Telkom bill troubles

[Tim182]

I recently moved place and now received my new telkom bill... R2100?!? I have a 4Mbit account, line only, no other services or even calls.

I had my old line cancelled for the last day of the month, the new one was installed 3 days later and there is also an installation fee of R620.

From what I understand my bill should have been R560 for a 4Mbit line and the line, nothing else. The old line was cancelled in time, the new one has only been connected for 2 weeks and after the old one was cancelled and the installation was just a reconnect which should have been free according to the call agent.

Anyone have any suggestions or ideas how to approach this and what might be going on?

 

[bradlesliect]

I think your bill may be about right.

They bill the new line as a new installation. They also bill you for current rental and one month advance. Even though you using Data ONLY, you still have to pay for the analogue line. Telkom don't sell data only ADSL services

 

[Tim182]

I think your bill may be about right.

They bill the new line as a new installation. They also bill you for current rental and one month advance. Even though you using Data ONLY, you still have to pay for the analogue line. Telkom don't sell data only ADSL services

That surely can't be. The new line is a reconnect, I was told there would be no charge.

And if they do bill me one month in advance surely I should get a refund of the month I paid in advance on my old line when I first had it connected...

I know I have to pay for the analogue line and ADSL line but there shouldn't be anything else. I have the same line as before which worked out to be +- R560

 

[ld13]

Just call their billing department and ask them to open a dispute to credit you as you were assured there would be no installation fees of any sorts as it was a simple service transfer. Same thing happened when we transferred our lines. The kind sir at their billing department sorted it out asap for me.

 

[Tim182]

Just call their billing department and ask them to open a dispute to credit you as you were assured there would be no installation fees of any sorts as it was a simple service transfer. Same thing happened when we transferred our lines. The kind sir at their billing department sorted it out asap for me.

Thanks, good to hear that you managed to sort it out. Hopefully I land up with a helpful person in the call center.

 

[bradlesliect]

Thanks, good to hear that you managed to sort it out. Hopefully I land up with a helpful person in the call center.

You are absolutely right, this will work IF the "transfer" hasn't been logged as a new installation. How was your request done and did you still retain your old number? Good luck with Callcentre. My advice - NOTE down the date, time, who you spoke to, what was said and INSIST on a reference number.

 

[ld13]

Hopefully I land up with a helpful person in the call center.

Yea. Call them up and just be polite with the agent. Most of the times that work just fine.

As our account was technically almost overdue I asked the dude to give us an extension on the total amount due as claimed by telkom as I politely refused to pay the erroneous "installation costs". I see payment of any amount shown on an invoice as acceptance thereof. So I merely went ahead and paid the remainder of the balance. Our dispute was granted about a week later.

 

[Tim182]

You are absolutely right, this will work IF the "transfer" hasn't been logged as a new installation. How was your request done and did you still retain your old number? Good luck with Callcentre. My advice - NOTE down the date, time, who you spoke to, what was said and INSIST on a reference number.

I moved to a different area so number changed and it would have been recorded as a new install. But when I applied they assured me that there wouldn't be any cost as the line was a reconnect... Also I did this 3 years back for another move and it also didn't cost me... weird.

Isn't the 2 months advance billing only for new customers? And if not when does it get reversed?

 

[bradlesliect]

Nope. Its for existing customers to. You see because you cancelled the old line and number, you've technically done an order for a new line and number which Telkom regards as a new installation. If it was just a "outdoor transfer" i.e. nothing changes wrt to ownership details, billing details and number then there is no cost.

However, having said that, Telkom should not be billing you for old number as there should be a deposit you payed when the old line was installed. This should cover most if not all of your bill.

Trust me I know the system - if nothing's changed - as I used to work for an ISP and this was the BIGGEST problems we always had with Telscum.

On your telkom account, all rental is billed in advance, usually one month but when a new install is done - regardless of whether you an existing customer or not - two months rental is billed of which one month is considered as the deposit which is then used to settle the rental when you cancel again.

 

[Tim182]

Nope. Its for existing customers to. You see because you cancelled the old line and number, you've technically done an order for a new line and number which Telkom regards as a new installation. If it was just a "outdoor transfer" i.e. nothing changes wrt to ownership details, billing details and number then there is no cost.

However, having said that, Telkom should not be billing you for old number as there should be a deposit you payed when the old line was installed. This should cover most if not all of your bill.

Trust me I know the system - if nothing's changed - as I used to work for an ISP and this was the BIGGEST problems we always had with Telscum.

On your telkom account, all rental is billed in advance, usually one month but when a new install is done - regardless of whether you an existing customer or not - two months rental is billed of which one month is considered as the deposit which is then used to settle the rental when you cancel again.

Ok then I guess I can understand the 2 months but surely I should be getting a credit against that from my old line as I paid that bill less than a month ago...

With regards to the installation cost I had it confirmed by 2 people that I shouldn't have to pay and I have reference numbers.

 

[bradlesliect]

Again the answer is an affirmative No.

The old line does not matter anymore.

That account is closed and a new one is created and is linked to your customer profile. Telkom has and will keep all the previous account history but that's a requirement and for customer history record purposes. Whatever deposit is on that account will go towards settling it and they will send you a final bill for the remainder portion.

 

[Tim182]

Good news, don't have to pay the installation fee after all. No questions asked, sorted in less than 5 minutes.

And the 1st month refund from the old line should also be credited in a short while and will then be deducted from the total due on the new line so overall the total will come down from R2100 to about R600 .