Telkom Failure To Return Phone After Warranty Repair

Item: Telkom
Rating: 1
Author: Sean S

My cellphone was returned to Telkom Richards Bay branch for repair under warranty on 26 March. I was told it would take 2 - 3 weeks.

After 2 weeks I popped in to get an update and find if there was any news. There wasn't, but I was told it can take up to 3 weeks and the phone will probably be back by the end of that week.

After 3 weeks I still had not heard anything so I popped in again, and was told it can take 3 - 4 weeks.

After 4 weeks I called the branch and was told there is no update on the system. I asked to speak to a manager and asked how to escalate the matter, and was told it is nothing to do with Telkom and I must call ********** and give them my job number.

I did this (last Thursday) whereby a lady explained that it was assigned for repair and asked if I had been told this by Telkom.

I explained that the only contact I had received from Telkom during the four weeks was one sms the day after it was handed in.

When I asked how long it would take to have my phone repaired she told me that they have a 21 day turn around time and that my phone should be back with me in a couple of days but that she would find out exactly what is happening with it and call me later that day.

One week later and she still has not called!!!

Today I phoned again and was told by Bongani Jaso that the first problem was that the phone was only collected from Richards Bat on 3rd April - ONE WEEK AFTER IT WAS HANDED IN, it then only arrived at the repair depot on 5th April.

He said that it had been assigned for repair the following day but that there was no further information on the system.

He said that as it was now 20 days since they had received it, there should have been some progress and feedback and it should have been sorted out by now.

He promised to call me back before the close of business today (25th April) with an update on wheat was happening with my phone and when it would be repaired and returned.

Low and behold, it is now 8:45pm, many hours after close of business and he has not bothered to call me back.

I have now been without a cellphone, for which I am paying monthly for a month and yet nobody can bother to return calls, advise me what is happening or even if or when the phone will be repaired.

The Job reference number is TRJ059749. My contact number is ********** .

Would somebody please be so kind as to either fix the damn phone or replace it.

Either that or cancel the contract and refund me the money I have thus far paid for a cellphone which I do not actually possess!!!

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Sean S's updateReviewer Update

09 May 2018, 12:01

Thank you for responding Bradley. To add further information, after numerous telephone calls to Bradian Logistics, who seem to Telkom's manufacturer warranty repair company: Sylvia at Bradian was less useless as she stated on the day I called that she did not have a manager or teamleader as they were not at work, my phone was in for repair and would take as long as it took and sorry nobody could help any further. After calling again I got through to a teamleader called Wendy who called me back to tell me that the phone required a new mainboard and that it was on order from Huawei but she could not tell me how long it would take. After a further 2 weeks I called again today and was eventually put through to Noreen Kruger, who was more helpful. She advised that the mainboard had been ordered but that they were still awaiting the part as it was not available at that point from Huawei in Dubai. She emailed me confirmation of the above. A short time later she called me back to say that she had been onto the repair centre and the mainboard had in fact arrived yesterday and it was in the process of being repaired. She promised to follow up further and call me back once they were able to give an eta on my phone being returned to me. Thank you to Noreen for finally taking ownership of the problem, very much appreciated. I am still more than just a little concerned that the manufacturer's 2-year warranty repairs get farmed out to a repair centre through a logistics company and not actually repaired by the manufacturer, and also concerned that the company that actually makes the phone did not have parts available for a number of weeks.

Sean S's update09 May 2018, 12:01

Reviewer Update