Telkom service is APPALLING!

Hello

I am writing here because all attempts to get a callback from Telkom have been in vain.

I was ****** about two weeks ago in my neighborhood, Dobsonville. The assailant got away with a substantial amount that I had just withdrawn and my cellphone. A few days later on a Saturday, I went to Telkom Dobsonville at the mall to arrange a pre-paid sim swap. I was informed that they are always offline on weekends, so it's best to come during the week. I found this strange as this would be an obvious inconvenience for most people who work during the week. Nonetheless I was further informed that they could only assist if I want a new sim and, much to my surprised, that the new sim will be free. I decided to obtain one since I needed to be in touch with family and friends somehow and could not do the sim swap. While being assisted, I noticed the name tag sitting on the desk of the assistant's workstation - the name read "Tshiamo". I called the assistant by name and she responded and I then asked her a question about Telkom. She answered, but then proceeded to ask me where I got the name from. I was taken aback and explained to her that it's on the name tag on her desk. She then rather rudely told her that was not her name and didn't bother to tell me what her real name was. Being used to such abrasive attitude and, frankly, ****py service, I thought nothing of it, took my new sim and left.

Later the next week, I went back for the sim swap. I was greeted at the door and asked if I have all required documentation, which I confirmed. I was then asked if I have the R5 required for the activation. Once again I was surprised because not only was no mention of this made when I got the new sim a few days ago, but it didn't make sense that a new sim would be free while a sim swap cost money. After several attempts to try and clarify this discrepancy with the assistant who greeted me at the door, he asked me who was assisting me the last time. I pointed her out and he suggested I ask her to clarify since she gave me the new sim. When I approached her the first thing I noticed was that she was now wearing her name tag and it read "Tshiamo". I then posed the question to her as to why a sim swap costs R5 when she gave me a new sim for free. She responded, once again rudely and impatiently, that everyone charges for a sim swap and further went into detail about how much each service provider charges, indicating that Telkom is actually the cheapest. Though this didn't quite answer my question, it was enough to turn me away. It had been years since I'd done a sim swap and I always had someone do it for me so I didn't know there was ever a cost attached to it. I decided to go to the bank as I had no cash on me and needed to resolve a query I had with my bank regarding online access to my account without an OTP (since it would be sent to the number I was trying to swap). As this took long I couldn't return to Telkom and decided I'd do the sim swap the next day.

Upon arriving with my documentation and R10 since I wanted to arrange for 2 sim swaps I was assisted by someone else. Regrettably I didn't see her name but she was at least agreeable in her treatment of me. Much to my annoyance, she explained that my profile reflects that I have an outstanding balance which needed to be paid before I could do a sim swap. Since this was news to me, I was not prepared to pay. I had previously delt with this matter and was never able to get it resolved because I didn't get any responses to my emails or callback requests.

The last person to actually assist me in 2019 according to my email records is no longer working there, as per the automated response from Telkom stating that the email address he emailed me from doesn't exist. I have tried to log a query online, send a call request and attempted using the online chat service, none of which got me any assistance.

I need to get my numbers back. My accounts, online profiles and several other services are linked to my numbers and I have been using them for over 10 years. I find this highly unacceptable and request immediate assistance.

Regards Mongz Motlhabi