Cybersmart screws up and makes me pay! Never get a circuit through them!

M

MazerZA

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Alright, this is a bit of a long story but here it goes!

I’m going to be moving in April to a new house (with my gf). We wanted to move my ADSL circuit from my house to here. After much trouble with Cybersmart they eventually figured out what I actually want done.

A few days ago I saw MWEB’s uncapped deals and decided I wanted a 4Mb line with them at the new place. Called up cybersmart who said I can e-mail a letter to them as well as a copy of my ID and they’ll cancel the line. A day went past and I heard nothing. I then found out the person I spoke to was wrong and I had to then FAX it to Cybersmart.

My Cybersmart ADSL logs haven’t been updated since the 12th, so as far as I was aware they were still waiting for Telkom to cancel my current line and then activate the new one.

Now the problem is that it’s my gf’s parent’s house. They’re immigrating to Germany on the 6th and the line is in her dad’s name. MWEB stated that in order for us to be guaranteed a 4Mb circuit we should apply for it through Telkom. He went in to Telkom today, who stated, that there’s currently a 384Kbps circuit on the line and they can’t do anything about it. Apparently it’d been active since the 18th already.

I then called Cybersmart who said there’s nothing they can do and it’ll take a month to cancel the new circuit. I’ll admit I lost my cool a little with the guy that was helping me, but he in turn began shouting at am. Not very good, Cybersmart! The unhelpful guy said I needed to FAX Cybersmart AGAIN with a cancellation letter and this time state the new line needs to be done.

What I want to know is, why in the world aren’t Cybersmart’s logs kept up to date and why do I have to pay for their screw up? This isn’t the first time they’ve been lazy with moving circuits with me either.

I’ve already e-mailed accounts@cybersmart, management@cybersmart, complaints@cybersmart, laurie@cybersmart and info@cybersmart. Really hope I get a response soon, because if this isn’t sorted out by next week we won’t be able to have internet at all - well not until my gf's parents come back to SA in 6 years time :wtf:
 
Did you send the fax with a copy of your ID? It states that a fax and ID are required to cancel here: http://faq.cybersmart.co.za/index.php?action=artikel&cat=2&id=12&artlang=en&highlight=cancel

AFAIK they record their helpdesk messages so if the operator you spoke to didn't inform you of these requirements you have a strong case.

For the record, I sent my cancellation letter and got confirmation both in e-mail on in my logs on the following day. Also how did you find out about the MWeb deal on the 12th?
 
Fudzy said:
Did you send the fax with a copy of your ID? It states that a fax and ID are required to cancel here: http://faq.cybersmart.co.za/index.php?action=artikel&cat=2&id=12&artlang=en&highlight=cancel
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I did that after they thought it was odd that I e-mailed and then no one bothered to tell me it was wrong.

Fudzy said:
AFAIK they record their helpdesk messages so if the operator you spoke to didn't inform you of these requirements you have a strong case.
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Nope, they didn't inform me and it was never recorded either. Their staff seem to becoming more and more slack. 99% of the time I phone there (about anything) I'm told to e-mail as no one can help.

Fudzy said:
For the record, I sent my cancellation letter and got confirmation both in e-mail on in my logs on the following day. Also how did you find out about the MWeb deal on the 12th?
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Nope, they didn't inform me and it was never recorded either. Their staff seem to becoming more and more slack.

I had arranged for the line to be moved before all of this, but their logs were never updated from the 12th, which lead me to believe nothing was happening. Another reason I wanted ot go to MWEB is that Cybersmart were being slow. I find out about MWEB the same day everyone else did :D
 
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Okay, so you cancelled with Cybersmart at your current location, and want them to set up your line with Telkom at another location for you to use Mweb? Personal opinion, the moment you cancelled with Cybersmart you are not their client anymore. So if they stuffed up, the ball is in your court. You are supposed to organize the new line at the new location, not Cybersmart. If you stuck with Cybersmart as ISP I would say it's their fault, and also only if it's a package that includes line rental.

I always say this, you pay Cybersmart to deal with Telkom. If you don't, then it's up to you to deal with Telkom.
 
francoislr said:
Okay, so you cancelled with Cybersmart at your current location, and want them to set up your line with Telkom at another location for you to use Mweb?
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Nope. Cybersmart was supposed to be setting it up for themselves, but never kept me in the loop about anything. I was going to get the new circuit through Telkom for MWEB - Cybersamrt had nothing to do with that.
 
So if Cybersmart was setting it up for themselves but you were getting Telkom to do this as well, this all at location: girlfriends house, it sounds like you might have caused confusion. Cybersmart trying to set up the line, you trying to set up the line = confusion for the most incompetent company on the planet(Telscum). Heck, even I am confused as to what you were trying to do!

Maybe I am just slow today?!

Let me see if I got it straight:
1. Starting scenario. You have a place, and you have a 384 ADSL through Cybersmart, line rental included.
2. You go out 1 night, get a girl pregnant, and her parents are Nazi's, who have to go back to home base for 6 years...and because of your sins you have to move in and take care of the mother of your child. (Seriously just joking here, but the idea is there, you are moving to your girlfriends place, no offence meant)
3. You want ADSL in your new Nazi bunker...ahem...I mean, home, so you want to:
a. Cancel your ADLS at Cybersmart at your old crib(account and line rental)
b. Get a Telkom line and get Mweb on it.

That is what I think you are saying. Where I am confused is with this:
Nope. Cybersmart was supposed to be setting it up for themselves, but never kept me in the loop about anything.
Click to expand...

So why is Cybersmart setting it up for themselves? And where are they setting it up for themselves? Are they moving headquarters, or moving in with you? Did you not cancel with them at location 1 to set it up 4Meg through Telscum with Mweb at your new base? Or are you trying to get 2 ADSL lines at your new place perhaps?
:confused:
 
francoislr said:
Let me see if I got it straight:
1. Starting scenario. You have a place, and you have a 384 ADSL through Cybersmart, line rental included.
2. You go out 1 night, get a girl pregnant, and her parents are Nazi's, who have to go back to home base for 6 years...and because of your sins you have to move in and take care of the mother of your child. (Seriously just joking here, but the idea is there, you are moving to your girlfriends place, no offence meant)
3. You want ADSL in your new Nazi bunker...ahem...I mean, home, so you wanted to:
a. have Cybersmart more the circuit to the new place
b. you then saw MWEB's uncapped and wanted to cancel with Cybersmart, but without keeping you up to date they've already activated the circuit at the new place.
4. Now you cannot get a circuit with Telkom because Cybersmart now owns the new one and Telkom refuses to touch it (something about Nazis)
5. There's no real option left as Cybersmart can only cancel the new line in a month, it's in her father's name and he'll be in the home land by then
Click to expand...
Alright, I made the corrections for you there :D

For the record her family is South African and the parents are moving for work purposes. But thank you for that 'cos it really made me LOL!
 
francoislr said:
So if Cybersmart was setting it up for themselves but you were getting Telkom to do this as well, this all at location: girlfriends house, it sounds like you might have caused confusion. Cybersmart trying to set up the line, you trying to set up the line = confusion for the most incompetent company on the planet(Telscum). Heck, even I am confused as to what you were trying to do!

Maybe I am just slow today?!

Let me see if I got it straight:
1. Starting scenario. You have a place, and you have a 384 ADSL through Cybersmart, line rental included.
2. You go out 1 night, get a girl pregnant, and her parents are Nazi's, who have to go back to home base for 6 years...and because of your sins you have to move in and take care of the mother of your child. (Seriously just joking here, but the idea is there, you are moving to your girlfriends place, no offence meant)
3. You want ADSL in your new Nazi bunker...ahem...I mean, home, so you want to:
a. Cancel your ADLS at Cybersmart at your old crib(account and line rental)
b. Get a Telkom line and get Mweb on it.

That is what I think you are saying. Where I am confused is with this:


So why is Cybersmart setting it up for themselves? And where are they setting it up for themselves? Are they moving headquarters, or moving in with you? Did you not cancel with them at location 1 to set it up 4Meg through Telscum with Mweb at your new base? Or are you trying to get 2 ADSL lines at your new place perhaps?
:confused:
Click to expand...

ROFL
 
Glad I could make you laugh:-) I have a German friend, don't mind the Nazi's too much:-P

So in essence you wanted to use Cybersmart to move the circuit, but not activate it. As far as I know, that is not possible without getting a contract through them.

When you get a deal with Cybersmart(ADSL and Line Rental), they deal with Telkom. They don't deal with Telkom on your behalf then let you get another ISP. So what you should have done is cancel with them completely, and then go to Telkom and get the new line. If you move a circuit with them, they do it on the premise that you are their customer, and are planning to stay with them. So at the very least you are stuck with them for another month.

We always talk about abuse from our ISP, but it can be the other way as well. I am with Cybersmart, don't know if I will stay with them, but as far as I am concerned I pay them to deal with Telscum. If I move then it will be up to my new ISP to deal with Telscum, or me, if I want to pay the line rental myself.

Hope I make sense!
 
francoislr said:
So in essence you wanted to use Cybersmart to move the circuit, but not activate it. As far as I know, that is not possible without getting a contract through them.
Click to expand...
Cybersmart were moving it so that I could have Cybersmart for the new place - but them not updating me (well, their logs) on anything has put me in a foul mood as this destroys all of my plans. As far as I was aware the new line shouldn't even exist yet.
 
When I first activated my Cybersmart, they did the line for me...they said up to 3 weeks, but I was activated and running in less than 4 days. Could not complain about that at all:-) But yeah, if the line is active, find out what it would take to upgrade it. If you cancel with them I think the ADSL line rental gets cancelled as well, so if you are planning to move away from them it might mean downtime. But the best would be to chat to them. I know you have, but do try again. I am also sure your girlfriends parents could still help you get all the things activated you need to via fax and all that...Will be a little harder, but they would need the net to communicate with their daughter, so I am sure they will be helpful in this.
 
MazerZA , I started reading this last night and I was confused. I read this again today and I'm still confused. The only logical conclusion I can come to is that you created all this confusion and fooked yourself over in the process by dealing with two companies simultaneously while you should only have dealt with one in any given time period.

/Walks off confused shaking head
 
ponder said:
MazerZA , I started reading this last night and I was confused. I read this again today and I'm still confused. The only logical conclusion I can come to is that you created all this confusion and fooked yourself over in the process by dealing with two companies simultaneously while you should only have dealt with one in any given time period.

/Walks off confused shaking head
Click to expand...


Hi

Just so everyone is clear on this and we are not blamed in future. We CANNOT move your adsl circuit from one premises to another (in fact no ISP can- there is a small exception to this if your telephone happens to be in the exchange area then depending on luck both can move at the same time but more often than no that it is a balls up ). Your circuit is associated with the telephone number and we cannot move your telephone. If you are moving premises the best and easiest way is to get a new telephone at the new place and ask us to get adsl for you (which we can do) and then cancel everything in your old place. I have seen this email sent to every single email address @cybersmart.co.za which also does not help because it makes assignment of the ticket so much more difficult and someone is trying to fix the problem which is not the easiest to understand or fix.

Regards
L
 
laurie said:
Hi

Just so everyone is clear on this and we are not blamed in future. We CANNOT move your adsl circuit from one premises to another (in fact no ISP can- there is a small exception to this if your telephone happens to be in the exchange area then depending on luck both can move at the same time but more often than no that it is a balls up ). Your circuit is associated with the telephone number and we cannot move your telephone. If you are moving premises the best and easiest way is to get a new telephone at the new place and ask us to get adsl for you (which we can do) and then cancel everything in your old place. I have seen this email sent to every single email address @cybersmart.co.za which also does not help because it makes assignment of the ticket so much more difficult and someone is trying to fix the problem which is not the easiest to understand or fix.

Regards
L
Click to expand...
I'm sorry about the late reply. Before posting here again I wanted to try and keep sorting out the matter with Cybersmart themselves. Unfortunately I've had nothing but frustration on the issue as Cybersmart's staff still don't know what's going on. Every day I speak to a different person as the previous people don't seem to make any notes.

All we want from Cybersmart is a full cancel of the lines and account. I understand that my account itself can't be cancelled until the 30th of April, but the second line shouldn't exist – that needs to be cancelled. If it doesn't get cancelled ASAP then we're pretty much in the poo pool with regards to getting ADSL for the next 6 years.

I know that you can't move circuits and as I've explained to the Cybersmart staff several times, I know that you cannot come to my house with a spade and dig up the line. That's just silly.

The e-mails were sent to all the @cybersmart addresses that I could find, because Cybersmart can take 2 days to reply to an e-mail and 99% of the time it's with 1 sentence responses (this is odd as Afrihost replies the same day and with as much info as they can supply). All I wanted was some faster service from their end.
 
Hey hey hey... just my quick R2.50 worth...

Moved from JHB to Cape Town in December last year... gave Cybersmart helldesk a call in November and THEY advised to give the 30 day notice... citing the move as the reason... get a Cape Town line and re-apply with them for the same service... BUT I needed the JHB serviced disconnected by the 20th and the Cape Town active by the 26th December. No problem they said.

Once Telkom assigned me the 021 number (mid November), Cybersmart then handled the "new" application for ADSL in Cape Town.

Come December... moved to Cape Town to find that the ADSL line was installed and the account with Cybermsart already active.

I just had to have them verify the installation and 30 minutes later was surfing as needed.

No real problem except that the cancellation in JHB was done 2 weeks early by Cybersmart (took them an hour to fix) and Telkom delayed canceling the JHB line by a month just to eeek out another month's rental. Grrrrr.

But... in my case... no down time... no extra costs or charges for it and all went off as required.

:)
 
Here is something you *might* be able to do. If your line is with Cybersmart, then it is probably through wholesale with Telkom, which as I understand it means that the ADSL portion of your line falls under Cybersmart, rather than you as a private client of Telkom. You should be able to then have Cybersmart transfer this new 384k line to MWEB, instead of cancelling it. MWEB can then have it set to upgrade to 4MB. Even if the transfer can't happen for a month, you should still be able to sort out the administrative details now, if your girlfriend's father needs to authorise anything, which he might not need to, unless he is the account holder at Cybersmart.

I'm not exactly sure if this is possible, but from what I remember from chatting to the people who dealt with ADSL lines at the ISP I used to work for it may be, and could help avoid a big headache.

edit: If you (Oldmanemu) want the line with Telkom, not MWEB, then you should be able to do the same thing, i.e. a transfer rather than cancelling the circuit and then setting it up again.
 
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Oldmanemu said:
Hello everyone.

I am new to these forum things, yet have to say something here as the telkom line that MazerZA has been refering to as his girlfriends parents line is in fact myne, I am his girlfriends "Nazi" father.
MazerZA has informed me everytime he has phoned Cybersmart and I have been following up by checking with telkom. The biggest problem that I have is that everytime MazerZA phones Cybersmart, they tell him that they have contacted Telkom and are waiting for them to remove the dsl circuit from both my line and MazerZA's, but I have been in constant contact with telkom from the beginning of this process and they assure me that they have had no communication what so ever from Cybersmart regarding the termination of my dsl circuit. I find that this kind of perpetual lying from a company, Cybersmart, is absolutely absurd.

Why won't Cybersmart remove the dsl circuit that they are currently, in my view, holding hostage on my telkom account?


Why is the MD of Cybersmart ( Laurie ) not doing anything about this? Or is he oblivious about the going ons in his company?

I just want to have a telkom dsl circuit put on my telkom account so that i can stay in contact with my daughter while i am out of the country, why is this so hard?

This is absurd. Can't anyone please help?
Click to expand...

I understand how this kinda thing gets confusing but it's because the phone lines are still thru Telkom even though you can apply for them thru your ISP when u sign up. In my experience, as soon as you wanna cancel/ move lines etc, it's best to inform the ISP, and then deal directly with Telkom from then on. (good luck)

BTW, Laurie is aware of your issue, as he's replied on this thread (see pg 1)

EDIT: I'm in no way associated with CS, but I do work in the IT industry and deal with this kind of situation often. 99% of the time the problem can be traced back to Telkom. Who's surprised?
 
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