Elizabeth Mckrill, 81, says her Telkom line was working fine when she went into hospital for a hip replacement on October 9. But that wasn’t the case by the time she returned home on October 25. Now when people try to phone her, they can’t get through.
She lives alone and uses crutches, so her phone isn’t just a landline, it’s a lifeline to the outside world.
She said that when she called Telkom, they put her through to their sales department, which wasn’t any help.
She has a cellphone but it’s costly for her, as a pensioner, to rely on it.
Telkom spokesperson Noma Faku said they had tried to contact Ms Mckrill but had been unable to reach her. They wanted to apologise for the inconvenience she had experienced.
“We are in the process of migrating customers in some areas to fixed line look alike services which are mobile services that deliver the same service as a landline phone. Unfortunately, there was an error in migrating her services.
“We are in the process of rectifying the error which must be done by activating the device on the premises with the correct coordinates and account detail,” said Ms Faku.
Ms Mckrill said Telkom had eventually got in touch with her and had promised to sort out her phone.
She is just one of many who have contacted the Tatler, through the Off My Trolley consumer column or by letter about problems with their Telkom contracts or landlines.
Imraan George, from Rondebosch East, said he had a dispute with Telkom since February when the parastatal had offered him an upgrade to fibre at his business.
When he called Telkom he was told the maximum speed for the area was 16 mbps and they only offered 10 and 20 mbps packages (“Tough time trying to take Telkom to task,”Off my Trolley, November 1).
William Boltman, 77, from Milnerton, battled to cancel his Telkom ADSL and telephone service from February.
“I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve contacted customer services and after waiting 40 minutes they say my query will be escalated. Now they say the old system of cancelling services has been discontinued and I must do it online,” he said. (“Tough time trying to take Telkom to task,” Off my Trolley, November 1).