Telkom disaster - any advice ?

[darklordpook]

Hey all,

This weekend i lost my Telkom line for the 5th time this year and the 4th time in the last 30 days.

I am a medical specialist working out of a private hospital in gauteng. As a result, patients cannot get hold of me, i can't download laboratory results, can't send out accounts and referring GP's can't get hold of me.

I have considered porting my number to Neotel, but their lines can't handle credit card machines or fax machines, and their data capabilities seem quiet poor from what i read.

I have phoned the business help line hourly for the last five days and every time i call i get a different response. The helpline guys are either helpful but not useful, incompetent or rude. I have had my fault
"escalated" numerous times, spoken to supervisors etc. with no effect other than empty promises.

Does anybody have a contact or can anyone suggest a number to call where i could get at least some feedback on the progress of my fault.

Am feeling increasingly helpless and am literally at the point where i'm re-evaluating my decision to stay in this country. Sometimes you just get to breaking point where you can't handle the sheer incompetences which make everyday life impossible.


Thanks.

 

[Yuu]

Perhaps tell us what you mean by line going lost, is it only ADSL not working or is the analogue line thats gone aswell?

I feel for you, if your voice portion always worked (when gone down 5th time) then why not go the 3G route (hope your area can get this so tell us where about u are) and you shouldn't have any issues in this regard, Use the telephone to fax etc but use the 3G for the internet portion.

Hopefully you come right.

 

[Greenis]

Lands lines are normally the most reliable but in your case 3G is the way to go.
Good luck with your problem!

 

[fragtion]

Copper cable theft, Yuu.
darklordpook, welcome to the club... suggestions: 1) bribe a technician to lay a tempoary line, 2) rewire your service yourself - it's just two copper threads that need to be rewired to any cable really, CAT5 will do fine. 3) apply for Telkom WiMax (but I hear they dont do it anymore), 4) apply for another ISP WiMax, 5) go for iBurst, 6) go for any other WISP you can find 7) go for neotel
...unless your data requirements aren't too high, in which case I'd suggest a data package with vodacom/mtn/wirelessg.co.za and a Linksys WRT543GV2
Bottom line: Telkom will not replace your line. Mine got cut in March 2007 and I've been without service since. Eventually I got a temporary line and trenched it but the poles and my neighbours are without Telkom service. All the while their CEO gets paid performance bonuses for permitting the contracting of a cable-security company that doesn't even exist. banana republic :/

 

[darklordpook]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm in Midrand. The first three times this month it was cable theft and this actually got replaced. We even got the engineers to organize a fibre-optic cable from the hospital to our exchange. This time it's just me and i have a completely dead line. Seems their technician came in to move a line for one of the other doctors and instead removed mine. Now i'm getting told that it's a problem with the underground cable / exchange / somewhere in the hospital. However, as mentioned, mine is the only line affected.

To add insult to injury, my home is in an area deemed to be "high risk for theft" so cant' get an ADSL connection at home either.

My current plan is to port my main practice phone line to Neotel and apply for a new Telkom ADSL line.