TELKOM BILLING AND CONTRACT ISSUES

In June 2018 I have subscribed to a Telkom UNLIMITEDhome 4Mbs Fibre contract at R605 per month. Right off the bat there was a few problems:

According to the contract I am suppose to receive a free WiFi extender, It took me 3 months of phoning the Telkom call centre as well as visiting Telkom Menlyn to finally get this device.

Also according to the contract I am suppose to receive a Telkom SIM card which would give me 1 GB of Mobile data each month. Right after the fibre was installed and working I visited Telkom Menlyn and requested a SIM card. I was told that they cannot help me and that if that is what Sales promised me I should contact them. I contacted Sales ant they reiterated that I should get the SIM from a Telkom outlet. I then tried numerous times to be helped at a Telkom outlet, and more than once were told the system was offline and once that they cannot help me without my ID although as far as I know a valid driver’s license should be legally accepted proof of identification.

Earlier this year (probably May or June 2019) I finally got hold of SIM card (from Telkom Menlyn) which was suppose to be linked to my fibre account. Up till today I have no data on this SIM card. On Saturday 21 September I once again visited the Telkom Menlyn and was told that the APN number was not logged by IT and that it would take 72 hours to be activated and that they would escalate the issue. Elsie at Telkom Menlyn promised to phone me on 24 September 2019 to confirm if the SIM card is working. This is now 25 September 2019 and there is no data yet on the contract and Elsie hasn’t phoned back.

I was further told by Telkom Menlyn that I will not receive any discounts for not having access to this service for the first 15 months and counting of my 24-month contract as this is apparently a free service. I was also told by numerous Sales and Billing consultants that I will not be remunerated. I disagree that this is free data. It was benefit due to me on the contract I signed and one of the reasons I signed up to Telkom and I am paying for it just as much as I am paying for the fibre contract. Leaving this aside, on 8 February 2019 I received an email from Telkom indicating that I will be migrated to 10Mbs at a cost of R649 per month and that this would take effect on 1 March 2019. As I understood this email, I had no choice in the matter. I did not need a faster line speed but accepted and from 1 March 2019 paid R649,00 going forward.

After this I received at least 2 phone calls from consultants asking me if I want to migrate to the 10Mb fibre. I always responded that I have been already migrated to 10Mb fibre as per the email of 8 February 2019.

In August 2019 I realized that I seem to owe Telkom R1099 for the month instead of R649. I then contacted Telkom’s billing department on 15 August 2019 (case number ***9) and they agreed that I was overcharged and they will adjust my bill downwards with R500 (which was reflected on the invoice of 9 September 2019), and assured me that my bill will now be correct going forward.

On 16 September I checked my bill again and this time I owed R1474,31 (this did not yet reflect my payment of R649 I made on 7 September 2019). This meant that I am still owing Telkom R825,31 over and above my contract fee of R649. I once again contacted Telkom’s billing department on 16 September 2019 (case number ***8) and was once again told that the billing department agreed with me that I have been overcharged by over R700 and that my bill will be adjusted downwards by the overcharged amount. ( I dispute this amount as will become clear below.) I was also told that this will continue to happen unless I contact Telkom’s sales department to get it rectified. Apparently the billing consultant logged a call back from the Sales department.

After not receiving a call I once again visited Telkom Menlyn on 18 September 219 and the consultant at the shop once again logged a call back and I was told that I would be phoned back within 30 minutes. After an hour I was phoned back. I was told that the contract would be fixed and once that has been done I should contact billing again to resolve any overcharged amounts.

I mentioned earlier that I dispute the amounts owed. I made a summary of all invoices and what I was charged. From this I could see that the invoice for 9 June 2019 indicated that I should pay Telkom by 1 July 2019 the amount of R580,73. This means that I should have a credit of R68,27(R649 – R580,71). I was also informed by one of the countless consultants I spoke to that migration to the 10 Mb was done in July 2019. Thus the invoice of 9 June 2019 seems to be last correct invoice I received. According to the 9 July 2019 invoice I was charged R941,26 (instead of R649) and R6,84 interest. According to the 11 August 2019 invoice I was charged R865,34 (instead of R649) and R3,76 interest. According to the 9 September 2019 invoice I was charged R865,34 (instead of R649) and R9,04 interest.

If the invoice of 9 June 2019 was in fact correct I should still have a credit of R68,27 and that I should pay Telkom by 1 October 2019 the amount of R580,71. As of today (25 September 2019) it seems I still owe Telkom R825,31.

I further dispute that the 1 GB Mobile data is “free”. It was part of services that was offered with the contract and I had no access to it despite numerous attempts by me to get it resolved. This accost me countless trips to a Telkom shop as well as loss of productivity (Telkom Sales could only be contacted during office hours).