Ridiculous deductions

In February 2017, Telkom called me with a special offer on a mobile router with a certain amount of data each month at a discounted price of R149/month.

I accepted the offer and requested that my account be capped on R200, meaning I should not be able to spend more than R349/month.

I received my router and sim card, but it took more than a week for the service to be activated.

For the first month or so, an amount of R149 was deducted from my account.

Suddenly, an amount of approximately R700 was deducted from my account, for three consecutive months.

On 2 June, I attempted to track my usage on the app as well as Telkom’s website to see why my bill was so high. This was the first time that I connected using my Telkom account in the month of June. Yet, my usage tracker already reflected that I have used up my full 5GB for the month. I subsequently contacted the call center and was advised that this is incorrect, and that I still have my full 5GB available for the month. I was also informed that my account was never capped, as requested.

I again requested that my account be capped, this time to R0 and I logged an issue stating that my usage tracker displays inaccurate information, and I am therefore unable to track my usage. Three months in a row Telkom deducted almost R550 more than the agreed amount.

I logged several calls with Telkom, for which I received reference numbers. However, my issues were simply closed with messages such as “It is Telkom’s policy not to get involved in data disputes”. On another occasion the matter was reflected as resolved. Upon inquiring, I was advised that Telkom could not reach me. I never received on phone call, sms or email from Telkom.

I then emailed Telkom, advising that I prefer paying my account by making an electronic transfer, and requested the banking details in order to make transfers. These requests were simply ignored.

I then stopped my debit order with Telkom, so that they cannot deduct whatever amount they wanted.

Then, on 15 September they simply started deducting double the contract amount, being R298 (my agreed date for the debit order was the 1st of the month). I assumed that this was the rejected debit order for September, as well as the October premium as I had no other outstanding money owed to Telkom. Again, in the middle of November they simply deducted a double premium.

When I called the call center again to enquire, I was advised that Telkom penalized me for my debit order not going through and this penalty amounts to R200. This does not make sense as my contract amount and the R200 penalty amounts to R349.

I then informed Telkom that I am not happy with the service I have been receiving and that they cannot simply deduct any amount, at any time of the month as they please. I have, out of principle, not been making use of my Telkom data for at least two months. I also informed them that I want to stop all business with Telkom, that I will return the modem and sim card and wish to cancel my contract with immediate effect. I am, however, not willing to buy out the contract as I feel that Telkom has failed terribly in providing a satisfactory service.

I was informed that I need to send an email to the cancellations department. In view of my experience, I insisted that I want a telephone number to speak to someone in the cancellations department so that I can explain my situation. Telkom refused to give me a telephone number and advise that I can only communicate with the cancellations department via email. However, my past attempts to communicate with Telkom via email failed terribly.

In the nine months that I have been with Telkom, I have received not a single call, sms or email to address any of my problems, or even to clarify why my debit order is not going off and to advise me that I will be penalized. I have, however, received sales calls!!!

It seems to be Telkom’s policy not to interact with their client’s at all, and to simply milk them for all the money that they can.