They’ve been dubbed ‘Hellkom’ for a reason, but it never ceases to amaze just how truly awful Telkom’s service can be.

Stories of customers being sold down the river by the company are all over the show, and now you can add another person to that list.

The man in question reached out to MyBroadband for help, after he was denied a home loan due to a payment dispute with Telkom.

Here’s how this shambles played out:

The reader stated that he filed for cancellation of his 100Mbps fibre package from Telkom, but the company did not process it properly.

He filed for cancellation on 23 May 2018, and received confirmation from Telkom that the cancellation was processed on 23 June.

In this communication, Telkom stated that the line was cancelled and all services were stopped.

At this point, you just know that’s too good to be true, because nothing is ever easy with these guys. Now you know why month-to-month contracts are proving so popular.

The company continued to charge him for the fibre package, however, and he was unable to stop the charges after dealing with Telkom’s customer support staff.

To prevent money going off his bank account for the Telkom fibre package he had cancelled, he stopped the associated debit order in August.

He also contacted Telkom’s billing department in an attempt to contact someone who could resolve the problem, but was unsuccessful.

A familiar refrain, because getting Telkom to stop payments is right up there with squeezing blood from a stone.

At this point, things took a very nasty turn:

The cancellation of the debit order came back to haunt the ex-Telkom customer when he recently went to apply for a home loan.

He was told by his bank that his outstanding debt with Telkom would need to be processed before he could proceed with the loan application.

The bank said he had to provide proof of debt settlement on his Telkom account before they could go ahead, as the reader was “four months in arrears” with Telkom and owed just over R10,000.

This is not the first time this has happened to a Telkom customer, and the company is known for blacklisting customers with the credit bureaus without contacting them regarding their “outstanding debt”.

Here’s the bit that really gets me – since the story first broke, and MyBroadband contacted Telkom, they have cancelled his account, credited him for money owed, and sent a request to the credit bureau to clear the man’s name.

Why should this have to happen, when the process should be a few clicks or a phone call? Probably because some people grow tired of fighting these battles, and Telkom gets its money.

That’s the joy of the month-to-month contract, isn’t it? RSAWEB knows that, and their fibre packages include that as one of the perks:

Once you’re on board with that, it’s time to pick your package. There’s a range to suit every user, with three of the starter options below:

In case you’re a little unsure as to what speed you’ll need, here’s a guideline.

ENTRY-LEVEL: 2-8 MBPS

• Suitable for a single user with entry-level requirements like internet browsing and email.
• Excellent reliability compared to ADSL.

REALLY FAST: 10-40 MBPS

• Suitable for a household that wants fast downloads and streaming like Showmax, Netflix, DStv Now and YouTube.
• You will notice a big step up from the average ADSL service.

SUPER FAST: 50-100 MBPS

• Bragging rights – Seriously, this is beyond quick and cuts any waiting time dramatically.
• Perfect for households with many people using multiple devices for streaming, downloading and playing games.

And now you know.

Please, don’t be one of those suckers fighting Telkom for months – you don’t need to live that way.

[source:mybb]