Any other network but telkom !

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I am writing to formally lodge a complaint regarding the unacceptable service I have received from Telkom over the past week in relation to my fibre internet connection.

During the past week, I have contacted the Telkom call centre on at least three to four separate occasions to log the same fault. On the first call, I was informed that the issue was on Vumatel’s side. A technician was dispatched and resolved the issue. However, a few hours later, a Telkom consultant contacted me and advised that I was logged into my router as a “guest.” After following the steps provided, my WiFi stopped working completely.

The following day, I contacted Telkom again. Once again, the issue was blamed on Vumatel and another technician was dispatched. The technician resolved the issue and the WiFi was restored. Unfortunately, a few hours later I was contacted again by a Telkom consultant, who identified herself as Zinhle Madlolo, who insisted that I was still logged in as a guest.

I explicitly informed her that I did not want to make any changes, as it was the day before Christmas and I needed uninterrupted internet service. I was assured that the changes would not disrupt my connection and would, in fact, improve my line speed. Based on this assurance, I reluctantly agreed.

Within five minutes of her intervention on her system, the internet light on the router turned red and the service went down completely. I then spent over an hour on the phone with her attempting resets and troubleshooting steps, none of which resolved the issue. The call ended with her assuring me that she would update me on the progress of the query.

To date, I have received no update whatsoever.

Today, when I contacted the call centre again, I was instructed to repeat the same troubleshooting steps that I have already completed multiple times this week. Despite explaining that these steps have repeatedly failed, I was informed that the matter cannot be escalated because the fault is still open, yet no turnaround time or resolution timeline can be provided.

This situation is unacceptable. I am paying for a service that is down more often than it is operational. Should ICASA request a service report from Telkom, it would clearly demonstrate the excessive downtime and repeated unresolved faults on my line.

Furthermore, even if I want to cancel, I find it unreasonable that I would be expected to incur cancellation penalties when Telkom has consistently failed to provide the service I am contractually paying for.