A pity about the setup fee when migrating from another ISP

[Coastalshark]

Have been with Afrihost for very many years and have heard good things about Cool Ideas. Wanted to sign up but see that there is a R999 setup fee or alternatively a claw back fee if cancelling within a year. While I understand the fee for new fibre installs, my infrastructure is already setup and I would be using the same last mile provider (Openserve). All that is required is a migration from Afrihost. I have 3 fibre lines that need migrating and simply can't afford the initial setup and/or the clawback (which I believe can work out more expensive) if something happens and I need to cancel within a year. Already logged a support ticket and chatted with a consultant. They don't seem to care. A pity. Forced to stay with Afrihost

 

[Creag]

I have been with CISP for years now (since FTTH was available to our street). Solid service. Never had any real issues. Cannot imagine having to move to another ISP.

 

[hellfire]

Have been with Afrihost for very many years and have heard good things about Cool Ideas. Wanted to sign up but see that there is a R999 setup fee or alternatively a claw back fee if cancelling within a year. While I understand the fee for new fibre installs, my infrastructure is already setup and I would be using the same last mile provider (Openserve). All that is required is a migration from Afrihost. I have 3 fibre lines that need migrating and simply can't afford the initial setup and/or the clawback (which I believe can work out more expensive) if something happens and I need to cancel within a year. Already logged a support ticket and chatted with a consultant. They don't seem to care. A pity. Forced to stay with Afrihost

It's not a pity, it's a business model.
Great way to tie you in for a year.

 

[My_King]

Question - Why do you want to move?

 

[porchrat]

It's not a pity, it's a business model.
Great way to tie you in for a year.

If the cost isn't reflective of the service being rendered it's dishonest.

The fact that the cost is the same whether they're installing the fibre line or just activating it makes it obvious the fee you're paying is not reflective of the cost of performing that activation.

 

[MidnightZA]

Great way to tie you in for a year.

Also I great way to lose potential business. I also wanted to switch from Afrihost, another ISP wanted to charge me R1250 for installation + activation. I told them everything is already installed. Just need activation. Their response was, no problem the cost is R1250.

If you ask why, you get a "thats the policy". Well, their policy lost them business. No loss to me

 

[Armizael]

You guys act like it's the ISPs that want to charge you this fee - it's charged by the FNO (Vumatel/Frogfoot/Openserve etc) to the ISP, which is then passed on to you.

Sometimes the fee is waived by the ISP when you sign for a year, so they can try to recoup the cost.
That's why everyone charges the fee for migration - margins are super slim for an ISP to be competitive as-is, so they can't shoulder that extra fee as well.

 

[MidnightZA]

You guys act like it's the ISPs that want to charge you this fee - it's charged by the FNO (Vumatel/Frogfoot/Openserve etc) to the ISP, which is then passed on to you.

Sometimes the fee is waived by the ISP when you sign for a year, so they can try to recoup the cost.
That's why everyone charges the fee for migration - margins are super slim for an ISP to be competitive as-is, so they can't shoulder that extra fee as well.

I wanted to switch from Frogfoot Afrihost to Frogfoot on another ISP.

Any reason for that?

 

[Armizael]

I wanted to switch from Frogfoot Afrihost to Frogfoot on another ISP.

Any reason for that?

Same thing - Frogfoot charges the "setup fee" to the new ISP, regardless if the infrastructure is there or not.
The ISP doesn't have any say in the matter.

 

[AfricanTech]

I wanted to switch from Frogfoot Afrihost to Frogfoot on another ISP.

Any reason for that?

If I remember correctly, and I may be wrong since I saw the answer to this a long time ago, the FNO charges that fee even though you're not swapping FNO's - they charge it even if you're switching to another ISP on the same FNO

 

[MidnightZA]

If I remember correctly, and I may be wrong since I saw the answer to this a long time ago, the FNO charges that fee even though you're not swapping FNO's - they charge it even if you're switching to another ISP on the same FNO

I get that they need to charge an admin fee. What I dont get is why is it the same cost with or without installation.

For example, if the installation costs R1000 for up to 30m of cabling and the hardware, and admin is the remaining R250. Then I'll gladly pay that R250 upfront to switch to their network. I highly doubt installers go around installing fibre for free and the rest is the admin costs

 

[Armizael]

I get that they need to charge an admin fee. What I dont get is why is it the same cost with or without installation.

For example, if the installation costs R1000 for up to 30m of cabling and the hardware, and admin is the remaining R250. Then I'll gladly pay that R250 upfront to switch to their network. I highly doubt installers go around installing fibre for free and the rest is the admin costs

Yeah, the FNOs are taking consumers for a ride - you can't contact them directly if there's an issue, they take their sweet time to fix actual issues and they charge the same setup fees even if they literally don't have to do much more than 10s work to swap someone to another ISP.
No-one can hold them accountable even.

 

[porchrat]

You guys act like it's the ISPs that want to charge you this fee - it's charged by the FNO (Vumatel/Frogfoot/Openserve etc) to the ISP, which is then passed on to you.

Sometimes the fee is waived by the ISP when you sign for a year, so they can try to recoup the cost.
That's why everyone charges the fee for migration - margins are super slim for an ISP to be competitive as-is, so they can't shoulder that extra fee as well.

That isn't being adequately communicated to the customer.

Ultimately the point is that the practice of charging this fee is ridiculous. I've got no problem with covering the cost to connect to an FNO (installation fee). I've also got no problem with covering the very minor cost of transferring me from one ISP to another (reconnection fee). Pretending the cost of those 2 activities is the same is ludicrous though. The charge to the customer should be reflective of the cost of the service.

 

[AfricanTech]

That isn't being adequately communicated to the customer.

Ultimately the point is that the practice of charging this fee is ridiculous. I've got no problem with covering the cost to connect to an FNO (installation fee). I've also got no problem with covering the very minor cost of transferring me from one ISP to another (reconnection fee). Pretending the cost of those 2 activities is the same is ludicrous though. The charge to the customer should be reflective of the cost of the service.

We all agree.

Good luck getting any FNO to answer to this.

 

[PBCool]

Have been with Afrihost for very many years and have heard good things about Cool Ideas. Wanted to sign up but see that there is a R999 setup fee or alternatively a claw back fee if cancelling within a year. While I understand the fee for new fibre installs, my infrastructure is already setup and I would be using the same last mile provider (Openserve). All that is required is a migration from Afrihost. I have 3 fibre lines that need migrating and simply can't afford the initial setup and/or the clawback (which I believe can work out more expensive) if something happens and I need to cancel within a year. Already logged a support ticket and chatted with a consultant. They don't seem to care. A pity. Forced to stay with Afrihost

There are fees to migrate lines unfortunately, so there are underlying costs to do so. If you go clawback it's prorated so in 6 months time you are then only at risk for half of the money.

 

[MidnightZA]

There are fees to migrate lines unfortunately, so there are underlying costs to do so. If you go clawback it's prorated so in 6 months time you are then only at risk for half of the money.

Then shouldn't that "clawback" be discounted from the monthly fee after a year?

 

[PBCool]

If the cost isn't reflective of the service being rendered it's dishonest.

The fact that the cost is the same whether they're installing the fibre line or just activating it makes it obvious the fee you're paying is not reflective of the cost of performing that activation.

The fact is that these costs vary, our model is there to simplify things and to make available the typical needs of most people.

In some cases it costs us more than double the clawback amount. In others it doesn't. We used to try and manage 40 FNO models but it's a nightmare.

 

[ld13]

There are fees to migrate lines unfortunately, so there are underlying costs to do so.

From the FNO? Why? What actual costs are there?

 

[PBCool]

From the FNO? Why? What actual costs are there?

This is the same question we ask, unfortunately it doesn't matter. They dictate these things.

 

[porchrat]

The fact is that these costs vary, our model is there to simplify things and to make available the typical needs of most people.

In some cases it costs us more than double the clawback amount. In others it doesn't. We used to try and manage 40 FNO models but it's a nightmare.

I get where you guys as an ISP are coming from. If you're just having to pass on a charge from the FNO here then you're not the ones creating the problem and I fully understand your pricing structure.

The whole practice of charging this fee regardless of whether a fibre line currently exists just feels like such a slimy practice by the FNO.

I feel like reassigning customers to another ISP on a pre-existing fibre line should be a duty they perform as part of their daily operations with little to no additional cost. After all they're getting a massive chunk of the monthly fee paid by the customer already.