Telkom Reply: Your feedback needed

rpm

rpm

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Hi folks

I have just heard back from Telkom, and they have unfortunately shied away from showing their dedication to a true customer centric approach and were somewhat aggressive regarding this issue. Please note that I sent this email to Wally Beelders, acting Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, but received a reply from Telkom’s Corporate Communications.

Please give your views on this last email and let us know how you would like us to proceed.

Telkom reply:

This email has been removed as it was intended as a personal email. Please do not see this as censorship…it was a misunderstanding from my side thinking it was an open reply. In my further telephonic discussion with Telkom it was agreed that the meeting can be recorded to ensure transparency.

For those who did not read it, the mail basically states that Telkom would like to meet with us but that there must be a relationship of trust. They therefore did not explicitly agree to the terms in my previous email to them, but is looking forward to meet with us to discuss these issues.



For those of you that missed the previous posts, here is the letter I sent to Wally:

“Thanks for the prompt reply and invitation to a meeting to discuss the issues pertaining to the new ADSL pricing structure.

Whilst I am delighted that you would like to meet I would first like to ascertain the level of commitment from Telkom. I have been to many meetings with Telkom only to walk away with nothing but empty promises. I am loathe returning to the forum members empty-handed again and need to know if Telkom intend to make any changes to their pay-per-gig pricing system?

I would also appreciate a commitment that changes can be made within a given time frame. The specifics are obviously open for discussion, but the basic concept of changes within a time frame is not.

I understand that this may place you in a tough position, but as I mentioned before we would like to walk away with something solid from this meeting. I think that Papi and you will agree that a true customer centric approach is not explaining to customers why they should be happy with a certain product while they are not, but rather to listen to their needs and develop products that they will be happy with. In this task we are most willing to be of assistance.

While this email might seem negative it is far from it. I am willing to invest a great deal of time and energy into a mutually beneficial relationship which will result in improved products to our members and the broadband community as a whole. Telkom must however be open to change to make this possible and I need to know if during this meeting you will be able to offer anything concrete to users.

I look forward to hearing from you and hope to build a healthy working relationship with Telkom.”

Regards,

RPM
 
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That is not a good sign. Rather than just saying "Yes we are committed to solutions" they spew out more meaningless drivel which basically indicates to me they are talking to us to just keep us quiet. Sorry to be so pessimistic but the answer I suggested above would have been much easier for them if their intentions were genuine.

I better start budgeting for the 30% increase to my ADSL account next year. *sigh*
 
rpm - hope you are taking lots of deep breaths

people have been seriously maimed for much lesser crimes than that response...
 
Typical Telkom obfuscation. They are consistant in their 'good cop/bad cop' methodology. Obviously they are not going to do very much other than talk. Hell, even talk looks 'maybe'!

Frankly holding out the olive branch for a while is all that I would. Given that Telkom shows insufficient willingness to take any commitment to their customers seriously, I would not deign to reply.

They've had their chance. They must now either piss or get off the pot.
 
TELKOM = A waste of time. You called their bluff. It is about time to start contact their investors and damage Telkom image as much as possible.
 
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Marketing departments can be a bitch. They tend to be overly sensitive and despite all their "training" respond in the most offensive way possible. An example that springs to mind is a certain marketing director who actually said that freedom of speech was less important than the organisation. And this to the public :D

Ok and now for some positive feedback :D

I'd say respond in pretty much the only way that Telkom have left to you for now rpm. Give them a date and time and copy in papi and lulu with the complete correspondence. (not blind carbon)

Telkom clearly aren't all that keen to make promises or give a clear understanding of what (if anything) they're willing to do for consumers. As long as the people coming to the meeting are able to give actual feedback and perhaps even arrive at decisions, it could still be productive.

I'd make sure that Papi/Lulu know exactly what's going on and are aware of the outcomes that you want from the meeting.
 
If they want a date and time, Give them a date and time. 13h00 today should be fine. You busy then?

They are trying to make it seem like this is a new request not that it's a follow on from the past 5 years of bad service.
 
Your daily reference to the past means you are dealing with us within a particular filter.
Click to expand...

OMF excuse the emotive post, but WANKER!!! A particular filter? That's like you shooting me in the leg, last week, then you saying "hiiii how're you" and I call you an ******* and you act surprised?!

Holy crap.. where do Telkom find these geniuses. Great way to deal with customers. Obviously they didn't read the part of your email that basically said "just tell us if we're wasting our time". You have to be a special kind of idiot to be aggressive with customers while trying to convince the world you're becoming more interested in customer satisfaction.

I say - set up a date for a meeting asap, no need to sink to their level of "its your fault!" "no yours!" :p

At the meeting reiterate what you said in the mail - that there needs to be action or there is no point in building a relationship between telkom and MyADSL...
 
I agree fully with AntiTheses' idea for the way forward.
 
Daaru said:
They are trying to make it seem like this is a new request not that it's a follow on from the past 5 years of bad service.
Click to expand...

this is very typical of just about every thing in za i have had to deal with
 
I think another mail is in order, but also send it to the CEO(Papi?) .... just so that he knows whats going on as well. I suggest that in the mail we clearly stipulate that we are more than willing to meet. We however would like the players at the meeting to come there fully informed and open to change(similar to ur second mail). Maybe tell them some of what we expect so they can do what research they need for the meeting. Maybe even provide them an agenda for the meeting?
Even though this person from telskum is a total a-hole ... I think we still need to keep the communication channels open ...
 
Hi folks

My concern with a meeting without any commitment from their side is that I will hear the same old dribble all over again.

Why don’t they want to commit? Do they have any plans to change their product? And if they don’t want to change their product to suit customers, why are we meeting with them?

I personally think if they do not want to commit we should explore other avenues to ensure that they feel the pressure to change their ADSL product. In the past I have seen that they seldom listen to us in meetings, but often listen to us in the media…

Regards,

RPM
 
It reads like marriage counseling, rofl

I think we can all see where their commitment lies, not with the customer.
They cant even answer a straight forward question, whats the point of meeting with them.

I have this vision of skeletons sitting around a boardroom table with cobwebs and stuff, the agenda on the table reading MyAdsl/Telkom TALKS.

Telkom are quite keen to build this house, but are only prepared to lay 1 brick a year to do it.
These Telkom exec's can afford to waste hours and hours of their time at what they get paid, its different for the average person on the street.

rpm, I honestly believe that you should write these sods off for what they are and have always been, and shift your wonderful efforts to the DoC, perhaps Roy, he seems to be the best of the worst.
I believe your time and efforts will be better spent at the one institution that can effectively FORCE change.

Who wrote this reply, isnt that Lulu, or her department?
 
well why not combine it, bring a camra to the meeting, am sure they will object, then just pull the freedom of speach bit, i'll do it for you ;)

this will give us something to put in the media that is very demanding ! and they will think hard about ther dribble or not.
 
rpm said:
Hi folks
In the past I have seen that they seldom listen to us in meetings, but often listen to us in the media…
Click to expand...

100% agree. You have to know when you are wasting time.
 
I understand what u r saying rpm, but a meeting can't really hurt?

As I said, provide them with an agenda and specify what you expect of them. They are probably not going to commit to anything over email. They just might in the meeting. Maybe take a lawyer? or get them to sign some papers at the meeting of their intentions?

We can always then go back to any other avenues if this meet proves fruitless .... mayb explore other avenues similtaneously?
I don't think we should just close the door on telskum, as they will they use that against us and go running to the media about how we are not willing to meet with them despite their attempts. I personally don't want to give them that sort of ammunition. If they willing to meet in durbs, then I am willing to meet them if u r too busy, or too tired or them :)
 
By that response,It kind of sounds like theyre trying to get you pissed off so that you say something rude to them so that they can have an excuse not to deal with you/us/myadsl,while still keeping the door open for meetings if you do not get aggressive/rude.
Edit:So maybe they feel like theyre in a corner and are gonna have to deal with you sooner or later kind of thing,maybe not.
 
Delaying tactics, you need to be careful here. If you refuse to meet they will use that against you and you will go round in circles until you finally get to a meeting.

Quickest way forward is to agree to a meeting ASAP
 
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