Telkom SA SOC
Reviews and Complaints

We are already existing clients of Telkom.
We applied for a second fixed line to be installed, the application was done on 28th April at Blue Route
Mall in Tokai.
The original landline was upgraded to ADSL last year BUT NOT through Telkom.
The second line was to be upgraded to ADSL but also through a different internet provider.

Before installation was done I waited everyday with open doors for the Open Serve technician to arrive, to my amazement i was disappointed daily. After waiting 7-14 working days i then contacted Telkom to the call centre number for feedback. We were advised that the order was cancelled because the technician tried contacting us 4 times, even after I gave the call centre agent different contact details, we were also advised by a Telkom agent that the technician commented "customer out" which is impossible.
As my frustration grew i contacted Telkom daily to speak to a manager, every time i get told the same thing that all the managers are either in a meeting from 8am - 5pm (which is actually ridiculous) or their specific manager is not in work on that day. I was informed that because managers are in meeting the only thing they can do is take my contact details and the manager will contact me the next day with feedback.
to this day i still have not received any feedback from any manager with regards to this incident.
I have so much incident reference numbers but nothing has been done. Incident escalations take 24-72 hours to be resolved.
I then expressed my urgency for this new line to be installed because its to be used for my work.
Everyday i called to speak to a manager and everyday i was told a different story.
The call centre agents have little to no respect for the clients even stating that they were unable to get up and check for a manager because they were in a wheelchair which I after found out to be a blatant lie.
The physical installation of the new fixed line was half done on the 15th of June then later completed on the 18th June.

Between May 1st and and June 25th I have been in contact with Telkom customer service and everyday i was told
a different story. After installation was completed we immediately took the original handset and put it into the new line and contacted Telkom from the second number regarding the second number. They advised i must contact the ISP to have the line upgraded to ADSL, contacted the ISP and they advised there is a pending DSL transaction on the line from Telkom when no such request was made from Telkom on our behalf. Contacted Telkom once again and then found out that the new number was still under a different account holders name.

Telkom have yet again advised to wait an additional 72hrs to have Telkoms IT department to resolve the issue with promised call backs.

Telkom have monopolised the industry and its a shame that the call centre staff are incompetent.

I cancelled my service for ADSL as well as voice service beginning of October 2017 and again November I have called in numerous times and was advised it had been sorted out and credit had been passed even on the interest, however I still keep getting bills and interest etc.. I called in again to be told it was not cancelled due to ISP which is really proof no one actually knows what they are talking about or just don't care as the account is now only for voice and not ADSL (ISP) The service has not worked since I cancelled but yet the billing keeps coming. Really Telkom you need to get your house in order. I have sent my mail to numerous consultants who all said they will get back to me yet no one even bothers.
[protected]
Mon 2017/10/02 06:36= 1st cancellation
Wed 2017/11/01 17:09= 2nd
Tue 2018/01/16 08:32= 3rd
Mon 2018/03/19 09:32= 4th
Tue 2018/06/19 13:40= 5th

My original message:
Please cancel the below number (PLEASE ENSURE CANCELLATION OF ADSL AS WELL) I have already cancelled with provider

The relevant number for this complaint is [protected]. It is a fixed ADSL line for personal use. The ADSL line was installed on 13 January 2018 at my office. It was not working, or working at such a speed that was inoperable. I had to restart it a couple of times a day, but it did not function correctly even with this effort. It was not operation until end of May 2018, yet I continued payments. In this time I logged this fault several times with no outcome. I logged my first fault on 13 January, 14 May(It was closed the same day without it being resolved), 15 May, 22 May and today being 27 June 2018. I think it is fair to ask 4 months of credits passed for this non-service issue. I hope you can assist.

On 29 jan 2018 I submitted an online request to have my line transferred. I had sold my house and was going to be moving into a retirement complex.
Since the installation in march 2018 I have made over 40 phone calls and have visited the telkom office at lakesdide mall, benoni on 5 occasions.
Noone is able to provide me with a phone that I became entitled to when I did the on line transfer request.
Everyone says: they will do it, I have emailed the back office to do the delivery, I have emailed the store manager etc etc etc and so it goes on.
On 011 4270013/1287 x 40 + calls - I have spoken to maxwell on numerous occasions, mark, pabi etc etc
In store I have dealt with many consultants but only started keeping notes from 29 may 2018 - michael khumalo, modi, anneli staats in back office, ntabiseng etc etc

Telkom acc number [protected] refers - On 28 Feb 2018 I sent cancellation of service. Telkom acknowledge cancellation on 17 Apr 2018, but they kept billing me. I phoned and complained on 30 May 2018. Complaint reference number [protected]. They admit they made a mistake. I received an SMS on 6 June 2018 that my case number has been resolved. Again I received a bill for July. On 25 June I tried to contact Telkom and asked to phone me back, I have not received any communication as yet.
According to me I do not owe them anything. The last bill should be subtracted from my R700 deposit.

Ok well I had a cellphone contract with telkom which ended on the 7th of december 2017, I was advised to submit the cancellation form 21 days before the end of contract which I did submit, but my contract was not cancelled, even now they still deducting money from my account. Iv called several times and spoke different consultants I explaind my frustration to them but nothing was done, im no longer using the sim card, I only use it when I contact telkom as I was once advised by one consultant to remove it from my phone. So please I need help with this. I can not keep on disputing their debit order every month as the bank charges me for that. My monthly payments was r249 but I was surprised this month when they deducted r700 and im being charged r40 by the bank to dispute the debit order. Kind regards qetelo malefe

Good day, I have logged so many calls, and I get the impression Telkom is just not interested in helping me! They decline my payment offer, so in terms of the customer protection law, it means that they do not accept me paying off on al large amount

I got 5 Cellphone Contracts from Telkom.in Dec 2 of the phone where stolen, I notified Telkom and Blocked the phones, and yes I understand your contract rules. I then asked Telkom to please seperate the bill for the 2 phones that was stolen, and I have continued to pay for the other 3 contracts that are now suspended due to the outstand Contract money that is owed to telkom! I am prepaired to pay back the money for the contracts that was cancelled, but I cannot afford to pay the full amount at once, and now I am paying for 3 contracts that I have no use off! Please I asking very nicely for Telkom to please help me to this regard?

I am a Telkom client +/- 10 years; I spend +/- R3000 on a monthly basis

I opened up a third contract in-store and I was assisted with a colleague named Lisa.

The experience started off bitter sweet as this agent faxed the wrong paperwork off to begin with and it caused an extended wait however my current problem is as follows:

Due to the agent being greedy for commission on a contract -as she is not whom I deal with on a regular basis she FAILED to disclose that I had to immediately register the device with Samsung Mobile Care.

I am aware of ADH service and therefore  specifically asked the questions relating to screen repairs as this is not my first Samsung device, however your consultant omitted to tell me that this service no longer exists /or is not applicable to my new device which was the Samsung NOTE 8

She advised that I could register for ADH any time after collection that the first repair is free as it under warranty - which was incorrect information and did not explain the T&C's,  which was that the device needed to registered immediately with Samsung Mobile Care in order to be eligible for the screen repair within 30 days of purchase.

 

I am now faced with the dilemma having to get my screen repaired due to her incompetence and not giving me the correct information, that Samsung Mobile Care is refusing to repair the device and expecting me to incur a charge of R5000.00.

They require the Proof of purchase to verify purchase date, to process the repair and because of your consultant and her service failure this is futile as I am outside of the 30days window.

They have re-directed me to back to the Telkom direct store.

I had an interaction with your ‘manager on duty' - Savannah (which should not be in leadership role in all honesty)

She was rude, abrasive and displayed no problem solving skills whatsoever -other than passing the buck to the consultant I am told no longer works there and blaming me the customer, which I found absolutely ridiculous!

As a sales consultant I would expect a level of understanding and knowledge when selling contracts -and not simply advising customers false information simply for a sale -which is bad practice.

Furthermore I did ask questions as mentioned above which indicates to me this consultants lack of training when it comes to explaining T&C's and process (or not even being aware)

I have spoken to Samsung Direct and they in turn advised that they have had multiple complaints from different customers that experienced the same issue with the Samsung Mobile Care process not being explained from Telkom consultants to their customers.

Furthermore they have told me that all sales consultants have to disclose this information to Samsung device users - in this case was not done.

I refuse to be held liable for the incompetence of sales consultants and I will take this matter further to the ombudsman for consumer rights as I am sure that this is in contravention against the Customer Protection Act.

As a resolve I expect that the Telkom Canal Walk store takes responsibility for the repair and have it charged to the stores account.

I will not pay R5000 for this repair as your agent failed to give me all the information when opening up my contract and was not truthful.

I received a call to ask me to move from ADSL to Fibre Optic and since that call I am always every day without an Internet connection.
On complaining about it, I was told that the switch-over was approved and that they will contact me in this regard. Nothing happened and on complaining again about the service and reminding Telkom that the service is paid for every month and that it is fraudulent to cut off the service, I was rewarded by stopping my service and been issued with a new TIN-number. My email was also deleted and recreated with it's own TIN-number created for that. The result of this; all my data erased from the Telkom server and all my emails deleted from my computer due to synchronizing errors with the Telkom server.
TIN3326134
"Please note that your Telkom service number TIN3326134 is ready for use. This service will be billed pro-rata from 06/18/2018. Your order reference number is 258518831A. "
Today it is the same problem again: Cannot connect to the DNS server via the ADSL connection. Although it indicates it is connected there is no communication or real connection.
I must buy software to recover my Contacts from the destroyed .ost files and I must buy mobile data to do what I am doing now, whilst the ADSL connection is fully paid for.
Shame on you Telkom for terrorizing and sabotaging your customers.

On the 13 th of January 2018 I took out a contract with Telkom for a package that included a 4 meg ADSL line a modem a lit Box (provides acces to YouTube and Netflix and so on) and a range extender. On the 23rd of January my line was installed and modem set up but I was left without the lit box and extender. I did a follow up in February and was told they had no stock they then said that as soon as they receive stock they would contact me and deliver the stock to my house. It has been 5 months since my first monthly payment and the start of my contract of which I have paid every month and on my attempt today 26 June 2018 to find out why I have still not received these goods (lit box and extender) I have been told that they can not send me the lit box yet as they are out of stock again. This means that once again as a paying customer I have to wait again and how long this time another 5 months who knows as no definite time line has been given. I feel that as I am paying every month for services and products they promised me that this has to be unfair business practice. Please can you help me as I am speechless and dumbstruck by all of this.

This is totally unacceptable telkom is not treating me right as a paying customer, the was a digit order that went off from my account on the 15th from telkom and when I call in I was told I was behind on my account but I was never told or called that i was behind in April, if that was not worse I went to the bank and paid R 1500 on the same week I wa told to pay 650 then my account would be fine and I paid but today I get another debit order running through on my account of R 900, when I call in to ask the consultant tells me no the consultant made a mistake, I was suppose to pay the whole amount, whose suppose to pay for the unpaid in my accounts and its ruining my credit score am suppose to be buying a house how is looking in my score if I have two unpaid debits from my and to make it worse this consultant can hear am angry she puts me on hold for another 5 min to rather than having a solution for

I applied online for adsl 2 months ago. After application I phone almost every week to follow up on my order. After 1 month I received my order number after I had to phone telkom many of times. Every time I phoned telkom they took my cell number and after 2 months they realised the number is wrong. Now I am still waiting after 2months and know adsl.

Telkom line [protected]
Owner of line passed away on 4/6/2017.
On 4/7/2017 all documentation was handed in at Telkom @ Shelly Beach KZN. After almost a year we are still struggling for ADSL etc to be cancelled. This after we eventually had to drive through to Amanzimtoti as this was apparently where it would be resolved. Again today after following up yet again we were told that it was still not resolved. The issue is that the ADSL was to be cancelled back dated to the original request on 4/7/2017 and all monies paid in this regard was to be credited back on the account. The struggle is that every time we call to follow up they just log another dispute and give us a reference number. When we call again to follow up the same thing happens. Asking to speak to a supervisor you get told that he or she is busy on another call and will call back. this obviously never happens.

This shall be our final direct email before legal action shall be taken against telkom.

Despite numerous visits into your rosebank branch and tireless emails nearly every other day! Nothing has been resolved regarding the cancelation of our x2 wireless smartbroad lines.

Long awaited cancelation requested in 10/05/2017

Case #s [protected] & [protected]
Customer# [protected]

We have been debited & charged for a service that has never worked or being used. Please pull our usage records and share with all. They will clearly indicate that no units/bandwidth has been used.

At some point, please realise that your cancelation process is fundamentally broken, that your ability to carry out simple processes is inherently flawed, that the people handling the systems requests are ill informed, that illegal billing transactions are being made by the supplier on customers, and that something needs to be fixed with urgency because you are causing distress and damage to innocent customers and their businesses.

The incompetency of telkom as company across the board is flabbergasting coupled by the fact we are faced with telkom currently stealing money from us.

As previously indicated & assured by employees at telkom please can this process be prioritized & finalised immediately.

To make it even worse these contracts have now both expired and yet we are still being billed "contractually for a service we have never received during the 2 year contract.

Nobody at telkom response or even seems to care while they continue to steal funds

I have been trying to cancel my Telkom contract since the 3rd of April.

_Firstly I am told I have to email a form to [protected]@telkom.co.za and this is the only way to cancel a Telkom contract.

- I send the email and no response. I resend this email two weeks later and get a response that this email account is no longer in use and I need to follow the online cancellations steps.

- I follow the online cancellations steps on the 23rd of April and get the automated responses.

- I then phone in every day to check the status of the cancellation and am told within 20 days it will be cancelled - Nothing gets cancelled

- In May I get a bill charging me the normal amount for internet usage until the 8th of June when my contract should have been cancelled on the 22nd of May.

- I phone in to query this "oh yes this is a mistake wait for the final bill on the 9th of June and it will all be sorted"

- Bill comes for the 9th of June with full charges from May and June and full charges until the 10th of July.

-Phone in again - "oh the charges are incorrect because you're being charged a cancellation fee by mistake" (LIE).

- Phone in again. "Oh yes 2 of your 3 services have been cancelled but one was not cancelled by mistake and that is why the bill is wrong" (may I point out this is a blatant lie as I am still being charged in full for everything) "Just pay the bill because otherwise it will affect your credit score." So basically I am now being told by Telkom that I need to pay a bill that is incorrect, for a service I am not using and should have been cancelled over a month ago because otherwise it will effect my credit score.

- I finally get the contact details of somebody higher up in Telkom and guess what - Not a single thing has been cancelled and I am now effectively a bad credit payer because of this nonsense

Issue still not resolved and going on 3 months

Reported a fault on Tuesday 19 June 2018
Hi there, My Internet connection is constantly buffering when using the LIT device on DStv Now, more so on Catchup and peak http://hours.It is however now happening almost throughout the day, I do not even reach the FUP Limits. Kindly advise, my phone number 011672xxxx or 083xxxxxx, also no Telkom Mobile reception in our area.

Telkom then replied on Social Media Wednesday evening: Hi. Sorry for the delay and inconvenience cause. Fault 115ARK200618 is in hand with our dispatchers and the first available technician will be assigned to assist. Feedback will be provided. Thank you. ^Frank

Despite numerous follow ups no resolution. Today 24 June 2018 after posting on Twitter a technician who identified himself as Bongi phoned me just before 11am, as I was still at Church I told him I'll be home at about 13h00. Since the Church service ended just before 12h00 I phoned and sent SMS' to no avail. Since I am watching TV on the Internet I feel betrayed by Telkom.

Unfortunately i became unemployed therefore I could no longer pay for my telkom bill. My device was suspended. After several months I managed to pay all the outstanding amount which was due by 05 April 2018. I have logged several calls After paying the outstanding amount But i had to wait for a month for my phone to be re-connected. Only to find out that my contract was cancelled. I spoke to one of the consultants before they could re-connect me again stating that I have 2 options to get my phone reconnected again which is 1- it's either I continue with the contract but the contract will be another 24 months contract or 2- i opt for prepaid. I chose the prepaid option because from the initial contract it was supposed to end November 2018 but due to the contract being cancelled it's either I start a new contract or change my contract to prepaid . Right now they busy billing whilst I chose the prepaid option. Been contacting they customer centre but none is able to assist with this matter.

It occurred on: May 1st, 2018

I would like for this matter to be resolved ASAP . Calls are recorded and I've logged a call to retrieve those calls #[protected] but I see the matter is resolved without the matter being even fixed .

Our adsl line has been dropping every 5-10 minutes now for the past three weeks. We keep phoning, they keep resetting the port, they promise us a technician but when I check again, fault tickets have been closed without any technician coming out to see us. We were told our modem may be at fault, so we bought a new modem. But were still told our modem might be at fault. We're pretty much at the point now where we'd like to look for alternative isps because this can't go on. We are told that a supervisor has been notified, that our problem has been escalated, but when we check again, there is no record of this with your teleconsultants.

Our phone number is [protected], the account holder is tg dorman.

After reporting intermittancy on the adsl lineproviding internet to my house numerous times, the following email was sent to the telkom complaints line 13 days ago, 8th june

"good day,

I have repeatedly reported a fault on the above line. Internet connectivity is intermittent and has been for most of the period of the current supply contract. Our line speed is supposed to be 4mg and most times we cannot even get connectivity at all. We we do get connectivity it ranges from 0.8 up to 3.8 at any given time. Despite having this problem and reporting it numerous times, telkom's solution has been to inform me that there are numerous other reasons for the intermittency. We have troubleshot all other problems, have replaced the hardware (router) 3 times already this year. We have reset the ports, waited up to 15minutes for the ports to synch and have been continuously warned that should the technician not find a fault, then we will be charged a call out fee.

Despite being told that the connection is intermittent (I am not sure what the technicians understand by this word) everytime they come out to look for the problem. We are told that they cannot pick up a fault on the line.in normal circumstances, people come home and switch off their mobile data as they can connect to their wifi service when they reach home, unfortunately this is not the case. I have to sometime try to download a picture on what's app for almost half the day before it will open my phone.

Note that the last 3 times the fault was reported, the fault references were:
[protected]
[protected]
[protected]

Your call centre system really works well for you. As a customer I am unable to escalate an issue to anyone who can do something. A customer is similarly unable to speak to a technician unless the technician deems it fit to call the customer whilst dealing with the problem. A customer is also not notified that the fault has been closed because said technician cannot find the problem due to the intermittency of the connection. A customer is unable to deal with a single person when calling to try to reopen the fault so that person is able to understand the history of the fault, but is forced to speak to a new person every single time, and open a new fault every single time. Your call centre agents are also not equipped to deal with the rising frustration levels of a customer due to the fact that all they can do is log the fault, and nothing else. Your call centre supervisors/managers, do not deem it necessary to return a call from a customer, despite being requested to do so to escalate the fault. Your call centre survey system is inadequate as your questions are pointedly referred to dealing with the call made, and not in dealing with the problem experienced.

Being slightly it literate, I have patiently switched off the router and switched it on repeatedly so your call centre agents can see whatever it is that they need to see, to reset the ports, to resynchronise the line etc. We have replaced perfectly working hardware and reprogrammed it numerous times (we know its working because when given to others who are not experiencing line problems, the router works perfectly) none of this has any bearing on the intermittency of the service. I also understand that despite paying for a 4mg line that the download speed will not be 4mg at all times, however, a drop down to 0.8 is unacceptable for a service that we are paying for.

Having mentioned the added benefit that we are paying for, we then have to call the finance department to request a refund on a service that we are not getting in the first place.

I am cognizant of the fact that telkom's monopoly on the data service market means that as a small little private customer like ourselves can expect almost no feedback or contact to resolve this fault, but unfortunately, there are no other options open to your valued customers. Changing isp will not help as they are leasing the line from you.

Looking forward to your response in this regard.

Kind regards
Amisha roopa (wife of account holder who is in cc)"

No response. The following email was sent 9 days ago, 12 jun

"good day,

Once again, a fault that was reported last week that was serviced by tebogo from the technical department was closed without resolution. We have not had connectivity from about 9pm last night. A speed test at 7pm revealed the speed to be 1.9, which dropped to 0.4 just before 9 after which the connectivity was lost. Of course, I had to wait till 8am for your office hours before I could relog the fault for the 10th time within a period of just over 2 weeks. The current ref number for the fault is [protected].

As expected, I have not heard from anyone at telkom regarding the fault, its closure or of any solution to this continuous problem. Neither has anyone responded to this email. Do you have someone actually checking these emails at all?

Kind regards"

Still no response. Then today again:

"good day,
Surprise surprise. New fault number on this fault is [protected]... Still no response from the complaints department.

Kind regards"

Telkom's customer care call centre is unable to assist in any way, the supervisors in that department have not deemed it necessary to call back. And there is simply no recourse for the customer. There is no point in even trying to change service providers as telkom has the monopoly on infrastructure. The technical department sends the technician, and because there is nothing wrong at the time the technician is there, the fault is closed, leaving me extremely frustrated with the continuous drop in service.

Complaint - telkom 2018-06-21

On 18-06-05 we reported a fault at sita. Sita stated that it is a telkom default.
On 18-06-06 sita (saps it technicians) reported a fault to telkom. Reference no. 9avd060618.
Up until 18-06-11 telkom's feedback was that they wait for available technician. So for 6 days there were no technician available…
Technician was identified namely mr ernest on 18-06-11.
Several follow up calls was made to telkom with zero positive feedback.
10212 do not exist.
10214 referred me to 0800116161.
When this went unsuccessful they gave me anita's (service manager) number 012 680 6242/ 081 317 2991.
After no answer on both of these numbers for a full day I contacted 0800116161 again and they gave me piet pretorius' (service manager) number 012 848 8479/ 081 317 4692.
He answered immediately and supplied feedback that service technician was allocated and he is currently busy with the telkom box in the street and fault occurred between the box and the telkom station. The technician was never on our site, sasolburg k9 unit saps 3 venus street naledi park sasolburg, accept on 18-06-14 where he stated that sita must come and fix the problem for there is no problem on telkom's side, this is now after telkom confirmed that there came a problem with their equipment.
On 18-06-15 sita contacted me to find out whether our network is fixed on which I stated that we are still without network, they then asked me to unplug the small telkom box cte2-s m550245000b and then plug it in again. For an hour we had network and then it went down again.
On 18-06-18 I again reported a fault at sita on which they contacted me immediately and we tried to do several things inside the server box on which we were unsuccessful and they logged a call at telkom again.
On 18-06-20 still no feedback nor repair from no one. I then followed up with telkom on 0800116161 with ref no. Avd180618 on which the consultant stated that she shall sent an urgent email out and also requested my telephone number so they can contact me, of whom I supplied my personal number to ensure that I receive this call from the technician directly.
It is now 18-06-21 08:45 and still no technician, no repair, no call back!
To summarize, we, saps sasolburg k9 unit, is without network since 2018-06-05, 16 days already!
This is seriously very bad service and I most definitely shall not support telkom in any way.
I warned them that I am going to report this bad service.
Hope to hear from you soon!
My contact details are [protected]