Friday, 12th March 2010
Relocation from South Africa - Communication Companies
Introduction
You will deal with a number of communications companies when planning your move. These include Telkom, cell phones, and the post office.You will need to review all the companies and then decide when to close the services that they are giving you. The timing of closing these services is critical, close them too early and you are stuck without them, close them too late and you may get a bill once you are in your new country!
Telkom
Giving notice to Telkom is easy - you have to fill in a form (available from any Telkom branch) and on the date that you specify, they will then cut the phone off. They usually require a months notice to cut a phone off.One area that you will have to keep on top of is the final account. To retrieve a copy of your account you can access the customer care section of their web site.
Remember to check and pay your final account before you leave as there might be extra charges that you did not know of.
Cellphones
This can be a bit more difficult as cell phones usually come with a 12 to 24 month contract. However you can disconnect the phone at any time but you will still need to pay the monthly rental of the phone until the end of contract. Contact your service provider to find out what their arrangements are for terminating a contract.As you tend to make a huge amount of calls in the last few weeks before leaving, a great idea is to purchase a pay-as-you-go kit for your phone. This will allow you to close the contract but still have access to the phone.
Internet Providers
Usually an email to the accounts department of your internet provider will be all it takes to end your subscription. If you are lucky enough to have a free connection (like in the UK!) - they will disconnect you after a month of no activity. To remain 'on-line' you should open an email account with a web-based email provider like hotmail. This will give you the piece of mind that people can still contact you whilst you settle down.Newspapers and Magazine subscriptions
Write to or fax all your subscription providers to give them notice to discontinue delivery. As most of these are pre-paid you can ask if there is any refund involved.Stop delivery at least one month before to check that the subscription has been suspended especially if this is a monthly subscription.
The Post Office
If you have a postal box with the post office you will need to cancel it. You can get the post office to forward post for up to a month to a friend or family. After that they will return any post to the sender or bin it if no return address is given.DHL and Fedex can deliver within 3 days to and from South Africa from anywhere in the world. Sending post from South Africa can be also done at Postnet which have priority delivery anywhere in the world.
TV - DSTV and MNet
To cancel the contract you will need to fax or write to them. When dealing with MNet or Multichoice they can close the account on the spot.If you are going to sell your decoder or receiver you will need to fill in a transfer form. A copy of your ID will also be required so have one handy!
