I was talking about my own personal experience with Telkom. I started out very positive, and polite, and patient, and remained so for almost a month. I then found it getting increasingly difficult to maintain this attitude, especially when they give you the same old story each time, with no progress, and they fail to call you back when they have promised to do so.
Being pissed off or rude will not get you nearly as far as being polite yet firm.
In most cases I agree with you.
Getting pissed off evokes a "I don't care" response, so it is best to be courteous.
Again, I agree on this in most cases.
Start by asking them to repeat their name (with surname). State your problem. State what you have done. State what you want done (without any drama!).
Remain very factual and back off on the hyperbole... Stick to the facts and keep it simple. This way you get a far better response. Also remember that the operator is trying to type in your problem while you are speaking.
This does work, most of the time. But if you have to do this over and over and over again, each day, it really REALLY gets to you. If you begin to sense that they are feeding you with bull-crap stories over and over, with no progress, and they are not calling back as promised, then you need to ask for a supervisor. Don't wait till your blood begins to boil.
BTW - they don't respond to Hellopeter, so that won't help in the least.
Whether they respond or not was not my point. The point is to threaten that you will report them. A little bit of fear (however slight) goes a long way, in my experience.
For those who know how to deal with Telkom, when would be the best time to mention that my line needs repairing when applying for an ADSL line? I'll opting for self-installation, so will a Telkom techie still have to make his way to my house?
I have read on these forums that for line noise and line quality issues, it is best that you avoid mentionioning ADSL to them (at first). Tell them that voice calls are terrible, there is lots of noise, and you can hardly have a proper conversation. Then let them do their tests and send their techies out etc.
Problem is that if you mention ADSL, they treat you as a dumb consumer, and first want to verify that the modem is plugged in, the power button is switched on, you've paid your Eskom account, your router is setup correctly, your ISP isn't having problems, etc etc. I recommend that you try your best to determine if it is really your line that is the problem. i.e. eliminate modem issues (test several different modems - borrow from someone), test several ISPs, test several different cables (from modem to ADSL filter), test different ADSL filters (again, borrow from someone who you know it works for), etc. Try to eliminate as many other variables as possible.
Then phone Telkom, tell them its a voice line issue. Let them do their stuff, and then see if it makes a difference to your ADSL. Be sure to enquire if they will charge you for this or not. You don't want a nasty surprise. If it doesn't improve, then report an ADSL fault, and they will do their thing at the DSLAM at the exchange - change the ports, and check for any sync issues. This is what I've read here in the myBB forums - can anyone confirm/deny whether this makes a difference?
Good luck.
Hopefully you can sort it out. Once you get past this, it will be smooth sailing, and it'll reduce your blood pressure and stress significantly. Then you can start shopping around for the best ADSL package from all the competing ISPs, or consider going uncapped, if you can afford it, especially with all the new specials coming out.
