Telkom fibre - never again!

Yenolo

Yenolo

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 29, 2010
Messages
137
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Location
Durban
Last year fibre was introduced to my area by Openserve. I was on an ADSL line with Afrihost but Telkom were offering a 25Mbps fibre line for R699 p/m on a two year contract with a 'free' router.
Stupidly I signed up for this deal and fibre was duly installed. All went okay for a couple of months, then I got an SMS to say because of the lockdown I was receiving a free upgrade to 40Mbps. The next month the bill arrived and was for more than the contract price. I called Telkom's 'customer care' line, (what a joke that name is), and asked why my bill had increased to R780, I was told it would be investigated. Thereafter the monthly Telkom bills kept arriving and were all around R780, then in November the bill was for R1890! Once again, on the phone to customer care, and I was told that credits hadn't been passed for my account. Meanwhile the line speed had increased to 50Mbps without anyone asking if I wanted an upgrade.
Long story short, I've been phoning Telkom every month, my speed is now on 100Mbps, (once again without my authorization) and my monthly bill is now R1225. I've just spoken to Telkom again and even they don't know why I'm on a 100Mbps line now!
I would love to dump this Telkom contract, (it still has 11 months to run), and go back to Afrihost whom I never had a billing issue with. Does anyone know if it's possible to get out of the remaining contract with Telkom?
The Openserv line has worked perfectly but it's Telkom's chaotic billing that I'm totally fed up with.
 
Yeah, Telkom as an ISP in any form (ADSL / Fibre / LTE) is a no go for me. As well as contracts. They always have been. Their billing system is a pain to deal with, and all the people you're able to talk to just don't care enough to help.

I had a ton of joy a few weeks back when I tried cancelling my month-to-month LTE package with them. They claimed it was on a contract when I insisted it wasn't and they should check the voice call logs. It was such a pain because no one was really willing to help, so in the end I gave up. I was going to give it one last fight when the last invoice came through and visit a telkom shop to explain the pain to someone in person, but the last invoice was there and the penalty wasn't - so I guess I gave them a hard enough time for them to look.

You can get out of a contract, but there will be penalties. If you go through the motions of cancelling it on the website, someone will call you to confirm and explain the proccess. I don't see it ending well for you. You will be stuck with your high bills and penalty fees for early termination.

Lots of people here rage about Afrihost support, including myself. But you just can't compare how much smoother the process is to get help from them. In all cases, whether it took long or not, I've come right with AH. That, and the competitive pricing, is why I have stuck with them where I can.
 
mr_norris said:
Yeah, Telkom as an ISP in any form (ADSL / Fibre / LTE) is a no go for me. As well as contracts. They always have been. Their billing system is a pain to deal with, and all the people you're able to talk to just don't care enough to help.

I had a ton of joy a few weeks back when I tried cancelling my month-to-month LTE package with them. They claimed it was on a contract when I insisted it wasn't and they should check the voice call logs. It was such a pain because no one was really willing to help, so in the end I gave up. I was going to give it one last fight when the last invoice came through and visit a telkom shop to explain the pain to someone in person, but the last invoice was there and the penalty wasn't - so I guess I gave them a hard enough time for them to look.

You can get out of a contract, but there will be penalties. If you go through the motions of cancelling it on the website, someone will call you to confirm and explain the proccess. I don't see it ending well for you. You will be stuck with your high bills and penalty fees for early termination.

Lots of people here rage about Afrihost support, including myself. But you just can't compare how much smoother the process is to get help from them. In all cases, whether it took long or not, I've come right with AH. That, and the competitive pricing, is why I have stuck with them where I can.
Click to expand...
I agree with you 100%. I've now cancelled with Telkom using their website and I'm willing to pay the penalties to get away from them and the monthly nightmare of having to phone and not get anywhere.
Afrihost have already said they will credit my future account with them for up to R5000 to cover penalties. I just have to submit Telkom's invoice indicating what the penalties are.
When fibre was introduced to my area last year I was so happy to move from an old 8Mbps DSL line to something faster that I overlooked Telkom's bad reputation. The wife said at the time that I would regret going with Telkom, now she has the satisfaction of saying I told you so! :)
 
Yenolo said:
Last year fibre was introduced to my area by Openserve. I was on an ADSL line with Afrihost but Telkom were offering a 25Mbps fibre line for R699 p/m on a two year contract with a 'free' router.
Stupidly I signed up for this deal and fibre was duly installed. All went okay for a couple of months, then I got an SMS to say because of the lockdown I was receiving a free upgrade to 40Mbps. The next month the bill arrived and was for more than the contract price. I called Telkom's 'customer care' line, (what a joke that name is), and asked why my bill had increased to R780, I was told it would be investigated. Thereafter the monthly Telkom bills kept arriving and were all around R780, then in November the bill was for R1890! Once again, on the phone to customer care, and I was told that credits hadn't been passed for my account. Meanwhile the line speed had increased to 50Mbps without anyone asking if I wanted an upgrade.
Long story short, I've been phoning Telkom every month, my speed is now on 100Mbps, (once again without my authorization) and my monthly bill is now R1225. I've just spoken to Telkom again and even they don't know why I'm on a 100Mbps line now!
I would love to dump this Telkom contract, (it still has 11 months to run), and go back to Afrihost whom I never had a billing issue with. Does anyone know if it's possible to get out of the remaining contract with Telkom?
The Openserv line has worked perfectly but it's Telkom's chaotic billing that I'm totally fed up with.
Click to expand...
I am having a similar problem ,signed up in october 2020 for 50Mbs at 899 . They installed it in feb 2021 and are billing R1400.Logged many disputes since march invoice.I asked the agent to transfer me to a manager and the agents said that she cant as per company policy.WHAT A NIGHTMARE.
 
analytical said:
I am having a similar problem ,signed up in october 2020 for 50Mbs at 899 . They installed it in feb 2021 and are billing R1400.Logged many disputes since march invoice.I asked the agent to transfer me to a manager and the agents said that she cant as per company policy.WHAT A NIGHTMARE.
Click to expand...
Where's ICASA where you need them?
Where's the Consumer Protection Act when you need it?

Pretty sure you can cancel early and pay a pro rata penalty on the router - or return the router.
AFAIK. Telkom can't pro rata the line rental or data.
 
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