I know you asked to keep it short - but - I couldn't help myself
.
Skim the bold parts and read what interests you.
- ADSL (ISP + LINE) was
paus-able when it first came out. i.e. Put the service on hold, and then resume it later without paying reconnection fee's. This option was removed without notifying anybody. In fact, any facet of Telkom's service can be removed, altered or done away with at any time. This is unfair to the consumer but we (the consumer) have no other choice. Telkom must be forced to provide a service level agreement.
- Telkom do not provide a
"get-me-started" package to their new clients. e.g. A document specifying the installation procedures, login, password, changing password, troubleshooting, contact numbers ... This should be provided as a minimum to force service level improvements and help prevent unnecessary help-desk conjestion. This would help out a lot with the next 2 points.
- Telkom ISP advertise the
free web space as part of their product, but no details are ever provided anywhere on this offering. Getting the details out of telkom takes way too long, and there are no garauntee's and very little support on this side of the offering. Telkom can even accidentally erase the contents of this hosted space leaving the customer with absolutely no recourse. There is a lot of confusion around who actually handles this facet of the business, and the client will get shunted around from pillar to post while trying to get this setup. Unacceptable.
- Telkom do not provide an easy to locate
notice board concerning the status of the network (Insofar as ADSL users are concerned), nor do they indicate the network landing points and expected throughput capacity, effectively blinding the user as to the available network throughput to various potential service points. i.e. The client may not subscribe to any internet service with confidence, as there are far too many unknowns.
- Telkom ISP do not provide a
garauntee on contention ratio's. The client purchasing the 512 product is purchasing a product that is supposedly capable of downloading at 512 kbps and uploading at 256 kbps but because many users share this service, the actual capacity of the line is unknown. Making the number of users sharing a segment visible to the end user would clarify the quality of the product being sold,
the current offering has no measurable quality component.
- Telkom charge different fee's based on whether the client is a
business or an individual. There could be
long delays for a residential customer in actually getting ADSL installed or repaired. To make matters worse, the preference Telkom gives to business customers means that the install date previously set by Telkom for a residential customer could change at any time, and the residential customer has no choice but to accept that. This is not an example of a company that provides good customer service. Telkom could instead provide two or more different service levels, and let the client choose which service level the client needs. The current Telkom offering is
discriminiating against business users.
- Telkom ISP implement a
capped service that is - according to Telkom - implemented to provide a reasonable service to all subscribers. However, Telkom ISP also allow any user to purchase further bandwidth at a price. This option to purchase further badwidth negates the reason for the implementation of the cap in the first place, and places a huge question mark over the validity of the initial reason for the cap.
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Telkom charge - on the initial connection, the connection fee + the remainder of the first month's rental and ISP charges + next month's rental and Telkom ISP charges. Inevitably this charging methodology causes quite a shock to the client when the first bill arrives. Upon ordering the product, a client must be given a pro-rata invoice indicating the expected first-month costs, just like any other service-orientated company does.
- When installing the ADSL service, a client having (and paying for)
more than one telephone point on the same line will suddenly find that the telephone point that does not have a "splitter" installed on it is now unusable. Telkom will charge a further fee to remove the other points, and until these points are removed, Telkom will refuse to stop charging for these now useless points. This is not an acceptable policy.
- Making
payments electronically to Telkom involve the use of an extremely long code number (19 digits long). Extremely user unfriendly.
- Telkom implement a CUT-OFF limit, as well as a Debit Order limit. These features are not properly managed and many a customer has had their services cut-off because of these limits. During the ordering stages, the Debit Order limit and the CUT-OFF limit are not adjusted causing endless problems. It must be noted that Telkom does try to contact the user concerning these problems, but a proper ordering process would be much more effective.
- The
music that Telkom play while you are on-hold should be banned and replaced with silence. It's an embarresment. Ask any Telkom customer.
- Users that currently utilise
ISDN connections are charged another conversion fee to switch to the ADSL solution. It is cheaper to order a new analog line, and then cancel the ISDN line than to pay for the conversion. This policy is nonsense.
- Telkom ISP ADSL users are
not encouraged to utilise local internet resources, in fact, the opposite is true, until a user is capped, that user will utilise international resources simply because, once capped, the user may only access local resources. (Telkom count local and international access towards the user's cap.) Telkom are a member of the
"Proudly South African" campaign. One of the aims of a Proudly South African company is to promote local economic growth. The practise of not encouraging local browsing in fact discourages local economic growth. Telkom are an embarrasment to the "Proudly South African" campaign.
