Telkom SA / Telkom Key West DISASTER!!

I have a massive issue with my Telkom Mobile account and seriously need someone to help me get it sorted out. I am a loyal Telkom customer with 5 contracts that are used for personal and business purposes. I have an excellent credit record and never had problems before. I always go to the Telkom store at Key West as the salesperson there, Azwi, gives really good service and is always ready to assist me. The problems are not as a result of her, but rather the responsibility of the store manager, Palesa. Herewith a breakdown of events: I upgraded on 2 mobile contracts on 11 September (***8** & ***4**). Took 2x Oppo Reno 12 f 5G devices. Immediately after we started using the devices we saw that the camera is not working. There is a delay on the video and the sound and video is not in sync. There are noises over audio and all videos are unusable due to bad quality. I did contact the salesperson at Telkom Key West and she advised me to bring in the devices. We had to retransfer data and arrange for spare phones to use in the meantime. We were advised to only bring the phones when the Oppo representative as well as the Telkom technician is in. We took the basically brand new phones to the store on 11 October. They acknowledged the problem and the phones were booked in for repairs. After various attempts to follow up, the phones were sent back to the store on 27 November - 47 days later. My fears were realised when I saw the phones are still showing exactly the same problem - this after 47 days in repairs and hardware replaced on 2 brand new devices. The in-store technician also acknowledged that it still has the same problem and said we had to book the devices it to repairs again, and this was done. In the meantime, I was going on 2 months paying for brand new devices I didn't have. The store was unable to give me any updated other than that was on the system. I asked to be placed in contact with the repair centre, but they were unable to provide me with details. I did some research and eventually found the Oppo repair centre. They were very helpful and arranged to have the devices replaced. We went to the store on 5 December to fetch the replacement devices. The Oppo rep at the store opened the new devices and it also had the same technical problem. He stated that he assumes it is a faulty batch. At this stage we were without working devices (that we are paying for) for 3 months. We requested from the store manager (Palesa) to have the 2 upgrades cancelled, to have the charges for the 3 months reversed, then we will do a new upgrade on different devices. It took her a couple days to clear it with her “team leads” and managers. We were extremely frustrated at this point as my husband did not have a working device and uses it for business. Eventually Palesa got feedback from her “management” that the upgrade will be reversed and my account credited with the 3 month’s charge for the faulty devices. I then instructed her to upgrade on 1 number and have the other one changed to prepaid. There was some issue as to why we can only do upgrade on one and not both, so I decided to only upgrade 1 contract and cancel the other one. We then got the device and was told that the account will be sorted out. My debit order history: July 2024: R2337.92 August 2024: R2407.90 September 2024: R2356.10 October 2024: R2392.91 November 2024: R2965.09 December 2024: R3236.80 January 2025: R2824.02 February 2025: R5009.14

As you can see there is a huge mistake on the February account. There is also no prof that any credit has been allocated as promised. I reversed the debit order on 5 February as this is clearly a mistake and I cannot afford to pay almost double on my account – knowing it is a mistake on the account. I realised what the problem is – the ***8** and ***4** are still active on the upgrade of 11 September and was never reversed, cancelled or converted. The upgrade on 5 December was then done on another one of my numbers (***0**) – which is only due for upgrade in June 2025 – and an early upgrade fee was charged. THIS WAS NOT THE AGREEMENT OR INSTRUCTIONS BY ME. The arrangement was on the 068 numbers and nothing was ever mentioned of early upgrades or anything. My son uses the ***8** number so I requested to do the upgrade on this number and then the ***4** be converted to prepaid. Palesa in the meantime just mentions that they are working on the problem, but nothing is being done. She was off due to personal injury, then the system was offline, then she is waiting for feedback. Today our lines are suspended and we can not make or receive calls. I tried to phone Telkom’s customer services, but the lady at cancellations referred me back to the store. I cannot reach Telkom Customer Services’ billing department, as the selections on the automated system just keeps looping back to the previous menu. There is no telephone number for the Store in Key West and I am currently communicating with them on Whatsapp. When I ask for the store owner (as it is a franchise) I am not given details. Phone calls are not answered or they are “not in” that day. I cannot contact Telkom directly as it is a privately owned franchise. Who am I supposed to speak to then???? My contracts are all expiring in June, doubt I will stay a Telkom customer anymore.