*********** Cancellation and Billing Staff!!!

<p>This complaint is directed toward Telkom Mobile. On 18 June 2016, I submitted a cancellation form to Telkoms cancellation department requesting the cancellation of my Smart Data 15GB package. I was forced to cancel this contract due to Telkom's inexplicable rule/system limitation which did not allow me to upgrade the Smart Data 15GB to a Smart Data 50GB, because the 15GB package was over 36 months whilst the 50 GB package was over 24 months. Bear in mind that nowhere in Telkom's terms and conditions did it state that an upward migration was not possible if the duration of the packages differ. I was therefore requested to cancell the Smart Data 15GB package first before I could go onto their Smart Data 50 GB package. </p> <p> </p> <p>Due to this cancellation that had to be done (bearing in mind that this was a forced cancellation in order to migrate to a higher package) I had to pay Telkom a cancellation fee for the remainder of my contract plus 1 months installment. All these cancellation fees amounted to approximately R3,500, which I paid to Telkom. I was told that this cancellation fee had to be paid via EFT in order for the cancellation to be completed. A Telkom consultant emailed me the reference number and bank account details to make the payment, which I promptly made and emailed Telkom my proof of payment and email history with the consultant.</p> <p> </p> <p>This cancellation process took a remarkable 4 months to process after numerous calls being logged back and forth and promises of being called back within 48 hours, of which not a single one of the 7 calls logged had ever been responded to.</p> <p> </p> <p>But what I didn't realise was the real fun was only just begining because even though I had emailed Telkom my proof of payment, ID document, settlement letter and detailed email history with all consultants. This information never made it to the accounting or billing department because since October 2016 I have been billed for a termination fee in access of R2,000 for which I had already paid. I had then called in numerous times to Telkom and sent numerous emails to consultants with proof of payments, only to be told in November 2016 by a consultant that the reference number in the EFT was incorrect and that the finance department cannot allocate the payment. I then emailed the consultant showing him that the reference number was documented in the email and provided to me by a Telkom consultant which is what I used, if the Telkom consultant got it wrong that is not my problem. The consultant advised me that there is nothing he could do and that I should notify my bank to reverse the transaction and I should do another EFT with the correct reference number. I cannot understand a response like this because number one it was not my fault that the incorrect reference number was used, number two the bank will not reverse an EFT transaction made to a public receipient and number three why the hell can't someone from the finance team manually locate the payment using the reference I provided and then allocate it to my account, its a simple thing to do! The consultant told me he will follow-up with the billing department and they will call me in 48 hours and surprise surprise I never received a call from the billing department.</p> <p> </p> <p>My only recourse was to request my bank to reverse all future debit orders from Telkom because all the invoices since September 2016 had been incorrect and charged me for cancellation fees which I had already paid via EFT. Even after reversing all future debit orders, nobody from Telkom has ever given me a call to understand the reason for the reversals or what my issue is, instead Telkom has resorted to changing their references on the debit orders and requesting the bank to deduct the money from my account. I will continue reversing all of Telkom's debit orders untill somebody senior and competent enough from Telkom calls me to sort out this issue and explain to me why my payment has never been allocated, why was I forced to cancell a contract and pay a cancellation fee when I was upgrading to a higher Telkom package and why am I still being billed for other Telkom Mobile packages that I have cancelled. Furthermore Telkom should investigate a case of ***** within their cancellation and finance department because I cannot understand how a pyment with a reference number cannot be located.</p> <p> </p> <p>I have 3 products with Telkom and after this incompetence I am going to cancell all of these products and never do business with them, unless somebody sorts this issue out!</p>