Telkom SA
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Not So Good Service

Telkom SA is the telecommunications equivalent to British Telecom.  The one big difference is that in most instances Telkom SA still has a monopoly on telecommunications in South Africa.  A countdown to deregulation of the industry has started in South Africa over a period of about 7 years.  Telkom SA has unfortunately not grasped this as an opportunity, but fought hard to try keep their monopoly.  Some of their reasons are quite valid.  I must say though, that I have much respect for their technical expertise.  What is lacking somewhat is business expertise.

I will illustrate this by a personal example.  Remember that when it comes to quality of service, it is personal experiences and word of mouth that often counts (ie. a perception by the client whether the promises made were delivered).  This experience happened in the days when Telkom had split away from the old government department that it was, to form a new private company with the State as a major shareholder.  The point is, that they now considered themselves a private company.  Although if you read what I experienced you would probably ask yourself how such a company would be able to carry on keeping customers.

I was living with my parents at that stage in Cape Town.  Due to heavy data traffic on my part whilst using the Internet at all hours, I decided to apply for an extra telephone line at my parents house.  This was to give them some time to use their own telephone in the evenings!!  Telkom told me that there were no extra lines avilable but that they could install a split line for me with its own phone number.  This they did at some expense to themselves and I received (021)5311982 (no longer in use by me) as my number.  All went fine for about two years or so until I decided to move out into my own place.  I gave notice to Telkom to cancel the line and said they could cancel it immediately.  After moving out for about 2-3 weeks I decided to move back "home".

I contacted Telkom and asked if I could still have my line back as everything was physically in place and the notice period they actually required, had not yet elapsed.  The person I spoke to told me that the modem card at the exchange was still in but was switched off.  Technically they could just flip a switch and I could carry on again.  But the supervisor would have to approve it.  Yes, you guessed it!!!  No, I would have to pay for a reconnection.  I told them I could actually do without that extra line and that they would lose the money not only of the installation but also future rental, and all this for a mere R100 or so.  No, Telkom would rather lose all that money.

So as a democratic consumer I told them that was also fine by me as I could put the money to good use somewhere else.

This just  illustrates what sometimes happens in a large corporation, especially those with large bureaucracies.  In fairness to Telkom again, I have not had any bad experiences (unless I count the major hassles I recently had in cancelling my Beltel account and getting my credit balance back - which I did finally get without interest, and only after sending a threatening fax to them).  I think they have been putting a big effort in, but they must also remember that it is important that they hear about experiences like this and learn from them.

Very Good Service

To Telkom's credit, I called their toll free service line 0800 60 00 00 on 1998-01-21 to register for the call waiting service.  I was helped by a very friendly guy who went through all the services and explained each one to me.  He even registered the services over the phone without me having to send a fax or a letter.  Whilst he was going through the services I realized I also needed itemized billing - no problem he added that as well.  He gave me a reference number for the request so I could follow up if he was not available.  He even said if he could not activate the service by the same evening, he would call me and tell me so.  Guess what, by the time I got home it was working.  Now this is what I call excellent service - a real example to be quoted.

I promptly informed two other friends of my experience and the service available and they are too going to register for the services.

None of these opinions in any way reflect those of my employer. These pages are entirely private.