Disgraceful Conduct

The reason for this complaint is that I gave my personal information, consented to a credit check, provided my banking details, and authorized Telkom to debit my account based on a telephonic conversation where I was blatantly **** to about 4 factors, which influenced my decision to enter into an agreement with Telkom.

Your management team would be aware of this situation if they were interested in pulling the call recording and resolving the matter, which seems to be the opposite of their job function based on the events I have outlined below.

Due to the current pandemic, like many South Africans, my ability to work has been affected. Luckily my employer has offered me the opportunity to work from home. My income is solely commission-based, therefore if I can’t work, I can’t earn an income to support my family. I conducted days’ worth of research and decided to use Telkom as my LTE provider, in order to enable me to work from home and earn an income during this difficult time.

1. On the 29th of April 2020, I telephonically took out a 220GB LTE Data package for R999 per month with speeds of 80mbps on a month-to-month basis. 2. The sales consultant whom I now know blatantly **** to me, was Aaryns Michael. 3. I received the SIM card on the 06th of May 2020. I received an SMS on the 11th May 2020 informing me that the agreed upon arrears billing system (confirmed by Aaryns Michael) is in actual fact an advanced billing system, and that the first debit would be higher than the agreed upon amount. 4. I phoned the number Aaryns provided to me for after-sales support, held on the line for 40 minutes and eventually ended the call when no one answered. I then called again later that day, held on the line for half an hour, and spoke to the most unhelpful account query consultant I have ever encountered. He could not tell me what package I was on, my monthly subscription, my next debit amount, my debit order date, and sarcastically told me to call sales for assistance on an existing client query. He then told me, I was on a 24 month contract, and not the month-to-month option I initially opted for. When asking him to change this, as this information was incorrect, he told me he could not assist, and again referred me to sales for assistance. 5. On the 14th of May I phoned the sales department, held on for 40 minutes and ended the call as no one answered. I then called again, and spoke with Mbalenhle Mhlongo in the order progress department. She was extremely helpful however had disappointing news for me. The first being that the product I was sold by Aaryns Michael is not available on a month to month contract, I was led to believe. Secondly, that I had contacted them outside of the 7 day cooling off period, and therefore my order could not be cancelled. I then requested to escalate the matter and speak to Aaryns Michael’s manager. She informed me that she could not transfer me to the manager. I requested for the contact email address. She advised she could not provide this to me. I then remained on the call with her while she typed out my complaint and sent it to Aaryns Michael and his manager to investigate. I asked if I could be copied on the email and was told that this was not possible. So at this point I have not received a contract from Telkom, reference number or proof of my complaint, reference for the call or contact person to follow up on my complaint. This interaction took more than an hour of my time. 6. Having not heard from Telkom, I phoned the order processing department again on Monday afternoon, the 18th of May 2020, held on the line for half an hour and spoke to Zama Ndlovu to follow up on my complaint. There was no progress noted, and no incident noted. I then proceeded to re-explain my complaint regarding what had occurred, why I am complaining and asked to speak to a manager. She informed me she could not put me through to Aaryns Michael’s manager. I then requested to speak with her line manager. I was put on hold for 5 minutes and was then told her line manager Kaylin Fredericks was busy with a client escalation and would call me as soon as she was finished. This interaction took over an hour. 7. It is Thursday the 21st of May 2020 and I have still not heard from Kaylin Fredericks. I then phoned a 4th time to the order processing department and re-explained my situation for the 4th time to Phumelele Shange. I was once again denied a contact email address and the transferring of my call to the relevant person. I requested to speak with her manager, and was told that the manager was busy. I sat with her on the line while she typed the exact same email that I have dictated and has been sent twice prior to this, and was promised that Jessica Nair (Phumelele Shange’s manager) would call me to resolve this matter urgently, and I am still waiting for this call.

To date, I have spent approximately 5 hours on the phone with your organisation to resolve this matter, all for my account, as your organisation has not bothered to make contact with me, once. I have not been able to work since receiving the sim card, which I had I ordered specifically for work. I also have not used 1KB of data on this sim card as the contract terms was NOT what I agreed to in the telephonic sales call. I have lost income directly due to Telkom treating me unfairly, as well as Aaryns Michael’s dishonesty, not to mention the stress and pressure placed upon me by this entire situation (exacerbating current medically-diagnosed mental health issues). Since Thursday the 14th of May 2020, to date, my sentiment has changed drastically from simply wanting what Telkom offered me initially, to strongly considering legal action. As Telkom’s complaint resolution has done nothing but waste my time, energy and money, I will now follow MY escalation process by lodging this complaint on Hellopeter, escalating this matter to the consumer journalist, Wendy Knowler, putting this complaint out on as many media outlets as possible, and lodging a complaint with the National Consumer Commission.

I am disgusted with how my matter has been handled, and will now expose Telkom for their pathetic and floundering business ethics. Your lack of substance has literally taken food out my family’s mouths. PULL ALL CALL RECORDINGS.