Billing problems

[Raithlin]

Just spoke with Mary-Ann in accounts. Technical problems with the Billing System means that debit orders will only start coming off sometime next week. She couldn't give me an exact date, due to the nature of the problem.

[Crash]

So that was a balls up........

[alchamy]

Hmm, they have still not sent me an invoice, In fact they day they debit me I will phone and complain like never before.

And when they tell me that they have the incorrect e-mail address, which I know because I changed it with the helpdesk and since then I have not received any correspondance from them. (obviously they could not take down a simple address).

I will complain until they explain why they did not follow up on a failed delivery of the mail.

Usually I would not be this pety but I am sick & tired of their incompetance.

[Raithlin]

alchamy, just double check first that there is no slip-clause that mentions that it is your responsibility to make sure your contact details are updated, etc.

[alchamy]

I was fortunate enough to receive one of the early contracts with nothing but my banking details on it :D Furthermore I changed e-mail addresses and notified them of it. They were incapable of taking down the new address correctly. :rolleyes:

This upsets me because not everyone uses these forums and therefore they will have no idea that they are about to be debited for upto 3 months of access. Although they should make provision or atleast have found out why they have not been debited to date, WBS should make double sure about money matters.

[Raithlin]

Something else that I found out through being curious...

If your chosen "debit order day" is 1 - 14, you are debited in arrears, whereas 15-31 you are debited in advance.

Just thought you'd like to know. I haven't seen it on the site anywhere.

[AcidRaZor]

you sure about that? because that will mean if you cancel you dont pay that month... seeing as you need to give them 30 days advance notice, if your debit order is from 1-14, it means on the last debit order that did go through, you can give them 30 days notice, and get that month for free, because you only pay for that month on your selected date between 14

right?

[Raithlin]

People who pay from the 1st till the 14th are paying are paying in arrears and those who chose to be debited between the 15th till end of the month pay in advance.

Many thanks

That's what it says...

[alchamy]

hmm, interesting, noone that might be something to keep away from WBS eyes, ;) I asked them to debit my account on or after the 1st so I defenitely wont complain.

[ghoti]

im curious, what if you have budgeted for only R450, are they going to double debit at R900?

[Raithlin]

You should have received an invoice via email - unless your address has changed and the helpdesk didn't update it when you phoned [see above]

[ic]

You should have received an invoice via email - unless your address has changed and the helpdesk didn't update it when you phoned [see above]Just to clarify, the email sent out by WBS on 2005-01-28 stating that money would be deducted on 2005-02-02, is not a Tax Invoice, and WBS need to supply fully conformant Tax Invoices before they can legally charge VAT. Also, there are strict SARS rules for electronically distributed/accessible Tax Invoices - emailing is not one of those options (but then I disagree with whoever decided those electronic rules anyway).

[AcidRaZor]

I for one am not willing to fork over 454*3+80 at the end of this month. if they're late with the billing, I require them to make a reasonable suggestion to how I can get the money to them, cause I don't have spare cash lying around as I have a budget. f@ck with my budget and you f@ck with your life....

[Raithlin]

if they're late with the billing, I require them to make a reasonable suggestion to how I can get the money to them, cause I don't have spare cash lying around as I have a budget...
Hmm. I tried that too - no luck. Dunno why though. :confused:

[aborg]

I know I will be forkin out close to 1.5k due to this delayed billing - bad news...
Just checked...I think I have been billed eeeek - can anyone else confirm that they have been billed.
The debit order says nothing about Iburst or WBS in the reference line.

[Jerry]

Got an email earlier stating that they will deduct R878.71 (Dec ProRata R424.71 + Jan R454) from account on the 2nd of Feb. They have just deducted R1332.71 from my account, an EXTRA R454. Now if they stated that they'll deduct R878.71 from my account, can they just go ahead and deduct an extra R454? My budget is shot!

[120]

Take it up with there accounts department. Did you pay an activation fee if not they going to charge you for it........



Got an email earlier stating that they will deduct R878.71 (Dec ProRata R424.71 + Jan R454) from account on the 2nd of Feb. They have just deducted R1332.71 from my account, an EXTRA R454. Now if they stated that they'll deduct R878.71 from my account, can they just go ahead and deduct an extra R454? My budget is shot!

[Jerry]

I am taking it up with accounts today, that's for sure. I should not be paying any activation fee, as I've signed a contract when NO activation fee was needed.

[120]

Well that's why i paid IBURST for that month so i got an invoice asthat said no activation Fee. PROOF so they can't fsck me around. If they Do. They going st8 to my lawyers and this about an activation fee is really Bull to me..... They should say ok no activation fee but pay up front 2 months or something...... Like contracts etc.....

I'm P*ss off with iburst.


I am taking it up with accounts today, that's for sure. I should not be paying any activation fee, as I've signed a contract when NO activation fee was needed.

[AcidRaZor]

They deducted not only the invoice of R968.53, but an extra R454 from my account as well.

I'm going to call the CFO now.

[Jerry]

Just spoke to accounts now. The lady there said that she took the matter up with the financial director, Rajiph Ramlall, who told her that I've been billed for the next months rent. Well sorry for you, if your invoice states that you're going to deduct x-amount, that's the amount you have to deduct. Isn't this fraud? Mr Ramlall's direct line is 011-715 3274, but of course he is not available (in a meeting)...

[AcidRaZor]

I just left a message for Mr Ramlall telling him that the invoice and the debit order they took off differs, and that this constitutes as fraud. That I don't like being defrauded by a company I hardly know, and would like him to call me back.

Let's wait and see what happens.

[AcidRaZor]

This is a mail I sent just now after iBurst invoiced me for a certain amount, then proceeded to take off an unauthorized amount.


Dear Nozipho,

As you can see, I’m forwarding this mail to Mr. Parvin as well. As I find the behaviour of WBS / iBurst unacceptable.

Included is a mail sent to me on the 28th of January 2005 notifying me with your intentions to run a debit order against my account for the amount of R968.53, which includes a Pro Rata for November 2004, which was somewhat unexpected after I expressly asked that question to Mr Ramlall when he phoned me to apologize for the billing not going through and making his intentions clear that the billing will run end of January and would only include December and January fee’s.

That is beside the point.

You not only did not bill me for 3 months (Pro Rata for November, December and January) but within this mail sent to me on the 28th of January, indicated an amount of R968.53…. R454 shy of what you actually debited from my account. (Which was R1422.30 for those unable to grasp the basic concept of math?)

I will report you to my bank as having defrauded me. I will get my bank to do a reverse on the debit order taken off on the 7th of February 2005.

I do not care if the extra R454 was for the month of February. NO indication that the billing run included the month of February exists on the invoice sent to me on the 28th of January.

I expect a return on the messages I left for both Miss Nozipho and Mr. Ramlall.

If I do not hear from any of them within the next couple of hours, I will be going to my bank and explain to them the situation and do what I threatened to do, not only that, but also take steps into making sure my bank won’t do business with WBS and stop any claim for a debit order on their clients from WBS, be rejected immediately.

WBS has unwittingly participated in driving my bank status into the negative, and I will take you to small claims court for any interest and damages caused by this totally unorganized excuse of a company. If this matter is not resolved today, I will also release this information to the public (which I intend to do with this email as well) to further educate the uneducated and point them towards a competent provider.

One who does not lie? One who communicates to its customers? One called, Vodacom 3G (who has a much higher participation rate than any WBS employee ever had on www.myadsl.co.za I might add)

[ic]

Well I've just checked my bank account, they put through the debit order yesterday - despite an email sent on 2005-02-02 saying:
Dear iBurst Customer

Based on your feedback with regard to our e-mail dated 28 jan 2005 from our Accounts Department,
the debit order instruction to your bank will not be processed until all of your queries, where applicable,
have been resolved.

We thank you for your patience during our start up phase
and assure that our staff is committed to providing you with the best service possible.

Our accounting department may be contacted via
Nozipho Tobo at 011 877 4720.
Please note our accounts department operates from 8:30 to 17:00 Monday to Friday. (accounts@wbsmobile.co.za)Did anyone else receive the same email on the 2nd?

I still haven't had a callback from Nozipho Tobo, or a reply to my email to tell me what's going on.

This is how much I have forked out for this disconnection:
GTECH SOUTHERN AFRIC*-1513.33*Now that they have deducted money they will be getting a Tax Invoice from me - despite their own inability to issue a proper Tax Invoice.

[torgo]

Got the note as well, still need to see if anything was deducted?

[Gatecrasher]

Maybe they were informing you of the arrears amount only. And have then billed you for February as well.

I received an email, charging me pro-rata for January plus some strange activation fee amount of about R150. This, despite having already paid the first month and the full activation fee. I wrote back for an explanation. Got a reply to say they were having problems (familiar, huh?) . So far, they haven't deducted anything from my account. But I'm keeping my eyes open!

[Harley79]

When I was a subscriber, I just never gave them my bank details :-)

[AcidRaZor]

They should inform you of ANY amount due to be taken off your account. Not just the arrears. I've asked on numerous occasions if there will be a warning sent out before the billing run, they did in fact send out out stating the billing run would start the 2nd of February and apologized for having problems.

This is not the issue at hand, the issue at hand is that they deducted far more than they claimed you owed them.

Fraud. The new kind of BroadBand

[ant5]

Also having problems here. Was debited last night for Jan and Feb plus activation fee of R456 which I had already paid when I collected the modem.

I had queried the bill (specifically them charging me another activation fee) but got no feedback until this morning when Cathy (new person at accounts) called me to find out if I was happy with the debit that had gone thru.

Bit of an arse about face way of doing things.............

[AcidRaZor]

Bit of an arse about face way of doing things.............

Yea, like letting your customers know 10 minutes after the Sandton base station went down, that it will go down.

I think at this stage it is more profitable running a helpdesk than the service itself it seems, because they're really only creating consumer agitation by doing this, and those dumb enough to actually call into call centre gets ripped off with the 0861 number.

Had a phonecall from Sasan Parvin (whoever the dude is, ic once told me about him) which I constantly CC on with my emails.

He sounded sincere in helping me sort out the problems.

Then again, if you are threatend with legal action / damages / press, I guess you'd sound sincere too.

Don't f@ck with noone :D

[Mayh3m]

Hi noone

I had the exact same thing as you - Money taken off in advance for February without any prior notifcation.
I did phone and complain, but was notified that I should mail the mail address accounts@wbsmobile.co.za with my complaint and information.
I won't bother doing this. Obviously they will not act on it anyway. They will probably say that they will just not charge you at the end of Feb and proceed to do it anyway.

If you read the small-print on the statement they sent you, you will see the following:

"In addition, dependant on the billing date you have selected, your bank account
may be billed more than once in February 2005"

That is basically what they have done, just on one day.

All I know is that if they try billing me in arrears and advance next month, there is going to be hell to pay.

[ghoti]

Just to let you know what is happening my side. Due to current financial restrictions (I.E I am broke and on a budget), I could not afford a freeken R1200 deduction. So, after phoning and moaning a real lot, and threatning legal action (in small claims court), I have been informed by a woman in accounts called Mary-Anne, that she will phone me at 9AM tomorrow about a refund, and then we will be able to work out a way to pay the account problems

[Jerry]

Anyone else had the 'cold shoulder' from WBS since the billing issue? eg. voice mail, phone just rings, not available, in a meeting, will phone you back......BUT NOTHING?!

[Mayh3m]

That is typical.
In the week where they were having major issues on the network, they also never bothered to answer the helpdesk. Seems they take a few calls and then everyone ducks off when the going gets tough.
Once again - this could have all been solved with a little communication

Mail from WBS a couple of days ago would have been nice stating the following:
Hi everyone, please note that we will be taking off the amount for February in advance so please don't be shocked.

Even a mail this morning stating the following:
Hi everyone, please note that the discrepency between the invoice sent to you and the amount taken off of your account sometime yesterday is because of the following: We apologise for the late notification. Please bare with us.

How about a message on the IVR:
The reason for account discrepencies is as follows: blah blah blah

They seem to be such simple solutions to me, but maybe it is easier for them to make the mistake and then proceed to just not answer the helpdesk and aggrevate their users even more.
I dunno............

[aborg]

I received the e-mail ic, plus they also deducted an extra R454 which I assume was for Feb 05. They seem to deduct in advance. I am definately gonna phone to find out what is going on. My invoice didn't state the amount that was deducted - a nasty surprise. Come on accounts dept whats going on?? Again a lack of communication to the customer.

[ghoti]

Okay, I have been shafted by iburst, they refuse to refund them. So now, I fight back.

All people screwed over by WBS this month, post a comment on the hellopeter.com website. Here is my thread: http://www.hellopeter.com/details.asp?id=31716

The more people that complain, the more alert this consumer watch dog becomes, and the more they react.

Also, if there are 5 or more posts in regards to a certain company, it gets officialy listed with hellopeter.

So write about your experiences there.

[ghoti]

Okay, I have been shafted by iburst, they refuse to refund them. So now, I fight back.

All people screwed over by WBS this month, post a comment on the hellopeter.com website. Here is my thread: http://www.hellopeter.com/details.asp?id=31716

The more people that complain, the more alert this consumer watch dog becomes, and the more they react.

Also, if there are 5 or more posts in regards to a certain company, it gets officialy listed with hellopeter.

[VQuest]

Crumbs, iBurst is sounding more and more like Sentech every day. And thats very scary. I can fully understand if they have technical difficulties with their service, but there is no excuse for bad customer service - and that includes the accounts department.

[Jerry]

"All people screwed over by WBS this month, post a comment on the hellopeter.com website. Here is my thread: http://www.hellopeter.com/details.asp?id=31716"

DONE

[bb_matt]

It is quite sad - I hope they sort it out soon, otherwise all the disgruntled old Scumtech users will end up being right about the "once burned, twice shy" stuff.

The thing is, this is exactly (more or less) what happened to me with Sucktech.

They neglected to bill me for 3 months then sent a whopper of a bill through that sent my poor old bank account for a loop.

I managed to negotiate, after TONS of ranting and raving to pay it off over 3 months.

iBurst, very very stupid of you - the LAST thing you do is to mess with people's accounts, you make enemies fast and word of mouth news like that spreads like wildfire.

I'll tell ya now, if anyone asks me about iBurst and whether it's worth it, that's one of the things I'll tell them - apparently they can't get thier billing right, just like Sucktech couldn't.

[Crash]

We'll... I haven't seen any debit order go through my account. After 4 e-mails to accounts@wirelessbullsh%t.co.za , I have still not gotten a reply. 2 weeks guys. What are they doing? I am going to throw this modem at them..... probably through a bloody window. And it's no idle threat either. I once threw a telkom phone through a window, straight at a security guard in the Telkom Offices.

Actually..... I have a better idea...... considering I'm not paying at the mo, lets seem if I can get my downloads past the 25gb a week mark.....

[Gatecrasher]

And it's no idle threat either. I once threw a telkom phone through a window, straight at a security guard in the Telkom Offices.


Explains your screen name. :D

[Gatecrasher]

It is quite sad - I hope they sort it out soon, otherwise all the disgruntled old Scumtech users will end up being right about the "once burned, twice shy" stuff.

Yes. It's almost like they've used the same business model. Maybe they are using the same consultants or advisors. Or maybe someone in senior management came from Sentech.

Frightening.

*On bank balance patrol*

[ghoti]

yeah abord, weve been billed. It should say GTECH in the reference line. Goto the hellopeter website, and voice your displeasure.

[Raithlin]

*On bank balance patrol*
You're not the only one. :rolleyes:

[Adelante]

i have phoned them constantly for the past 3 days, asking them to sort it out, and all i get told is:

"we can log a call for u, and one of our managers will contact u later in the month"

I am now tired of asking, and tired of waiting, so I will take matters into my own hands, and give them a reason to phone me.

I have just had the debit order disputed, and the money returned to me by the bank. Iburst can now phone me up and ask me for there money, to which i AM going to reply "I will log a call for u, and contact u later in the month"

[lewstherin]

nice one adelante :)

[AcidRaZor]

sweet... i just threatend with a fraud claim / small claims court and they called me back today...

tip, annoy Sasan Parvin by CC'ing him all correspondance... works for me...

[ghoti]

Hi there,

The guy you want to speak to is someone called Sean Green. He phoned me and apologised, and said they would refund the most of the monies. Which makes me a lot happier. His direct line is 011 877 4719

We should also start a thread of all the contact details of the certain persons responsible. IE, put that silly Ramlall dudes, numbers, email addresses etc. Every person, and their position.

What say you?

[AcidRaZor]

hehehe, silly Ramlall dude

one thing i'm impressed by is their tower roll out schedule. it's WAY faster than Sentech's could ever be

[ic]

...
We should also start a thread of all the contact details of the certain persons responsible...Please post those contact details in this existing thread.

[divv]

Hi. Have just checked my bank account and a sum has been deducted that I do not recognise- can anyone who HAS had a debit order go off please tell me what the name is in the info field? Does it say IBurst or WBS or is it another name?
Thanks.... divv

[ic]

Divv, I think it's GTECH, I posted it somewhere in one of these 2 billing threads...

[ghoti]

its in the name of GTECH

[divv]

its in the name of GTECH
Thats what I was scared of.... I only subscribed last Saturday, paid month upfront and now get charged?!?
THIS MEANS WAR!

[divv]

sweet... i just threatend with a fraud claim / small claims court and they called me back today...

tip, annoy Sasan Parvin by CC'ing him all correspondance... works for me...
please can I get that address??? Thanks

[ghoti]

Ping statistics for 196.4.160.2:
Packets: Sent = 5197, Received = 4135, Lost = 1062 (20% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 40ms, Maximum = 2453ms, Average = 194ms


*sigh*

[ic]

Divv, I'm posting Satan's [:D] email addy now in the Readme.1st thread.

[divv]

Many thanks ic

[ic]

No problemo, if anyone has any other WBS contact info they want to supply either post it in/on the Readme.1st thread, or if you want to go "covert" then send me an email, or a p.m.

[TheRoDent]

/me thinks it might be time to add some more info to that pic I took of returning my iBurst modem.

http://rodent.za.net/gallery/albums/miscellaneous/IM000265.sized.jpg

That was 2 days after I received my modem.
Perhaps I can pencil these in:

* Billing nightmares.
* Super sucky contention.
* Packet loss.
* Helldesk.

[ant5]

I've just been hit with a second incorrect debit. Has this happened to anyone else?
I mean the first debit (on the 2nd of Feb) was incorrect and I've been struggling to get a refund. Now today I see they've debited me again for the full incorrect amount. This means I've paid them about R2200 when in fact all I really owe them, even paying a month in advance, is about R709. Very scary!!

[Shaun Green]

I know the billing run had its flaws. IT WAS THE FIRST RUN.!!!

Apologies all round. Please if you have problems on the billing side and cannot get resolution, contact me. I will assist you in resolving the problem.

My contact details are on the site.

Remember.. Perfection takes time. Forgiveness a moment.

[Luke7777]

Hope you'll be equally as understanding when your municipality implements a new billing system and totally screw your first account :D

[ic]

Assign the responsibility of contacting Ant5 and others, to specific persons from the Accounts Department, have them reply to emails sent to accounts@wbsmobile.co.za, messages left & calls not returned, get them to contact us individually via the forum, email via the forum, or private messages...

[divv]

So on Monday I return Iburst - mostly because I am annoyed at being overcharged. Meet Shaun and Rajiv (I think), both very apologetic, and all refunded almost immediately.

Guess what?!? Yesterday I got hit AGAIN, for activation fee and Feb prorata.....

Now DON'T tell me to be understanding - because this was NOT the first run!!!!

NO EXCUSES for this, now I don't only want a refund I want EXTRA for what it's costing me to have to chase after these clowns!!!!

Product useable - just DON'T give them your banking details.... you HAVE BEEN WARNED!

[ic]

divv, thanks for that info - guess what - you are not alone, I have just checked and there is yet another WBS (GTECH) debit on my account (today 2005-02-16) for yet another R454!!!

I am reposting this in the Communication thread.

Divv, you were right to cancel, now you need to reverse & cancel the debit order as well.

I am furiously :mad:!!!

[ic]

You know how Willow felt when she flayed evil geek boy alive for murdering her gf?

Well, that's how :mad: I am right now with WBS, hopefully a big dose of C10H14N2 will help calm me a bit - failing that I will have to call for an uber witch doctor to go & annoy WBS into getting their house in order.

[AcidRaZor]

touch wood, but nothing off my account since they debited for everything including feb

[ic]

Noone, dude, you are lucky - apparently I was targetted as a cashcow or something - this has thrown my bank account over the overdraft limit!!!

I am still fuming - mostly bcos this internet connection has been worse than 56K dialup for me since 24th December, now to be HIT with an additional month's subscription over and above February which I have already been charged for along with preceding months - February isn't even over yet & I get charged for March...:mad:

[AcidRaZor]

Well, their little stunt of billing us for February as well without letting us know also pushed me over. I still have to buy food/pay petrol for the rest of the month, and my credit is also maxed as well.

Keeping in mind I owed the Tax man some $$ and I still have 1200 of speeding tickets to pay, I think if they pull more stunts like these I'll seriously sue. We could pool our limited cash together and take them on as a team. LoneGunman can publish our story and we'll take some of those millions they make with the lotto :D

[ant5]

I'm in with you, noone.
I have been emailing and cc'ing the whole of WBS every day this week, including Shaun, to get my mess sorted, but still no luck.
I wonder what the word "expedite" means in WBS-speak?

[alchamy]

What irritates me is shauns post regarding the matter. He wants us to phone him to sort it out? Excuse me I emailed the accounts team & Thami. They can phone me to sort it out. WBS should be running after me not the other way around.

[ant5]

Yeah they should, but they're the ones that have our cash and we're the ones with other bills to pay. As much as I would like to wait for them, cash flow just doesn't allow.

[arnonel]

ARGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Ive also been hit by those idiots !!!! Fark ! I paid the stupid activation fee Cash, and now i see that the activation as well as feb fee taken off already.

I WANT IT BACK WITH INTREST !!!!

seriously, i know i mentioned this before,... but i think small claims court will do the trick.

[ghoti]

Why is this a sticky thread? Are they still billing people?

[AcidRaZor]

Yes pan, they're billing people, not only billing people, but they're taking off the wrong amounts of money (if it was less, no one .. yes me, won't b1tch about it) but the fact that they take off more than they say they would, and the fact they just go ahead and take off MORE (ic and others got billed twice in February alone) is horrible.

So that is why it's a sticky thread.


famous last words : dumbass....

[ant5]

Part copy of mail I have just sent to "Accounts","WBS Management" and "Shaun Green" after having had no luck this whole week trying to get a refund of +-R1500 :

I still have had no refund, and to make matters worse, your weak reply below is the only contact whatsoever I have had from WBS, despite the fact that WBS "management" has also been cc'd on all my mails. If this is how you "manage" a company, heaven help you.

I didn't think it would need to get to this, but if my account is not credited with the amount you owe me by the end of today, I will have no choice but to get my legal representative to contact you on Monday and take action to recover my outstanding fees, as well as any damages he may feel appropriate to cover my account going into unnecessary overdraft. I think it is inexcusable that an early adopting client such as myself is treated in this manner.

I would advise members of management other than Shaun to take a look at the forums at www.MyADSL.co.za and see the ill feeling that is building up towards your product, by people that would potentially be your biggest advertisers, purely because of the arrogance you display by ignoring our legitimate complaints. But then again, you're probably not even reading this mail, so what's the use.

[arnonel]

ant5, i would happily join you in this, as the same thing has happened to me. I was thinking small claims for now, but im sure if we get enough people together, throw in some lawyers, maybe then they will answer our emails and sort this stuff out !

[ant5]

I will let you know what happens. If I have no luck today, I will mention to my lawyer that I am one of a number of people who are having this problem. Maybe he can turn this into some sort of class action....

[ic]

Why is this a sticky thread? Are they still billing people?YES YES YES YES YES YES

[ant5]

Just got this back from them:

I confirm that the refund required will be in your Standard Bank account
tommorrow, namely 19th February 2005.

Trusting this settles the matter at hand.

They're playing a trick, I know it. Will have to see what happens......

[arnonel]

Shaun just called me. Said it will all be settled soon. Hope it does. Sounds friendly enough, but actions speak louder than words.
Im going to stick by iBurst, but i do reserve the right to demand the service im paying for.

[kaspaas]

Just got this back from them:

I confirm that the refund required will be in your Standard Bank account
tommorrow, namely 19th February 2005.

Trusting this settles the matter at hand.

They're playing a trick, I know it. Will have to see what happens......

Does the refund include

Interest?
a letter of apology to your bank manager explaining why you went past your overdraft limit?
compensation for your time wasted?

[AcidRaZor]

arnonel, at least you get a call back. Sentech almost never calls you back, and I almost fell off my chair once when they did.

[Luke7777]

Sentech almost never calls you back, and I almost fell off my chair once when they did.
They were calling you all the time, not just once. I remember posts about....no one was notified, no one is happy, no one has decent intl bandwidth, etc. Marcel Raath even pointed you out as a bandwidth hogger, when he said the other day "no one is being capped" :D

[stepper]

They were calling you all the time, not just once. I remember posts about....no one was notified, no one is happy, no one has decent intl bandwidth, etc. Marcel Raath even pointed you out as a bandwidth hogger, when he said the other day "no one is being capped" :D

I see freaky friday is baq wit a bang :D

[ic]

I got a call from Shaun this morning, and subsequently a call from Mary-Ann.

Shaun told me he was sending Mary-Ann an email to get her to call me, as well as to authorise the refund of the additional R454 they took off for March05 on 2005-02-16 (threw me over my already substantial overdraft limit).

So when Mary-Ann called, she wanted me to send her an email requesting the refund, as well as a debit order date change - this so that she could get her manager to authorise it. I sent the email a coupla hours back...waiting...

[ghoti]

Just to let you`all know about my experience with Shaun. I was hecticly debited, Shaun said he would sort it out, and a day or two later, my account was credited.


Does the refund include

Interest?

Kaspaas: Erm, thats kinda lame IMO. If you need money that badly i`ll EFT the 10c interest to you.

[ant5]

Well, the first time I cc'd Shaun was on Tuesday morning (as per his offer on this site). He responded on Wednesday morning (he said he'd been sick on Tuesday, fair enough) and that was the last I heard. Now an e-mail this morning from Cathy. Like you say, ic, waiting........................

[Luke7777]

Funny how they *require* an email to authorise a refund, when the debit has gone thru unauthorised. They should know exactly whose accounts got screwed up, if their billing system is worth anything. If not, heaven help us in future. And that sh*t about "sorry,first billing run.." is pathetic. What does that mean ?
1. New software, first run ever ?
2. WBS/iBurst has never billed people before ?
3. IBurst just didn't care to check the detail before live billing ? Anybody heard about dummy runs ? How long can it take to verify 2500 accounts ? Who cares if it takes a week ? It's the first one, so get it right . Otherwise you'll screw it up the second time as well. (Ooops, that's what happened...)

[AcidRaZor]

my neighbour has a pet rabbit...

[Raithlin]

my neighbour has a pet rabbit...
Project Derail-A-Thread continues unabated... :cool:

[ic]

Project Derail-A-Thread continues unabated... :cool:Or should that be Unrabbited?

Isn't it ironic that pre-derailment it was still no one's thread? :D

[Raithlin]

Isn't it ironic that pre-derailment it was still no one's thread? :D You mean noone had anything to do with it? :rolleyes:

[ic]

You mean noone had anything to do with it? :rolleyes:Yes, I suppose :confused:, and no one actually started this thread - it just appeared magically :eek:

[AcidRaZor]

hehehe, i feel so good when you guys make jokes like this

my life is complete

[Raithlin]

my life is complete
Apparently, so is Project Derail-A-Thread. :D

Our work here is done. Time to move to another thread. :cool:

[ant5]

Good. I think noone gets jealous if he's not every 2nd or 3rd post in every thread. It was good while it lasted.

[ant5]

Just checked my account and they were true to their word. I hope you guys have been sorted too. Thanks Iburst, but why the blood, sweat and tears before we got here?

[ic]

Well it is the week after last, and guess what, the PROMISED (by Shaun Green & Mary-Ann @ WBS) REFUND of the R454 for March that was deducted without warning on 2005-02-16 after the other R1513.33 deducted (again without warning, actually they said they would not deduct until issues were resolved), STILL HAS NOT BEEN REFUNDED :mad:.

How can I trust a company that makes empty hollow promises? Why should I trust such a company that steals my money? Does anyone have an answer?

[louisp]

I'm just wondering how Vodacom would have handled this situation if this happened to them. Given that mistakes can be made, but they should be corrected with due diligence.

Touching client's bank balances like this is just unacceptable.

I wouldn't trust them ic!!!

[Karel_01]

I got contacted again to verify my banking details and my response has been the same " R 454 has come of my account here is the reference no......"

So i have been the lucky one

The response "I will make a note of it"
Guess what this is what they said last week too!!! :confused: :confused: :confused:

[TheRoDent]

Rofl. And some people say history doesn't repeat itsself...

[ic]

I don't know if anyone else received emails from WBS with an invoice attachment, I received 4 such separate emails today, one for each month November2004..February2005 (nothing for March2005). Anyhow, none of these are proper Tax Invoices (just thought I should warn you if you are VAT registered & intend claiming back on Input Tax). Here is the content of my reply to Mary-Ann, et al:
Mary Ann,

I do appreciate that you have sent these 4 Tax Invoices by email, however none of them is a valid Tax Invoice. The WBS VAT Registration number (a 10 digit number that starts with the digit 4) is NOT reflected on these invoices anywhere.
The year and month of VAT Registration is also not reflected.

The above disqualify these as valid Tax Invoices as required by SARS.

Please correct these problems.

Regards,

ic.

Mary Ann Jansen wrote:

> <<Invoice.htm>>
>For the unenlightened, this is not nit-picking, there are several very stringent requirements laid down by SARS for Tax Invoices.

[8321]

, there are several very stringent requirements laid down by SARS for Tax Invoices. I believe your (in this case ic's) vat number must also appear on the WBS tax invoice - a new requirement from 1st March. Its only applicable to large amounts but worth getting in place from the start.

[ic]

I believe your (in this case ic's) vat number must also appear on the WBS tax invoice - a new requirement from 1st March. Its only applicable to large amounts but worth getting in place from the start.Yes, for amounts >= R1000, was supposed to be in place last year, then the deadline was extended to this year.

[Mercury]

Yes, for amounts >= R1000, was supposed to be in place last year, then the deadline was extended to this year.

>= R3000 after last year's amendments. By the way, I don't see the year and month of VAT registration requirement in section 20 of the VAT Act. I see SARS has some guidance on what is a valid tax invoice at http://www.sars.gov.za/v_a_t/taxinvoices/taxinvoices.htm and what is required for electronic transmission of tax invoices at http://www.sars.gov.za/v_a_t/nvat_rules/vat_rules_1-20.htm#16

[Edinetz]

WBS does not need to issue a monthly Tax Invoice in terms of S21(7) of the Value Added Tax Act - the contract must just contain suppliers name, address and VAT registration number (missing or has it been updated) or provide supplementary documentation with this information. Proof of payment must be retained by the recipient.

This is an exception allowed when a number of progressive taxable supplies are made for a determinable amount.

[rabbiddog]

>= R3000 after last year's amendments.

According to the copy of the act that I have it is >= R1000. I also have banking documentation that backs this up.

[Mercury]

According to the copy of the act that I have it is >= R1000. I also have banking documentation that backs this up.
You need a newer Act. Section 104(1)(d) of the Revenue Laws Amendment Act, 2004, changed the R1000 to R3000.

Amendment Acts: http://www.sars.gov.za/legislation/acts/index_legis_amendment_acts.htm

Explanatory Memoranda: http://www.sars.gov.za/legislation/bills_memos/index_legis_bills.htm

[ic]

Received modified Tax Invoices (htm attachments via email) from Mary Ann @ WBS, they now include the WBS VAT Registration number: 4600171906, which I have just verified in SARSeFiling to confirm that it belongs to WBS & not the mystery GTECH or whatever...

Has anyone figured out who/what GTECH is & why it is appearing on our bank statements instead of WBS?

[Edinetz]

According to Google search GTECH is a company contracted to the national lottery to provide the online lottery service and lottery terminals. Either WBS needed the cash and weren't capable of running the debit order run themselves or they factored their debtors book in order to raise cash quickly.

[Gatecrasher]

Well WBS's core business is providing the lottery network communications. So maybe GTECH owns them, or they own GTECH.

[AcidRaZor]

I wonder if we could sue them for fraud. We don't know who Gtech is, and why are they taking money off our accounts?!!!!! :D

I love it when a plan comes together...

[stepper]

GTECH is the neighour of WBS on the 21st floor in Radiopark. I saw it today.

Derail-A-Little: Seems the people from the "land of the rising son" are still here, I saw them running around the "mission control center" today, it seems the iBurst problems are far from being solved...

[kaspaas]

Derail-A-Little: Seems the people from the "land of the rising son" are still here,

You mean they actually have people from Mpumalanga at their offices? :-))

[stepper]

Thats funny kaspaas, anyway I wish they were people from Mpumalanga probably the ancestors bones would have solved our problems by now. :D