I recently lodged about 7 complaints about the lack of service from cellc and their repair center, their managers and consultants, every time i get a call from someone new as the previous person didnt follow up on what was promised, they then tell me they will check up and call me back, its been a month still no feedback nor did the over promising manager viren, onkopotse or anyone else call me, their consultants including denver pillay is brilliantly pathetic and have poor customer skills and telepone manners...i will not leave a stone un turned to bring down their name from now on as i have given then to many chances...

My cellc contract phone was stolen while i was at university, on the 11 February 2009. I blocked the number by calling Cellc. A police report was filed and a case opened. The contract holder approached Pinetown Cellc shop during the following week to have a sim-swap. The swap would take 24-48hrs to complete, the employee said I would contacted when the sim was ready. I wasn't for over two weeks. Eventuaaly i received the sim card on the 13 March 2009. My contract airtime was there and my free sms's. My next contract airtime came 2 days later and my free sms's were taken away. As Pinetown Cellc office was delaid, I lost out on the potential benefits of my contract. I'm frustrated with the service of that Cellc shop as this is the second delay with my contract.

Cellc sell me contract phone and after three days it was closed i phoned them and they tell me my amount that was used is already to high but i was with mtn for 10 years and with vodacom for 2 years and not any one of them blocked my phone for a amount that was R344 and when the bill come it is R704 they took the money out of my bank but the phone is still closed i sent emails i phoned them no response cellc is bad news and i will stay with vodacom there services is good cellc make promises they cant keep.

This is a long one, but worth a read, trust me, it's almost entertaining if it wasn't so ridiculous! I have had terrible reception and call quality with CellC. On weekends, in particular, my mother (also with CellC) and I can frequently not get through to each other and yet, if I use my husbands phone to call her (he's with MTN), it gets through. One would think that they would encourage family members to be on the same network...

Due to this and the fact that their 'Casual Chat' contract doesn't provide any free peak minutes, I had decided to cancel my contract after the 24 month period came to an end, which I did. Shortly before the last day, I received a call from a sales consultant. He told me that I could get the phone that I wanted on 'Casual Chat' for R39 a month. (this after me telling him that I had already decided to move to MTN)

Shortly thereafter, I was surprised to see that I was actually being charged R69 a month. Now, R30 difference is not huge, but, on principal, I will not accept being quoted one thing and charged another. I logged the first query, which was closed without me being informed or given any feedback. In the query, I asked for a copy of the verbal contract and/or the opportunity to hear the call (they are all recorded) as this was my contract with them and I know that did not tell me about the additional R30 charges (for itemized billing and Caller line identity)

In their ad's, CELLC state that all contract amounts INCLUDE these two items, so I questioned why I was quoted an amount EXCLUDING them over the phone during my 'contract' conversation. As the first query was closed without feedback, I logged a second, again asking for the transcripts of the recorded call. After an extended time period (they promise to get back to you without 48 hours), a received an sms and an email stating: 'The R39 does not include itemized billing and caller line identity' What a joke? I had already worked that out for myself and that answer was not at all what I asked for.

I replied, repeating my story and the request. I phoned the call center on numerous occasions asking for feedback, each time speaking to a different consultant and having to explain the situation over and over again. (in one 50 minute phone call, I was put on hold twice, only to go back into the normal incoming call queue and had to repeat myself 3 times IN ONE CALL).

On another call, after being told to hold, I refused, saying that I wanted to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor claimed that he could not hear me very well and asked if he could call me back straight-away. That was a week and a half ago and I'm still waiting for the call...

Eventually, I went in to their offices in PE and spoke to someone face-to-face. She was the first helpful person that I have dealt with. She created another query for me. Today I received an email reply to my query stating that 'should I wish to cancel my contract, I would be charged R145 a month for the remainder of the contract and a R1000 penalty charge and that CLI and itemized billing are mandatory'
If this situation wasn't so frustrating, I would've actually laughed. Firstly, how can they charge me more than double what my actual contract amount is to cancel anyway? If I don't use my phone for the next 21 months rather, that would be cheaper for me to do, but the rocket scientists there obviously don't think like that!

So, yet again, they have failed to provide the simple answer to my question: to provide me with a copy of my telephone conversation/contract. If they can't show me my contract, how can they charge me a fee for canceling it?

This company is a joke, I've never experienced such bad service and I would strongly advise anyone considering CellC to think about it very carefully and read the fine print in the conversations that you have with them, as that's obviously what they expect you to do somehow!!!