My Telkom nightmarish reality

Item: Telkom
Rating: 1

I will keep this as short as possible which means that I will not share ALL the gory detail. Three days back, late on a windy January afternoon, all was good. Internet fine. Email access fine. Then I received the call… “Hi sir! How about uncapped internet for just R100/month more?” I thought, well, let’s get rid of the TV and use that saving to fund this seemingly “to good to say no to” deal. Sign me up, thanks! How I now wish I could take back those words… The next morning I could not connect to my Telkom email anymore and a few hours later there was no internet access either. (and I work from home a lot and have two teenage daughters in the house..) So, my nightmarish reality started. I phoned 10210 and after wasting around an hour of my time waiting for a Telkom employee to answer the call, while listening to those dreaded words, “We are currently experiencing high call volumes, your patience is greatly appreciated”, coloured in with that awful tune in between, I got through.. I told my story and got the answer. “Sir, that is a sales issue, please phone 10213.” After a moment of taking a deep breath, I said goodbye. So, after another 30 minutes or more, someone at 10213 answered. “No, sir, we can’t assist, this is a technical issue, please phone 10210.” I counted to 10… So, I tried 10210 again and after another 30 minutes gave up. From uncapped to nothing… My next hope was to be helped at a Telkom shop at our local mall (Somerset Mall, Somerset West). There I met the only ray of sunshine in this entire story, a Mr Selwyn Jacobs. He quickly logged in, saw what was wrong (“How could they have missed it? Your service was cancelled entirely”, he said) and sorted out my email and internet access. I did however first had to go home to first fetch my ID as a driver license was not good enough for identification purposes. Day 3: I noticed that my email set-up was not entirely as I had it set-up before so I went back to the shop this morning. A friendly lady listened to my need and said “no problem, just wait in this line, our consultants will be able to help you.” So I waited. After a few minutes a gentleman approach me, enquiring about my need. This time I was told, “No sir, we cannot help you setting up emails in the shop. No one has the profile… you have to call our technical department at 10210”… that dreaded number. I frantically looked around to see whether I spotted Mr Sunshine (aka Selwyn Jacobs). He was not there. After trying to explain that it was Telkom that incorrectly cancelled my service, costing me to waste hours of time and money to try and sort out my access and asking the gentleman nicely not to apologize but rather to improve their service and give me, a loyal Telkom client for 20 years what I pay for, I was just met with a shrug of the shoulders. Counting to ten did not work for me anymore. Back home I called that number (101210) again. After 10 minutes a lady answered. “No sir, we just deal with technical issues, you will have to call 10213. You can imagine what went through my mind. So, 10213 it was. This I was met with yet another totally *********** person who sounded like she really really dreaded her job. No friendly greeting and no eagerness to assist. “Just hold on sir..” I said ok. Then, silence. I was cut off. What is happening to servicing your clients Telkom? Are you guys seriously proud to be working for a company like this? More importantly I am wondering: What will come of this letter? I am probably wasting my time. For one, I feel better and calmer. I am still in the midst of a really really bad reality but in the end this is just another first world problem. A frustrating one yes, but hey, I am healthy, I have running water (for now) and enough food and transport. I have a wonderful job working for a company that really do understand client service and I have a loving family (my baby will be a teenager in the year 2030...) I also have a dog that adores me. I have hope for a better South Africa and I will continue to make a difference and be part of solutions where possible. I just need my Telkom service to work. Before 2030. J Stéphan

Helpful (0)

Replies (0)