8ta billing mayhem. Advice needed please !

[Jeffrsnapln]

I have had an 8ta Internet 5 account for about 16 months. As far as speeds etc are concerned, I have been very pleased with the service. The billing and admin, not so much. Having to deal with them, not at all.

In all the 16 months I've had the account, 8ta has never ever once debited my bank account for the monthly subscription... until last month. ( was debited twice, two different amounts. Waiting for my account to arrive to see what its all about...)

This has been a big problem for me, because what has been happening is that they suddenly wake up after 6 months or so and suspend my account for non payment. I then have to make a manual payment, which apparently is almost impossible for them to allocate to the correct account, no matter what reference number is used, or how many times I send them the proof of payment. This has happened twice now, and each time it has taken 3 months for them to allocate the payment and re-instate my line.

The last time it happened, 8ta actually closed my account altogether, and had to re-open it as a new account, for which they charged me a whopping admin fee. On top of this, I have been forced to use Vodacom 3G while waiting for my line to be reinstated, which cost me an absolute fortune. I also had to pay the monthly subscription fees for the months during which I had no service.

All this trauma and expense was caused solely by 8ta not handling their admin properly, as was admitted to me by more than one of the agents I dealt with.

My question: What recourse do I have to recover some of the money that I have lost to these bungling fools because of their incompetence, and what can I do to prevent this drama from being re-enacted every 6 months?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[MickZA]

... In all the 16 months I've had the account, 8ta has never ever once debited my bank account for the monthly subscription... until last month. ( was debited twice, two different amounts. Waiting for my account to arrive to see what its all about...)

Find it hard to believe you can't resolve a debit order problem in 16 months, how much effort are you putting in?

 

[Jeffrsnapln]

Find it hard to believe you can't resolve a debit order problem in 16 months, how much effort are you putting in?

Exactly!!

Way, way more effort than could be reasonably expected. Have you ever tried talking to a wall? Its like that.

 

[louisek]

Sorry to say it, but I cannot see it getting any better. Unless you can personally contact a senior member of staff (face to face, not over the phone) you will not succeed.

Hello Peter might be an option

Better still is to abandon 8ta and use another provider.

 

[MickZA]

If it was me I would have been in the 8ta shop in month 2 to confirm all the billing details were correct and would have declared a dispute in month 3 if it still wasn't sorted. Have you tried sending a PM to 8ta here on MyBB yet?

BTW, why not pay by EFT or CC when the DO fails instead of waiting 6 months?

 

[Jeffrsnapln]

Sorry to say it, but I cannot see it getting any better. Unless you can personally contact a senior member of staff (face to face, not over the phone) you will not succeed.

That would be nice, but not likely to ever happen.

Been there. had more luck with MBB!

R200 for 10Gb is hard to argue with. I would have no problem with them at all if they just took their damn money when they were supposed to.

 

[Jeffrsnapln]

If it was me I would have been in the 8ta shop in month 2 to confirm all the billing details were correct and would have declared a dispute in month 3 if it still wasn't sorted. Have you tried sending a PM to 8ta here on MyBB yet?

BTW, why not pay by EFT or CC when the DO fails instead of waiting 6 months?

All they do at the 8ta shop is phone 183 and hand you the phone. The ONLY thing they are there for is to sell contracts. You cant even pay your monthly subscription to them.

Have dealt with the 8ta rep here a number of times in the past and have been directed to various other agents who have slowly worked through the case and eventually got it sorted. have PMed him a link to this thread as well as emailed it to the other people who have helped me before.

After the first time this thing happened, I would certainly have just paid by EFT each month, but it take them so long to allocate manual payments that it would just cause more confusion. I always expected that next month they would get it right and start debiting me properly... alas not so. The thing that really grates me about it is that from the start I would have far preferred to pay by EFT each month, but they force you to sign a debit order agreement when taking out the contract. It would have been better for everybody if they just let me pay them like I wanted to!

 

[louisek]

Oh, is there an 8ta rep? That is a GOOD idea and much much better than any of the above suggestions

 

[sajunky]

I have been forced to use Vodacom 3G while waiting for my line to be reinstated, which cost me an absolute fortune.

Why Voda? 8ta has nice prepaid deals. It looks like you made couple unresonable moves.

 

[Jeffrsnapln]

Why Voda? 8ta has nice prepaid deals. It looks like you made couple unresonable moves.

Makes no sense in hindsight, but it was always just going to be a day or two before my account was re-instated. It wasn't like they said OK, you will be back on line in 3 months. It was 3 months of continous fighting to get back online. Didn't think it made sense to go and get a prepaid 8ta sim and all just to see me through a couple of days when I could just use my voda cell account.

If I had known it would be 3 months, I would have certainly made a more long term plan.

Anyway, that is entirely beside the point. My question was what can I do, not what could I have done. I know the money I have spent is gone. Right or wrong If I get anything back it will be a bonus. The main thing it to prevent it happening again. That said, I do feel that at the very least I should be credited the subscriptions for the months during which I had no service.

 

[MickZA]

That said, I do feel that at the very least I should be credited the subscriptions for the months during which I had no service.

I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you as the service was stopped due to non-performance by yourself in terms of the contract. If, as you say, the debit order problem is now sorted going forward you should check your credit rating with the various bureaus and try to get 8ta to fix any problems that may reflect on your account with them. Given your payment history they're under no obligation to do so though.

 

[Jeffrsnapln]

I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you as the service was stopped due to non-performance by yourself in terms of the contract. If, as you say, the debit order problem is now sorted going forward you should check your credit rating with the various bureaus and try to get 8ta to fix any problems that may reflect on your account with them. Given your payment history they're under no obligation to do so though.

Me: "Please can I pay you manually by EFT each month, instead of using a debit order?"
8ta: "No."
Me: "Are you sure?"
8ta: "Yes."
Me: "Please..?"
8ta: "NO!"
Me: "So what you are saying is that if I want to use your service, I HAVE to agree to a debit order, and there is no way around it?"
8ta: "That is correct."
Me: "Sigh. Very well, if I HAVE to... where do I sign?"

...a few months later...

Me: "Aherm, you guys still aren't debiting me, whats going on?"
8ta: "Not to worry sir, I'm sure its just a glitch in the system. Please send us your banking details again and we will correct the problem."

...Read the above at least 6 times...

8ta: "Your service has been suspended, why have you not been paying us?"
Me: "WTF??"

Yes, its definitely bad performance on my part. I get what you're saying, but its just not right at all is it?

 

[Telkom]

I have had an 8ta Internet 5 account for about 16 months. As far as speeds etc are concerned, I have been very pleased with the service. The billing and admin, not so much. Having to deal with them, not at all.

In all the 16 months I've had the account, 8ta has never ever once debited my bank account for the monthly subscription... until last month. ( was debited twice, two different amounts. Waiting for my account to arrive to see what its all about...)

This has been a big problem for me, because what has been happening is that they suddenly wake up after 6 months or so and suspend my account for non payment. I then have to make a manual payment, which apparently is almost impossible for them to allocate to the correct account, no matter what reference number is used, or how many times I send them the proof of payment. This has happened twice now, and each time it has taken 3 months for them to allocate the payment and re-instate my line.

The last time it happened, 8ta actually closed my account altogether, and had to re-open it as a new account, for which they charged me a whopping admin fee. On top of this, I have been forced to use Vodacom 3G while waiting for my line to be reinstated, which cost me an absolute fortune. I also had to pay the monthly subscription fees for the months during which I had no service.

All this trauma and expense was caused solely by 8ta not handling their admin properly, as was admitted to me by more than one of the agents I dealt with.

My question: What recourse do I have to recover some of the money that I have lost to these bungling fools because of their incompetence, and what can I do to prevent this drama from being re-enacted every 6 months?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Hi Jeffrsnapln

We did PM you.
Please provide the required information.

Thank you
8ta

 

[Jeffrsnapln]

Hi Jeffrsnapln

We did PM you.
Please provide the required information.

Thank you
8ta

Sent you all the details, Thanks.

 

[Telkom]

Sent you all the details, Thanks.

Hi
Thank you for the information.
We will investigate.
8ta