Mobile Telephone Networks [MTN] South Africa
Reviews and Complaints

I would like lay a complain of cellphone contract cancelation. Phone was delivered to me in November, on the same day I asked them to cancel the contract course it was not the one I was looking for. I made several phone calls with no assistance and they deducted money from my account while the deal is in process of cancelation. I am very disappointed when I call today, they told me it's not yet canceled. My cell phone number [protected]

I sent an email and called in to cancel the contract and still today it is not cancelled,
I even went to the shop to cancel the contract, and other contracts were cancelled. I even called using [protected]
Below is the email sent on the 7th October 2023.
From: Bongani Mtsweni [MTN SA - One Touch Mobility Pty Ltd]
Sent: Friday, October 7, 2022 11:42 AM
To: Retentions
Cc: '[protected]@gmail.com'
Subject: cancelation [protected]
Good day
Kindly assist on the cancelation of the below contract which is due for cancelation and we have been trying to cancel it many times in the store but we fail to do so, as we get an error when cancelling the contract.
ID number – [protected]
Name and surname - Ennocentia Thapelo Zulu
Cellphone number – [protected]

I need urgent assistance please, I have no internet connection and I have made EFT payments on the dates stipulated in the POP attached. I have liaised with 1 of your agents via watts app and he is telling me that my service has been disconnected due to the fact that I have not made payment and he can see that I have a package of 30/30GB package (which is the old package that I cancelled some time back) my new package instalments are R499.00 a month. Your agent advised that I don’t have connection because all the payments I am making towards to my new package is been allocated to my old package. I AM NOT VERY HAPPY ABOUT THIS, when I spoke to Tumelo I explained the situation and she reassured me that my old package is cancelled and the new is in effect now at a cost of R499.00 per month and now I am being told something else. The other problem is that my account is not being debited with the fee and I spoke to agents who advised me that the debit returned, apparently I do not have sufficient funds in my account which is a lie because I cater for this debit. I need this sorted ASAP

MTN Service is very poor, Please be advised that on the 27th of October 2022, I made an immediate payment for the 12th of October 2022 invoice and sent the proof payment on the same day.

The next day, on October 28, 2022, I received an email from customer service informing me that MTN had received my payment.

On November 7, 2022, my MTN simcard was turned off, and I was unable to make any outgoing calls or use data. I also had appointments that day and was running late. When I called customer service, they informed me that I had fallen behind on my payments.

I had to resend the proof of payment on November 7, 2022 in order for my simcards to be activated.

I have sent the email complain on the 21st of November 2022 to explain why my invoice shows R 2,930.90? instead of R1,461.24

On the 30th I receive a email from Portia at Complaints Management Team she said “Please note the balance reflecting on our side is R1,461.25”.

On December 8, 2022, my MTN simcard was turned off again. When I call customer service today they told me that I still have outstanding balance R 1,461.25.

I don’t understand why because it was confrim by customer service servral time and complaint management team on the attached emails that they received my payment of the 27th October 2022.

Now the customer service says I must do payment arrangement in order for them unsuspended my service. Why should I do payment arrangement if I paid already.

I have ask the customer service call centre agent provide me with her manager’s email or transfer the call to the manager she said “she doesn’t have manager”.

Please be advised that I am no longer able to use my phone; I am unable to make calls or access the internet as if it is my fault because the line has been suspended, and I have called customer service again; they are unfriendly. They simply put me on hold without informing you, and they even sang to me while I waited for assistance.

My four MTN simcards would not be activated until tomorrow, I was told. Since this morning, December 8, 2022, my MTN simcard has been turned off.

I received a call from MTN to tell me I am ready for upgrade (YES THESE CALLS ARE ALL RECORDED)

I said Great that sounds good. We then spoke about what package to go on next.

Everything was fine until MTN DEBITS R5000,00 off my account with NO PERMISSION. I then spend 10 days trying to get hold of MTN wondering why they have done such a thing. After having to take off work I finally went to MTN store which then informed me that this is an early upgrade fee which I WAS NOT INFORMED OF. (many people coming in with the SAME problem and employee said to me) If the consultant told me there would be a fee I would have NOT "upgraded". After finally getting hold of MTN they apologised and said they will reverse the upgrade. I thought all was good until the next month comes and they DEBIT me R5000,00 AGAIN. (with no permission) I then spend hours on the phone AGAIN. Thinking all is stored. When the next month comes and I get DEBITED R5000,00 AGAIN!

I have to reverse these payments every month and it is messing with my CREDIT SCORE all because of an INCOMPETENT COMPANY. Each consultant insures me they have fixed the problem. MTN then switches me phone off.

I then can’t get hold of anyone. When I do they just CUT the call. I then ask if the call cuts please call back. Which they NEVER do.

What an absolute JOKE of a company.

At this stage I will need to get lawyers involved. This is messing with my time, business and credit score.

I wonder what will happen now. It's now the 4th MONTH with the SAME issues.

I have been a customer for over 15 years and this is the service I receive?

Can MTN just do their job and for the company to ANSWER their phone and each department actually work together to sort this out.

This has gone too far now.

MTN Ref no - 1-[protected]

Hi its MRS HJ Jacobs here.id [protected].contact number [protected].On the 21 Octoberi received my parcel.Was not the right parcel.send it back on the 28 October.Todayi received an sms what said they will deduct R363 on the 30November.So i must pay for something i dont have.Make a few calls today.they said they must get a approval number from the warehouse to confirm thay they received my parcel.He said the will send me an sms if they get the number and its been cancelled.still wait for feedback

I got a 30g router from mtn 10night, 10day, 10streaming. what they didnt tell me was you can only use streaming one on youtube only. For the past 4weeks ive been trying to council this shyt thing and they been giving me the run around. Today they told me they can only council it if i pay R900. i told them i dont want the router and they say they cant help me.

My account was in Legal due to unforseen circumstances and I made arrangements to bring my account up to date, which I did.

My account was paid up on the 27th of September (3 weekly payments

On the 30th of September I paid my monthly fee

On the 5th November I paid my monthly fee

So according to my records my account is up to date and in fact MTN owes me money =/- R800-00, which I want paid back to me. They are very quick to phone you if your account is in arrears, but if they owe you money they dont say a word. I only found out when I went into the store that MTN owes me money

We are now moving into the 3rd month of this whole process, and I must admit that the service I have been receiving from MTN is absolutely appalling!

After receiving their last e-mail, which stated that everything is sorted out on my account and I can go and do my upgrade, I went to the MTN Store in Rustenburg – Waterfall Mall. Every time I get there I look like a fool as my account is locked and says “VALADATION MESSAGE! MSISDN IS IN PRE-TERMINATION” MEANING MY ACCOUNT IS ABOUT TO BE CLOSED!

I have NEVER requested in any of my calls to MTN to close my Voice Bundle and Data Bundle account. To date I am still paying for my services as I want to keep on using both. I want to do my upgrade that was due on the 10th of October already.

Every time I speak to someone in the Contracts Call Centre everyone tells me a different story. Either my account is still with Legal and the Legal Department has to correct my account on their side in order for me to go and do my upgrade. And then the Legal Department says everything on their side is sorted out and account is active and they can see my account is up to date and there is a credit due to me. The right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing and visa versa.

I will call the Contracts Department and they will say my lines are active and I can go and do my upgrade and if I phone in an hour later everything is blocked, and the Legal Department needs to close my account on their side. Then I phone the Contracts Department to find out if my account is sorted out and they say yes and then I ask to be transferred to the Legal Department to find out if everything is sorted on their side, they say yes. If I go to the store and I see that message on my account, I will phone in again and ask the Contracts Department to put me through to Legal Department and then all of a sudden, they can’t transfer my call, but an hour earlier on they could. Every time I call in, everyone escalates my query and every time it takes 7-21 working days for it to be resolved, and then still nothing gets done, it feels like no one cares to even bother in helping me. NO ONE has taken the time to help me. I am now paying for a service I am not using and quite frankly I am very disappointed in the service I have received from both Contract & Legal Department and MTN as a whole. Call center agents not helpful at all. I have only dealt with incompetent people

I cant even go and do a sim swap as the same message blocks me from doing anything.

MTN can only be described as Indifferent, clueless with Poor internal communication. If I was one of MTN’s Service Champions, I would be to ashamed to say that I work for MTN. I am really disappointed. I kept to my word to bring my account up to date, which I did and yet I don’t get the same in return, all I get is false promises and incorrect information.

If I could this company no star I could. I have been asking mtn to close my account since 2020 when I made my last payment to them. I opened a contract in 2018, received no statements, called to ask them and they wouldnt. They then handed me over and when I found out, I made a payment to the debtors, asked for a paid up letter and then sent it to mtn. I went in store to request it to be closed, it wasnt, I called the call centre multiple times over the years and still they refused to close it. I disputed it because on my credit report it shows that I am I arrears. Ive tweeted about it, posted on Facebook about it, spoke to them on messager and Twitter DM, they still wont close my account. I have not used this account since 2019 and now I dont know what to do. I am afraid if I give in and pay again, they will keep extorting me. If anyone has had this experience with these criminals in a similar case, please let me know because I dont know what to do anymore.

MTN South Africa is a thieving company. They do not care about resolving your issue. I purchased data online,they took the money and never sent it. I have repeatedly sent them my bank statement that shows that they took the money. They keep saying that my bank statement is not proof of purchase but then they keep asking for the statement,only to keep saying that it is not proof of purchase. I think they deliberately are trying to wind me up. I asked them to either send the data or send a refund but they keep asking the same questions. I can only conclude that they deliberately are ripping people off. Do not use them, you will regret it. They should be ashamed! I have given up on trying to get a refund or the data.

I have just signed a new data contract with MTN via MONDO. Problem is data I have are too small lot of live streaming etc. I have 55G of data but was informed that my data are finished.

I use data everyday where I am working. Streaming and you-tube I am not using that data. The lady who was helping me was cut off while talking I would to have my old contract was better than what I have now.

My children are studying that why I was looking for data contract not that what i have please. Please help me.

Best Regards

Mzwamandla Zondi

I am Sharon Hansen and I bought a samsung galaxy A03 Core telephone at shop 40 Laguna Mall Langebaan on 18-10-2022. The Sales person explained that IT is no use rica me as I am using my Vodacom sim card. She actually insured me that I dont have to use a mtn simcard as this phone can take any simcard. I tried IT when I came home and Low and behold IT would not work IT shower me that IT is locked! Because I work I took the phone back to the shop on saturday 22-10-2022 I told the shop assistant I want my money R1799.00 back he had quite an attitude and told me I cannot have IT as the phone needs to operate With an mtn sim card. I cannot use this phone and they dont want to reimburse me please help!

I called MTN on 26 July 2022 trying to establish why they tried to debit my bank account twice. I was told that someone took two cell phones on contract using my details. Their Customer Services suggested that I email them the affidavit and a copy of my ID which I sent same day. I was told the matter will be resolved by their Fraud Department and I am still waiting. My bank picked up that MTN is still billing me every month. I am worried this is going to affect my credit score but I cannot pay for something I don't have. Please help.

My contract with MTN ended in March 2022. I have been in contact (Telephonically and via emails) with the service provider since April 2022 requesting that the contract be terminated and the company stops debiting my account to no avail. Today, 01 October 2022, my account was debited by MTN again, thus subjecting me to unnecessary bank charges as there are no funds in my account. Could you kindly assist with this problem as I feel like I am in a coerced marriage with this company? Please also note that MTN does not allow its staff at the branches to help clients terminate contracts. This can only be done by staff at their head office. The same staff will listen to your telephonic query for a few minutes and drop the call whilst you are in the middle of a conversation with them.

A reply to my recent email to the company was addressed to me requesting that I assist a client with a query, meaning, the author assumed I am one of his team members. Is this not a sign of inefficiency from a reputable company?

RE: BAD SERVICE AT BROOKLYN DESIGN enabling criminals

BACKROUND

On Friday the 23 September 2022 at 00.38 P.M in Hatfield in the road referred to by students as “the strip” my sons cell phone was stolen.

I tried calling the 083 135 number numerous times from 00:38. I tried all through the night and again I started at 9:00 on the Saturday morning. There was no answer and the option 1 to 5 does not allow you to go through to a consultant.

This already put me in a bad mood because I had lack of sleep and I was not able to get hold of an MTN consultant to report the stolen phone and block the number.

On Saturday morning the 24 September 2022 my son went to the police station to report the incident and straight from there he went to MTN Brooklyn Design to get an urgent SIM SWOP. All documentation was in order for the SIM swop and it was reported to consultant and proof was given that the phone was stolen.

The consultant told him within 2 to 24 hrs he will be able to use the new sim.

On Saturday I tried calling his phone and it sounded like an international ring and on Sunday it sounded like a local ring.

On Sunday I got hold of my son through a friend and sent him back to Brooklyn Design to find out what is going on and why his new sim has not been activated.

The response from Brooklyn was that they sent the activation request in error to the old sim and they can only sort it out on Monday.

What was Brooklyn thinking, does the staff not know what they are doing.

How can they send an activation request to the criminals.

On Monday at 10:00 after trying to get hold of Brooklyn on [protected] to speak to the manager Creamal, and after phoning 083 135 numerous times I decided to go to the another MTN store.

I was angry and took it out on the Nigel Cell Network Store who got the Brooklyn private own store to phone me. The Brooklyn private store owner went to the Brooklyn Design store to tell Creamal the store manager to phone me.

Creamal’s response was she will phone later. Please bear in mind that at this stage my phone was still active and the criminals were using my phone for three days now.

I then managed to get Brooklyn Cell Network store to block the number until Creamal decided that she is now ready to phone me. I have not heard from Creamal.

The phone has also not been blacklisted like I requested.

I than phoned the [protected] number and spoke to a consultant who told me that there has been 2 attempts for a sim swop which was sent to the stolen phone and naturally the criminal will decline the request.

I am going to report this to the ombudsman you have put me through 3 days of hell and I still have not had my SIM activated. I now have to go back to the store and get a new sim and pay more money and waste more time because Brooklyn Design are not capable of doing a simple task or returning a call.

Why does the manager think she is to good to phone me and sort out the mess that the store created.

My son has cancelled all his banking but money has been taken out of his account. I am going to hold MTN liable for this money because of the incompetence at Brooklyn and I want the manager at Brooklyn to be taken to task. This is not my fault so why should I struggle like this and MTN will compensate me for the stress that they have caused and the wasting of my time.

Get your managers to do their work and phone me.

My problem is still not sorted.

Angelique Jeffery

[protected]

Hi I had a 2 year sim only whifi contract with mtn it was 2 contracts taken out on same day in march 2020 I payd r399 for both every month and march this year they phoned me asking if I want to continue with the contract and I sed no cancell it but the end of march they deducted a even higher amount from my account sed the special is over and its month to month now I again sed cancel it until now nothing was done and im in arears now according to them even afecting my credid record I tried there legal dep but no respons from them please help thanks

Danie coetzer

Id [protected]

In 2016 I took out a contract for my daughter’s cell phone number [protected]. The contract was under my name and ID number.

Before the Covid-19 lockdown we ported this number over to Vodacom and apparently as I have been informed, this cannot happen if there is an outstanding amount due.

I thought this was all sorted, but I have recently tried to apply for a bond to buy my own house and my credit rating is being negatively affected due to the outstanding amount of R469-00 on this account.

I have been into MTN shop in Greenstone on 14 August 2022 and they logged a legal ticket number 1-936314/2000. I was told to wait 3 days and then phone 083135 and quote the reference number. I asked if I needed any other details, and the answer was no as the ticket number would have all the details. I spoke to over 6 people for assistance with this and no one can find me on the system via the cell number or my ID number.

I then returned to the MTN store in Greenstone on 27 August 2022 to get someone to assist me, and once again, they couldn’t find me on the system.

Please can you sort this out as I NEVER not pay amounts that are due. If I cannot be found on your system via the cell number or my ID number, then please can you remove the outstanding debt reflecting on my name so that I am able to apply for a bond?

I have now sent 3 emails to "[protected]@mtn.com" requesting assistance and to date have not even had one reply despite their claims to reply or resolve my complaint within 24 hours.

This level of service sticks and is appallingly disgusting.

I went to a MTN store yesterday to cancel my contract. They said I should call 135 to cancel. I tried so many times, but I get cut off before someone answers the call. A lady then helped to log the cancellation, but said someone from the Customer Call Centre will phone me to confirm the cancellation, or I can phone 135. At this moment I've been on the line for an hour and 22 minutes, still holding. They're putting me through from one department to another and no one can help. My contract is supposed to be cancelled today, but I'm having no luck so far.

MTN Insurance replaced my device P40lite with NovaY60 plus which is unbelievably underperforming and freezing I called to let them know on the 24th of June 2022 and they said they escalated the matter and will revert back to me no one contacted me. I sent another email on the 17th of June I sent another one and a lady came back to me the following day she apologized for the delay and advised that she has sent a follow-up email and would come back to me once they got a response. Days went by weeks went by nothing from them then on the 20th of July another lady sent an email to say...I should note that the device is opened and used they cannot collect it. She further said that they ordered a device that I confirmed and that it was my responsibility to check the device before accepting the offer. now they don't want to help me. I want admintech to collect their device because it is freezing, slow and over and above all the technical issues this device has it is not worth the value of my claimed device. 1.I was lied to about the similarities between P40LITE and this huawei NOVA Y70PLUS. 2. I wouldn't have known that the device is slow and freezes if I didn't use it so I don't see why the other lady said she cant help me because I opened the device, 3. I don't understand why they think it's right to downgrade me and give me a device that doesn't match my old device's price and specs. I either want my old device or a device that is similar to it when it comes to specs.

I have a query with a new phone that gave me a problem within a week after delivery. My upgrade was done online. Phone was delivered to me on the 24th May 2022 and I was only able to return it back on the 11th June 2022.

I have been a customer with MTN from 2011. I am very disappointed with the way my phone issue query has been handled at MTN Maponya Mall. I have made several follow up and I have been taken from pillar to post with regards to the feedback. It is either they OFFLINE or they will tell you call them back later. They will promise to call you back and never call back. This is the worst customer service I have ever received and an inconvenience as the debit order is continuing but I do not have the phone and I have to pay because it is a contract. How sad?

Disappointed, Sibongile Mtshali, Soweto