Telkom refund woes

Early in December 2024 I app**** for Telkom fiber & a landline. I t was approved & I was advise to pay in a R700 which i duly did. I received my landline number as well as Telkom email address. Due to lack of communication ,I cancelled my application 19 January 2025 ,as I needed wifi to start work & received no service delivery from Telkom. I was advised that I will receive my initial deposit of R700 back once I send my ID,proof of payment & confirmation of banking details. I forward the information however received a call from a consultant to advise that i will not be receiving a refund since they will use it towards my outstanding bill of 2016. Apparently,according to there records I have an outstanding bill of R1801 from 2016 that was handed over to laywers that was suppose to contact me. I explained to the consultant that nobody ever contacted me within the 9 years about this outstanding debt. I asked her then why was this not picked up when I app****. She said that she would not know and cant answer for the sales department,I must contact them. I also asked her if this debt dont fall under prescribed debt since it happened 9 years ago & no one made contact with me. She said that prescribed debt does not cover Telkom debt & they have a right to put the R700 towards the outstanding debt & that I can visit the branch. I visited the Walmer Park branch yesterday & they told me the case was closed with no closure reason & they were unable to find any outstanding amount owed by me, therefore they reopened the case. Today the same lady phoned me back that I initially spoke to. She said that as she did explained to me that I am not going to get my refund back since I have an outstanding debt since 2016. I asked her to put it in writing to me & she refused & said is talking to me now & is not allowed to put it on email. I asked to be put through to their legal department and she said she cant & I must basically just accept her feedback . I asked if our call is recorded & she said no, its no need to since she is just giving me feedback. I have the consultants full name & the number where I received the call from & I can be reached on ***. I am not going to leave the matter here ,as its not just unfair, it is simply wrong. I would appreciate someone from Telkom legal side to explain to me, what right do they have to take my deposit of 2025 to settle an outstanding debt of 9 years ago,2016. I also want to know, why was I not advise of my outstanding debt & therefor subsequently declined of applying for any new Telkom debt.