http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=225&fArticleId=2112919
<font color="navy"><b>Telkom just keeps its customers on hold </b></font id="navy">June 15, 2004
I am truly touched by Telkom's advertising campaign; their support of our beautiful nation and their unrelenting commitment to service excellence.
Perhaps the earlier is an accurate representation, but since the latter is certainly not reflective when put to the test, their reputation as a whole should be questioned. The old adage of "the proof is in the pudding" springs to mind.
Since February this year, I have been struggling to obtain a telephone line.
The first person I dealt with was rude and arrogant. His search for available lines in the area proved futile, as the new place I was moving to lacked the necessary infrastructure.
He said it was a "project in progress" which was actually due to have been finalised in January. He vowed to investigate and return my calls.
Seven attempts to reach him and several messages later, he finally responded by telling me the matter had been relocated to a new department.
I made a further 15 calls to buck-passers, none of whom could refer me to senior management. This leads one to believe that management is too sick and tired to hear complaints about their staff's incompetence, and/or is unwilling to dirty their hands with the menial task of actually resolving client queries.
By mid-April, the cabling project had been completed - three months late.
I made another four enquiries regarding my telephone connection, and was finally told by a disinterested individual that I had been placed on a waiting list.
I informed them that waiting was not an option as I worked from home, and she responded by saying that it was not her problem.
I somehow managed to locate a manager of some sort. He was somewhat helpful, but referred my order to one of his employees who would be in touch. As our American friends would say: "Whatever!"
After several attempts to reach the man in charge of my complaints, I was told that technicians would be on site on May 6 and they would contact me to make the necessary arrangements.
On May 5 I called the same individual to say that their technicians had not contacted me and he replied that the order had been deferred for another week.
I drafted this same letter, a copy of which was sent to Telkom, and a technician promptly arrived at my front door.
He could not provide me with a line, as the cabling to my home had not been laid. The excuse offered was that the developer had not finalised piping and manhole development, so cables could not be laid.
The developer assured me this is not the case, and a neighbour informed me recently that she already has a telephone and ISDN connection.
Lies, incompetency and buck-passing appear to be the Telkom code of ethics.
I can now report that I have spent vast amounts of time and money trying to obtain service from a non-service-providing service provider.
I have had to run my business from various venues, all charging exorbitant fees for facilities I already have at my disposal.
And to date, I have not even heard one apology for the delays Telkom is currently experiencing in running their multimillion-rand corporation.
Romy Blomkamp
Johannesburg
Telkom, despite being asked on May 18 to comment to this letter, had not done so at the time of going to press - Letters Editor
<font color="navy"><font size="1"><b>Where others have progress, we have Telkom.</b>
Hellkom website - http://telkomsucks.0catch.com</font id="size1"></font id="navy">
<font color="navy"><b>Telkom just keeps its customers on hold </b></font id="navy">June 15, 2004
I am truly touched by Telkom's advertising campaign; their support of our beautiful nation and their unrelenting commitment to service excellence.
Perhaps the earlier is an accurate representation, but since the latter is certainly not reflective when put to the test, their reputation as a whole should be questioned. The old adage of "the proof is in the pudding" springs to mind.
Since February this year, I have been struggling to obtain a telephone line.
The first person I dealt with was rude and arrogant. His search for available lines in the area proved futile, as the new place I was moving to lacked the necessary infrastructure.
He said it was a "project in progress" which was actually due to have been finalised in January. He vowed to investigate and return my calls.
Seven attempts to reach him and several messages later, he finally responded by telling me the matter had been relocated to a new department.
I made a further 15 calls to buck-passers, none of whom could refer me to senior management. This leads one to believe that management is too sick and tired to hear complaints about their staff's incompetence, and/or is unwilling to dirty their hands with the menial task of actually resolving client queries.
By mid-April, the cabling project had been completed - three months late.
I made another four enquiries regarding my telephone connection, and was finally told by a disinterested individual that I had been placed on a waiting list.
I informed them that waiting was not an option as I worked from home, and she responded by saying that it was not her problem.
I somehow managed to locate a manager of some sort. He was somewhat helpful, but referred my order to one of his employees who would be in touch. As our American friends would say: "Whatever!"
After several attempts to reach the man in charge of my complaints, I was told that technicians would be on site on May 6 and they would contact me to make the necessary arrangements.
On May 5 I called the same individual to say that their technicians had not contacted me and he replied that the order had been deferred for another week.
I drafted this same letter, a copy of which was sent to Telkom, and a technician promptly arrived at my front door.
He could not provide me with a line, as the cabling to my home had not been laid. The excuse offered was that the developer had not finalised piping and manhole development, so cables could not be laid.
The developer assured me this is not the case, and a neighbour informed me recently that she already has a telephone and ISDN connection.
Lies, incompetency and buck-passing appear to be the Telkom code of ethics.
I can now report that I have spent vast amounts of time and money trying to obtain service from a non-service-providing service provider.
I have had to run my business from various venues, all charging exorbitant fees for facilities I already have at my disposal.
And to date, I have not even heard one apology for the delays Telkom is currently experiencing in running their multimillion-rand corporation.
Romy Blomkamp
Johannesburg
Telkom, despite being asked on May 18 to comment to this letter, had not done so at the time of going to press - Letters Editor
<font color="navy"><font size="1"><b>Where others have progress, we have Telkom.</b>
Hellkom website - http://telkomsucks.0catch.com</font id="size1"></font id="navy">