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MTN Early Upgrade Settlement fee

fredriguez

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Hey Carbsters...

I've had my cellular contract with MTN for about the last 15 years at least.

Historically they've always let me / you / us upgrade 3 months earlier waiving the last 3 months of device payment in lieu of, I suppose customer retention (ie not giving you the opportunity to shop around for better deals once your contract expires)

I've now gotten my heart set and excited on a new device today but *cue tiny violin* now I have to pay a settlement fee of a few thousand rand to do my upgrade in 3 months from today.

Have any of the rest of you been rudely suprised by this new system of theirs? Did you find any workarounds or particular stores or ways of skirting this?

I dont want to pay an extra R4500 to upgrade today so I'm feeling like I just need to deal with the disappointment, then once my contract expires look around at all the service providers for the best deal on the phone I want... or let the contract end, crossover to pay-as-you-go and buy my device cash. Finally exit the contract system.

What do you guys think of this change they've made? I can see a lot of people like myself being disappointed and also leaving / going to pay as you go
 
Yeah. I honestly said to them cool. In 3 months kill the contract, 20 years with them and suddenly now please get your upgrade and then whoops gotta pay settlement. Its cheaper to pay with credit card and pay the phone off that way than do a contract.
 
Oh hectic, this is a real thing for others too.

Agree with the above two, there's no point in loyalty nowadays. Find the best deal and choose the best customer service. I understand the benefits of PAYG but I prefer the ease of contract as someone who vriets data and minutes
 
100% what the guys above said.
Go with whoever gives you the best deal. It goes for anything. Phones, home loans, car finance, food, escort agencies, internet, consoles.
Brand loyalty is extremely stupid.
 
Shot guys, ja. Also just got my discovery credit card sorted for getting an apple watch super cheap.

Might just do the cheaper iphone through them. Seems like they get you a reasonable discount too.

Anybody used the discovery iphone benefit? Is it good?
 
Holy cow... didnt know they resorted to this kak now... Glad i bought my P30 pro in cash a few years ago :) just my sim price so not even worried
 
I just upgraded 4 months before the contract end date no questions asked? Got my s22+ I upgrade every 20 months. Did they not maybe get you on a 36-month contract the previous contract they are really pushing that hard these days...
 
I just upgraded 4 months before the contract end date no questions asked? Got my s22+ I upgrade every 20 months. Did they not maybe get you on a 36-month contract the previous contract they are really pushing that hard these days...
Where and when exactly.

The fee has been a thing since last year. I also was shocked at this cos I upgrade early always. You can pay the fee over 3 months if you really want to do it early.
 
I just upgraded 4 months before the contract end date no questions asked? Got my s22+ I upgrade every 20 months. Did they not maybe get you on a 36-month contract the previous contract they are really pushing that hard these days...

With MTN? What the hell!?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I did it online I checked my upgrade eligibility and it showed I could upgrade this was after 20 months... I then phoned them and did it online..
Where and when exactly.

The fee has been a thing since last year. I also was shocked at this cos I upgrade early always. You can pay the fee over 3 months if you really want to do it early.
 
I did it online I checked my upgrade eligibility and it showed I could upgrade this was after 20 months... I then phoned them and did it online..
With MTN? What the hell!?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes I actually upgraded another contract I have a month earlier as well after 20 months, I have always been doing it this way and they had no issue doing it now, hence why I am thinking you might be on a 36 month contract?
 
I did it online I checked my upgrade eligibility and it showed I could upgrade this was after 20 months... I then phoned them and did it online..
Was the same for me, saw it online. Went to the store and they said sorry new rules. I phoned every number and no one could do anything. I have no idea how it worked for you.
 
Yes I actually upgraded another contract I have a month earlier as well after 20 months, I have always been doing it this way and they had no issue doing it now, hence why I am thinking you might be on a 36 month contract?

Nah, definitely not on a 36 month contract. Well, congrats I guess


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Hey Carbsters...

I've had my cellular contract with MTN for about the last 15 years at least.

Historically they've always let me / you / us upgrade 3 months earlier waiving the last 3 months of device payment in lieu of, I suppose customer retention (ie not giving you the opportunity to shop around for better deals once your contract expires)

I've now gotten my heart set and excited on a new device today but *cue tiny violin* now I have to pay a settlement fee of a few thousand rand to do my upgrade in 3 months from today.

Have any of the rest of you been rudely suprised by this new system of theirs? Did you find any workarounds or particular stores or ways of skirting this?

I dont want to pay an extra R4500 to upgrade today so I'm feeling like I just need to deal with the disappointment, then once my contract expires look around at all the service providers for the best deal on the phone I want... or let the contract end, crossover to pay-as-you-go and buy my device cash. Finally exit the contract system.

What do you guys think of this change they've made? I can see a lot of people like myself being disappointed and also leaving / going to pay as you go
Should have asked to speak to cancellation department and then wait for a call from their retentions department.
 
I got a call from them informing me that my upgrade is due and I can do it telephonically. I agreed and said that I wanted the exact contract as the current one. They said that's fine. I asked them again to confirm that this new contract will cost the same as the old one and with the same benefits and they confirmed. I got my upgrade docs delivered and signed.

A year later they double my monthly subscription cost. I called them and was told that this is what I agreed to. I asked for the call recordings but was told that it's in another location and can be only made available at some other date.

I then waited for my contract to expire and moved to prepaid on Afrihost. This incident was the last of many crazy stunts MTN pulled over the twenty plus years I was with them.

As mentioned above, ignore loyalty and get what's best for you.
 
I also upgraded 4 months before no issues (and no pay-in). I find the CosmoNet (franchise) MTN's are much better than the standard branches. The one in Cresta Mall is a favourite of mine (specifically go to the CosmoNet one, not the standard MTN branch in the mall). They will tell you exactly when you can update etc etc. They have always gone the extra mile for me, even found me a iPhone 13 Pro Max last year November when they were no where to be found.
 
Their upgrade terms and conditions changed last year some time, if you upgraded early with no penalty recently then you got lucky (or will be in for a bill shock). I believe their policy changed last year January if i remember correctly.

Also does not matter if you have a business account, corporate accounts are subject to the same rules.
 
Their upgrade terms and conditions changed last year some time, if you upgraded early with no penalty recently then you got lucky (or will be in for a bill shock). I believe their policy changed last year January if i remember correctly.

Also does not matter if you have a business account, corporate accounts are subject to the same rules.
Been five months since the upgrade with no bill shock yet, so think I am fine.
 
Been five months since the upgrade with no bill shock yet, so think I am fine.
Most likely you are, if the billing error is as a result of their error then they will not persue the customer months after the error. Atleast that is what their policy states.
 
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Really depend how your spending is apperently but I have never had issues with Mtn early upgrades. Currently have 2 contracts that are due (4m early) but might be that I told them on one that I was thinking of moving as they kept on harrasing me on my contract as it's been due for upgrade now for way too long.

Edit
Just don't see an device to upgrade to as I'm happy amwith my current device.
 
I dont know man
Most likely you are, if the billing error is as a result of their error then they will not persue the customer months after the error. Atleast that is what their policy states.
I don't know the man we have 20 contracts at my company and I have upgraded 5 of them early already this year no one mentioned anything about penalties..
 
I dont know man

I don't know the man we have 20 contracts at my company and I have upgraded 5 of them early already this year no one mentioned anything about penalties..
Its not penalties, its the remaining device fee that gets billed whereas this was previously written off for an early upgrade.

If you in luck then you in luck but their policy definitely changed to no longer allow this.
 
Just some clarity on this, if you on the MTN legacy system then you wont be charged the device fee when you upgrade as the legacy system does not have that facility.

They are however migrating all customers to the new system but doing it in batches.

I was migrated this month, i received two invoices. One from the legacy system with a zero balance and the other (looks different) then normal from the new system.

If you guys are on the legacy system then do your upgrades while you can still benefit from the free 4 months.
 
I always communicate my downgrade/upgrade/renewal via email so it's all in writing.

My latest BF deal, the rep gave me an offer and I wanted something more cost effective but told me it's the best she can offer.

I upgraded 3 contracts and a week later I found a better deal and I immediately called her out and told her she needs to move me to the deal I wanted and it was done , no questions asked.
 
They called me with the "you are due for an upgrade"... So I said "sure give me x phone on y contract"... Suddenly there was a debicheck mandate approval on my FNB account with an INSTALLMENT value of R9000+ ... I asked them what this was "oh that's your credit limit"... Um... according to debichecks documentation that's the installment that will go off... I denied the debicheck.
 
They called me with the "you are due for an upgrade"... So I said "sure give me x phone on y contract"... Suddenly there was a debicheck mandate approval on my FNB account with an INSTALLMENT value of R9000+ ... I asked them what this was "oh that's your credit limit"... Um... according to debichecks documentation that's the installment that will go off... I denied the debicheck.
From some previous debi check experience, there is normally two amounts on a debi check- A debit amount, and a max allowed debit amount.

You were 100% correct to decline it.
 
From some previous debi check experience, there is normally two amounts on a debi check- A debit amount, and a max allowed debit amount.

You were 100% correct to decline it.
I DOUBLE checked that it was INSTALLMENT showing over R9000.

After the last upgrade I did through their call center I literally told the person if this upgrade gets messed up I will find them and shove my foot up their ass
Agent: "NO SIR!"
Me: "YES SIR! The last time it took me like 7 or 8 MONTHS to get MTN to fix THEIR stuffup".

They phoned me and offered me an upgrade and I confirmed all the details over the phone... They then debited me more than they said. When I logged a bill adjustment they asked me for a copy of my contract. I said sure, the voice call is the contract so pull that and get back to me. Then they tried to send me to an MTN store to go listen to the voice call. Eventually they INSISTED I send them a copy of my contract... I told them I don't have one, but please send me my signed copy for my references or stop debiting me.

They then said "sorry can't help you with an adjustment until we have a signed contract... here sign this contract and send it back and we'll sort it out"... They sent me a contract with the WRONG (higher) amount on. I told them to get stuffed and put me through to someone higher up the chain.
 

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