Problem with my Telkom Invoice - Do level 2 ADSL Broadband

[BLaZor2]

Hey peeps.

I got my internet hooked up on the 23rd of November using the Self Install package. I'm not tied to any contract since I bought the router myself, and everything is as smooth as can be.

Just today I recieved my telkom invoice and I was "WTF" :wtf:
We currently have the Telkom Closer Option 3 and an additional phone line for upstairs. Usually the final bill comes to a max of R450. However, I noticed things like "DSL Fast bundle" and "TI-ALLAccess 3GB" which cost around R134 and R131 respectively.

I can understand one pays for the line rental and ADSL service.
This wasn't the case though, it turns out we gotta fork out nearly R900! :wtf: :erm:

They didn't charge for ADSL installation since I did the Self Install, so that wasn't the case.

They charged me twice for the 3GB allowance BUT one for Dec 09 then Jan 10. So essentially I'm paying for the following month?

I heard this issue gets rectified within the second month of having an ADSL account, since it all gets smoothed over, but it should have been a single package at R258 as advertised.

"Telkom Do Broadband 2 - R258", that's how it should have been!

The main question is, who do I phone? (10219) and what do I tell them?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Blaz

 

[Sting]

Phone 10210....for refunds and/or explanation of charges.

 

[diabolus]

Well Telkom charge you in -advance-. So the month you sign up, you will be charged for 2 months. That is, the CURRENT month and the NEXT month. From then onwards, it's just 1 month and you basically pay ahead.

I also got exactly that, the 3GB package + the ADSL Line Rental + Phone Line x 2 which is about R800-R900.

If your invoice is like mine, look carefully, you'll see almost half of the stuff is for the month ahead [Dec - Jan] and the other half would be for the month you signed up [Nov-Dec] . This would be the ADSL rental/Phone Line too, not just the 3GB package. Some might even be Pro-rata too.

The sorting on the invoice is a little off, making you easily miss the fact that you are paying twice for everything.

Anyway "Telkom Do2 Broadband for R258" is misleading. That EXCLUDES Line Rental, they also go another package called "Telkom Do2 CLOSER Broadband" , which is like R550 and includes the line rental.

Luckily Telkom breaks everything into little pieces on the invoice, regardless of your "bundle". So you [for good or bad] can see what portion of their packages is actually data and what is the line rental.

All in all, i believe for a 384kbps line + 3GB Telkom package + Phone Line should work out at about R400-R500 per month. R155 (ADSL Line) + R113 (Phone Line) + R135 (3GB data) = R403 . Now i got some extras, like call-answer / free minutes etc , which is another R50 or so. So most likely you can turn off that 3GB package and go to another ISP for the data portion [which will be another R200-R500] , but you'll still have to pay Telkom those ADSL Line. I'm not sure about the Phone line, i use mine anyway, but it might be compulsory too, meaning you have to pay Telkom approx R270 per month just to have ADSL, and then on top of that you need to pay an ISP for the data.

 

[BLaZor2]

But when I signed up, they said the ADSL line + line rental + cap was all for R258.
You mean to tell me that if I want to upgrade to the 4mbit package at R554, I'd have to pay over 700?!

 

[diabolus]

But when I signed up, they said the ADSL line + line rental + cap was all for R258.
You mean to tell me that if I want to upgrade to the 4mbit package at R554, I'd have to pay over 700?!

Yes, basically. I think the ADSL Line cost difference between 386/4mbit is R250 [R155 -> R413] , then Phone Line would be R113 , which brings you to approx R530. That is JUST line rental + access. Then you need to get data somewhere. So 5GB from Telkom would be another R200 or so...and then you are at R700+. If you now go to say Digichilli/screamer whatever, which are what? R400 uncapped? You will then actually be paying more like R900 a month in total.

http://www.do.co.za/broadband/index.html#/products/

The Do2 broadband package details are:

Cost : R258

do level 2 is designed for the customer who needs more data than speed, providing you with Fast DSL (up to 384kbps based on broadband technology) accompanied by 3 072 Megabytes (3GB) worth of data. *Included is 20,480 Megabytes (20GB) of local only usage.

Excludes line rental, voice and fax call charges.
The local data applies after the initial 3GB data has reached its limit.

versus this package

Cost: R591

do broadband level 2 CLOSER offers you all the benefits of do broadband level 2 as well as unlimited FREE Callmore calls for up to an hour per call, 1 300 inclusive minutes for your standard time calls, calls to cellular numbers will be billed per second with no minimum charge i.e. speak for 5 seconds pay for 5 seconds. Over and above these massive savings, your home line rental and Call Answer are also included.

So believe me, it is very confusing indeed. I'm still not sure what exactly "Line Rental" is, is it ADSL [R155] + Phone [R113] ?, Is it JUST ADSL or JUST Phone ? Either way, the R258 package is not including everything you need....very misleading.


EDIT: Check here: http://www.telkom.co.za/products_services/dsl/dslaccesonly.html

That is just the pure ADSL Access costs. No Data. I'm not sure if you need a Phone Line [R113] on top. Fact of the matter is, ADSL Access for 4 mbit/s = R413 p/month. So no matter how you structure you package, you are going to pay at -minimum- R413 + ISP/Data . It is unlikely you'll get a proper data/isp package under R200 , so we're talking R600+ no doubt. Now add the phone line and so, you won't get it under R700+

 

[msmoorad]

paying double

ive got the same problem- my account came to R844!!
i tried phoning 10210 & 10219 - they give you the same story but nobody can explain why this all was not made clear when i was signing up.
what i want to know is -from next month the charges will be normal- what happens to the extra i have to pay now?
we get charged monthly from next month but they already took R350 deposit when i changed from prepaid to normal line- now another approxR450- what happens if i cancel tomorrow- will they refund all this?
and it comes as a shock since they dont tell you this- they just tell you something about the first months invoice being a bit higher and then it will be normal from the next month after that.

 

[cableguy]

Telkom. Puke. I wish they would unbundle already!~

 

[Other Pineapple Smurf]

But when I signed up, they said the ADSL line + line rental + cap was all for R258.
You mean to tell me that if I want to upgrade to the 4mbit package at R554, I'd have to pay over 700?!

We wish. Its R258 for you ADSL Circuit + your cap (5GB blended).

Also you should have checked: http://www.telkom.co.za/products_services/telkomcloser/plan3.html

....
Optional extra:

* Add Broadband:
o Are you a Telkom Do Broadband customer? Subscribe to a Do CLOSER bundle:
o CLOSER plan 3 + Fast DSL up to 384kbps + Telkom 1 Gig account = R532 per month
o CLOSER plan 3 + Fast DSL up to 384kbps + Telkom 3 Gig account = R591 per month.
o CLOSER plan 3 + Fastest DSL up to 4Mbps + Telkom 5 Gig account = R887 per month.

 

[Underworld]

I don't c the issue. It's a norm at almost all companies that you pay the month of registration and month in advance; well companies that require a months notice of cancellation that is.

do2 includes:
384 Adsl access
5gb internet
R259 per month

excludes normal line rental of R133.30 (they do mention this everywhere btw)

So that boiles down to R392.30 x 2 = R800 odd bucks for first month thereafter R392.30 per month

 

[Scooby_Doo]

I got nailed because of Telkom stuff ups to the tune of R1300, i had my line transfered to a new place, first they didn't cancel my old line like i asked and they charged me a line install fee. So I now have to pay the R1300 because they can only credit my account next month and if i don't pay i either get a black stamp on my credit record or interest or both.

Sigh...