The MTN Saga Continues

But I'm not quite sure what to make of it.

(In last week's episode, our hero wanted to upgrade to a Galaxy Nexus on his MTN contract, but learned that it likely wouldn't be possible. MTN then firmly ignored him)

On Monday, having had enough of being ignored, I decided to embark on a Twitter mockery campaign under the #MTNGalaxyNexus tag. An example of what I posted:

Imagine if Ster Kinekor decided not to screen the new Twilight movie. #MTNGalaxyNexus
— Owen Swart (@owenswart) February 20, 2012

After a few similar tweets, I seemed to get their attention, and they responded with:

@owenswart Hi Owen, the Samsung Nexus is not part of the MTN range, we have the Samsung galaxy Ace and Samsung Galaxy SII.
— MTN South Africa (@MTNSouthAfrica) February 20, 2012

Right. I already knew that. Doesn't give me any new information and, most importantly, makes no effort whatsoever to try and retain me as a customer.

But then something happened that I didn't expect: they responded on Hellopeter too (emphasis mine):

Kindly note that the Samsung Galaxy Nexus has been fore casted for Quarter 2 of 2012. However, we can only advise from April 2012, when the handset will be available for sale from MTN.
We would like to thank you for your patronage and continued support as a subscriber and trust that your stay with MTN SP will be Ayoba. 

Um, wut?

I don't know what to do with this information. Mike Fairon and @MTNSouthAfrica both claim that MTN will not be selling the Galaxy Nexus. But MTN's Hellopeter person strongly suggests that it's not a matter of if but when it'll be available.

Is someone mistaken? Has their policy changed? Am I being lied to mislead to stop me from leaving?

In my state of confusion, I entertained an alternative idea: in the interests of avoiding a potentially messy porting situation, what if I just choose a different device? My current phone is as good as any in MTN's current range, but what if I get something other than a phone? What if I get a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1?

Nice!

So, today, while I happened to be walking past an MTN outlet, I decided to pop in and ask about that. I asked if I would need to increase my subscription fee or anything if I were to get one of these on my upgrade (which is now due tomorrow).

The answer? No.

Apparently it is physically impossible for me to take a tablet device on my current contract. The only possible way the universe will allow it to happen, is if I switch to a data-only contract. Now, I'm not a fan of talking on the phone, but it's still a necessity... a data-only contract is of no use to me. I'm not doing that.

So here I sit, still with little to no clarity on the situation, some contradictory messages from MTN and a bleak outlook for what should be a happy Upgrade Day tomorrow.