Credit of R1279.78 as per my statement - refund logged - case marked as resolved (no refund or feedback from Joyce Krige) - everyone says they're busy

I've always had an issue with viewing my Telkom statement on my phone due to adobe not opening it correctly and this always leads to me enquiring about the outstanding amount at the cashier at our SPAR. We went in to the Telkom store on 25/27 January 2020 to request that our contract be cancelled (after the 2 year period had lapsed in October 2019) and it was advised that the services would be terminated on 27 February 2020, however I would still be billed for that month. All in order and I understood. I then received a statement which did not open and when I went to Spar, I was advised that I had an outstanding amount of R806.00.

In March, I received a statement of a credit amount of -R1279.78. I then called into the call centre on 11 March 2020 and was informed that I was in a credit, because as it turns out, the statement issued to me on 12 February 2020 was for R0.80 and I then paid R806. It was advised that if I wanted a refund, this could be processed for me. The consultant then logged a refund request through, and I was waiting on feedback. (Siyamthanda - the spelling could be off – Billings department)

On Friday, 13 March 2020 I received a call from Joyce Krige at 13:45 and she advised that a refund could not be processed as they need to investigate the credit on their side. I asked if she could email me the correspondence and she advised that she was busy. I then asked when she would not be busy, in order for me to get the email and she responded by saying 10 minutes. At 13:47 I received an SMS noting that my case was resolved.

I called in to the contact centre on 14 March 2020 and spoke to Xolisa (no email received from Joyce) and it was advised that the case was marked as resolved. I queried what that meant in terms of me getting the refund or not, he advised that the refund was logged, and it was resolved, so that meant I would get the money. He also advised that he mailed Joyce in order for her to make contact with me because there was no other email or contact information he could provide me with.

It is now Tuesday, 17 March 2020 and I decided to call in to the billings department again and ended up speaking to Siyamthanda. She advised that the case was marked as resolved and the notes stated that there was an investigation to see if the account was in a credit, before they can refund me. I enquired as to why it was reflecting on my statement as a credit then and it was advised that they need to check if there is any more credit owed to me. I then asked for another correspondence email address because I did not want to be hanging in limbo waiting for feedback and then having to call every two days for an answer. It was advised that there was no allocated person or email address I could use and that the matter was escalated to the person dealing with the query and she will get back to me.

Which I highly doubt because her 10minutes turned into 4 days later and still nothing. I asked Siyamthanda if I can speak to a manager as this is the second time I’m having an issue with Telkom (the first time they billed my bank account for another person’s internet services), she advised that Chanté was busy and unfortunately I have to wait for feedback.

So what now? How long does the investigation take? How long thereafter will the refund take? How is everyone so busy that they can not even send an email confirming what is said on the call? (bearing in mind that when Joyce called me, no compliance was done, no verification of my identify and I was not even informed of the call being recorded) Is it my responsibility now, because I am in the credit, to follow up every day? Because had it been the other way around, this would have been informed to me sooner.

Bearing in mind that Telkom already receives such bad reviews and comments, one would think that one or two of its employees would at least walk in the shoes of the customer in terms of query or complaint management. However, once again there is a service failure and I have to be the one running around to get back funds that is owed to me as per the statement provided and as per the explanation from Siyamthanda last week. R1279.78 is not a small amount. Some people have to work days to earn that. Think of the people that you are servicing and show some form of common decency or courtesy.

If I do not get feedback within the next 48 hours, this will be logged with the Ombudsman and NCR.