This is a 5-minute read. I almost became a Telkom customer! Even though I suffered from Cell C's speeds and network unavailability during load-shedding, I still kept going with them because they were affordable (though almost not anymore after the current raise in HCF's plans and competitors offerings). I decided to let them go. Telkom's 2TB month-to-month deal seems valuable. So, I bought a prepaid sim to test the network, and from here starts the hell ride. Telkom's LTE Data Plan 2TB is listed month-to-month on the
Easter Promotion page, but if you decide to take it, it actually redirects you to the
Home Internet LTE Terabyte page, where you
check the coverage, and can only choose between 12, 24 and 36 months. Checking the coverage is also a hit and miss, because the location search tab most of the time does not load. Someone on the forum claimed that it's still a good deal as you can cancel the contract after 3 months without paying any fee. So, I thought, why not go ahead, as I don't have many alternatives. But being a human, I don't just jump straight into something without doing some research. To inquire further, I began to look for detailed terms and conditions, which are not listed at that page but also if you browse there catalogue, you will find, they just mention the site for checking terms and conditions instead of giving the whole URL. If you can insert your homepage's URL, you can surely insert the remaining part that leads to T&Cs. As this 2TB deal only works on Telkom's LTE-A (2300 MHz band), I wanted to test the network in my area. Upon activation of prepaid sim card, I found myself on the Telkom More price plan, to test my requirements, I had to move to the Smart Broadband Wireless tariff plan. I tried several times via the USSD menu, but the request would always fail. To find out more about the 2TB deal and to resolve this issue, I sought help by reaching out to Telkom via Social Apps. Instead of getting direct help, you have to go through Karabo chatbot. Even going through all that steps, you are still not direct to a human agent, but asked to wait for a call back that most of the time does not arrive, or if does, as soon as the call disconnects in the middle, the agent does not call back. You're back to square one. Thuso, another chatbot available via Telkom's website. I mean, seriously, how many bots do you guys need. Thuso, does not even load. It looks like the poor soul has been left dead after Karabo's arrival. On another thread, someone said Telkom's app is the best, and you don't need the help of an agent, as you can perform all the tasks yourself. Upon inserting the SIM into the device, I received the link for the
Telkom App to be installed from Telkom via SMS. After failing to connect my Mobile Account and searching for a while, I found out that this app is no longer supported and you need
My Telkom app. If the old app is not working, why is it still available at Play Store and also being pushed via SMS. Unfortunately, MyTelkom app crashed on one of my devices and on the second one it just gives an error if I try to login. I decided to try every means possible, so I went to the
Web Self-Care Portal. Until now, I had convinced myself that Telkom's other name was Bug. I was no longer surprised that I encountered another problem. This time, while trying to link my Mobile Account with my Telkom profile, I was not receiving any OTP. Upon further investigation at MyBroadband Forum, I found out, I'm not alone and this is an issue since 2021, read this
thread. After trying and explaining multiple times, I got hold of an agent via 180 help line. She said, "Dial *330*1234#, and you will receive an OTP". I dialed, and it turns out this code is for Call Barring deactivation. Only if she has asked or checked that if I've call barring activated at all. I tried again, and as usual, I still have not received an OTP. Again, for one last time, I contacted them and explained everything again. This time the lady said, there's no issue that she can detect. So, there's nothing wrong. So, you guys seriously think that if you cannot detect an issue, this means people go ahead and make excuses just to talk to you. Seriously, you are one of the worst. Furthermore, this is a SIM-only deal; why cannot you simply charge me upfront for a month as Rain does. Why am I being forced to share my employer's and bank account details? Simply charge the card.
As Telkom does not believe customers are telling the truth. See below, the proof for Coverage Page issue and Thuso. At least you may end up rectifying these.
If you are wondering about that 2 TB deal, here are some facts I could gather after a week's hassle. There's no support for Multi-Sim or Data Transfer/Share. The package is not available in Month-to-Month deal, as stated by the agent.
P.S. Affordability is a major factor in my decision making. I went with Rain, but due to a lack of coverage, I cancelled. Hats off to Rain's representative on this forum. Within three days, I received my refund. No questions asked. MTN offered 100 Gigs anytime for R219 via App exclusive offer, and Vodacom offered 200 Gigs for R349 on Prepaid LTE Data Plan. I went with Vodacom because Cell C's prepaid users roam on MTN's network. I suspected it would be a similar experience. Also, I did not know for how long they would keep offering that promotional deal, and it is not easy to switch a networks every other day.
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