Telkom Thieves

[Xplosiv]

I received my Telkom bill yesterday and noticed a very small amount deducted (don't have the invoice with me, but it was for '??? and one time payments') where usually it's nil.
I found the amount on a subsequent page and it was interest on late payment. I almost let it go because as I said, it was a small amount - less than R3.00.
But then I thought, I pay by debit order. There's no way I can be blamed for a late payment.
So I went through the hell that is Telkom's automated phone system and eventually got through to some random operator.
Turns out I was being penalised because the debit order went through on the 2nd, and not the 1st as per my contract. I pointed out that the 1st was a public holiday and in no way my fault, so why was I being penalised? In fact, if this was being done to every debit paying customer, how much money was Telkom raking in?

Needless to say the second question wasn't answered, but as the operator was dealing with my complaint, the system automatically refunded the amount.

I know Telkom is in trouble and need every penny they can lay their grubby paws on, but this is not the way to go about it.
Check this month's statement if you pay by debit order, and even if it is a small sum, phone and complain.

How much do you reckon Telkom can steal with nobody caring?

(BTW, how would I get the ombudsman involved in this?)

[AmithS]

Thanks for the heads up!

I had a few service providers send me messages to say due to the public holiday on 1 Jan 2018 they will debit me on 31 December 2017.

I wasn't happy with that however I think its better than the Telkom method now that I hear your story

[kavesh]

Xplosiv, I hope you do not mind me hijacking your thread, but seeing its Telkom related I thought I would share my issue.

I have an LTE data contract with Telkom. For the first several months it was a wonderful service and then it became slower and slower to the point it was not working. I contacted Telkom and said that I wanted to cancel the contract as their service was not working. This was in October 2017. In December they sent a technician to my house to compile a report to validate my compliant and if valid they would waive the cancellation fee for early termination. The technician confirmed that the service was very poor and he was also not able to open any web pages on his device.
2 months later in February he submitted his report of his findings. I have been to the Telkom store on 3 occasions asking for a status update, but they can't give me more information saying that cancellations will be in contact with me. In the meantime I am paying for a service that does not work. What is my recourse? As I work from home I sourced alternate internet connectivity which actually works.

I wish someone here can give me some guidance as to what to do next as I cannot pay for 2 services indefinitely.