Another Telkom Ripoff

I know, it's not exactly news that Telkom is ripping us off, or that Telkom's monopoly and backwards thinking is bad for the country.

But I came across a new way that Telkom is ripping us off, and it's one that I certainly wasn't aware of, and I'm sure most people don't know about it.

I noticed a bunch of phone calls on my last Telkom account, from my landline to a cellphone, which weren't answered, didn't go to voicemail, but were charged for.

Astonishingly, I got a reply from Telkom today saying that the charges are correct. Their explanation is that even though the calls weren't answered, they crossed to another network and thus will be charged for.

This is pretty shocking - I'm sure most people aren't aware that you're charged for any call from a Telkom line to another network, regardless of whether or not the call is answered! I suspect it's not actually legal, although Telkom would probably say that it was 'answered' by the other network, therefore it was connected and will be charged for. So all those "missed calls" that you make are actually costing you money - you might as well chat to the person for a minute, because it's costing you the same. And because the minimum call charge is so high, this is even more of a ripoff. And don't try testing your ringtone by phoning your cell from your landline, becasue it's going to cost you each time you try it out.

I wonder when this started, and whether other networks do the same thing. If I phone a Telkom line from my Vodacom cell, and I hang up before anyone answers, will I be charged? Or, if we take Telkom out of the equation - if I phone a MTN number from my Vodacom cell, will I be charged then if the other person hangs up without answering?

So be aware that you might be able to cut down on your phone bill by not phoning cell numbers that you think might be engaged, that you think the other person might not answer (even if you don't let it go to voicemail), or that you think the other person might not be able to take your call and might hang up without answering. Kinda cuts down on the usefulness of the phone system, doesn't it?