Appalling service from Telkom

I have been having issues(very low speed & intermittent connection) with Telkom dsl for almost a month. I lost connection about a week ago and I reported the issue. I was told a technician will be sent yesterday to sort it out, none of that happened. This is not the 1st time I'm reporting a similar problem. It took them 3 weeks to get it sorted. When I enquire about canceling the contract I'm told I will incur penalties.., Really!! How do I keep paying for an unreliable service??