It’s not going to come as news to many that Telkom doesn’t run like clockwork, but a number of customers are complaining about some particularly underhanded dealings.

Many of you out there might be on a Telkom internet contract, and it’s at this point that you’re going to want to start paying close attention.

Following one of their employees bringing it to their attention, the folks at MyBroadband decided to take a closer look at Telkom and their apparently automatic contract extension policy.

First up the story of the employee, who tried to cancel her LTE contract when the 36-month deal expired.

After forking out R1 399 per month for the duration of that deal, for which she received an LTE router and 100 GB, she was in for a nasty surprise when she tried to cancel:

• She was told she was in a 24-month contract, which started after the previous contract expired. She never agreed to this.
• She was paying the original price of R1,399 per month. This is despite the fact that the device was paid off and that the new device-inclusive price for this service was R999 per month.
• To cancel the new contract, there was an early termination penalty of R800.
• The helpdesk agent told her that the full contract fee for the remainder of the contract – R1,399 per month – will also have to be paid in full to cancel the service, despite the fact that the service will be terminated.

Automatically popped on a new contract without signing anything or being made aware this was happening – smells fishy.

And paying a grand for 100 GB? You’re joking – check out the offering from RSAWEB:

That’s how you do it, Telkom.

After tackling the company on the matter she was told her contract was cancelled on November 24 of last year, but that didn’t mean anything was sorted:

• When she was billed in December and January, she contacted the agent again.
• The agent said the contract was not cancelled and that she was signed up for a 36-month contract (Home Office LTE 100GB Deal + Huawei E5186 for R1,399 per month).
• She asked for information to show that she signed up for this contract, but the Telkom agent said they “cannot access your contract that was signed or has your signature”.

First a 24-month and then a 36-month contract.

And where’s that second LTE router included in the second contract? It’s almost like they didn’t send it because they didn’t want her to know she was signed on to another deal.

Were this an isolated incident one could write it off, but consumer sites like HelloPeter reveal that’s not the case:

“I have officially cancelled my contract with Telkom in November 2016 already and they just keep debiting my account,” said one user on HelloPeter.

“I sent in the cancellation forms in October 2016 already. I also got a reply from Telkom telling me that they acknowledge receipt of my cancellation on the 17th of October. It’s now 14 January and these idiots are still deducting money from my account,” said another.

Nothing like watching money fly out of your account at the beginning of every month when you didn’t even sign up for the debit.

You’d be advised to keep an eye on when your contract expires, given the trouble the folks above have gone through.

Or, ya know,  you could just use a proper internet provider.

[source:mybroadband]