I am honestly at a loss for words now. Apologies for the long post but please bear with me.
I have waited 3 weeks for a simple sim card provisioning due to delays at this MTN shop here at my workplace.
I signed up for the 50GB data and free minutes Black Friday sale on Cyber Monday on 28 November. I returned the next day to find out if my application had been processed and was informed by this same person that there was a backlog due to the Black Friday Sale.
I gave them grace and accepted the fact that they must be inundated with new registrations. So I waited until the Friday 3 December. I went back to them and asked the same person again what the status was and was again told that there was still a backlog.
I then asked them "How long is the backlog going to take before it is processed out?" and this person just looked at me with a blank stare telling me that she has no idea. So I replied and told her that she needed to give me some idea of how long it will take and that a "blank cheque on time" is not going to suffice.
She just told me, Sorry, she doesnt know.
So I figured I would wait until the Monday while MTN processes the backlogs. On Monday 5 December, I returned to the store and again asked the same person for an update. I got the same story. So VERY frustrated for already waiting a week, I just left and said I would follow-up again the next day.
Remember, a simple sim card provisioning should NEVER take more than a week or let alone a few days.
On the 6 December, I ended up in hospital and was out of office until 9 December. During this time, I asked my colleague to return to the store on my behalf and he kindly did so and asked them what the status was and I was informed that the SIM card was available for collection. I was very relieved as i wanted to use the data over the christmas period.
I then emailed the person and informed her that I was off sick and that I would collect on the Monday 12 December all the while thinking that when I received the SIM card, everything would be good to go.
NOT the case. I arrived back at work on 12 December and collected my SIM and proceeded to test the SIM card only to find that there was a nice lady telling me on the other side in the ear piece “Your account is RICA barred. Please contact your nearest MTN shop for assistance.”
Needless to say, I was now furious as I was off the whole of the previous week and this person had plenty of opportunity to RICA my account and get it working BEFORE I collected the SIM card.
So on 13 December (bear in mind I have now been waiting 2 weeks since 29 November already) I returned to the MTN shop AGAIN and queried why my SIM was not provisioned. This time I was told that the RICA system was down and that she was not able to RICA my account.
So I am standing there in absolute AWE and gobsmacked and am at a complete loss for words. So I proceed to ask, “well how long must I wait for this now to be sorted?” Again, “I don’t know!”
However, as I am standing there, This person attempts to log on to the RICA system in front of me only to see that the system is up and running but her RICA login account is locked out. Being in IT myself, I know that this is a simple fix. Contact the Help Desk and ask them to unlock it. Simple! You would think.
So I ask her, "Have you contacted the help desk and asked them to unlock it?" She replies and says that she has asked them and she is waiting. (Please bear in mind that every day that my sim is not active, I am losing minutes and data that was promised to me.) So I again tell her patiently that I will follow-up with them the next day AGAIN!!
What she does not realise is that I sit 10 meters away from the store and can see the shop right through my window by simply looking up. When I looked up this morning, I found her paging through one of the free magazines that someone was handing out and NOT focusing on getting delayed sim cards provisioned. So I got VERY upset and walked to the MTN shop and asked AGAIN, “What is the status?” and she visibly got a fright and quickly put the magazine away and proceeded to tell me that her colleague was using her laptop all morning and that she had not yet had a chance to check if they had unlocked her account. Remember, she doesn’t know that I can see her through the window and was checking on things in the shop so I could see that she was reading a magazine doing nothing at all!
She then proceeded to load the RICA system in front of me and enter her login details on the RICA system which then asked her to reset her password. So now we know the help desk has at leas unlocked her account. She then proceeded to enter her new password in only to be told, “You cannot use a previous password” so I figured, "ok, let her try a different password", she does so. The system then tells her, "Your passwords do not match, please try again." So I proceeded to explain that I was in IT myself and could assist her. So I proceeded to open notepad on her behalf and asked her to enter the password in notepad while I was not looking, but she refused to let me assist her. So before losing my cool completely, she proceeds to tell me "It's not my fault. The RICA system was down and my colleague was using my laptop so don't get frustrated with me!" but again, remember...I can see her through my window and the RICA system was NOT down. Her account was locked out and she was taking forever to correct the problem so I know she was lying!
I eventually left but not before asking her for her name so that I could lodge an official complaint.
This is where I am now. 2.5weeks later and NO SIM card, Losing DATA and FREE MINUTES while an MTN staff member pages through her magazine and not RICA'ing clients sim cards.
Lodging complaints through MTN's complaint department has a bad reputation of never being dealt with.
What am I to do now? Any advice would be helpful....hopefully...