Mobile Telephone Networks [MTN] South Africa
Reviews and Complaints

On 6th of May I to reported to MTN that someone is operating fraudulently using my details, . Rene told me that she had blocked the line and also I must submit affidavit and ID copy. She was very rude to me that day, she could not even give me her email address, even when I asked about the details of those contracts she responded rudely saying that if i have nothing to do with it why am I asking questions. I think I have a right to know since it concerns my credit profile.
But Anyway I faxed the required documents to her on the 9th of May. I then have been following up without any luck. I will hold until I give up. I left several messages for her but no response.
I asked if no one else can assist me and was told that unfortunately she is the only one. I even reported this case to the credit beraux but all they can do is to request MTN to investigate on this case, and still even now I have not received any response from them.
Right now I am sitting with the bill of R6500 to go off my account end of this month and still no one is helping me. EVEN A FOOL CAN SEE THAT 3 MOST EXPENSIVE CELLPHONE CONTRACTS ACCOUNTS OPENED IN ONE DAY FOR ONE PERSON IS *****

Am always geting messages that payments have been recieved, that "you are subcribed to nsfmob. Cost r.20/day. Helpline is [protected]. But why should you force some one to subcribe for something he does not know, the benefits and not even applied for?
Mtn kindly come out in the air and clear out your name if your sure that your not in this ###. Stop robibing us. By the way ther are so many companies that have better services than yours, other wise we need our air time back on our cellphones or else we shall do a very good campain against your services and the campony. You know what it means.

On the 29th of April MTN double debited my account. I called the customer services three times and didnot get any help. On my 4th call to customer services the agent told me she is going to only then log my call to the relivent department. I am extremely upset for the double debit and for unprofessional service. I am a loyal customer to MTN for a number of years and expect much better service. I am two minded now to even renew my cell phone contract with MTN.

An account was opened fraudulently using my personal details in December 2017. MTN took from my account (R497) in January; R329 in February and R1009.00 in April 2017. I notified them of this fact and they undertook to refund me in February already - this has not happened and every month I now suffer like this. Its not fair.
I have called, emailed, been to 2 of the branches to be taken only from pillar to post. I was assured that the account has been suspended in February already, yet April comes and they deduct money from my account. Why ? No one can tell me. The R1009 is really the last straw, I am at my wit's end. MTN please get your house in order and please refund my money. I am contactable on [protected]

I have been a long time subscriber of the MTN GMS network services but in the last 48 to 72 hours I have been blocked/ barred from the services I thus mentioned even after recharging my phone with more than enough money. I have tried making contact with internet and customer service as advice by them but this is not helpful. What do I do to restore service - voice and internet to my phone?

After complaining about a R700 Migration fee on top of the R104 upgrade fee, (in the upgrade period). Pointing out there upgrade information says “Migration within the price plans that is if you move up one or one down from your existing price plan at the time of upgrade, this price plan migration is free of charge” (clause removed last week) The Migration fee was waived, but a R700 handset Claw back fee was imposed. They have used a clause in their T/C for charging this fee, however it’s been pointed out that this clause is for people migrating before there contract date. As my contract will continue until my term date and only then will my new upgrade contract start, this clause is not pertinent and being used incorrectly. Not only is it not applicable it is illegal with out MTN following certain procedures, which they do not. In fact no fees are allowed to be charged for renewal or upgrade in the upgrade or renewal period. (see Government Gazette 17th June 2008. ICASA Regulations on Handset Subsidy 31156)

Applied for three new lines in addition to the existing four that I have. Absolutely no joy. Cannot find application, then cannot locate the staff that was handling this application> eventually advised that locked by Dealer Code. Contacted 0808 from the begining of the year with three complaints, 10 why itemised billing not being e-mailed, 2) why new contracts not resolved and 3) why credit not passed as agreed to by HVRC earlier this year. Followed up a few weeks ago with e-mail to Innocentia Nokulunga Mafika [ MTNSP - Innovation Centre ], still no response. Spoke to Isaac at 0808 this morning and also e-mailed him and requested for Customer Service Manager to contact me by 11h00am this morning. He advised that he will get Brenda Lebeloane to contact me by 11h00am this morning in the hope of resolving all my issues. It is now 11h20am and as usual, absolutely no service from MTN as nobody has contacted me. What do we have to do to get this company to hire Customer Service Clerks or managers. I have been a loyal long standing client with this Service Provider, but have always experienced poor service. USELESS SERVICE!

My ‘Black’ Blackberry Bold 9700 from MTN started giving me problems so I took it into the Pavillion MTN Service Centre (Wednesday 02/02/2011). The phone was booked into the repair centre and I was told I will get it back in 2 weeks. 2 weeks came and went and still no call from MTN so I decided to call only to be told that the phone will be exchanged for a new phone but it is still at the Cape Town repair centre and needs to go to the JHB service centre for a swoop out. Despite 3 weeks having already passed, I decided to be patient. On the Wednesday 02/03/2011 exactly a month since I sent my phone in, still no call or feedback from MTN. I once again phoned the service centre only to be told that my ‘new’ phone is in transit back to DBN and it will take another 7 working days (not sure which courier service MTN uses but that is SHOCKING to say the least). I then decided to call the service centre every day after Wednesday 02/03/2011 and was to that it is ‘in transit’ until a week later on Wednesday 09/03/2011 I was told it has arrived. I then immediately (1 month and 1 week later) went to collect the phone only to be presented with a ‘White’ Blackberry Bold 9700 which I didn’t accept (this just shows the incompetence within the MTN repair and service centres, no one bothered to ensure that my phone is replaced with the same colour phone). I was assisted by a guy by the name of Wayne at the Pavillion Service Centre, who was of absolutely no help, all he told me was that there is nothing he can do (no offer of loan phone or phoning to check how this happen). He then assured me that I will get the correct colour phone in another 7 working days. I have been phoning the MTN SP Technical Services number since the 10/03/2011 till today (16/-3/2011) and the latest is that the phone has now been sent to JHB again ! This is just inexcusable Service from MTN and till today, no one has called me and given me any update on my phone; it’s the least I’d expect since I’m still paying for this phone (contract), I’m effectively paying for something that I don’t have.

An amount of about R200.00 has been deducted from my airtime which i have not authorised. I have called MTN to advise them of this and all they said is that I'm subscribed to it, now i have noticed that i am not the only one complaining about this and i have sent 3 sms advising this fraud company called NSFW Mob to stop then i get a return sms saying that i am subscribed for R20.00 a day. This all seems very fishy to me and i will take this further if nothing gets done and this does not canceled. Surely MTN should be aware of this and should have some kind of system stopping these fraudsters. I will be laying a complaint on Hellopeter and will report to the police as well.

Email sent to mtn company secretary:

Miss mtshali -

My name is adrian wilhelm and my frustration level has reached the
Point where i lost my temper and said 'f#@k mtn" to 'danny' (who i met
On monday after taking the afternoon off work to go to your offices in
Person to let you guys know about the problems i'm having, i was told
He is the hr manager - this morning i get told "he is just the
Supervisor..."), i'm not sure if you can help me, not a single person
On the other end of the 33 (yes, thirty three!) calls i have made to
Mtn has been able to. out of these 33 calls, 27 times i have asked to
Speak to a supervisor or somebody in management. conveniently for your
Staff, not once has a supervisor or management member been available.
Very convenient indeed...

Is it because i'm white that my calls get transferred to non existant
Extensions, that i get put on hold and forgotten about, that simple
Questions i ask are ignored? it certainly feels like it is a racial
Thing as the one time i did speak zulu to an operator things seemed to
Happen very quickly?

I received an htc desire smartphone on contract with insurance as a
Gift from a family member, within 7 weeks the phone stopped working, i
Took it to the branch it came from and was told it would be reapaired
Within 2 - 3 weeks. that time passed so i called the 0839000fix number
And got told the phone hadn't been logged in yet (along with being
Told the phone was in repairs/being sent away/being opened as we
Speak, i heard this excuse from more than one person on more than one
Occasion in more than one department...) i made numerous calls asking
The simple question that, since the phone is faulty, i am not sure i
Want a broken and repaired handset, what can i do to get a new phone.
Nobody has been able to answer that question, my favourite response
Was "it hasn't been booked into the technical department"...

Nevermind that i was given a loaner phone, an lg which i have never
Used before, without so much as instructions on how to turn the thing
On, nevermind sending sms's, emails etc, when i brought this up "you
Should be lucky we give you the loan phone".

Every time i manage to get an answer from someone i cannot bring
Myself to believe it because of all the conflicting information i am
Being given, ie, 'danny' told me on monday that spare parts were
Clearing customs that morning, this morning, 4 days later, i get told
That spares have to be ordered. i also, on another call, get told that
The repairers are waiting for spares.

I have run a few successfull call centres in the last decade (a 60
Station centre for one of the biggest it firms on the planet, a 30
Station centre for a lawyers group, a 30 station centre for a debt
Collecting agency and a 25 station centre for an insurance house) so i
Feel that i am qualified to make judgement on your mtn call centre.

your call centre staff are most definitly not suitably trained!

Your call centre staff consistently deny customers the opportunity to
Speak to supervisor/managers by saying they are not available!

This is disgusting, how can so many people have so little pride in
Their jobs!?!?!?!?!?!? (you wouldn't be reading this if they did...)

All this to find out when i will be in possession of the contracted
Cell phone again.

As a new customer to mtn all i can say is, in my personal opinion with
The experience i have had, mtn sucks!

Since i've had such negative experiences with mtn i wonder if you will
Even have the decency to respond to this email...

A. p. wilhelm.

I have been trying since monday 12 april to get my account - with seven cell phone on it - to be re-activiated. Apparently, only the legal department can do this. Which would be fine, if they ever actually answered the phone. I have held every morning since monday for at least 30 minutes for someone in legal to answer. Eventually i've been forced to put down the phone because i'm afraid i'm going to get carpal tunnel syndrome in my hand. No one at the call centre can help, they just keep putting me through to the legal department who clearly are having phone issues. Can't wait to move to another 'service' provider.

This is now the third complaint that I am raising for the same issue! Mtn has been billing me for usage that was covered by value added bundles that I had requested.
For 4 months I had high bills & complained each time to their billing departments, each time I was promised some sort of feedback & subsequently my complaints were ignored - I did receive 3 credits in october but when I asked what the credits were for, no-one could answer. I have since queried the nature of the credits & am yet to get a response - is it not a reasonable request to know what the credits were for?
I have also removed mtn's monthly bank debit for fear of more errors & each month I am disconnected & have to call in to remind mtn of the existing query, each time I do so the customer care consultant is embarrassed by the situation & promises to have the situation resolved & I am told that I will receive a call within 24 hours with feedback. Ironically, in each instance, the next time I speak to an mtn employee is when I have to phone in to get my account reactivated & I have to explain the situation to them all over again!

I was overseas for the last week, and as usual i phoned MTN to arrange for international roaming. I spoke to a guy by the name of Vusi Mazibuko on the 2 Mar 2010, at around 21h00, who had promised that all should be well from that day onwards and for the duration of my travell and i should be able to sms, make calls and also had deactivated my voicemail. To my surprise when i arrived in Dhaka, i was unable to send any SMS's i could only make voice calls which cost me a fortune but i had to be in touch with my family. What really got me frustrated is the fact that i got really sick on the evening of the 7 Mar while in Shanghai and had to be hospitalised, and guess what my phone was completely dead, could not make calls, or sms anyone. I felt so helpless as i could not even reach my husband during this tramatizing experience. This is not happening for the 1st time with MTN the same thing happened to me last year Sept when i was overseas. Why am i not been respected as a customer after such a long and loyal period with MTN. I am forced to move my money elsewhere! MTN is pathetic!

I have a nokia n85 contract phone with mtn eastgate jhb from jan 2009. When I took the phone I was told that it was so expensive and reliable, however since I had this phone i've had nothing but all sorts of problems. It would break every two months. This phone has been taken in for repairs "more 5 times " and whilst they are repairing, it takes me 4 to 6 weeks without a phone. I have to waste my time and money calling them. Whats worse is that they still deduct money from my account. Im due for an upgrade now jan 2011 and the phone is still "in repairs".

On the 22 Feb I took my 3mnth old Samsung Jet in for repair. Handset checked in with Dimitri, the service consultant. Two weeks later I return to follow up, Dimiri cannot locate the handset in the system, but assures me it was sent?. I ask him to show me the the respective jobcard, he says it will take a long time, it would be better for me to check my copy, and call him back with the IMEI number, this I do, as well as email him my original purchase invoice which was given to him. By now im pretty suspicious that the phone has not been processed. I try contact the branch manager, Ranie Naido, not available, left msg, NO REPLY. Then I call MTN repair centre, I am informed that they cannot locate the handset on the system with the IMEI number as well as my cell no, Im advised to get the collection number from Dimitri.

So I call again, he advises me that the handset has definately been processed, and that they are awaiting spares, and that this would take some time. By now i'm Fuming Mad!. I call the regional Manager, Mark Quinn, left msg, NO REPLY. Later this afternoon, Dimitri calls me back and says he's been lying. WHAT IS GOING ON?, is this the type of service MTN offers?

I have phoned MTN twice now to report that there is someone several people that are accessing facebook from my phone which in my opinion is fraudulent, as well as the fact that i am fitting the bill.

I was told that this is not MTN's problem, whcih i find unacceptable, as there is clearly someone hacking into my phone, and as an MTN customer, i expect service and assitance!

It is also importatn to note that i have never allowed anyone else to access facebook from my phone at any time, so HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN...in the interim i continue to pay...

Another worrying aspect is that they may have access to more of my PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION...?

THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE...WHO IS GOING TO HELP ME SORT THIS OUT!? After being an MTN customer for over 10 years...its disgusting...

I have been waiting since October 2009 for being over billed for data in Septemeber and October, when I called the call centre the agent agreed, I was in bundle, however they charged for the data and the bundle still, it was worked to an over charging of more than R3000, and to make matters worse ther was also a problem with how my calls are billed in the same time. I have seen that the problem has been rectifed on their system, however the money owed to me has still not been sorted out. I was last told that the billing department have a back log, and I must just wait.

I took out an additional cellphone contract on 29 December 2010. I was advised that the contract had been approved and that we could collect the phone within the next few days. Since I do not reside in the city where the contract was taken out, I was reassured by the sales assistant that this would pose no problems when the phone is collected. To date we have still not received the phone. I have phoned JHB, Cape Town and East London and have been advised that the store has no contact details. I find it extremely hard to believe that any store has no telephonic contact details. And even harder to believe that a consultant could not just phone me and give me an update on the status of the contract. Service at MTN is more than pathetic as apparently there is absolutely no one that can assist as we physically have to visit the store.
I will be sure to cancel my MTN subscription as soon as my contract is up.

went into MTN shop in Ellisras, Limpopo to do a sim card swap as my card stopped working. Gave copy of ID and company letterhead to get the card. Was told by Elsabe that my phone would be up and running within 24 hrs, and if it wasnt I was to phone her . I did phone her and she said I had to give my ID and company letterhead, which I said I already did (how did I get the new sim if I didnt provide these docs?). Anyway, after phone call after phone call to this shop I am still not up and running. I have been promised that it will be working but nothing happens. I have also been told by the people in the shop that they will get back to me before 13hoo today and I havent heard from them. They only open again on Monday. I do not know where to go from here or who to complain to. I find it absolutely shocking that this is how we are treated in this country. I paid R110 for this swap and I still cant use my phone.I am so frustrated...

I had a contract phone with mtn then in 2008 July I stopped workin an I could nt pay for it so I received a demand letter from trans union debt collectors which I dnt hav anymore because that was in 2008 so I phoned back an explained to them that I'm unemployment as soon as I get my provident fund money I will pay which in November I started paying to the provided account, then mid March to April I started phonin trans union to find out the status of my account they could nt find my details I then had to fax proof of payment to them with 3days later they acknowledge that they received it an they then told me that they have reconcilled the account and have sent all paperwork to Mtn. I then started receivin sms's from another debt collector called VVM Attorney which there were instructed to colled an amount of R12 thousand and some odds regardless of the R6000 paid with trans union I tried to explain to them that I have already so much money already with anoth company I was then asked fax proof of thise payment to them because I could not get the letter from trans union that states that I have paid with them they informed that MTN has taken the account from them and since they submitted all my paperwork to mtn then can not help me any further in future I should contant Mtn. I faxed more than ten copies of proof of payment to VVm an eventually someone acknowledged them then I was instructed to start payin the account before I get listed on credit bereau whilst they investigate, I then paid R250 for months an phone the again was asked again to fax proof an they will get back to me did that an waited now I was nt payin any more they would send sms, emails and would call even an al the time I will explain the same story that I've just explained until on 4 occasions the consultants would say to me they r busy investigation and liasing with mtn with regards to this matter so I shud just wait until yhe get back to me I waited I then receive an sms offering me 30% discount from the R13 thousand that I owed then I phoned and queried that was told okay they busy finding out it they Will call me., until on December the 08th I received a notification from trans union credit bereau that
As foolows Dear Maphalala Consolation N, XDS, a registered Credit Bureau, received a default alert on your MTN SP a/c. Kindly contact VVM on: [protected].Ref:[protected].
So now I started phonin again an they asking me proofs again even when I try an phone trans union they dnt seem to help I'm just going back an forth and at the end of the day my name is gonna go bad where as I've paid an none of Mtn or Trans union wants to help and admit to receiving the money while amont close to R6000 went someones acc with the reference #.