Telkom Feedback

[rpm]

Hi guys

Hereby the response from Steven White. Please give your views on this response.

__________________________________________________________

Dear Mr. Muller

Thank you for the open way in which you addressed your questions and queries at our recent videoconference. We appreciate the benefits of open dialogue and would like to work with you to help ADSL users to enjoy their experience of the service. There are however a few issues we must first agree on.

We are concerned with certain incorrect and misleading information on the MyADSL website. We therefore urge you to remove such comments and in future edit all new postings to ensure a professional approach. It is important that all information posted is correct. I am sure that you will agree that the following constitute unacceptable behaviour: messages containing swear words, including abbreviations of swear words, insults or any form of harassment towards Telkom and Telkom employees and any other persons, e.g. “Telkom employees are idiots”, comments containing political, racial, sexist, discriminatory or remarks that are socially unacceptable.

It should also be appreciated that Telkom will not engage in issues that are considered propriety business information.

Telkom has designated channels to deal with problem areas and complaints. These channels must be used at all times and calls should not be directed to individual Telkom employees. As agreed I would appreciate it if you could bulk all questions and forward them to Karel Wentzel (xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx) Please do not publish this mail address on any site or media and allow a reasonable time for reply ( 2- 3 business days)

I have asked my technical staff to address the various questions raised on the website and to provide you with regular updates as and when they become available.

I trust that we can work together

Yours sincerely

Steven White
Executive: Product Development
________________________________________________________________


RPM
[email protected]

 

[rpm]

Hi again

I do not want to influence any views or perceptions, but feel that this reply should be viewed in a positive light. I was quite taken aback by the meeting and after receiving no feedback for a week, but now Telkom has made an effort and there is something to work on.

Please give your honest views on this reply, and what you would like to see in future.

Regards,

RPM
[email protected]

 

[caroper]

<b>We therefore urge you to remove such comments and in future edit all new postings to ensure a professional approach. </b>
So much for free speech

<b>following constitute unacceptable behaviour: messages containing swear words,</b>
Ok all, we are not permitted to say Telkom any more.

<b>It should also be appreciated that Telkom will not engage in issues that are considered propriety business information.</b>
We are not to discuss anything related to telecommunications, data services or international bandwidth, as this is all propriety business information

<b>Please do not publish this mail address on any site or media and allow a reasonable time for reply ( 2- 3 business days)</b>
Is that the propagation delay on their mail server? May be my line isn’t so bad.

<b>I have asked my technical staff to address the various questions raised on the website and to provide you with regular updates as and when they become available.</b>
Some welcome news at last

<b>I trust that we can work together</b>
I hope so for the Countries sake.

 

[dojob]

Dear Mr White,

Thank you for taking the time to respond to us.
Myadsl is a open forum where users express their opinions, therefore it is difficult for all people to behave appropriately especially when they are unhappy about their service.

Statistics indicate that only a small percentage of users are offended by vulgar language on this site. Therefore there is little we can do about changing this.

MyADSL has stated from its inception, that it is an open forum where opinions and views are discussed freely! The day you organisation has its own forum, then you Mr. White can dictate the rules.

However we are looking forward to working with you in the future!

 

[microfast]

<i>Originally posted by rpm</i>
<br />.... It is important that all information posted is correct. /quote]

Telkom says : When you reach your 3GB limit you are routed to
a slower connection.

Now this information is factually incorrect - it should read

"When you reach your 3GB limit we (Telkom) effectively disconnect you from international access"

 

[paf]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">
We are concerned with certain incorrect and misleading information on the MyADSL website. We therefore urge you to remove such comments and in future edit all new postings to ensure a professional approach.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
Excuse me, but this is <b>our </b>site. The webaddress is myadsl.co.za and not telkom.co.za

So we post precisely what we experience and what we think, and not what Telkom wants us to write. We are not a marketing channel for Telkom, we are a user group.

As for the swearing:
1. So there's the odd ***** - so what? This is not Sunday school.
2. People who are annoyed will talk rough-make as happy, and we talk sweetly.

As for the other statement:
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">
I have asked my technical staff to address the various questions raised on the website and to provide you with regular updates as and when they become available.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
That is very positive indeed. Thank you. As has been suggested previously, there should be a special section for questions to Telkom. Only moderators should have editing rights in this section. This is where fair questions and queries to Telkom could be posted and where Telkom could respond.

 

[kaspaas]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by rpm</i>
<br />

Telkom has designated channels to deal with problem areas and complaints. <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Funny one this: During RPM's talk to mr White, it became apparent how blocked and inefficient these channels are. Ok, I believe the notes with Telkom indicating that this would be resolved.

It would be appreciated if Mr White would provide us with the channel details that need to be followed.

I assume it starts with the helpdesk.

What should one do if one do not get answer from a human being within 1 minute? (or otherwise, what is the level of service Telkom will deliver regarding the availability of helpdesk operators?)

What should one do if one do not get a competent answer?

What should one do if action is promised and nothing happens?

Lastly: Telkom threatens with charges if they claim it is not Telkom's fault. Will Telkom credit my account if I have to escalate a problem? It takes time to lodge a complaint that could have been solved if Telkoms channels did indeed work.

 

[bullstein]

Mr White and Telkom

Thank you for responding to our queries and troubles at last. I see this in a very positive light indeed.

I believe that through careful negotiation between Telkom and the users of this website we can truly make a difference in the service currently provided. I myself have cancelled my adsl due to bad service but would gladly reinstate the use of it if it would seem to become of any use, especially as far as international connection is concerned. I believe that i speak for us all when i mention this as a great issue.

Through your response it is clear that Telkom is monitoring this website closely and would like to keep its customers happy, even if only to save some face and keep customers from flocking to future competitors.

Please bear in mind that www.myadsl.co.za is a site created for the use of adsl users and they are free to express their opinions and experiences as they see fit. These opinions are not always those of the moderators or even sometimes of the other users, but these people are free to give their opinions. That is what free speech is all about. So even if we sometimes do not agree with everything on the site, we allow people to say what they like. The least we can do is listen.

One last thing: This site would never have been created in the first place had the formal channels of Telkom worked properly. So one tip to you Mr White:

Get those working properly - and you will not see a repetition of this in the future.

All in all i believe that we are going to co-operate very nicely and thank you for your time. This will save you a lot of money in the long run!

 

[ASF]

Dear Mr White,

Thank you for your response to RPM as a followup to your meeting of the 19th. In response to the transcript of the meeting held with RPM and yourselves and the subsequent followup letter sent by you:

* We the electorate of South Africa HAVE A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT to freedom of speech! This is OUR place to have a say! I find your insinuation that we should censor our members offensive.

* Forum members have a RIGHT to publish their views whether factually correct or not - if a member posts something that is technically incorrect other forum members will (I have no doubt) post the correct information - dissemanation and education of users is a key benefit of open forums! Should the post be non-technical well then is it not a matter of perception / opinion? Is it OK with you if I have an opinion on something? If my opinion is based on incorrect information I would assume it is in YOUR best interest to inform me of the correct information so that it may influence my perception / opinion?

* Why can you not disclose the raw statistical data you refer to? Further I think you will find that by scanning these forums that the 3 Gb cap IS NOT the only issue members have; others include cost, QoS, support etc...

* When you had your meeting on the 19th we were 200 members - Today we are 415 members - over 100% growth in 8 days - extrapulate the factor - how many members will we be in say 6 months if our current growth rate continues?

* Dialouge IS good but I would remind you that the ONLY reason this forum came to being is as a result of the dissatisfaction of ADSL users. If your channels worked correctly and user problems / queries were dealt with professionally and timeously in the first place this piece of cyber real estate would never have come into being. Do not shift the blame to us (your clients I might add!) because our members felt that they had no other alternative!

* I get the impression you are not that happy with us! Well guess what ditto! The heavy handed approach to product / service / client realtionship management is a culture that has been bred in Telkom over many years due to your position as a monopoly.

 

[microfast]

ASF
you said it good ! [8D] - plain and clear.

If only Steve could cross his rubicon, respect freedom of speech and just do a re-take of the whole situation.

I would just like to repeat one of my earliest posts.

If one asked all adsl users the following question:

"Will you be happy if we disconnect your international link after you reach a limit of 3GB on your monthly usage?"

The answer to this and many other valid questions to adsl users would be a resounding : "NO, I would not be happy"

Telkom please, take adsl to level of service that will not embarress us in the global village.

 

[ASnogarD]

I like to make some points:

1) I do moderate vulgar , racist , sexist and unnecessery crude and rude posts - I WILL not moderate , alter or change in any manner a memebers opinion with the exception to censor or remove vulgar , racist , sexist and unnecessery crude and rude posts. I will also speak out against anyone trashing another members opinion - comment about the opinion but not trash it, regardless whether it is positive to or negative to Telkom.

2) I find it hard to believe statements that are backed by statistics which cannot be revealed. If the stats are not for public viewing then in the intrest of communication to customers at least allow the representitive of the customer view them and report whether or not its proof.

3) SW seems to indicate that the current ADSL is the best that South Africa is capable. I am curious , do we take that to mean in Telkoms opinion SA is a true 3rd world country incapable of meeting international standards ? Or should I view it as a statement that Telkom is not capable of providing a service on par with its international counterparts despite currently having no competition for the SA market ?

 

[ASF]

I agree 100% with the above post.

Mr white has another thing coming if he thinks he is going to dictate to us how we all use OUR forums...

 

[VQuest]

Firtly I'm really pleased to see that we finally got a reply from Mr White. This is (hopefully) a step in the right direction.

But I must say, I'm a little speechless as to why he would think he has the right to make any rules on this board. Quite ridiculous actually.


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United we stand!
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[grubman]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by VQuest</i>
<br />But I must say, I'm a little speechless as to why he would think he has the right to make any rules on this board. Quite ridiculous actually.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

I agree, but methinks telskum has gotten too used to, as some have put quite eloquently, playing MONOPOLY. They are so used to this that they think their control bleeds across all boundries.