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- Some former Telkom customers received account statements this week for long-canceled landlines.
- The statements are confusing, but they have a clue on the second page: the phrase “unclaimed refunds.”
- It may seem like a scam, especially since the Telkom call center doesn’t know about it, but that’s genuine money that Telkom owes former users.
- There are about 50,000 people who have free money waiting for them, says Telkom.
- Delayed returns are just the result of the way the company handles unclaimed account balances.
- For more stories, visit www.BusinessInsider.co.za.
The “Telkom” PDF invoice looks a lot like the starting point of a scam.
“Charges for September 2020,” it reads on one line, before giving a rand amount for “service fees,” then reflecting a zero balance due.
Several customers who received such statements this week assumed it was a scam because they had not had any relationship with Telkom for years. Those who called the company’s call center were not disappointed in this idea, because front-line personnel were unable to provide further information.
But the documents are legitimate, Telkom confirmed, and reflect some of the roughly 50,000 unclaimed refunds that await its former landline customers. They happen to receive notifications of these funds after three years, due to how Telkom accounts for that money.
The only indication of this is the phrase “unclaimed refunds” on the second page of the invoice, although it is quickly confused again with a claim on the same page that the amount of the rand is due. “[c]harges for September. “
The confusing statements actually serve as credit notes, said Telkom group communications executive Mooketsi Mocumi, for those who canceled landlines but never claimed outstanding credit on their accounts.
After three years, that credit is reclassified as unclaimed. When that happens, the movement in the customer’s account (a debit to zero when the money is transferred to a reserve account) triggers a statement that is sent, as long as the registered email address is still correct.
“If the customer wants to claim their refund, a refund request with proof of bank details must be registered for Telkom to process the refund request,” Mocumi said.
Telkom says it tries to contact customers with credit on their accounts, but often finds that people are cautious about providing their bank account details because they fear being scammed.
Account inquiries can be submitted through the Telkom call center at 10210.
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