It has been seven long months of arduous inquiries via telephone calls and emails concerning no network until networking was done with the Laudium Sun, resulting in a network being restored.
Despite paying over R300 each month on his cell phone contract, Harry Naidoo (52) could not even make a call or use his purchased units.
Speaking to the Laudium Sun, Harry said that he felt his communications struggle and no working phone was simply due to "weak service delivery", on the part of Cell C.
"Last December, I was on holiday in Durban and started experiencing network problems with my new phone, which I had received after upgrading eight months earlier," he said.
"When I returned from holiday, I took the phone to the Cell C local store at Mall@Reds. But, when I got it back, it was still not working," said Harry.
The exasperated consumer told how he returned the faulty Samsung J5 to the same repair shop but, when it was returned to him, for the second time, the very same problem persisted.
"I still had no network coverage and thus could not use it, so I sent it back for repairs, for the third time, on May 25," he said irately.
During this period, Harry claimed, he was in regular contact with the staff at the Cell C local shop, as well as personnel at the Cell C head offices, "But they (Cell C local) were giving me the runaround from the second time I handed in my phone for repairs, and, till today, they cannot help me. But, they won't even allow me to cancel my contract. They also demanded that I pay all my monthly installments. It seems as if Cell C does not have a specific client complaints department to deal with these kinds of issues. There are just several convoluted departments and you can go through all of them and just get nowhere, that is why I finally came to the Laudium Sun," the highly upset Harry exclaimed.
Replacement
According to Harry, when he asked the local Cell C store to give him a replacement phone (as his still fell under the 12 month guarantee period), he was informed that they would give him a second-hand Nokia 3 series phone.
The reason for this, Cell C apparently told their client, was because, seeing that he had his phone for a few months already, it is now counted as a second-hand item.
“Firstly, I refused to take a second-hand phone as it was no fault of mine that they handed me a faulty phone in the first place. And secondly, they don't even give you a choice. It is them who decide which phone to give to you. The result of all this is that, at the end of the day, I am still paying my monthly installment, which is about R309 per month and I don't even have a working phone. If I want to make cellphone calls, I have to borrow a phone from family or friends, or I have to use one of my old phones," Harry said.
Response
A Cell C staff member (at the shop at Mall@Reds), who would only identify herself as Megan, told the Laudium Sun, "We only issue clients with new phones if their phone breaks within seven days of their having received the phone from us. After that period, they have to send the phone in for repairs and, if their phone is still not fixed by then, we will replace it with a phone from our service stock."
Not satisfied with Megan’s response, the Laudium Sun spoke to Gladys Vilakazi from the Cell C head office in Midrand.
Gladys said that although a 12 month guarantee period does exist, it does not say that a customer will receive a new phone, if their phone cannot be repaired. She, however, kindly obliged to our request to give Harry a new phone, in view of the inconvenience he was caused over the past few months. Harry thanked both the Laudium Sun and the Cell C office for the new Samsung J5 he received, and yes it has network too.
A delighted Harry Naidoo got his Cell C issues sorted out after the Laudium Sun intervened.