Awaiting patiently for debit order reversal.

Due to the VAT increase, my bill for the fixed landline used only for wifi purposes increased. When I went to the Telkom store to get the contract, the Telkom representative did not keep this VAT increase into account and put a credit limit on my debit orders. The limit that she had put in, was according to the price of the contract before the VAT increase. Hence 3 months down the line, my connection gets cut off. In order to reinstate my connection, I now had to pay in R250 reconnection fee.

I did not agree with this reconnection fee since to me it does not make sense to put a debit limit on a fixed landline that will only be used for wifi, hence no extra charges can be made. Since I am not trained by Telkom and believe that companies should deal in the best interest of their clients, I listened to the Telkom representative, followed her advice and signed the contract.

I filed a complaint with Telkom explaining why the R250 reconnection fee should be waived. I was told that I would receive feedback within 7 working days. After 3 weeks of no response, I picked up the phone and phoned back. A phone call that took 45 minutes before I was connected to someone that could help me. Response: You did not alert us of the fact that you did not want to pay the reconnection fee before we charged you ( ********** 6).

Apparently, you need to be a fortune teller to be a customer of Telkom?

The same week the billing department called me back, to ask if I wanted to increase the debit limit. I instructed them to do so and asked about feedback on my first complaint regarding the reinstatement fee. She responded that she will credit the amount back into my account. This never happened.

Once again I phone Telkom back, on the invoice it is stated that if the reconnection fee is not paid before the end of the month, my connection will be cut off again. I wanted to know if the debit order increase was going to cover this or not. The Telkom operator told me to make an EFT as soon as possible. He ensured me that the debit order increase would not cover. I asked again for feedback on the waiving of reconnection fee hence the second complaint, I haven't received an answer yet ( ********** 7).

Today I filed a third complaint after Telkom billed for the amount of my first debit limit + the outstanding amount that I EFT'd + the total amount of my invoice. This adds up to a total of almost 3 times the amount on the invoice. After having spoken to 3 different departments (that all appear to be "on the other side") I finally spoke to an operator in the relevant department, he filed the third complaint ( ********** 7).

I feel like it is impossible to actually contact Telkom, when speaking to operators in the call center, no one has responsibility, as soon as the conversation gets serious they connect you to a different department. When you ask to speak to the manager, he/she is never around. When I asked to speak to the complaints department, I was told they cannot be reached since they do not have telephones. When you go into the store no one will help you with any of your questions, the first thing they do is present you with a tablet with a 'call-me-back' form.

Please Telkom make this process easier and more convenient for your customers, today you might have a monopoly over the market, but maybe one day another player might join the field. I can only wonder what will happen then.