WELCOME TO HELKOM, but I first had to get through to them – and that was the problem. Neither the telephone directory nor the website ("Content unavailable") gave me a number I could phone to find out what the problem was with a colleague’s ADSL line. <\/p>\n
So I phoned the number given for Telkom’s business services and, after waiting five minutes (a recorded voice warned me about that), I was given the number by an apologetic consultant. It’s 10215 – which is worth remembering, because it’s not in the directory. <\/p>\n
Once again, I was given the apparently standard warning by the Telkom voice that the next consultant would only be available in about five minutes’ time (it turned out to be just over six minutes) and that he\/she could return my call. I decided not to risk that. Instead I listened to was an audio seesaw of snatches from Dance some more and something like Give love by someone with blocked sinuses, alternating with the Telkom voice saying: "Are you sure your power isn’t off (unplug everything)? Are you sure Telkom is your service provider?" Etc, etc. <\/p>\n
When the consultant eventually replied she was very friendly. She asked her questions and remained fairly patient with my replies: "What’s that?" or "Oh, no, I don’t have that information." She tried all sorts of ways to help but we both decided my colleague would have to phone personally. <\/p>\n
Scorecard <\/strong><\/p>\n Time taken to answer call: 3 sec <\/p>\n First impression: 3\/5 <\/p>\n Ability to answer query: 4\/5 <\/p>\n Courtesy of agent: 4\/5 <\/p>\n Overall score: 3,5\/5 (not an average)<\/p>\n