Telkom_ Very bad service_branch and head-office levels

Up to this very hour Telkom has not given me any proper feedback. This issue has been ongoing since January 2016. See below, escalated via Facebook with still no luck. This is a formal complaint against the Telkom Canal walk store, Cape Town. I have received poor service/ no service from staff, team leaders and management in store. This email serves the purpose to explain my experience as a Telkom customer. On 7th January 2016 I brought my IPhone 5s device in store because the screen had no touch response. Before bringing the device to Telkom with whom I have a 24 month contract for this very device, I took it to Istore/Ifix for a diagnosis. Istore confirmed that there was a bug with the software upgrade (IOS 9)IPhone/ Apple sent its customers causing different issues on the device, one of which was no touch response. See this link for more info. about this issue: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/***?tstart=0 Upon bringing the device to Telkom with the hope of a quick and easy fix, the Telkom Technician on duty: Sean Eaves had no idea about this problem. I explained the issue to him and prompted him to also look it up himself. He then explained that he had to book the phone into the external contracting repair center (ingrammicro) as he couldn’t fix the problem. After waiting nearly a month for a response I received a call from Telkom (repair centre) explaining that due to a scratch on the side of the device they are unable to look at the device and therefore in order for them to fix it I will need to pay the amount of R5500 +-. I then declined to pay that ridiculous quote , I was then unable to get through to the telephone number at the Telkom store , after trying about 20 times and I then emailed Sean Eaves and received a response two weeks later. Sean only confirmed what the repair center quoted and further explained that Telkom requires R188 handling fee to return my broken device to me and that’s it. I was very disturbed about this and the level of service provided to me , I then hurried into the store at my earliest convenience to resolve this issue. I dealt with Sean Eaves for over an hour that day to try and resolve this issue, management at the store wasn’t even interested to assist. Sean kept explaining that he was very sorry about the situation and admitted that it was an error from Apple that caused my device to be out of use. After me refusing to leave the store unless Telkom could assist me, Sean was compelled to email Howard from ingrammicro explaining the issue and that Apple admitted to the bug on IOS 9. I left the store with confirmation from Sean that he would do whatever it takes to fix my device , even if he had to pay the handling fee himself to get the phone back. As a professional myself I did not agree with that rationale but left it in his hands to sort out this issue. On the 23rd February Sean contacted me explaining that he wasn’t assisted at all by Core or ingrammicro. They kept insisting that they cannot look at the phone even though they admitted to the Apple IOS 9 fault and agreed to it. I received a call from Telkom/ Core insisting I pay the handling fee or they will sell my device. I emailed Sean Eaves and asked him to assist me asap. On 7th March , Sean called and advised that the Device is in store and that he will take the device to Istore/Ifix himself to ensure the device is repaired. I advised Sean that it was not his responsibility to repair my device and that he shouldn’t attempt at his own esteem, I insisted that Telkom my service provider should repair the device. I advised Sean that I will come in store to deal with management. I attempted on two occasions to try and get a manager instore by visiting the store and both times management wasn’t available to assist me. I dealt with another Technician on one occasion and was advised that Sean no longer assists instore and is now a team-leader. I had to re-explain the issue to the new technician only to be told to contact management via email. Frustrated with the service and lack thereof, on 29th March I emailed Firoza Vermeulen as well as a Mr Ward, I received no response after following up twice. On April 4th , I managed to get an email address of Wayne Reyneke , who assisted me by asking a technician to call me. This was done and I had to again explain the situation to the technician who called, I was then told that Telkom would get back to me with a price to get the phone fixed, really??????. I followed up with Wayne , he told me that Sean Eaves would contact me regarding the progress, again really???? On 11 April Sean Eaves emailed me stating the following ‘Good Day Mr Lodewyks We have tried to update software on the device unfortunately it’s not allowing me.It would best for you to collect the device and to take it to an iFix. I then kindly requested Sean (copying in all email addresses of management) to please better explain what he meant by this email as what he said before was conflicting with the email he sent. I received no response from Telkom up to this very moment. I sent another email on 17th April explaining that I would now escalate this matter , no response was given even to that showing no interest. I am extremely disappointed and frustrated with the service from Telkom, specifically Telkom Canal walk store. Its nearly four months I’ve been paying this contract without the use of the device causing me to have a financial loss. If I knew Telkom treats their customers this way I would never have entered into an agreement with the Network. As one of South Africa’s largest Network service providers , I am very disappointed by the treatment of my problem. I've sent the above complaint via Facebook to Telkom mid-April, up to now I have not received any feedback. I am considering querying with ICASA as I haven exhausted all avenues. The contract number is : ***