Telkom Accounts Beaurocratic Nonsense and Incompetence

I have been astounded at Telkom's lack of interest in obtaining payment of their accounts. My father passed on on 30 January this year. The next day, my mom went to Telkom to pay the account, transfer it into her name and transfer the debit order to one of her accounts. Firstly Telkom required my father to appear in order to transfer the account and debit order. This was after being told that he was deceased. After several long and equally bizarre visits to Telkom, finally the debit order details seemed to be updated - Telkom no longer required my deceased father's presence in order to change the details and put the account into my mom's name. Mom left with the assurance that the money for the next month would come off her account. Yesterday, my mother received the Telkom bill, telling her that they had failed to get the money from his account and so she has to pay an additional R211 or so as a penalty. As soon as he passed on, of course, his account was frozen and so the money could not come off his account. Indeed this was why Mom prioritised going to Telkom and changing those details.

Apart from the unnecessary trauma for my mom who is still grieving - they have not got their money. When my mother (who has never had an overdue account before) went in, they said that they have no record of her changing the details. My brother was with her when she did so, so I am 100% confident that she did go. She watched as the man behind the counter made the change, so the teller was not at fault. This is not good service

Please, Telkom accounts, get your act together!