there system, then I can upgrade again with the A32 Samsung. I called again today the 18 August then they said at today 11 am the phone will be of there system then I can upgrade, then they will call me back, still nothing.
Later I called again the A12 Samsung is still on the system, they will escalate it and I must still wait. For how long must I still wait, Cell C is very fast to call if I owe them money, but they don't resolved my issue.
I am not very happy there service is very poor. They stole my phone on saturday and every time I tell them that, still nothing happened.
I don't have a phone and I really need the phone because of my work that I done.
Really bad service of Cell C
Hannelie van Vuuren
[protected]

Firstly I'm grossly disappointed with how this company continues to bill customers for expired contracts without client concerns.

The services have been utterly frustrating, the company took my account to debt collector when i don't owe them a single cent. I've been nothing but a loyal customer fulfilling my payments without delays, however after the contract I had with the service provider expired they continued to bill me without my concerned. I've called their customer service center on several occasions with the promise that the contract has been called but to my suprise the service provider have deliberately tarnished my financial records and reputation as a bad payer. I want to reiterate that i owe this company nothing.

May 2019: Started with Cell C Pinnacle Contract with a starting value of R23, 539.01 (i.e., R980.79 monthly repayment). The contract includes recurring 1GB, WhatsApp bundle, and 900 voice minutes. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I fell behind with my monthly payments.

Whenever a Cell C Representative phoned to query the outstanding payment, I explained the situation and promised to prioritize the payment as soon as I'm back on my feet. I explained the reason for falling behind with my payments: I resigned from the company I worked at to start my own business venture. My business was registered, but only 2 weeks after I worked my notice at the previous company (thus, 2 weeks into my new business), we were in a nationwide lockdown - of course, there was no way to predict this and as a result, I had no income at the time. As proof, I sent the new business registration.

The Representative advised me not to make the payment into the account stated on the latest invoice. My account had been handed over to the Cell C Debtors Department and payment will not be allocated otherwise. An email with banking details will follow, I was told. Once I make the payment, all will be rectified.

I did not receive the promised email. Cell C also phoned me to follow up on payment - every time I would (again) explain the situation and ask for the correct details to be sent. Still nothing!

I was eventually asked to send an email to Cell C Debtors department to request the banking details. Many a mail was sent, but every time Cell C failed to respond. More phone calls and emails followed; I asked if I could be transferred to the Debtors department or speak to someone in the department directly. This was denied every time because Cell C staff were working from home, according to each of the representatives I spoke to, and they were not allowed to hand out contact numbers or direct email addresses.

In the meantime, my phone was disabled - I lost business at a time where things are already tough. Out of desperation, I continued to send emails and phone the call-center - all to no avail! Instead, I received emails and calls from Debt Collectors. My account had been handed over and my name was listed at the Credit Bureau.

Despite my pleading, Cell C eventually demanded that I cancel the contract and pay the commitment fees for the remaining device value, monthly subscription fees, and usage charges that have not been paid to me. I believe that it is unfair and unjust in this case - I was on my knees to make a payment, but denied it. As per the latest letter, I owe R16, 041.33. How can I justify paying this amount if I will not be receiving the value thereof?!?

CELL C FAILED/REFUSED TO FURNISH ME WITH THE BANKING DETAILS FOR PAYMENT DESPITE THE PLEADING. THE LACK OF RESPONSE IS UNFAIR.

Debit order for Cell C is R359 per month. This is debited from an account not often used. Debit order was taken on 1 March, 1 April, 3 May and then apparently due to Cell C error only requested on 18 June. We did not know this and were not contacted when this late debit order did not go off. Debit order again went of on 1 July and eneough money was left in the account for 1 Aug. However now they tried to double debit us and the R718 debit order failed and they contected us. I went to Cell C at Newmarket and they gave me bank details whihc Nedbank said wasnt for Cell C. I went back and another lady told me to pay at Pick and Pay and she didnt know which details the other person gave me. She then updated the system with the payment. Today we receive a message that we owe another R359 but the gentleman refused to tell me for when and said it was fees (how is fees R359) he then said was tired of answering my question and put the phone down. If I owe I will pay but for whihc month . Call was at 15h10 on 13/08. Do we just pay money we dont knwo what we owe for, if they cant confirm what for. He then threatened to switch of teh service. I can not wait for this contract to be over. In over 30 years I have never been treated like this by Vodacom.

Last month on the 7 of July, I lost my phone and all my efforts to sim swap and claim my number back have been unsuccessful. When I contact cellc customer centre unfortunately they tell me I failed security questions and as a result they are not able to assist meI have been using this phone number for more than 10 years and all my business and accounts are linked to this number. Already have lost a substantial amount of business because people are failing to reach me

I made an eft payment to settle my arrears on the 25th of June 2021, Cell C debited my account on the 30th of June 2021 and i called in Same day to start the refund process they asked me for a proof of payment which i sent through, and every time i call in each consultant asks me for the same thing . I have been sending in that POp and still nothing . They say the now want pop of the amount that was actually debited and is reflecting on their system how unlogical can you be . I want my refund . the service is very bad and your staff refuse to escalate this matter to management. Thabang Vilakazi should be trained or let go . the remaining staff also need training