Peculiar Telkom attitude

[chrisc]

I have a rental flat where the sole tenant died on 2nd July. He has a sister (81) in a nursing home in the UK who has no interest in the left over stuff. He got divorced many years ago and told me he had no children

On the advice of a lawyer, I put the stuff into the lock-up garage in the flat and advertised his demise. His bank have frozen his account and are awaiting instructions from someone. If they don't get it in 2 years, they apparently report it to the master of the court (?). They wrote to this sister and received no reply.

He had a Telkom phone which was last paid in May this year. 3 times when I have been at the flat, Telkom (or some agency) have called asking for Mr Frank, and when they are told he passed away, ask to speak to who is responsible for the bill. When told there is no-one, they hang up. The phone still works

I applied for a pre-paid line but am told the post-paid line must be first cancelled by the owner. When told he has died, they don't know what to do, but insist it must be cancelled, and one time told me that I will have to settle the outstanding bill of R 2200 before they render a service

I can of course continue using this line, which has not been cut off, despite being told by Telkom that unpaid phones get cut unless paid within 10 days of due date

The rent is paid up until the end of December, so I want to organise a new tenant

 

[Seriously]

Typical!

 

[Arthur]

Hehe. Bureaucratic snooker.

I've tried to teach my kids an important survival/life skill: how to get results in and through large bureaucracies. Sometimes their own systems have no way of resolving issues, so you have to adjust your game plan to get the results you require.

Why not write them a letter in the name of the subscriber, informing them that you have died and wish to cancel the service and close your account? (Just joking, of course. But it is tempting.)

As a first step I'd pop in to the nearest Telkom customer service centre and get it resolved face-to-face. Take proofs of identity and ownership of the premises, and copy of a death certificate if you have it.

 

[MickeyD]

As a first step I'd pop in to the nearest Telkom customer service centre and get it resolved face-to-face. Take proofs of identity and ownership of the premises, and copy of a death certificate if you have it.

^That... most important part.

 

[chrisc]

Yes, I thought of the death certificate idea. He died in J F Jooste Hospital and their first comment was "we only supply death certificates to relatives" so that was the end of that

Visiting a Telkom direct shop was worse than speaking to a non-English on 10210. The shop lady said the outstanding bill must be paid, so I suggested she call the bank, I mean it is not the first time a subscriber must have died, surely? She was the one who said the phone would be cut after 10 days for non-payment, but here we are, 130 days later still with a working phone

 

[MickeyD]

Yes, I thought of the death certificate idea. He died in J F Jooste Hospital and their first comment was "we only supply death certificates to relatives" so that was the end of that

Visiting a Telkom direct shop was worse than speaking to a non-English on 10210. The shop lady said the outstanding bill must be paid, so I suggested she call the bank, I mean it is not the first time a subscriber must have died, surely? She was the one who said the phone would be cut after 10 days for non-payment, but here we are, 130 days later still with a working phone

The customer care manager whom I know and who would have helped you, was retrenched last month.

 

[mister]

I applied for a pre-paid line but am told the post-paid line must be first cancelled by the owner. When told he has died, they don't know what to do, but insist it must be cancelled, and one time told me that I will have to settle the outstanding bill of R 2200 before they render a service

Cut the wire on your side, and throw it towards the pole. Then apply for a new line.

 

[chrisc]

I (or the tenant will) carry on using the existing phone until it is cut off. I have exhausted all reasonable means of resolving this. She moves in tomorrow and needs a phone for her business. I discovered by attaching a router to the line that there is ADSL as well, and 4mb nogal. It synchronises perfectly, so OpenWeb will provide the ISP service

 

[Arthur]

Do the accounts get mailed to your postbox?

 

[Former member 61586]

use line until it is cut off and debt written off. Then apply for new line. Profit.

 

[Colin62]

use line until it is cut off and debt written off. Then apply for new line. Profit.

You might sit for quite a while without a line while they argue about writing the debt off.

 

[Former member 61586]

You might sit for quite a while without a line while they argue about writing the debt off.

Hence using line until that time.

 

[Pitbull]

Tennant has paid till end December, he died in July? So he has over paid you by 5 months? Just settle the Telkom bill and connect the new tenant...

 

[Nomad]

Hehe. Bureaucratic snooker.

I've tried to teach my kids an important survival/life skill: how to get results in and through large bureaucracies. Sometimes their own systems have no way of resolving issues, so you have to adjust your game plan to get the results you require.

Why not write them a letter in the name of the subscriber, informing them that you have died and wish to cancel the service and close your account? (Just joking, of course. But it is tempting.)

As a first step I'd pop in to the nearest Telkom customer service centre and get it resolved face-to-face. Take proofs of identity and ownership of the premises, and copy of a death certificate if you have it.

Lmao. Thanks dude, I needed that.

 

[tRoN]

Run up the bill. Call a Nigerian sex chat line everyday.