Telkom's Excellent Service

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robin

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At the beginning of December I requested an extra telephone jack so that I could move my ADSL from my study to my office ( order number 2780503/45 ) within the same premises.

Within a week a technician arrived to install a normal telephone jack due to a "miscommunication within Telkom" as to the job at hand - apparently a normal line technician cannot install ADSL jacks so he left and requested an ADSL technician be sent to install the extra jack - the ADSL department received the request on 8 December 2003 ( confirmed in one of my phone calls to expedite the installation ).

On 15 December 2003 I converted from residential to business line in order to receive the "quicker service" I was prepared to pay the extra +-R120 pm for.

On 27/28 December I phoned again to be told I had requested software, not a telephone jack. I was told a supervisor would phone me back to inform me when the installation would be done.

This morning, 5 January 2004, having not heard a word from Telkom, I phoned again to be informed that according to Telkom the installation had been completed.

Upon setting the record straight, I have been informed again that Telkom will get back to me - the debacle continues ...
 
Oh my goodness, what a great way to get your year started. This is a classic example of Telkom's wonderful customer service. I think we should start writing a book. Good luck Robin, you're going to need it!


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United we stand!
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Errmmm - there's no difference between a normal telephone jack and an ADSL jack as far as I know: they're both RJ11. The difference lies at the exchange, where the DSLAM port/circuit has to be allocated to your POTS copper line. Maybe he meant that he couldn't install the dual-jack adapter usually reserved for such installations... [}:)][}:)]
 
Sounds very much like what we went through, although in our case Telkom was overeager(?) to help us.

In December 2001 we moved bigger offices, and also transferred our ISDN lines to the new premises, keeping our current phone and fax numbers.

After the move was done in early January 2002 we had constant phonecalls, and once or twice somebody arriving at our offices to come and install our 'new ISDN lines'. This kept up untill March 2003, when we converted the ISDN lines to ADSL.

I think at this stage somebody at Telkom must have figured it out, because the calls stopped. Trying to explain it to them that we already have enough lines and that our previous lines was just moved over to the new offices wasn't working either.
 
That's why when I want something done.. I do it myself. Go to 7-11 and buy yourself a few metres of twin-pair flex cable... cut off the telkom box from the wall... and just make your own extension. I phoned them once for the same thing... and only afterwards found out that they actually charge me (per month) for this extra phone jack.. so I told them to stick the jack up there with the rest of SA's communications, and installed my own extensions.
 
I have taken solar's advice - I am installing the extra jack myself - they phoned me ( amazingly the same day I posted my complaint on this forum after all the previous failures - [:D] HELLO MR WHITE ) and told me they could not do it before 22 Jan 2004.

Not bad when the installation was requested 1 Dec 2003. They have a "take it or leave it" attitude which is going to be a pain in their backside in the not too distant future.
 
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">so I told them to stick the jack up there with the rest of SA's communications, and installed my own extensions.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
That's probably illegal, though...

mithrandi
 
I had to report a fault this morning. It took me THIRTEEN attempts to get the problem fixed. I was pushed around from one department to the next and yes. I *DID* phone the correct telephone number and selected the correct option. When I finally got through to somebody (I think after attempt number 7) we got cut off during the conversation. It took me a further HOUR to get hold of a human being, however, this pales in comparison to what I went through to get an ADSL connection...

I was moving from one house to another (same suburb) and at house number 1 I had ISDN and at house number 2 I wanted the phone number kept (I'm in the Yellow Pages so it's very important) and a new ADSL connection. On top of this there was a 6 week gap from moving from house number 1 to house number 2 (with me so far?).

As you can imagine things went spectactularly wrong. I will relate this in note form as it is very difficult to follow (I have problems even now!).

1. Mid Feb 2001, made request to Telkom, in person at a Telkom shop, to disconnect ISDN line on March 15th.. hold phone number (with recorded message) for 6 weeks and to install new ADSL line in House 2 from 1st June with my old phone number. I spoke to the manager and asked him to keep track of what was happening as I realised that things could go wrong. He promised he would. I filled in all the necessary forms.

1. March 15th - On moving day and disconnection day from house 1... nothing happened.

2. March 16th - Went into Telkom shop (where I made the original request, in person) spoke to Manager.. yes he remembered me. Checked system.. had NO record of any of the requests made. Showed him paperwork, man scratched head. After a few enquiries... ISDN dept had no request to disconnect the line and fetch the "box", normal phone dept had no record of request, ADSL department had no record of request. Submitted new request, and stressed the importance of keeping my phone number as I am in Yellow Pages.

3. 1st April 2001. ISDN line still active at house number 1. New owner very chuffed.. getting free phone calls while *I* pay. By this time I was somewhere in the wilds of South Africa doing a road tour. Phoned Telkom shop and screamed like a banshee. Phoned Telkom ISDN dept and screamed like a banshee.

4. 2nd April 2001. Get phone call from ADSL technician who is outside house number ONE! Current owner puzzled as she still lives there.. when can he install line? Told him ... wrong date. Man went home and told me to bypass the usual Telkom channels and to phone him directly giving 24 hours notice and he would be there to install ADSL line.

4. 2nd April 2001 (later in day). Phone call from IDSN man asking where I was as he wanted to install IDSN line in house number TWO. Still no recorded message on my phone number.

4. Mid April they finally disconnected ISDN line from house number 1 but forgot the recorded message.

BTW. I was still on the road in the wilds of South Africa.

5. Phoned Telkom and screamed again about recorded message.

6. End April - Finally got recorded message SIX weeks after I moved out of house number 1. I think I lost a lot of business.

7. May - all during the month I received phone calls from Telkom technicians to say they are outside my house ready to install the normal residential line and where am I? Explained nicely about 6 times during the month that I was having an ADSL line installed AND it was only happening on June 1st, as per my request. Current owner of house number 2 getting fed up with Telkom people keep arriving.

8. 1st June moved in. Phoned ADSL man and told him to wait a week before installing ADSL.

9. 8th June - Got study ready for ADSL man. ADSL man arrives on time. Plugs in phone to check that bit works ok, dials out and discovers that I have the phone number of the previous owner of house number 2. Previous owner phones me on cell phone and I'm shocked to see MY telephone number appear! I got *her* phone number and she got mine. She also informed me that a Telkom man was at her house and she didn't understand what he was saying. Spoke to Telkom man and he said he was there to install an IDSN line for me! Wrong person, wrong house, wrong connection. Luckily while all of this was happening, ADSL man was here at my house and was amazed at how wrong things had gone. I explained the entire story to him and he said to leave it to him and he would sort it out and guarantees that by 10am the next day, I would have my old phone number back.

Later that day I had a Telkom technician arrive to install a NORMAL phone line at my house. By this time I was exasperated and I told him that I had decided not to have a phone at my house and he should therefore cancel the request hehe. That worked though, I never heard from him again.

ADSL man (Marius) was true to his word. The next morning I had my old phone number back. Marius phoned me that afternoon and told me that he had reported the MAJOR C-UP.

A week later Marius phoned to to let me know that my case was being used as an example of how the various departments fall down so badly by not communicating with other departments, normal residential/ISDN/ADSL and were putting together training packages for their staff based on my case.

When all of this was over I returned to the Telkom shop and spoke to the man to whom I made the original and subsequent request (on the correct forms) and told him that he had promised me to keep an eye on the proceedings. I relayed the entire story, which as you can imagine took a good few minutes. His reply? Four short words... "It's not *my* fault". So I said "is that all you have to say?". He just shrugged. I turned and walked out.

Wendy
NOT impressed with ADSL connection (too slow), ADSL pricing (too expensive), ADSL cap (how DARE they reduce the already low GB usage) OR ADSL service.
 
Oops sorry, just realised that I had the dates wrong. In case anybody noticed. The original request for ADSL line was 1st MAY 2003 which I postponed for a month due to renovations. Also, it was 2003 NOT 2002, sorry, got my years mixed up &lt;G&gt;.

Wendy

Wendy Goode
Cape Town
South Africa
 
Wendy, I think you get the award for the worst service from Telkom in history. I thought my experience with them was but but after reading your story, I'm counting my blessings.

I certainly hope you're going to take this further. It probably won't get you anywhere but I'm sure blasting someone further up the chain will give you a bit of satisfaction.


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United we stand!
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In my experience of moving an ISDN line:
Phone back two days after submitting your form and confirm the details that you wrote on the form. Installation dates and your contact telephone number do not seem to make it from the "form" to the computer system.

Telkom Call Center Agent Aneta: Telkom does not call to confirm installation dates. Telkom provides a tollfree number for the customer to call TELKOM.
 
Some issues i encountered on my recent move to isdn:
Bought the new Telkom Tiny ISDN USB Modem from a local Telkom Shop. Got home - box empty. Lovely. Returned to shop, "Oh that must be the display model, hold on while i get the modem out of the shop window, its only been there a few months" £$£$%£$%$£%$E#!!! "Er, i think i'll have a new one instead".
Tried 3 times to get the ISDN application forms emailed to me, no luck, so i collected them myself from the famous local Telkom shop. After faxing them off to Cape Town, i received no feedback at all for a coupla weeks. After a few fruitless enquiries, i found someone who knew what i wanted, traced my order, and gave me a ref nr. Installation was done this Monday. The techie was a nice guy who did a good job.
Signed with Imaginet yesterday(who excellently gave me a 3 day trial to test before i signed with them). Thumbs up to them. Very helpful. Even gave me a local nr for gaming(they usually have 0860 nrs for everything else). Good pings, no probs so far. Happy Bunny [:D]

Telkom - South Africa's Handbrake to progress.
 
I had the biggest nonsens trying to get my adsl installed.
I went to telkom, ordered it. They Called Me The Monday and sayd it would be installes withing 2 weeks.
Well on the 23rd of december the dude called me and said hes comming to install that day. Rushed home and no one came.
I called the next day and answer is : port was never booked. I have to wait. Ok i waited and called couple of days later. No line is crap where changing it is the answer. Next problem couple days later they waiting for the modem. And i cannot cancel cause the order must be redone if i where to leeve the modem. Fine I waited again. Then finally an month an a halg later they come and install the line. Great !!!! Nope its not great cause then they didn't "order" my isp account And I have to wait till after the weekend. To Hell with that i told them to leeve it and i called mweb. Withing 15 mins my account was up.

Telkom is full of nonsens man.

But Now i at least have my line so thats cool.

[xx(]
 
Hi,

call 080 060 0126

and escalate your complaint.

Best of luck - this is another Telkom blackhole. But it seems to be more effective in spewing out results than the lower level helpdesks,complaints operators or whatever you want to call them

Hints:

Keep a log of all your calls
Always get the name of the person you are speaking to
Follow up that they did receive your faxes - call them and ask! Telkom does not seem to have the ability to operate a fax machine reliably.

Best of luck!







South Africa needs World Class Broadband at World Competitive Prices.
 
Geez. Geeeeeezzz.....I'd say more but this is a public forum. I thought I had problems with Telkom. I'm *just* getting billed every month for a modem I didn't purchase from them. And every week I get an SMS saying they're going to disconnect me...and that recorded message in the evenings saying they're going to disconnect me and blacklist me and send their lawyers to get their R263.10 from me.

Trying to explain to Telkom accounts has been pointless - they still insit I owe them the money. After explaining for the third time that I didn't buy a modem from them, the message is starting to get through - they're apparently sending a technician to me to check that I don't have the modem ..... ?!?!?!
 
LOL BlueBeanJuice it's incredible trying to fight Telkom because in their sight, they are always right.

When I ordered my ADSL it was cancelled because they claimed I still owed them money from 3 years ago. I know for a fact that I did not owe them any money so when I asked them what the money was for, they were unable to tell me. The bottom line is that I had to pay this mysterious amount of money or I could not get ADSL. I considered this blackmail, but what can one do? They're the most stubborn and dense bunch you'll ever come across. Whatever happend to the customer is always right? Hmmmph!


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United we stand!
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I agree with Pavlov, it is ESSENTIAL that you CHECK that your form makes it onto their computer. You must call them and confirm, and call again to reconfirm.

We applied for a simple name change. Took the form to the Telkom customer services branch. Waited a month, called to check if it was done, nope. Their was no record of the request. So we had to go and fill in another form. This was in September-October 2003. Last week my line went dead which I reported. When the techie phoned it was MORE than evident that the name change STILL was not done as he addressed me using the previous owner's name!!

My friend who rented a house with me wanted our phone number transferred to his new address.
Also went to the Telkom branch and filled in a form to request a name change and change of address. 3 weeks later when the due date came, nothing happened. The line was still active at the previous address and no one showed up for the new installation. So he went back to the Telkom branch. Again, there was NO record of his request. But now I was on holiday so I could not be present to fill in the same form again to request the name change. So they could only disconnect the line at the previous address. And the guy at Telkom we took the form to was on holiday and NO ONE ELSE at Telkom could help my friend unless I located a fax machine somewhere in the boendoes of the Northern Cape to fax through ANOTHER name change request form with my signature on it.
So my friend had to wait a week for the dude at Telkom he gave the original form to to return so that he could complete the order.

When that was sorted out the line was installed, a normal analog line. Even that they could not get right. They crossed it with someone else;s line it seems. When I phoned my friend I either got thru to someone else (I MADE DAM SURE I CALLED THE RIGHT NUMBER), or if I did reach my friend on that same number, there would be a constant engaged tone mixed together with our conversation. WELL DONE TELKOM!!
This was sorted out a week later.

Guys, I think as a matter of principle, when the 2nd fixed line operator starts doing business, we must switch. Even if it costs a bit more. I want to screw this incompetent company as much as I can to make them pay.

Thanx, I feel better now [:)]
 
Mithrandi: yes, it is illegal to install your own telephone jack.. but remeber, alarm companies can move telephone jacks and install telephone lines to their boxes in my house, so why can't I do it myself?

I'd just like you guys to know, my ADSL line was installed at 21:00 on a Friday evening. After about 20 calls to the telkom helpdesk, and then to my local Telkom dispatch, the lady gave me the phone number of the guy doing the actual installation.
I'd like to point out that this is our number one problem with telkom: NOBODY TAKES THE BLAME FOR ANYTHING.
They just refer you to someone else, and when you phone again, your speaking to someone in a whole different part of the country.

So when I got the cellphone number of the techie, I explained to him that I'm really quite tired of waiting, and he agreed to do it that same evening. What a great guy. It's almost impossible to believe that he actually works for telkom.

But I knew this was to good to be true, because when my adsl was installed, NO-ONE could give me a username until monday, which really pissed me off, because I know that I'm already paying for the account and the adsl line... so I dialed up using my modem, port scanned a bit on ther 165.165 range, and found myself a few ill configured telkom PPPOE router boxes. Needless to say.. I was surfing adsl from that instant.
 
I can relate to you on that one. The first techie that came to my house I got his number and now whenever something goes wrong I just phone him and he tries to get to my place. I'm sick of dealing with Telkom's switchboard operators.
 
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