8ta Topup "gone missing"

B

Bufamotis

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I bought an 8ta prepaid sim with the intention of switching over from CellC at month end.

First off I try getting the sim provisioned as per their website and the rep's post, to work on 8ta's own towers...
Seeing as 8ta prepaid sim = you are now an MTN roaming customer... 8ta sim=/= 8ta customer or 8ta tower user.....

Tried the email route to have access given to the sim on 8ta network, no response, no acknowledgement.
Phoned 8ta 180 customer care to enquire about the switch, i get told that I need to first buy a promotion bundle, and then my sim will automatically start using 8ta's network, but in case its still on MTN's network after I buy the packet, it willl mean I'm not covered by their network and wont be able to use the data... Seriously?! Yes, she was serious, spend money on the network and then see if you get coverage or not.........

Right, so being unable to accept this flawless logic I set off to the nearest telkom direct store to ask someone in person, to switch me over. Get to Menlyn, wasn't even sat down for 5 minutes and poof I get switched to 8ta's network, no more roaming MTN sign... Was it that hard? Could the call centre not have saved me the 30km trip? It seems not.

So finally getting on their network, I decide to add airtime to the my 99c sim which up to this point I was thinking of throwing away, but have now got some renewed hope that service might be good.

Nope Wrong.

After confirming with the bank and 8ta that I can transfer funds directly to my sim, I transfer 149 rand for a 3Gig promo package. Guess what, no confirmation, no airtime. So I decide to wait till morning and see what happens... no airtime... Big surprise.

Phone up the bank, confirm the amount was paid out, deducted and gone, the network was correctly specified, the number was correctly entered and the fault lies with the service "provider".

Phone up 8ta to get the reference number and redeem my money as per the bank's suggestion and my answer comes in the form of denial, al la:

Sir, you must have entered the wrong network, No, the network is confirmed, You have entered the wrong cell number No, the number was confirmed No Sir, the number must be missing a digit or two No, the number is completely confirmed, entering it as from the bank record and dialling actually rings up MY phone... Well, Sir, there is nothing we can do Really, nothing? Nothing Sir, we cant see where the money went. So where does that leave me? Sir there is nothing we can do. Nothing?**Sigh**, we can escalate your case to finance but it will take 7 (YES, SEVEN) working days for them to trace this one, single transaction for which I can provide both the time, date, amount and transferee particulars...

So now I wait, IN TWO WEEKS TIME I MIGHT POSSIBLY, MAYBE, get some airtime on this sim, maybe even convert it to a data bundle...

I do believe that I will not be utilizing their 60GB data promo as I was intending to, Nor will I get the 10Gb contract that I was aiming for either, if 8ta can't even sort out a small mess like this.

It is downright pathetic. The bank has also escalated the matter to trace the amount, they will revert in 24-48 hours.
 
If you've used Eighttime to purchase the airtime, your issue is with them, and not with 8ta.

They've got a query/complaints section on their website, my friend used it the other day and they sorted him out quickly.
 
I used the bank provisioned prepaid transfer option via cellphone banking.

8ta is a listed beneficiary. This was confirmed with the sales assistant at telkom direct prior to the transfer. It is also not a single once off accident. The bank confirmed having had numerous previous queries about this instance whereby customers are referred back to the service provider who needs to allocate the transferred amount to their client.
 
You can test signal coverage now without recharging. Also www.8ta.com is accessible. It loads 1.6MB, so some speed test can be made. If you are happy, recharge R30 (from the till pin slip) to see if you are lucky number (receiving 50% back next day). Then add another 4xR30 (or less if you are lucky).

Check also *180# opt1, opt1 to see if you can see promotional bundles on the menu. If not, SIM hasn't been provisioned correctly.
 
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I can see the promotional options correctly, also, I have found everywhere I go between work and home has 8ta coverage, all I want is my 149 rand to be added to my airtime.

Leaving it to 8ta, I may or may not get it, or at least a response, in 7 working days i.e. two weeks from now...
That is bad follow up service.
 
To date all I have been able to get was a responce to the contact-us query lodged on their website, a lady emailed back stating that according to their systems the money is already allocated to my account, no follow up, no confirmation, no double checking.

Also no contact numbers, no direct email, but rather automated response email. Really Really bad follow up service. Are these people afraid of being accountable for their replies?

Hell, Vodacom, Cell C and MTN are at least able to refer you to a person who is dealing with the matter, 8ta acts like its run by an anonymous machine. I'm terribly disappointed with their non-service.

"Hi
According to our system it shows that R149 was recharged to the
number.
Mobile No. Sequence ID Card Sequence Recharge Mode
Recharge Date Balance Before Balance After
Recharge Fee
081------- MR00004DIQ Telkom Pin-less
13-02-2012 23:30:40 0 149
149
Core Balance149
Regards
Liana"

Why the hell would I go through all this hassle if I HAD BEEN ALLOCATED THE MONEY?
*Sigh*
 
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Got acknowledgement from them this afternoon. The system made a mistake... Now to get someone in the recharge department to fix the issue...

Spam bombing random employee adresses seems to have panned out. Now to see if that gets me any further than just an acknowledgement..
 
Tomorrow will be the 8th day of my balance still being R0.00.

Best I got was 8ta tech staff informing me that the Recharge Department still hasn't replied to my query. That the problem will be sorted out by day end... Then the day ends and I check and still nothing.

I can't imagine a scenario where I might have actually relied on this sim for something like work or general communication. Imagine having to wait 2 weeks for your service provider to top up your airtime, and all that comes from your queries is un-assuring assurances.
 
Closure

From: "Thatayaone Leboko"
Date: Feb 22, 2012 7:24 AM
Subject: Accounts and/or Billing

Good Day Mr. Van Vuuren

Your Acc was successfully Recharged yesterday. We truly apologise for the inconvenience Sir.

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Thank you.

Regards,

Thatayaone Leboko
8ta Technical Support : SOC
Telkom Mobile
 
Thank goodness its finally weekend.

Now, to finish off this thread.
After having sent various emails to various random 8ta.com and telkom.com numbers without a single reply from the designated recipients, one person had the decency, diligence and work ethic to take on a reply to me.

Mr. Leboka from the technical department phoned me in person, informed me that he had seen my query, and had informed the Recharge Department. He followed up with regular feedback via phone and email, sending screen dumps showing my account status and confirming that 8ta's original response was Wrong, and that he would endevour to sort the matter out;

1. User error had NOT caused the non-payment

2. The money received CAN be traced on the system

3. That the purchase WAS showing up on the system

4. Due to an error, it had not been allocated by Recharge Department, whoever they may be.

In the end he reported the matter to all the necessary departments and got my money sorted.

I think this guy deserves a "Give that man a Bells" moment.

Of all the layabouts who did nothing to assist or acknowledge a client query, I believe they should be sent for retraining.
Mr. Leboka deserves recognition in his department, there is a man willing to work and assist, and who seemingly understands the system better than the staff who should be using it.

Now to wait for month end to activate a bundle.

I will not be using bank transfer to facilitate recharge to 8ta again, it seems the staff @ Recharge Department will first need to take pointers from VC, CellC, Virgin and MTN, on how to provide service to prepaid customers.

Hopefully using till vouchers will mean that I don't need to communicate with customer service again anytime soon.
 
Lost airtime balance

On Saturday morning I deposited R260 into my account and immediately purchased 2 gig from my8ta web page and R266 was deducted from my account. No bundle has been loaded up to now.

I have called the call centre more than 7 times & some of the call centre people just hang up the phone. They have confirmed my buying the bundle but one of them says they are not responsible for how I use my data. How do I use what I never got.

Is this the level of service we are to expect from a company like Telkom. They have reaped us off too much on the landline front already.
 
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