Telkom service debacle finally resolved

Letter posted on behalf of an elderly handicapped senior citizen.

Congratulations Karen Singh from the MERCURY NEWSDESK With one phone call you have sorted my problems which I have been battling with from September 2018! I would appreciate it if you could print my story to help other elderly and not so elderly people stuck in the same situation. Namely getting an issue resolved by Telkom. I am a 74 year old with C.F.A., stage 4 Cancer and I am physically handicapped from a stroke. In early August, I received a call from Telkom informing me that as a valued customer, they were offering me a wireless telephone free of charge. Reason being is that the Telkom copper cables in our area were being ****** frequently. Hobson’s choice .I told the Telkom call centre agent that my phone had three line extensions and I am handicapped .She assured me it was a portable mobile phone and I agreed to take it .She verified my home address on the call and she also mentioned that they would phone first and deliver in about 4 weeks’ time. Around early September we had no electricity for three days. When the electricity was restored my phone line wasn't working. My relatives phoned Telkom to restore my line. At first they said that my line was disconnected, as they were supplying me with a wireless landline phone .Telkom said that my telephone line didn’t belong to me (yet the account is in my name and at my physical address is printed on the invoice). After a sleepless night, I managed to get a lift to the Overport City Telkom store. Upon hearing my story the lady at one of the service desks proceeded to checked my account number and she mentioned that "my" telephone account belonged to a person named E M*****. Upon hearing this I produced a copy of an old Telkom account statement and my ID document. Proving that in fact the Telkom account did indeed belonged to me. She then sent an email to the relevant department to rectify their error urgently as I was handicapped, living alone and my alarm system was not working as the signals went through the telephone line. The lady who assisted me said she couldn't rectify the error as a technician was required to do that. Over a month passed with no response despite numerous calls to the complaints department of Telkom. Eventually I managed to get a lift to the Musgrave Telkom store. I was informed that the account was still in Mrs/Mr E.M***** name. So what was the point of the email sent from the Overport City Branch to rectify the account owner’s details? Ignored? They then sent another email to the relevant section and informed me that this had happened to many people. Once again nothing was done despite numerous calls to Telkom (10210). Eventually I was forced to go against my morals and principles and approached a friend who knew a friend who knew a technician in Telkom and got him to rectify my account and ordered me a new phone. Eventually after a long delay I received the elusive phone. That's when the real drama had begun! I received a phone which: Had no SIM card Was too heavy for a handicapped to person to carry .I limp from room to room with fingers that had very little grip and I hold onto the walls for support with the other hand. No detailed information was given on how to charge/operate the phone, as plugging it in wasn't enough .I have called in two younger people with expertise in such matters and despite reading the instructions they failed to get it the phone charge .Yet I, a seventy four year old was expected to read the instructions and get the phone charging? Every person I contacted as well as the courier seemed to be proud of their achievement in giving me a phone without a SIM card. After numerous calls to Telkom(10210) my niece eventually was told by one of the customer care staff that there was no timeline for delivery of SIM cards as none were available and could take a few months or even up to two years to be delivered! In the meantime my account was saddled with payments for a service which I wasn't receiving .On the 27th of December 2018 a sales lady from Telkom called me to promote the wireless phone as Telkom was embarking on phase two of the project. Enough was enough! I told the lady my story and she promised to rectify everything within three weeks. I told her that I wasn't willing to wait three weeks more and if I didn't receive the phone in working order by the following Friday I was going to the Mercury newspaper. As in the past nothing happened and I called the Mercury and I spoke to Karen the next morning. The following day I got a call from the Telkom's escalation department and the gentleman mentioned he had received a call from the Mercury newspaper. I told him about the whole saga and that I was not prepared to wait another day longer for a telephone. If my phone was not working by the same evening I would ask the Mercury to publish the whole story. He assured me that he would keep in touch with me whilst he sorted out my phone debacle. A series of phone calls from the commercial department and escalation department followed and I reminded both gentlemen that I had their names and would be including it in the article. By 3 pm my phone was working on the 8 of January 2019 . The irony was that it took only five minutes to insert the missing SIM card and get it working . The sad part is that Telkom hasn't sorted out the mess with other people in a similar situation and are embarking on phase two. I hope this article will help those people as well. I'm still hoping all my monies deducted from my account are returned as promised . As for free phone, it has cost me a packet buying airtime for a cell phone and installing a radio signal for my alarm system. Will Telkom reimburse me for it and all the inconvenience they have caused? Well done to Karen and the Mercury team in escalating this issue to Telkom and assisting in sorting out this issue promptly. Keep up the good work guys! Yours sincerely Maya Sewpal Singh