Account services for telkom internet

<p>telkom account services don't work outside of normal office hours. The services they offer are 24/7 services to which there is no account and billing support outside normal office hours. This is absurd for a parastatal to not offer consumers 24/7 support along with their service. </p> <p>My account was suspended due to non payment which was due to no payment details being captured although in the contract I signed up with I had to submit banking details and elected for the debit order option. I received no notices or final demands. My service was suspended immediately without me being aware. Upon contacting telkom to establish the issue I immediately paid and offered proof of payment. However this was a Friday and they said the service will be reconnected within 24 hours. Little did I know accounts are only going to reconnect 72 hours later. For a corporate to have no power of their own systems is shameful as the employees all rely on the system. </p> <p>I went into a telkom store and made sure all my details were correct and they were. They again said I have to wait for the account department to come back to work. I also got my invoice for the next period where they have charged me for the full usage of the service even though I'm not allowed to use through their silly account suspension. So I'm paying for something I have paid for and can't use now till they decide to turn it back on. As a consumer this is violating. The sad issue is as a consumer I'm powerless against the corporate and they can govern how they feel and work the bare minim relying on systems that humans have no control of. I experienced service outtages due to technical faults not on my property and I have still been charged and paid for the downtime and received no pro rata billing on my account.</p> <p>The service is used for home businesses of which one is an ecommerce store. Not having my service has crippled my ability to work and I have immediately lost income through an issue I expressly tried to avoid by signing up for this package. It's ridiculous how we are completely at the mercy of these corporates who provide vital services and they do not help the consumer at all. Other corporates like telkom, will try several means to alert you in terms of consumer protection to warn you about suspension of services, telkom never notified me once despite confirming my account details were correct. I can't even threaten to leave and take my business elsewhere as they almost have the monopoly of the industry which is a further frustration. Telkom is the bane of free trade. I hope one day other corporates in the market space can put the strain on telkoms business like they have done with all my businesses. </p>