Service in South Africa Sucks…

by Nic Haralambous on 8/09/2006

I LOVE HELLOPETER!!

I made this complaint on hellopeter.com today:

Attempting to get my Cellphone repaired at Vodacom Sandton I was repeatedly told there were no loan phones available. I was told that I would simply not recieve calls while my phone was being repaired. I recieved bad service (a lady sending SMS’s while helping me). I eventually pushed the issue. The manager was called and proceeded to give me the last “loan phone” out of his pocket. He was using the Vodacom Loan phone that i was initialled denied for his personal cellphone usage that day.

I have such a huge, massive, um big problem with service in South Africa. Companies seem to think that as consumers we owe them something for their existence. When in fact, it is the large corporate who actually needs to get on their knees for the consumer. I KEEP YOUR FREAKING BUSINESS IN BUSINESS YOU ASS!!

But alas, this is not the case. When i made my complaint with the Manager at Vodacom in Sandton a few days ago, he cocked his head, smiled and told me that as soon as I left he would reprimand the lady who did not take proper care of me and my issue. HA!!! As if. he then took the loan phone that i was assured did not exist, out of his pocket and placed it on table in front of me. No skaam whatsoever.

The only person who suffered in this situation was me. And the only thing that got them to jump was when i walked over to Cell C and subsequently returned to Vodacom threatening to transfer my contract there and then (this didnt work as well as planned as the law only kicks in on the 18th of September). But my point was made.

hellopeter.com – Free service line containing comments on good and bad service experiences.

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There are 11 comments in this article:

  1. 13/01/2008Ishmael Moloi says:

    I am really sorry and feel for a lot white people whining about blacks and services not being satisfactory. I am black and I am aware of the problem at hand, but I just want to help a lot of white people out there. These 47mil. blacks will not be like you,they will bring their own taste to how things are done/run. Yes it might be negetive I understand your concerns.

    There are too many black people in the market who are under qualified, think the first month as a driver, and compare the improvement with your driving now when are an expirienced and capable driver.

    Because of Apartheid, Education system and the type of famaly situation we were raised under, it is not practicalto have a cool, down to earth,proffesional receptionist or public worker(maybe 500 blacks)

    Think about it this way, if someone who has been in jail for thirty years and suddenly becomes a your financial advisor(Mandela is an exception)

    It will take another generation that has been raised in the same level as the current white people to really change things for the better.Black people deserve to be given a chance even if they are not as proffessinal or exposed as thier white counterparts and hopefully they will gain necessary experience as the whites did 300 yrs ago

    It is foolish to laugh at the learner driver and forget that is where once one as well.

  2. 20/02/2008R Iptoff says:

    So, true to form the blacks fall back on their perennial excuses and blind refusal to accept responsibility.
    It’s all the fault of the whites.
    It’s all as a result of apartheid.

    So tell us Mr Moloi, how long is it going to take the anc to start getting things right or is this awful state of affairs just as good as it ever will be. Face the facts, the anc is only concerned with the anc, not you.
    If as you suggest, there are 500 competent blacks then it follows that the rest are incompetent…so that works out to how many millions???? No wonder the country is a shambles.

  3. 20/02/2008Nic says:

    R Iptoff – sorry to piss on your parade but I don’t think my post was racially invoked at all. This isn’t about race. It’s about service. Don’t mix the two up.

  4. 26/02/2008Ishmael Moloi says:

    To be honest I personally think the current government did exeptionally well so far, though I feel they failed to unite the nation and make sure that they create a conducing atmosphere for white business men, proffessionals and skilled labour to operate in SA. I feel issues like corruption,reverse racism,crime,HIV and AIDS, skill development and generally bad planning still remain thier dull side.

    I am black, I have ND(Elec. Eng.)with 10 yrs of
    industr. experience.I know I am good and valuable because I can’t switch my phone off even during vacation.
    I am paid well and all my kids live and have the opportunities(especially education) as thier white counterparts,and for this reason I feel they will have a bright future in any country of their choice.
    I have bought few houses and policies for all of them.

    Please be honest and accept I would’nt have had all these opportunities if we were in the old days,even though a lot all white people feel those were the better days.

  5. 26/02/2008Ishmael Moloi says:

    I am black, I have ND(Elec. Eng.)with 10 yrs of
    industr. experience.I know I am good and valuable because I can’t switch my phone off even during my vacation/holidays.
    I am paid well and all my kids live and have the opportunities(especially education) as thier white counterparts,and for this reason I feel they will have a bright future in any country of their choice.
    I have bought few houses and policies for all of them.

    Please be honest and accept I would’nt have had all these opportunities if we were in the old days,even though a lot all white people feel those were the better days.

    To answer your question ANC has done enough till 5 yrs ago and personally think that they do not the vision in taking SA forward.We need fresher minds from all races,those who know nothing about the past to lead us to the sort the new evn more serious challenges that we face.

  6. 3/11/2008Anti ANC says:

    Its time to stop this black on white racist bull. It is getting us nowere. Even educated Zebras know this.

  7. 7/04/2009Pinky says:

    Service is going down the drain in SA and increasing desperation is setting in.
    For instance a friend reported to me that their rental deposit on vacating the premises has been wrongfully withheld under the pretext of ‘damages’ by Burrcorp properties AKA Endaweni offices located at 14 Ballyclare Drive (opposite Bryanston Shopping centre), Bryanston, Johannesburg.
    Karen Anderson the ‘Public Relations’ person has been unavailable, they had no problem freely accepting their rental deposit knowing fully well they had no intention of paying back which is very unethical!

  8. 7/04/2009Pinky says:

    Another instance I heard was the Virgin “Kung fu grip” debit order. Once they have a debit order on your account it cannot be cancelled or changed, in other words Virgin Active shares your bank account with you until they’ve had enough. A colleague of mine just lost her Absa account that Virgin Active had that “Kung fu grip” debit order on because she could not understand why??

  9. 17/08/2009SaSUCKS says:

    Yes, Ishmael Moloi there are some good black people and education is not a qualifier for this. The ANC has only done a very little so they can collect the votes but in past15+ years they have failed all and not had a strategy to uplift the whole country. Trying to break the white population is their biggest effort to gain black votes. Go to a couple of these websites.
    1) http://www.boerevryheid.co.za/voorblad/menseregte_skendings_boerevolk.html
    2)
    http://whitelocust.wordpress.com/alphabetic-name-lists-of-murders-on-south-african-farms-since-1994-death-toll-since-1994-3049/

  10. 28/09/2010delta oscar oscar sierra says:

    I can only laugh. Those of us who moved out of that little irrelevant country at the tip of Africa no longer discuss trivial issues such as race. We are part of the global expat village. I am happy to say that as a White English South African who did his national service in the SA Police Riot Squad, in the ’80s, the ten years that I have spent out of country have totally “decaffinated” me. I totally enjoyed my girlfriends from: Ethiopia; Egypt; Russia -etc. Lovely women. Se maar wat jy wil, niemand gee ‘n v*k om nie. Thank God I have lost the accent too. Furthermore, I no longer talk about a braai; a naartjie or a bakkie either: I, together with the rest of the English world use the proper and valid words: barbecue; pick-up and mandarin. Dis lekker om nou ORDENTLIKE Engels te kan praat. Aah, I hear you say: you are quick to criticise, but what about the World Cup that we successfully hosted? Wank-wank, broer! What about it?
    I wish the Prado-driving SA brigade of expats here would remove their flag stickers from the back of their vehicles: none of the other 200+ nationalities here find it necessary to paste their flags on their cars – they know that it is better to integrate rather than trying to live in 2 continents. By the way: I will not be checking back for the kak aggressive replies to this posting, so say what you like, China. Flamer? Troll? No boet, none of the above. Just someone who realized that there is more to life and the world than “Essay”.

  11. 26/01/2011Pinky says:

    Happy new year folks not much has changed in the overall service in SA.

    WARNING!! Stay away from a furnished office suite/virtual office by the name “The Business Centre” in South Africa. They have a clause in their standard contract that allows them to not only seize your property and office equipment but lock you out or possibly get their security to throw you barbarically off their premises if your rental payment is 1 day over due. Rather use some other office service or stick with your home office!

    And Oh, by the way you lose your deposit payment. Beware

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