Why Telkom Sucks…
I thought I’d be clever and be the first one in my department to get an ADSL1024 internet line at home. This, so that I could subvert the system that is corporate South Africa and avoid having to wait for their purchase of iBurst modems for standby staff.
Little did I know.
Ok, fine – I never really had a problem with my telephone line, other than loosing the connection every month or two, but a simple call to the 10212 number would solve that in a week (or so). How bad could it be to upgrade the line to accommodate ADSL too? Surly that connection issue would be sorted.
Lo and behold… woe is me.
So I get my ADSL installed, after waiting about 5-and-a-half weeks (which was still better than the 2 ½ months that the company’s iBurst took to only approve), and it works! Wonderful! I am in heaven. I update all my favorite games, download some more online versions, shop, chat, surf, work and more – all at the same time. Heaven! There is more bandwidth than I can use. I even try the peer-to-peer thing (what junk :’( … ). Ok fine, there are ways of getting an IP address and working around the Telkom tape but it’s at least better than 56k (or 36k as my line allowed).
Anyway, this was in the first 6 days that I have ASDSL. Then comes November 1, 2005. Hard caps arrive. No one warned me about this. Not even a hint that this would happen. Damn! I was just chatting to a friend in the UK about how it was ok to have a soft-cap that only capped international bandwidth, because the game servers and my work are local and that bandwidth is always available.
Boy was I wrong. Now if I really want to work from home I have to pay R100 a pop for a gig, which, if I do not use by the end of the month I loose (which – according to Murpy – is the most likely scenario). What a rip off! AND I loose any of the 3gig package that I pay for at the end of every month NOTHING gets carried over. What a rip off! What a rip off…
I reiterate – A RIP OFF!
But I suppose that’s ok… I suppose that I can make the sacrifices necessary to afford the grand that I have to fork out every month or this “privilege”. This is a premium home service I suppose and this is Africa after all…
Premium – riiiight! That same friend in the UK informs me that for the same (converted to Rand) price that I am paying for my 1mb line he gets 8mb! Grrr… What a rip off!
But then a week later the games start. My phone line goes dead. Not the ADSL (phew), just the land line…
I log the call 0800 DSL DSL simple - 30 minutes listening to the same perpetually repeating 30 seconds of recorded “music” created for and in the 80’s abruptly interrupted by the same monotonous voice telling me my “call will be answered”). I wait a week, receive a useless call from some unintelligible Telkom call center staffer asking if I still have a problem and get told that they will make a note and takes my contact number.
The problem goes away a week later… eventually… not a word from Telkom.
A few days goes by and another Jo’burg storm… my telephone line goes dead again… *sigh*
I log the call - 15 minutes this time – I listen again to the same perpetually repeating 30 seconds of recorded “music” created for and in the 80’s abruptly interrupted by the same old monotonous voice telling me my “call will be answered” – Ja! right). I wait a week, receive a useless call from some unintelligible Telkom call center staffer asking if I still have a problem and get told that they will make a note and takes my contact number. No information, not a word about what the process is or what is going to happen next, not even a clue as to what the problem might be or who has investigated. Nothing. My questions are too difficult…
I call for an update 0800 DSL DSL – hold on 15+ minutes. Wrong number, call 0800 652 652 hold on 15+ minutes… Get told that the ADSL is synching fine (I could have told you that) and that they’ll escalate to a technician (why must I ask?)… sigh… all my questions are again met with ignorance. SIGH!
I wait patiently… again the problem goes away… by now I’m thinking that after that last call someone actually looks at the hardware, fiddles, replaces or fixes what is broken and voila! - Problem solved.
Cool. I’m back in the land of the connected.
Now, one of the only reasons that I have a landline is because I have a problem with cell phone reception where I live. Probably because of the large townhouse complex adjacent to my property. So my family and friends know to try me at home before the cell and then I don’t have to stand in the middle of the backyard to chat to someone. This is especially useful when I’m on standby because then I can divert my calls to my landline, talk to the computer room staff AND work on my PC all at the same time.
Working standby is no fun. You get called at two in the morning to investigate and fix problems with no immediate solutions. It helps to not have to drive all the way to the computer room at work to look at a screen do 10 minutes of work. It actually helps to have ADSL – even with no landline.
A week and a half goes by and the landline dies… again… It’s Saturday… I’m on standby… I haven’t even had my ADSL for a month yet!!!
I log the call… 0800 DSL DSL… hold on 20+ minutes… (repeat above). I emphasise that this is critical and that I have to have my landline looked at today. Get given the 0800 652 652 number and am told to call immediately for an update. “The line must be tested within 24 hours”.. Cool a fact I can work with.
I call and call again the next day, 24 hours later… “The ADSL is Synching fine.” … … … … … *sigh*
Patients. I ignore it. I have to. What choice do I have? I can’t do anything about it. I can’t cancel the service because what do I do then? Who will provide me with a land line? There is no competition. I can’t even complain to anyone. By now Friends, colleagues and even my family are sick and tired of me talking about this. They don’t even want to know because they have the same issues.
There is no help for this situation because the same people who provide the product, deliver the service, assist in fault tracking and do the technical stuff are all the same corporation – TELKOM. The same people who do not care about little old home user me.
10 days go by. I receive a missed call from “Unknown” whilst in a meeting… no message. Telkom. How do I know? Everyone else leaves a message – only Telkom don’t. They don’t care.
Later that evening at my mother’s birthday dinner I receive a call from “Unknown” again. That same uncaring, almost unintelligible voice is on the other side asking if my line is still down – “Yes” and what’s my contact number and no information and unanswered questions… repeat above…
It gets worse..
The NEXT day at the same time… I receive a call from “UNKNOWN” again asking exactly the same the day before… I wish I had a head for names because I swear it’s the same person. Repeat yesterday…
The following day I get home and not only is the landline not working (par for the course) but neither is the ADSL… hell. I don’t even watch TV anymore I enjoy working on my PC so much and now I have to resort to cathode-gray? Hell no!
I call… 0800 652 652.. I hold on for 39 minutes, yes THIRTY NINE minutes… on my cell phone. Eventually that same apathetic voice appears on the other end of the phone – she can obviously not hear me because after saying hello, only twice, she hangs up. I hit the roof and tear up the Telkom directory in frustration because the complaints line number (0800 600 126) I get “only operates between office hours”… No one can help me. I refuse to hold on for another 40 minutes because, well, I don’t want to and my battery just died. Besides my patients had worn out completely.
The next day…
I call 0800 600 126 first thing when I get to work… Audibly frustrated I get through to someone who immediately has no sympathy with my complaint and immediately takes my own irritated tone with me. I do feel sorry for these people as they must bear the grunt of this sequence of events only too often. I call back, after calming down, and ask to speak to the supervisor (something I read in the directory I tore up the night before that I can do when I feel I’m not been helped) – “No” is the answer I get. If I wasn’t at work I’d have gone looking for the Yellow Pages. After I again demand to speak to the supervisor, as I assume is my right, the call agent then proceeds to start shouting at me. Great – I’m not the only one having a terrible day. I hang up… I probably have to replace the work’s handset. *sigh*
I calm down and call again. I get asked for my reference number (which I have left at home) and get told that there is absolutely no way that they can look up this number because it’s a different system. One would think that the few tens of millions profit that Telkom has made over the last few years could have been put to some use improving these disparate systems? So I have to call the 0800 652 652 number, hold on 15 minutes to get the reference number.
I call 0800 600 126, speak with a third person who then informs me that they will escalate this call with the exact department that I just go that reference number from… why could I not do that myself? I ask to speak with the supervisor again, to which I am told that they are in a “conference call” until midday – it’s 8:45… have them call me back… I have just spent two hours on the phone to Telkom in the last 12 hours… what a waste of time…
What a rip off… *sigh*
I wait patiently…
My endless frustration with Telkom continues.
I would ask for help if I knew somone actually could help...
I thought I’d be clever and be the first one in my department to get an ADSL1024 internet line at home. This, so that I could subvert the system that is corporate South Africa and avoid having to wait for their purchase of iBurst modems for standby staff.
Little did I know.
Ok, fine – I never really had a problem with my telephone line, other than loosing the connection every month or two, but a simple call to the 10212 number would solve that in a week (or so). How bad could it be to upgrade the line to accommodate ADSL too? Surly that connection issue would be sorted.
Lo and behold… woe is me.
So I get my ADSL installed, after waiting about 5-and-a-half weeks (which was still better than the 2 ½ months that the company’s iBurst took to only approve), and it works! Wonderful! I am in heaven. I update all my favorite games, download some more online versions, shop, chat, surf, work and more – all at the same time. Heaven! There is more bandwidth than I can use. I even try the peer-to-peer thing (what junk :’( … ). Ok fine, there are ways of getting an IP address and working around the Telkom tape but it’s at least better than 56k (or 36k as my line allowed).
Anyway, this was in the first 6 days that I have ASDSL. Then comes November 1, 2005. Hard caps arrive. No one warned me about this. Not even a hint that this would happen. Damn! I was just chatting to a friend in the UK about how it was ok to have a soft-cap that only capped international bandwidth, because the game servers and my work are local and that bandwidth is always available.
Boy was I wrong. Now if I really want to work from home I have to pay R100 a pop for a gig, which, if I do not use by the end of the month I loose (which – according to Murpy – is the most likely scenario). What a rip off! AND I loose any of the 3gig package that I pay for at the end of every month NOTHING gets carried over. What a rip off! What a rip off…
I reiterate – A RIP OFF!
But I suppose that’s ok… I suppose that I can make the sacrifices necessary to afford the grand that I have to fork out every month or this “privilege”. This is a premium home service I suppose and this is Africa after all…
Premium – riiiight! That same friend in the UK informs me that for the same (converted to Rand) price that I am paying for my 1mb line he gets 8mb! Grrr… What a rip off!
But then a week later the games start. My phone line goes dead. Not the ADSL (phew), just the land line…
I log the call 0800 DSL DSL simple - 30 minutes listening to the same perpetually repeating 30 seconds of recorded “music” created for and in the 80’s abruptly interrupted by the same monotonous voice telling me my “call will be answered”). I wait a week, receive a useless call from some unintelligible Telkom call center staffer asking if I still have a problem and get told that they will make a note and takes my contact number.
The problem goes away a week later… eventually… not a word from Telkom.
A few days goes by and another Jo’burg storm… my telephone line goes dead again… *sigh*
I log the call - 15 minutes this time – I listen again to the same perpetually repeating 30 seconds of recorded “music” created for and in the 80’s abruptly interrupted by the same old monotonous voice telling me my “call will be answered” – Ja! right). I wait a week, receive a useless call from some unintelligible Telkom call center staffer asking if I still have a problem and get told that they will make a note and takes my contact number. No information, not a word about what the process is or what is going to happen next, not even a clue as to what the problem might be or who has investigated. Nothing. My questions are too difficult…
I call for an update 0800 DSL DSL – hold on 15+ minutes. Wrong number, call 0800 652 652 hold on 15+ minutes… Get told that the ADSL is synching fine (I could have told you that) and that they’ll escalate to a technician (why must I ask?)… sigh… all my questions are again met with ignorance. SIGH!
I wait patiently… again the problem goes away… by now I’m thinking that after that last call someone actually looks at the hardware, fiddles, replaces or fixes what is broken and voila! - Problem solved.
Cool. I’m back in the land of the connected.
Now, one of the only reasons that I have a landline is because I have a problem with cell phone reception where I live. Probably because of the large townhouse complex adjacent to my property. So my family and friends know to try me at home before the cell and then I don’t have to stand in the middle of the backyard to chat to someone. This is especially useful when I’m on standby because then I can divert my calls to my landline, talk to the computer room staff AND work on my PC all at the same time.
Working standby is no fun. You get called at two in the morning to investigate and fix problems with no immediate solutions. It helps to not have to drive all the way to the computer room at work to look at a screen do 10 minutes of work. It actually helps to have ADSL – even with no landline.
A week and a half goes by and the landline dies… again… It’s Saturday… I’m on standby… I haven’t even had my ADSL for a month yet!!!
I log the call… 0800 DSL DSL… hold on 20+ minutes… (repeat above). I emphasise that this is critical and that I have to have my landline looked at today. Get given the 0800 652 652 number and am told to call immediately for an update. “The line must be tested within 24 hours”.. Cool a fact I can work with.
I call and call again the next day, 24 hours later… “The ADSL is Synching fine.” … … … … … *sigh*
Patients. I ignore it. I have to. What choice do I have? I can’t do anything about it. I can’t cancel the service because what do I do then? Who will provide me with a land line? There is no competition. I can’t even complain to anyone. By now Friends, colleagues and even my family are sick and tired of me talking about this. They don’t even want to know because they have the same issues.
There is no help for this situation because the same people who provide the product, deliver the service, assist in fault tracking and do the technical stuff are all the same corporation – TELKOM. The same people who do not care about little old home user me.
10 days go by. I receive a missed call from “Unknown” whilst in a meeting… no message. Telkom. How do I know? Everyone else leaves a message – only Telkom don’t. They don’t care.
Later that evening at my mother’s birthday dinner I receive a call from “Unknown” again. That same uncaring, almost unintelligible voice is on the other side asking if my line is still down – “Yes” and what’s my contact number and no information and unanswered questions… repeat above…
It gets worse..
The NEXT day at the same time… I receive a call from “UNKNOWN” again asking exactly the same the day before… I wish I had a head for names because I swear it’s the same person. Repeat yesterday…
The following day I get home and not only is the landline not working (par for the course) but neither is the ADSL… hell. I don’t even watch TV anymore I enjoy working on my PC so much and now I have to resort to cathode-gray? Hell no!
I call… 0800 652 652.. I hold on for 39 minutes, yes THIRTY NINE minutes… on my cell phone. Eventually that same apathetic voice appears on the other end of the phone – she can obviously not hear me because after saying hello, only twice, she hangs up. I hit the roof and tear up the Telkom directory in frustration because the complaints line number (0800 600 126) I get “only operates between office hours”… No one can help me. I refuse to hold on for another 40 minutes because, well, I don’t want to and my battery just died. Besides my patients had worn out completely.
The next day…
I call 0800 600 126 first thing when I get to work… Audibly frustrated I get through to someone who immediately has no sympathy with my complaint and immediately takes my own irritated tone with me. I do feel sorry for these people as they must bear the grunt of this sequence of events only too often. I call back, after calming down, and ask to speak to the supervisor (something I read in the directory I tore up the night before that I can do when I feel I’m not been helped) – “No” is the answer I get. If I wasn’t at work I’d have gone looking for the Yellow Pages. After I again demand to speak to the supervisor, as I assume is my right, the call agent then proceeds to start shouting at me. Great – I’m not the only one having a terrible day. I hang up… I probably have to replace the work’s handset. *sigh*
I calm down and call again. I get asked for my reference number (which I have left at home) and get told that there is absolutely no way that they can look up this number because it’s a different system. One would think that the few tens of millions profit that Telkom has made over the last few years could have been put to some use improving these disparate systems? So I have to call the 0800 652 652 number, hold on 15 minutes to get the reference number.
I call 0800 600 126, speak with a third person who then informs me that they will escalate this call with the exact department that I just go that reference number from… why could I not do that myself? I ask to speak with the supervisor again, to which I am told that they are in a “conference call” until midday – it’s 8:45… have them call me back… I have just spent two hours on the phone to Telkom in the last 12 hours… what a waste of time…
What a rip off… *sigh*
I wait patiently…
My endless frustration with Telkom continues.
I would ask for help if I knew somone actually could help...
) TELKOM still sucks!!!