success story

[Desertsnowman]

Ok - I've been reading these here boards and find that everyone has some sort of complaint or sad tale of bad service.

Mine story is one of good service.

I recently moved from one side of town to the other. in my old place i was sharing an ADSL line via a wireless network. So naturally since I moved I needed to get my own line.
I went in to the Telkom store in the mall and made my application. I asked that the line get installed on the 1 September. Since this is the day i moved in.

The next day I got a confirmation call confirming my application and request for the installation for the 1. (this was on the 10 August) 5 days later the technician called saying that he has tested the line and that it is fully capable of ADSL and that he'll be over first thing on 1 September.
around the 25 August I got a call confirming that I'll be at my place for the installation.
On the 1 September while I was out having breakfast at 8am the Technician called saying he is waiting outside my new place. 10 Min I arrive with the dude waiting in his van. I let him in and he gets to work. about 30 min later I was connected and running smoothly. a few days later Telkom called if everything is running and that there are no problems.

A few nights ago I sat down and could not connect, I called the faults number they gave me (this was about 10pm) and I spoke to a guy about the problem, a few minutes later while i was talking to him - It connected and was ok- later at around 1am disconnected and would not reconnect- went to bed!
In the morning still no connection, so called again explained the problem. They said I'll get a call in about an hour. I got the call from a technician about 10 min later explaining that there was a connection problem with one of the exchange things. (Cant remember what he called it) and that the problem should be sorted within an hour. Within an hour later I was connected. later on in the day Telkom phoned asking if my service is working, which I confirmed it was.

I have had a few irritations from Telkom, like my phone not ringing or lines being dropped (another story which was sorted out just as efficient as above) but the service that I received for this line was superb.
Honestly I have no problems with their service, just the price!

 

[Peapod]

have to agree that the service i get locally from telkom is first class - but then over the last few years, i have got to know most of the techs and all of the customer service staff well - and have email addresses and phone numbers so bypass all the usual "fault reporting" and "customer service" channels.
for the most part, the guys at the rock face are hard working, committed folk (I have found) who experience just as much frustration as we do getting things done within Telkom. I genuinely feel sorry for them.

 

[pupa]

Peapod
I fully Agree with You, (Are you in construction?)
The direct links and contacts had my adsl re-installed within 3 days after via the call centres made a stuff-up installing new line instead of upgrading Isdn. Had to use the "old way" to get it done, or had to wait another month for re-order issues.
When upgraded to 1024 again call centre stuffed up. Called Durban in 11:30 AM, talked with PTA 1:30 PM had upgrade running at 6 PM. The old way always worked and still do. This country wide call centres and management attitude is Telkoms downfall not the People working there. I even have techs direct cell in a emergency? They are great people working for to much of a burocrazy (deliberate spelling) company

 

[TheRoDent]

I have to agree that service wise, the tech's in the JHB suburbs (excep randburg) really do seem to rock. This, is unfortunately always how the cookie crumbles. The tech's rock, get over-comitted by marketing/sales, and then are forced to deliver "just sub par" service.

There's a real need for highly skilled people in Telkom

 

[sh1]

Mine story is one of good service.

A few nights ago I sat down and could not connect, I called the faults number they gave me (this was about 10pm) and I spoke to a guy about the problem, a few minutes later while i was talking to him - It connected and was ok- later at around 1am disconnected and would not reconnect- went to bed!
In the morning still no connection, so called again explained the problem. They said I'll get a call in about an hour. I got the call from a technician about 10 min later explaining that there was a connection problem with one of the exchange things. (Cant remember what he called it) and that the problem should be sorted within an hour. Within an hour later I was connected. later on in the day Telkom phoned asking if my service is working, which I confirmed it was.

This is very nice. I’m so happy for all of you. But herein lays the problem. I must say that all you said seems to be quite nice and is a good example of when things go smooth sailing, which does happen sometimes.
But do I need to point out that you had your ADSL for less than 3 weeks and already you had a couple of hours downtime (that you know off).
This is unfortunately only acceptable in SA, and people actually see that as part of good service while we’re paying our asses off for ADSL.

I don’t think Telkom will ever learn (change) while people in SA sees a couple of hours a month downtime as an acceptable service.
I had BT-Yahoo ADSL in the UK and my line was running 11 hours a day. My downtime was about 14 hours for the year.
Now the day Telkom matches that and give it at a much better price – I will be the first one in here that will post a big “CONGRATIOLATIONS TELKOM – your great” in here.
But for now, Telkom: Sorry to say but in most cases your service is sucks, but I hope that you’ll strive to always reach the above service levels.

 

[Desertsnowman]

Another thing is that each Telkom office is run independently. So it really depends on the staff of that branch. Pietermaritzburg is a small city and the work load cannot be compared to Cape Town for example.

 

[Desertsnowman]

But do I need to point out that you had your ADSL for less than 3 weeks and already you had a couple of hours downtime (that you know off).
This is unfortunately only acceptable in SA, and people actually see that as part of good service while we’re paying our asses off for ADSL.

For a matter of interest the problem was a result of lightning.

 

[sh1]

For a matter of interest the problem was a result of lightning.

It's always one of two things when it comes to Telkom. Either lightning or a server in the US. It's never their fault - they are to good of a company.

 

[Desertsnowman]

It's always one of two things when it comes to Telkom. Either lightning or a server in the US. It's never their fault - they are to good of a company.

I live a block away from the exchange and we did have a lighning storm when it went down. So I believe them.

 

[matt156]

Peapod
I fully Agree with You, (Are you in construction?)
The direct links and contacts had my adsl re-installed within 3 days after via the call centres made a stuff-up installing new line instead of upgrading Isdn. Had to use the "old way" to get it done, or had to wait another month for re-order issues.
When upgraded to 1024 again call centre stuffed up. Called Durban in 11:30 AM, talked with PTA 1:30 PM had upgrade running at 6 PM. The old way always worked and still do. This country wide call centres and management attitude is Telkoms downfall not the People working there. I even have techs direct cell in a emergency? They are great people working for to much of a burocrazy (deliberate spelling) company

The problem is that large companies in all sectors (Private and otherwise) NEED operating procedures to queue service requests properly. The fact that people have techies numbers and use the "old way" is actually a major problem and a big cause of Telkom's inefficiencies. It's not like there's a huge room of techies sitting around doing nothing because the sales / admin people just haven't bothered to tell them about your line. By calling in a favour you are effectively jumping the queue. There's a long list of people waiting for that techie's time to install their ADSL lines too.

 

[Bobb]

Just make sure they bill you correctly for the installation AND that they invoice you before phoning to tell you to pay for an account that hasn't been invoiced or suffer disconnection of your line. Telkom overcharged me by about R500 when they installed my ADSL and after MUCH screaming and shouting they have refunded it to me.

 

[Jarrod]

Waited 6 weeks for an installation. Waited for my phone to be connected. Yes the adsl was working but the phone not. Kept on asking telkom why my phone is not working and they told me that the tech that installed my line must sign the job off. After 10 days and 10 phone calls from my cell (waiting for telkom to answer about 20 mins on each time) they finally switched on my phone. Come end of the month they overcharged my account by about 1200. After 2 weeks of numerous phone calls they fixed it.

My dealings with telkom have not been a success story.

 

[matt156]

Isn't it ironic that a "normal" installation by Telkom - eg, them pitching up when they say they will, fixing their own disconnections, etc, is classified as a "success story"? In no way did they go out of their way in this installation to excel at customer service. The fact that customers are so suprised when they actually fulfil promises is quite something else. In a real company, bad service, not normal service, should be the exception.

 

[MrBEEP]

I must agree. I have only ever had positive experiences with the guys on the ground. It's the monkeys at the top I have a problem with!