How can a service provider sell a product that does not work and still charge for it?
When I as a small service provider does not deliver my product I do not charge my customer i.e. when I don't pitch to deliver what my client paid for I don't charge. Telkom however charges me for a line rental of ADSL at a promised speed that it seldom reaches and towards the end of the month when everyone gets online to use up their allocated bandwidth I hardly get online. What the???? Can I carry over my unused bandwith that I could not use because of their crap lines? No. Can I refuse to pay for what I cannot use because of their crap lines? No. Is there an alternative? No. I understand the infrastructure is stressed but then Telkom should not promise 1st world services at first world rates and deliver 3rd world quality.

Hi,

I don't know if this will really help, maybe someone can give me some advice.

I am a Telkom ADSL subscriber. Recently (for the last two month about) I have been having serious problems with my internet connection. I don't know exactly what the problem is, but the connection is very unstable. It keeps dropping. Now, for what I use the internet for majority of the time, I need a constant connection. I cannot afford my connection dropping every now and then. Sometimes it holds for hours; other times for 30 seconds. Sometimes it's down for hours; others for 2 minutes. To some people this might not sound so bad, but, like I said, I need constant connectivity, and to be honest, I'm not paying for what I am getting.

I have contacted Telkom's fault reporting center multiple times. The first time they told me that there was something wrong with authenticating my username and password. The second time it was the line itself. The third time it was the box outside on the sidewalk or something, the forth time they didn't even bother to try and tell me what was wrong. Funny how it's something else every time, yet the same problem keep recurring. And even worse, every time some technician calls to make an appointment...I am still waiting for someone to come by my place to check my router/line/whatever.

My questions is: If you telecommunications services provider is a monopoly who is not providing their service properly, what can you do to get the service you are paying for?

Thank you.