Telkom SA SOC
Reviews and Complaints

February 26, 2013
My contract started on the 13th December 2011.
I asked about the warranty of the phone and amount every month, the person told me that my warranty of the phone will expire the day my contract expires (13th December 2013) and that my amount will never be more than R139.00 On the 8•ta Contract 1 with no hidden costs. (R90 for the first 3 months; includes free BIS subscription worth R49, Thereafter R139 x21 months.)
Everything was fine up until I started having problems with my Blackberry 8520. The problems where: software, freezing all the time, application errors, calling etc.
So I went to Telkom Direct StorUpingtonon on Monday September 10th 2012 to ask for a repair on the phone. The person told me my phone will be back within 2-3 weeks (21 days), so I left my phone there. I asked for a spare phone only to learn 8ta does not give spare phones.
I returned the next week on Monday September 17th 2012 and asked if there was news about the phone, only to learn the person forgot about it and the phone was never put in the system therefore has not even left the store. I then asked the person to do it that very moment.
I returned 2 weeks later and the person told me “Blackberry is waiting for spare parts”
That was the excuse every time. I called customer care line and spoke to a consultant on 081 who said she can’t help and that it’s not her problem, and that’s unacceptable
Tuesday October 23 2012 I walked past the store and someone called me to the shop and said my phone had come. It was 43days in total I had to wait (32 working days) that is NOT acceptable at all! Also I had to pay for the BIS (Blackberry Internet Service) witch I could not use for 43days? It wasn’t long till my phone started having the same problems AGAIN, this time only worst. Problems like: Freezing, forever to reboot, application errors in ALL my applications, When phoning, most of the time only the 4th time calling the number the call goes through, the vibrate of the phone never worked from the start, battery dies within 2-3hours, the body of the phone did not fit probably, I could not open my SMS’s, and most of the time when people would phone me, it would say subscriber not available. I returned to the store in January 2013, and the store manager said he will send it away for repairs. They could not help me with a spare phone, so I said I’ll wait and try to use it a little longer. I formatted the phone, defragmented it every day, and had as little as possible application’s on it. It got worst.
On February 25, 2013 I went to the store and asked the person to send it in to repairs.
The person was not friendly and told me she wouldn’t send it away I have to pay or let it be fixed through another store.
As I have stated in the beginning I did asked her repeatedly about the warranty of the phone and she always said it is 2years. I told her she said the warranty was 2years and that’s what all the phone shops do with blackberry’s
She started shouting at me and said that 8ta isn’t “other shops”.
She was not professional at all and had a very bad attitude. I’m the client and that does not give her the right to shout or scream at me no matter or whatever I said.
So I took my blackberry to a nearby Vodacom shop to see if they could find the problem, it had a major software problem. If 8ta wants to sell cellphones they should be able to find the problem or just even check if they can find it in store! They are suppose help you with an software update and so on.

I also have Billing queries. My bill is a lot more than it should be.
They are also charging me with a bill they send in the mail every month and they don’t even have my post address. I would like if they paid me the money I paid for something I never got every month for more than a year. Their behavior is unacceptable.
I’ve seen lots of people have problems with the end of their contracts, that 8ta does not end the contract and that still sends you bills at the end of the month. I better not have those problems because when my contract ends I don’t want to renew it ever again.

8ta has a huge Lack of professionalism and I’m not happy AT ALL!
Will never again take out a cellphone contract with them again.

I Tried to cancel in the first week and was told that my cancellation was successful but they keep deducting money from my account.
That is theft!

This is a company, where no one answers phones, when you finally get through, after searching for contact numbers and waiting to talk to an actual person...they put the phone down on you.
They take what money they will out of peoples bank accounts, and no one is ever to blame...as in the case I am dealing with on behalf of one of our staff.
It is a joke, and for anyone out there who doesn't want to be messed around with...go use Telnet, Virgin, Cell C and so forht instead...because one thing I have learnt this year...this company thinks it is above the ordinary man on the street.

8ta debited my bank account for almost R1000 and has refused to refund my money since February 2012. I have gone through numerous channels and everytime they come close to concluding the case, the agent dealing with my information disappears. They do not give out phone numbers to contact their billings department. I have submitted every document and proof of payment/debit that they have requested and still, no joy.

I took out the "free" three month internet service with telkom in october 2011. On the 12 january 2012 I called the cancellation department to downgrade the package. Since the end of january 2012 by monthly bill has been significantly incorrectly billed. I then went into the telkom direct store at the longbeach mall in cape town and the gentleman that assisted gave me the incorrect information. He scratched off the bill amount reflecting on the february invoice and told me that all I needed to pay was half the amount reflected on the invoice as telkom was owing me credits on my account for the free internet deal. I gladly paid for the invoice thinking this was the correct information after all it was given to me by a telkom employee who should know his job. At the end of march and april I then received my next bill with another shocking amount. I then called the call centre for assistance and after an hour long call the gentlemen advised me that I had in fact short paid the february bill which the telkom employee scratched off when I was at the store. He advised me to pay the arrears amount and my account would be sorted. Telkom then sent me a notice that should I not pay the arrears amount my line would be discontinued. Around the second week of may my line was suspended and could not make or receive calls nor make use of any internet service. I then at the end of may went into the store to pay my account and upon requesting the statement noticed that telkom had charged me for the entire month of may for both line and internet as well as pro-rata for june/july. I was told by the staff at the store that could not assist me and that I need to call the call centre which I did and got no assistance from the agent who told me that I just need to pay the bill. I then asked to speak the supervisor who was a very arrogant supervisor who again told me that although I didn't have the service I would still have to pay for it. I am handing this query over to the consumer ombudsman as I am getting no assistance from telkom and I refuse to pay for something I do not have. I am extremely frustrated and appalled by the incompetence of the staff at the stores and the customer service call centre.

To Whom It May Concern:

I would like to find out about what my rights are regarding a matter that is not being attending to by a cell phone service provider.

I opened a cell phone contract with 8ta at century city on the 28/10/2011. Right after I opened the contract my husband and I found ourselves unemployed and received a bill from 8ta of the amount of R1900, which at the time I could not pay due to unemployment. A few months went by and my husband found employment which mend we were able to pay the cell phone, by that time 8ta has suspended my account and I phoned them immediately to tell them that I found employment again, and that I need to know how much I needed to pay in order for them to reconnect my service. The guy I spoke to said to me I had to pay R2500 in order for the line to be reconnected, which I did on the 26/03/2012, I phoned 8ta to make sure they received payment (which they did) and assured me that within 72 hours my phone will be up and running again.

72 hours past and I phoned them again, again they promised 72 hours and then the phone will be working again. I waited a few weeks before phoning again and at that time my phone still was not activated. On the 16 of April the guy told me that he will sent trough a letter to the billing department at 8ta and that the matter will be resolved in 72 hours. Again I waited 72 hours and phoned 8ta again. That guy told me I needed to get a sim swap, and I went to the 8ta store in century city, but the people there also was not helpful at all and told me it was not the sim and I had to wait 72 hours. Once again I waited and then my husband phoned 8ta and spoke the floor manager constance. She could not help us at all, and again we waited. Phoned another manager at 8ta his name is Rami, he said we needed to speak to Navesh. The following day we phoned Navesh, and that was the last I heard from him. I then phoned again and spoke to another manager Lavigne, also not very helpful.

I have now waited more than a month for 8ta to reconnect my cell phone, and every time I phone them it is costing me money, and no one can help me. I did not cancel my contact with them, and would like for my phone to be activated, yet no one can help me.

Could you please advice me as to what I can do regarding this matter.

Thank you
Regards Elizabeth

2011 since February I had a problem with having the wrong telephone no, someone else had my telephone no. I suddenly did not receive my itemized billing as I use to get for a number of years. Requesting to get it was ignored.During September, October I had several Phone calls, e-mails etc. to have the "uncapped ADSL" After 1 month the" uncapped free ADSL" suddenly became Paid on requesting why I was told that my account was credited with a R1000, 00 and now I need to pay. Unfortunatly it was not advertised to be Uncapped to a R1000.00.- Not on the Internet, the telephone calls which I received, neither on national television. The Telkom store in Westgate told me to phone as they cannot help, The call centre kept on telling me I received R1000.00 credit . The national complaints line number on internet does not exist when you call. Can you please help me sort out this mess.

Not sure how someone can advise you and sell you a product at their customer care facilities that do not work!

8ta consultant at Canal Walk 8ta Branch advised me to go for the 3GB (2GB +1GB) promo to be used as a data bundle for my children. I went through the whole procedure of buying airtime and when trying to convert to data get told by customer care centre that there is no coverage at my place of residence! Surely this should have been advised to be right from the onset?!

Unprofessional and useless!

I took a cell phone contract from 8ta on 29 May 2011, the only statement and invoice I received was for May (3 days). The only thing I know from them is a beep from my cellphone (Thanks to Vodacom) notifying me they have deducted what is due to them. I call them every month to remind them to send me the statements but nothing is coming. I gave them street address, postal adress and email address, all that does not help. What I usually get is the promise that the next statement or invoice will be in my post box very soon, which has never happened. If I could get enough money I would ask them to calculate the amount I should pay to cancel the contract because I can see they don't need me as their customer.

Last year sometime, I went to the telkom office in Mokopane (Potgietersrus) and applied for the R 99.00 8.ta contract. They took over 4 months to get back to me. By that time I told the manager at the branch that I no longer want the phone. I’ve never received any unit from them, and also did not sign any formal contract with them. They keep on putting debit orders through my bank. I mailed them on their complaints line. One Afrikaans lady who did not gave me her name, called and said she will sort this out. She never did. I called the call centre now 4 x. Each time the agent advised that this will be sorted. But come month end, another debit gets stolen out of my account. And every time I need to go to the bank to sign documents to get this money reversed back to my account. Each time this will be at a cost of R 30.00. I’ve been unemployed for a while, and I do not have all this money to pay for nothing. Can someone please advise on how to stop this debits going off my account every month?

This complaint relates to order number: 39685549a, account number: [protected].
My wife applied for the three month free trail offer at telkom longbeach mall cape town. We spoke to ashley tobias. He checked on his system if we qualify for this service and if adsl is available in our area. Ashley said we do qualify and that adsl is available in our area, so we applied. Telkom technician came out and established we need to lay a conduit for cables before we can get service. We went through the effort of laying a conduit. Telkom came out, and laid cables untill just outside our flat, against the wall. Now we are told adsl is not covered in our area. Why were we initailly told adsl is availabe in our area? Why did telkom ask us to lay conduit for cables, if telkom knew adsl is not provided in our area? Why did telkom lay cable, after we provided conduit if adsl is not provided in our area? I made arrangements and plans around the fact that telkom informed us adsl is covered in our area?

I recently ordered/purchased the 10Gig promo that 8ta was offering:

Firstly; 8ta failed to deliver on the sim card (as promised) on time(5 days late).

8ta then proceeded to block my usage prematurely when my they suspended my Internet when my account showed that they were in fact in error.
( Included data:10 GB
GPRS: 2 MB remaining 3070 MB used. )

When trying to resolve this error:
There "helplines" listed under "value added services" on there website are constantly engaged (even though they are supposedly listed as 24 hour services).
When you finally manage to get through, follow the voice prompts and then directed to wait for a call centre operator you have to wait an additional 28 minutes until you give up...

8ta's service is obviously lacking in many regards.

I have been to your Rosebank branch today to apply for your 10gig package but found out that people like myself who are self employed can not apply because it is mandatory to have a payslip. Another way big business are not helping entrepeneurs and are losing the biggest slice of the internet market in South Africa.

So it is back to mtn and vodacom who was willing to help me now since the 90's without a payslip recognising small and medium enterprises in this country
Sad regards
Brian Rolfe

During March my problem with Telkom SA started regarding my internet account, a vsat service. Telkom kept invoicing me for an old account that was suppose to be cancelled as the new account came into effect. The previous account was an SSE (space stream express) account, the new account is an SSO (space stream office) Accounts never cancelled my old SSE account. I kept paying for it on top of my new SSO account. I requested telkom to rectify the situation. It took me a month of calling and emailing several people over and over again. Eventually the new orders division, ie Kim Jean Louis, to be found on [protected] credited my account, after Pumlani of Telkom at [protected] tried to solve the problem. I paid the arrears and I thought the problem was solved, until I read the August invoice! There on page 6 of 6 the account states my rental of the SSE! Please help me solve this problem. I already mailed Kim Jean Louis at [protected]@telkom.co.za on the recurring problem but no reaction.

My house telephone is out o forder since 4 july 2011. This fault was reported on the 5th of July 2011 and Telkom claim that they will repair any customer fault within 24 hours.

Telkom, without attending to the fault closed my fault code on the 8th of july 2011, however the telephone is still not working. I reregistered the fault on the 9th of july 2011 and today 13 July the line is still not working.

I wonder if telkom still got quality Technicians who can reapir a fault or are they to lazy to attend to clients. As long as they receive our monthly payments to pay these lazy ###fs, they are happy.

I even reported this to Telkom head office with no support. I WISH THE OLD SOUTH AFRICA COULD COME BACK.

I have requested a ADSL Service from Telkom, I already have a telephone port and cables installed, they just need to connect me to the service, which they did, and no installations or cable installations needed. I recieved my first billing and they charged me for the cost of the test call the operator had to make to ensure the line is active and they charged me for cable installations that was never done because it was already there. The operator does not understand that they have billed me over R1000.00 for a service that was not delivered or even nessecary. I wait everytime I phone for 20-30min with no response. I'm sick of Telkom's poor service!

This morning [protected]) Telkom was working outside our premises on one of their boxes (I saw them threw the window and their bakkie working on the box), as I notice the water going of, I thought it was the municipality doing maintenance on the reserve. When I went out to town half a hour later I saw water on my sidewalk. As Telkom drove over the main water supply. Thank you Telkom I’m not even a customer and you caused damage to my property.

The Telkom cables servicing our company offices were stolen on the 14th of June 2011. Telkom refuses to replace the cables and informed us to find our own way of obtaining telephone services. We are a security company, monitoring alarms and responding to emergencies. We have R100's of thousands of rands worth of equipment depending on a telephone service. We have had our telephone number for the last 21 years - we have stationary, vehicles, advertising boards etc, etc, etc. We cannot possibly think to change it all...! What to do?

Good day

I would like to log the following complaint regarding my new contract. I received a phone call from a consultant who sold all the benefits and conditions to me.

According to my knowledge the following was said:

I will receive 25 mb for free every month to use
I will receive 130 minutes for free any time
I will receive 50 sms per day
I will receive one free phoning on landlines
I will receive my contract with the conditions on delivering of my phone

After receiving my phone I noticed the following:

Only 10 mb available as per sms received?
Free minutes – 11 minutes to other networks and 55 minutes from 8ta to 8ta?
Didn’t receive any sms on my sms availability?
Don’t have a land line – that’s ok
I didn’t receive any contract or documents on delivery of my phone.

If it was said that the free minutes will only be from 8ta to 8ta I would definitely not have considered taking up the contract!

I was interested in 8ta's new bb contract. I phoned 081180 to apply. The woman that I spoke to was incredibly unhelpful. She told me that 8ta staff do not have the right pricing of their blackberry contracts. She advised that I should call one of their providers, mobile talk. I phone mobile talk and spoke to an incredibly helpful man. He explained that mobile talk have absoloutely nothing to do with telkom or 8ta, they are a virgin service provider and only provided virgin deals. He explained that due to a high volume of calls for 8ta customershe had been proactive enough to find the correct number for me to dial. Out of kindness to telkom 8ta I thought it was extremely important that I let 8ta the incredibly huge mess up they were making - pointing their business to their competition. I spoke to lerato who refused to help me as I did not have the name of the orignal person that had told me to call mobiletalk. She also refused to give me her surname and her superior refused to speak to me. I will never, ever, ever use telkom or 8ta as a service provider again - how utterly embarrassing for them - and am now calling virgin (As instructed) , will sign contract with them.