telkom installation rip-off

[jb007za]

I've just bought a new house and am in the process of transferring my line. I called 10219 to find out if the additional jack in the house will also be live. I'm told that I need to pay an additional monthly fee of about R 8 for this facility. That I can accept.

What I'm horrified by is that I will need to pay an additional fee of approx R300 as an "installation charge" for the additional jack which is already in the premises! To be clear, this is over and above the hundreds I'm paying to transfer the line. Apparently, the extension needs to be activated at the exchange and this is where the charge creeps in.

So, I'm just running my own home-made extension to another point. This is madness! Or am I just being stingy and unreasonable?

 

[The_Unbeliever]

So, I'm just running my own home-made extension to another point. This is madness! Or am I just being stingy and unreasonable?

No, you're not

utter bollocks for the extension to be activated at the exchange... *howls with laughter*

I've put in my own extension - bought a 30m telephone cable from PnP and extended it...

 

[kissingmybbgoodbye]

I

called 10219 to find out if the additional jack in the house will also be live. I'm told that I need to pay an additional monthly fee of about R 8 for this facility. That I can accept.

First time I heard of this charge, is telkom now going to check every single house with a phoneline to see if someone installed an extra jack somewhere in the house so they can start screwing south africa a bit more

 

[The_Unbeliever]

I

First time I heard of this charge, is telkom now going to check every single house with a phoneline to see if someone installed an extra jack somewhere in the house so they can start screwing south africa a bit more

Only will be allowed in my house with a court order, and I don't think the court will grant that...

ag shame poor telkom must really be feeling the pressure now, oh boohoo...

 

[gregmcc]

thats the most ridiculous thing i've ever heard!! how are they going to check how many jacks you've got. I can just see it - telkom people going from door to door just like the tv license people. Time to electrify my gate!!

 

[theStudent]

Unfortunately Telkom do charge for an extra jack, as its been an additional charge on my phone bill for over a decade! Originally was R2 per month, now its around R8.
Seems ridiculous!

 

[LCBXX]

I'm amazed at some of the bizarre and rediculous charges that pop out with certain Telkom clients.

I've moved house this weekend and went to a Telkom Direct shop to request an activation of the line in the new house and the transfer of my ADSL. Telkom said the activation/transfer of the line at the new place (a diffirent area code too) would be free of charge 'cause I'm already a customer and they will mark the ADSL transfer as "self install" as to make it free as well.
Could it be that they nail some customers to benefit others?

As for the extra line and jack in the house - how hard can it be to hook up 2 wires with an extention...?

 

[Franna]

Don't mention anything about the extra jack to Telkom. Simply get them to transfer the line. The extra jack should already be connected to the incoming line and will work without the need to do anything.

 

[Alchemist]

Telkom charge you R8 a month per point that that you have in your house - ie I have 3 points in my house for the same number, Telkom charge me R8 for each, supposedly as a maintenance fee. This has been going for at least 3 years that I've known of

 

[jb007za]

hey, thanks for the feedback... just to update you on this matter, i called back to 10219 to verify that this charge exists. spoke to a nice guy who confirmed that this was indeed the case but acknowledged that it seemed to be a rip-off. he gave me the customer services number (0800 600 126) to call to lodge a complaint. the woman i spoke to was really friendly but said that i had to live with this as it is a standard charge... no possibility of lodging a complaint. at the end of the conversation, she said "ya, it's too much". when telkom's own staff members agree that the prices are sky high, you know you need to worry! bring it on neotel.

 

[andres101]

afaik, the R300 is a standard installation charge that you would have to pay, whether you are installing an extention or not!