For a phone company, these guys sure don't like talking on a phone.

I made an insurance claim with Telkom after losing my cellphone, and have heard nothing back for over two weeks now.

I went into the store where I bought my phone, and they gave me an email address that I needed to send my claim to in my own time, along with various details and documents like my cell phone make and model, Imei number, insurance policy number, etc. I did as they asked and received an email from them on the 5th of March requesting all of these details again, and I rep****, providing them. I have since not heard back from them at all. To compare - my wife is with a different service provider, and when she lost her phone, she went into the store, made the claim and provided the affidavit. They pulled all of the details they needed from their own system, and my wife received a new device in under twenty minutes.

Today, I decided to phone Telkom insurance's helpline, but this went nowhere. I reached an automated voice giving me three options on how to proceed - Either deal with them on WhatsApp, request a callback, or stay on the line to speak to an agent.

I first tried the third option but in stead of being put through to an agent, I was made to talk to an AI chatbot. It asked me for the usual details - my name, my ID number, my phone number, etc., which I provided, but it then declared that it was not privy to view my case and said I would go through to a live agent. This did not happen and I was treated to two minutes of silence before I gave up and hung up the call.

I called them again and this time chose option 2, after which I was promised that an agent would call me back and unsurprisingly, nothing happened.

I then called a third time and chose option 1. I immediately received an automated message on WhatsApp, prompting me to say "Hi" if I needed assistance, which I did, and I was again promised to be put into contact with a live agent, which did not happen.

I've been without a phone for over two weeks now, and Telkom is still happily taking my money and seemingly doing nothing with my insurance claim. I don't think I'll be staying with them when my contract ends, unless they can give me a really good reason.