MTN finally cancels contract, wipes off debt for client

Mbambo relieved to see end of letters of demand

The company conceded that its agent failed to complete the customer’s cancellation request on its system, resulting in the client being billed for months and erroneously ending up with a R1,246 debt.
The company conceded that its agent failed to complete the customer’s cancellation request on its system, resulting in the client being billed for months and erroneously ending up with a R1,246 debt.
Image: 123RF/ALLA MACHUTT

Communications giant MTN has apologised for harassing a customer with letters of demand for a contract that was presumed to have been cancelled a long time ago.

The company conceded that its agent failed to complete the customer’s cancellation request on its system, resulting in the client being billed for months and erroneously ending up with a R1,246 debt.

For about a year Zibuse Mbambo of Johannesburg has been battling to get answers about the status of his cellphone contract which, he assumed, was cancelled in January 2023, but was being debited for it.

He approached Sowetan Consumer last week after getting more letters of demand from the company’s lawyers informing him about his debt.

He had taken out the contract in 2021 for his wife. His instalment was R260. When the contract expired in 2023, Mbambo personally contacted the company to ask it not to renew it and instead put his wife’s number on prepaid.

“I then removed MTN from my list of debit orders but I was surprised when I received a call from them that they were trying to debit my account,” said Mbambo.

He then went to MTN shops around Midrand to resolve the matter but he was allegedly told that only online agents can assist him.

He then wrote to the company and was told that he owed R630 which he needed to pay before the contract was cancelled.

I did not understand this because I had assumed I had already cancelled it earlier. I paid the money in February 2024 at their Birch Acres shop and I was told all was in order
Zibuse Mbambo

“I did not understand this because I had assumed I had already cancelled it earlier. I paid the money in February 2024 at their Birch Acres shop and I was told all was in order,” said Mbambo.

However, he started receiving calls from the company’s lawyers that he owed money. He said he asked them to send him his statement but this never came.

“They kept harassing me without providing any proof for my alleged debt with MTN,” said Mbambo.

In its response to Sowetan Consumer, MTN SA acknowledged its mistake and conceded that Mbambo indeed made the first request for cancellation on January 23 2023 where he was advised to settle an outstanding balance of R635.00 (covering invoices from November 12 2023 to January 12 2024), before proceeding with the cancellation.

“While the customer agreed to settle the balance – paid on  February 7 2024 – the agent did not complete the cancellation process on our system. This oversight by the agent led to invoices being generated from February 12 2024 to  August 12 2024, after which the account was placed on pre-termination status. Corrective measures will be implemented to prevent similar lapses,” said the company.

It said to resolve the matter, a late cancellation credit of R1,246.00 has been applied, and the account has been officially closed by its legal team.

“The customer’s credit profile status will automatically update to "closed" within 30 days. The legal team has also closed the associated file with HP Attorneys. Our team will reach out to the customer today to discuss the above analysis and convey our sincere and formal apologies,” said the company.

On hearing the outcome of his case, Mbambo thanked Sowetan Consumer.

"Thank you very much for a job well done. l tried all their channels to resolve this issue to no avail and you came to my rescue.  May God bless you. Thank you a million times," wrote Mbambo.

SowetanLIVE


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