Everyone thinks that because Telkom supplies them with a phone (aka land line) they are a telephone company. Wrong. Nor are they a service company. Their "service" is confusing, contradictory and downright dreadful. No, they are a Call Centre company.
If you go to one of their stores to get a phone, they don't have stock, or you may have to "come back later" a few times until one of the paid drones who "services the queue" actually has a flash of inspiration and can actually do something to help. "Tomorrow starts tomorrow. Or next month. We can't help you today".
If you have a life to live and don't fancy standing in queues in their store, then you will encounter the heart of the beast: the Telkom Call Centres. Don't try phoning the store you visited. They don't answer the phone. Incredible, but true: the people who work in the phone company store do not answer the phone. If you call the "number" assigned to that store (Cresta 011 478 5396, Greenstone 011 452 6430, etc) it doesn't actually ring in that store. It gets forwarded to a Call Centre. The "front line agents" in the call centre can't actually tell you the progress of your request. All they can do is promise to phone you back. Or they give you a different number to call.
Update 16 March 2021: Telkom sent me a customer satisfaction survey via email. I only noticed it because it landed in my junk mail folder. So I dutifully told them I am no longer one of their customers and I really don't care if they improve their service or not. They are on my "do not do business with these clowns" list, and will remain there until I get my money back.
