Dear Sir / Madam,

I urgently seek your advise on my situation.

I had been issued a company cell phone and a data card in December 2016.

I had no knowledge at the time of what the limitations were on the data usage. My January bill reached an amount of R23k whilst my Feb bill reached an amount of R13k.  This was an issue with others in the dept as well but was resolve by means of Vodacom issuing a credit and the amounts were reduced to around R2k.

I had not received any detailed billing for these months and disputed these charges at the time.

I later found out that here was no cap / limit of the card and that led to out of bundle charges applying hence the high bill.

I do admit that I did use the card for both work and personal use.

I did get verbal notification/warning that these bills were too high and that I should watch my usage.

My bill there after were on an average of 4k p/m. Yes, it was still high and again I do admit to using it for both work and personal use.

At the beginning of June this year, I was reprimanded for May's bill being too high( R4k ) and was asked to sign an acknowledgement of debt.

I did so, and made 2 payments towards this month over June and July.

In July again my bill was in excess.

I was asked to attend a disciplinary hearing this time round.

The charges against me were for a total amount of R55000 !

I was shocked to say the least, I was being charged now ( 7 months down the line ) for all pervious months bills, including the January and February bills.

The outcome of my hearing was me being issued with a Final Written warning AND an acknowledgement of debt of R55000.

I signed the warning but refused to sign the AOD as the monthly payment was over R9000 over a period of R9000 8 months, of which I cannot afford at all. I disputed the amount and asked fro a reduced monthly payment over a longer period but I was told no, R9000 is what I will have to pay back.

I was really upset and handed in my resignation the following day without thinking.

I was asked to work a 2 months notice period, of which Im currently doing, but I was now given a AOD of R17500 to pay back whilst the January and February bills are being investigated.

I unwilling signed the AOD but had to forfeit my bonus of R9800 and with 2 monthly payments of R4500 to make up the 17k.

Im fearful that them telling me that the Jan and Feb bills being investigated are not true and they are awaiting the end of my notice period to notify me that they will be taking my provident fund instead.

Is this fair at all ?

Please help me as I've lost a lot of money here. already ((

regards,
Daniel