Why is a dial-up connection not a normal call?

[Moederloos]

To answer the original question: "Kaching!"
Telkom is a money grabbing, bloated blight.

 

[DragonLogos]

The limitations of the Loop is down to what the exchange can put though - if only one person or everyone phones, the cost is the same

 

[Csnoopy]

If you dial 012/011/021 etc into an ISP Telkom knows it is a data connection so you dont get it as part of the free minutes in Telkoms Closer packages. As cathrin has said with the Closer packages you have to buy an internet addon to cover you, only during callmore time. The addons are in hour packages smallest is R80 fro 75 hours. More later.

 

[Conspirator]

My point is just that it won't cost Telkom any more than a voice call would.

Of course not, but the profit is more. Any lame excuse for extra profit will be shamelessly used. Who cares about technical differences?

btw: They also charge extra for calls on all days ending with a "y".

 

[Csnoopy]

IMO dialups have just become to slow for the nowadays web pages and downloads. They have become to bulky and large. Telkom or whoever should make the basic ADSL package which is 384k & 1Gig + Modem/Router for R100/Month, from 1August it is R199. This could then easily replace a fare amount of dialups. Obviously only for those users that are in the limits of ADSL. Without any additional surprises at the end of the month. No more data no more internet. People will quickly realise to manage Internet within there budget. Or even a system like prepaid. When your bundle is up you can purchase and reactivate by prepaid.

 

[Csnoopy]

My friend Sandi recently got Telkom's closer 2 package. Shegot it because she could make free telephone calls after 7 in the evening as long as the are kept below 1 hour.

So, making calls only after 7 and connectingto the internet via dial-up only after 7, she expected to get a bill that was R145. Instead, what she got was a bill that cost her approximately R280.

She discovered to her dismay that she was being charged normal call rates for her connections to the internet.

Outraged for her part,I decided to go and look up the closer promotions on Telkoms website because she could not find the original closer ad she had seen in a magazine. Now while Telkom's webiste does state that calls to your ISP are charged at normal rates, I am wondering why.

These are not premium numbers, and they are not long distance numbers. The reason people use dial-up is because they cannot afford or do not feel they need broadband.

This woman is a single mother of two on a tight budget who cannot afford unexpected surprises at the end of the month. I am disgusted at the way Telkom is taking advantage of people who cannot afford better.

This is also what upsets me tremendously that you never get warned about the hidden costs. As you said we budget for x amount and then suddenly you have to pay more. And then they say to you but we told you and did you not read the product description. There always seems to be protection for the Service Providers but never for the end users. This is robbery at its best. They know exactly what they are selling but we as endusers have to guess.