Sir
My employer set me a limit on telephone calls, Telkom and mobile.
Since I have not ever used the maximum, I purchased airtime for the amount provided. I use airtime vouchers as and when necessary and never had any problems. Recently I opened a voucher to add additional time to my phone.
On completion of the process, I discovered that no time had been transferred from the voucher to my phone.
I then opened the second voucher with the same result – blank. A third attempt was successful. Since I had a small quantity of about 50 vouchers, I took the entire batch in my possession to the wholesaler from where I purchased the Vodacom airtime.
I left the sealed vouchers with them and later went back. I was informed by the wholesaler’s employee that they had managed to sort and separate the vouchers that were valid from those that, although still sealed, were duds. They were unable to explain the strange phenomenon. To confirm what I was told we opened a voucher and tried to enter it into a phone – the result was a dud.
I asked the wholesaler that, as a Vodacom agent, if they would make good on the ‘useless’ vouchers.
They replied that they couldn’t do that and I would need to deal directly with Vodacom.
I later learned that the wholesaler does not deal directly with Vodacom but makes bulk purchases from some other large wholesaler in Durban. The vouchers I purchased were made through local businesses.
One has since closed down but the other still exists. The owner was reluctant to make an exchange and was bemused by Vodacom’s actions.
Vodacom responded vaguely to my first email to them but thereafter all I got was a deathly hush – I cannot get through to anyone at Voda City. I am sitting with nearly R600 of useless Voda Airtime vouchers.
I am banging my head against a brick wall. I don’t receive a pension except from the government.
Ron de Gray Birch
