If you have ever found yourself trapped in that circle of hell called Telkom customer service, you’ll sympathise with the fellow customer who’s started an online petition titled “TELKOM! Get a proper customer care department”.
Posted at Change.org, the motivation urging other Telkom users to sign the petition details a litany of woes.
“I have dealt with more than 20 managers in different departments… but till today, more than two months after logging the complaint, and a few hundred e-mails and calls to them, which fell on deaf ears, the matter is unresolved,” writes the customer identified only as Demand Change.
“We simply want Telkom to start responding to and resolving complaints that are logged with them. Plain and simple.”
Unfortunately, achieving that looks to be neither plain nor simple. Tech website MyBroadband.co.za has reported extensively on Telkom’s back-end blues and what’s emerged isn’t a pretty picture.
Last October its editor, Rudolph Muller, recounted in tragi-comic detail the hurdles he faced in trying to buy some of Telkom’s new business broadband products.
His conclusion: “With a trusted network and aggressive pricing, many people would be keen to sign up for one of these Telkom products.
“Unfortunately, there is snag – a big one. It is near impossible to buy them. Even if you are willing to battle through long helpdesk waiting times and being cut off, you may still not succeed,” he wrote.
I’ve had a similar experience, albeit not nearly as extreme. Around the same time as Muller was fighting his battle, I was trying to upgrade my home ADSL to a faster connection. I won’t bore you with the hoops I had to jump through to eventually achieve this, but to call it a chore is understating matters.
It’s worth emphasising that these weren’t customer complaints Muller and I were trying to have resolved. We just wanted Telkom to let us give it more money.
When you have a connectivity problem that needs sorting out urgently, the stakes are a lot higher. Connectivity issues can sink a business if they’re not resolved quickly.
The good news is that Telkom is aware it has a huge problem.
In its response to the petition, it told MyBroadband: “We know that we are not yet meeting the expectations of our customers but we are working hard at developing better systems and processes to manage and improve our customer engagement.”
One of the big challenges it faces are “legacy issues”. An example is its call centre set-up where agents have to work off multiple screens. “This results in each agent having to duplicate work and keeping the customer on the line for a lot longer than should be necessary.”
Suddenly, all those hours spent waiting on the customer care line begin to make sense.
Telkom said it was developing a unified system to improve this process, but was also trying to “shift customer behaviour to a more self-service environment”.
So what are the alternatives to picking up the phone – assuming it’s working in the first place?
One option – again assuming you have access to the internet – is to log a fault at Telkom.co.za
Customers can also SMS “SERVICE” and their number to 30591 or report problems using Telkom’s Android and iOS app, available for free on the respective app stores.
Social media-savvy customers should direct tweets to @TelkomZA or post on the TelkomZA Facebook page.
I’ve had a pretty good experience reporting web connectivity issues using Twitter, receiving replies almost immediately and technical help within minutes. I’d like to think that’s not just because it’s apparent from my Twitter profile that I’m a journalist.
Finally, if you do opt to call in with a problem (10210 for residential and 10217 for business customers) my advice is to steel yourself for a long wait. Make sure you’re in a comfy chair, that the TV or a tablet computer is where you can see it and that you’re well stocked with refreshments.
Got a Telkom customer care tip or trick that’s worked for you? I’d love to hear it. E-mail [email protected] or tweet @alanqcooper