marjb said:
On the 10th of this month i got a call from the Telkom Accounts department to advise that i have to make a payment on my account.
...
On Thursday 18th i pick up the phone to phone a client - i was in the middle of negotiating a deal- and i have no lines......
Needless to say i phone to report a fault and get told i have been suspended.
...
I asked [Telkom] if the account is in arrears and i was told it was not - just over the limit
Hello, marjb.
I suggest that you obtain a copy of Telkom's "Standard Terms and Conditions" (the FULL version, not the abridgement which is attached to telephone-service application forms), familiarize yourself with its contents, and then email to (e.g.) Telkom's legal-services department a letter along the following lines:
"Dear Sirs,
On ............ 2005, I received my monthly invoice from Telkom (dated ............ 2005) in the amount of R............ payable on or before ............ 2005.
In fact, though, my service (at xxx-xxx-xxxx) was suspended on ............ 2005 — i.e. some X days PRIOR to the relevant "due date" of ............ 2005 — even though there were in fact no outstanding arrears on my account at the time of the suspension. Upon telephonic enquiry as to the reason for the suspension, I was told that I had exceeded my "credit limit" of R............ .
I have examined a copy of Telkom's "Standard Terms and Conditions" and have been unable to find therein any provision, either in clause 7.1 ("Suspension") or elsewhere, entitling Telkom to suspend my service for non-payment of an amount which has not yet become due. (It is true that clause 6.3.2 entitles Telkom, at its own discretion, to "demand immediate payment of any amounts due by the customer" — but the amounts have to be "due" before they can be demanded in this way, and you cannot make them "due" simply by threatening suspension of service unless they are immediately paid).
In the circumstances, I would ask that you reply to this email (TODAY, please) informing me of the contractual provision(s) (if any) relied upon by Telkom as justifying the suspension effected on ............ . Should there be (as I suspect) no such provision(s), I would appreciate your assurance that no repetition of this behaviour on Telkom's part will occur.
In the event of a recurrence of the behaviour now complained of, I shall regard Telkom as responsible for any consequential damages suffered. In this regard, I would ask you to consider yourselves on notice (as from the time of your receipt of the present email) that the telephone service for which I have contracted with Telkom on the basis of the aforementioned "Standard Terms and Conditions" is in fact in use for the conduct of my estate-agency business and that the consequential damages arising out of any future suspension in breach of the contract are likely to include substantial amounts attributable to lost commission on missed sales.
Yours faithfully,
[Signature]"
That may or may not do much good, but at least I can't see how it can do any harm. And it might just get you flagged as a customer not to mess around with in this way in future.
Michael Alachouzos
Unless, of course, they amend their standard conditions (or have already amended them since the date of my copy) by inserting one. :-(
