Afrihost Business Uncapped Feedback

[Looney]

I personally don't agree with these kind of strategies. Companies get better and build more trust with clients through engagement. Trying to hurt companies and using social media to try to destroy a brand is a knee-jer reaction that never builds long term value for both the client and the company. It's also about the company that you're dealing with and how you feel about their intentions and their actions.

I honestly think that if you, as an Afrihost client, feel that we are actively trying to rip you off and steal your money, then we are either not communicating our values to you clearly enough, or we don't share the same values. Either way, there's a disconnect there that may manifest more clearly in times of crisis or displeasure, but there is a problem which needs to be addressed.

Of course you don't agree with these statements. Simply put. You are paid to not agree with these statements. You are paid to salvage as many customers as you possibly can. You are paid to sit here on these forums making promises that you can and never will deliver. You are paid to tell the customers on these forums to "wait it out", simply to squeeze an extra month out of them and then blame the capacity issues on Telkom, yet again.

Do you think you are the first company rep on these forums that has made empty promises to its customers?
Do you think you are the first company rep that has asked to "wait it out"?
Do you think you are the first company rep that has tried the whole "communicating our values, engaging with the customer" crap?

We as consumers are sick and tired of the bullcrap that gets thrown in our face. We pay for a premium product and expect premium service and performance.

Us as consumers are not interested in "behind the scenes" issues. That is not the customers problem.

We can understand and forgive issues that happen on networks due to unforeseen circumstances. However, we expect to be compensated for the month/s that our service has been degraded for whatever reason.

And yes, I understand that its management decision and not yours personally. However, if your management decides to not intervene and compensate the consumers, then its a clear sign of "Afrihost does not give a hoot about the customer, lets just try squeeze one more month".

 

[AfriMan]

So can I have a free run, also giving mystery bonus does not do anything for me, will my uncapped be double uncapped?

We'll definitely look at how Business clients have been impacted and make a decision based on that. We've never short changed our clients in the past - I don't see any reason to be convinced that we'll do so now.

 

[jeanres]

We'll definitely look at how Business clients have been impacted and make a decision based on that. We've never short changed our clients in the past - I don't see any reason to be convinced that we'll do so now.

So you are in essence saying there is no way we are going to get refunds?

 

[AfriMan]

Of course you don't agree with these statements. Simply put. You are paid to not agree with these statements. You are paid to salvage as many customers as you possibly can. You are paid to sit here on these forums making promises that you can and never will deliver. You are paid to tell the customers on these forums to "wait it out", simply to squeeze an extra month out of them and then blame the capacity issues on Telkom, yet again.

Do you think you are the first company rep on these forums that has made empty promises to its customers?
Do you think you are the first company rep that has asked to "wait it out"?
Do you think you are the first company rep that has tried the whole "communicating our values, engaging with the customer" crap?

We as consumers are sick and tired of the bullcrap that gets thrown in our face. We pay for a premium product and expect premium service and performance.

Us as consumers are not interested in "behind the scenes" issues. That is not the customers problem.

We can understand and forgive issues that happen on networks due to unforeseen circumstances. However, we expect to be compensated for the month/s that our service has been degraded for whatever reason.

And yes, I understand that its management decision and not yours personally. However, if your management decides to not intervene and compensate the consumers, then its a clear sign of "Afrihost does not give a hoot about the customer, lets just try squeeze one more month".

I feel like you're crossing over into a personal realm here - so let's not do that. Aside from what I get paid to do, I don't think that should be interpreted as a lack of empathy or that I don't genuinely understand what is being said here on the forums.

I don't think I'm the first rep to do anything, but this is also not the first time we've faced technical challenges, and this is not the first time I've laid my cards out on the table and given you guys on the forum all the information that I have so that you know I am being a straight shooter. From that point you've got to make your own decisions.

At the end of the day, I think I've shared everything I can with you, maybe even a little more than I'm supposed, but I genuinely believe that the trust between us and our clients is not built by only good experiences. Sometimes they are tested in the bad experiences and it strengthens the relationship for the challenges that are still to come. I don't think any of us believe that there won't be challenges in the future, and with them will come high emotions, frustration, anger and so on. That's why engaging with each other, trusting each other and being transparent is a priority for me - because there will be times like this when I can't offer more than that.

You'll need to make a decision from there, and I'm sure you'll make one that's right for you.

 

[AfriMan]

So you are in essence saying there is no way we are going to get refunds?

Unless a management decision is made to that effect, I don't think there will be a blanket refund policy.

Like I said, we'll determine what the impact has been to clients in general and we'll find a way to make that up to our clients in a way that makes sense. We've always gotten it right in the past, and I have every confidence that Gian and the management team will do so now - and continue to do so in the future.

 

[AfriMan]

I think most of use would be happier if there was some compensation made due to these issues. Then there was even a thread over the weekend on these forums about users getting more free bandwidth, surely someone does not know what they are doing. My other issue is the lack of support, online chat never seems to work, you wait forever to get through to telephonic support, there is no official representation after hours on the forums, not good.

I had an issue on Saturday after making changes on the clientzone, and had no connection for 6 hours.

We had nearly 50 people (might even be more) start with us in the last two weeks, which is effectively doubling our support capacity since late last year (including additional hires since then).

We've already seen a huge reduction in call times and faster turnaround in ticket responses. There is probably a settling period as we roll-out the Afrihost culture to all our new people, but I really think we've got a great bunch of guys (and girls) and they're going to take into the next phase.

I understand the demand for compensation. It's a clear signal from us to you that we take this issue seriously and that something will be done. What I can assure you is that we're not saving any bucks anywhere here, and that we are going to be better at the end of this. I truly believe that a better service and relationship for the future is much more beneficial to everyone - and that's what we're aiming for.

 

[CataclysmZA]

I"m also experiencing the same kind of lag reported for the northern regions. Streaming the Pistorious trial resulted in buffering every 5 seconds and some local sites have lag as well. Some of the lag also has contributed to crashing in GTA V over the weekend, although that's also a by-product of Sony not having local PSN servers.

Also, hurling around insults and threats to Afriman, guy and girl won't help. Everyone, including Telkom Internet, is struggling and waiting for capacity. The weak link here is Telkom. If anyone wants to complain to the right people, complain to them. They control everything. Who honestly expects an ISP like Afrihost to stop customers from signing up with them and adding onto the load? Telkom oversells all the time but people don't seem to be complaining about that anymore.

 

[savage]

Unless a management decision is made to that effect, I don't think there will be a blanket refund policy.

Why am I not surprised... What more can your high end customers paying premium prices expect... Typical.

We had nearly 50 people (might even be more) start with us in the last two weeks, which is effectively doubling our support capacity since late last year (including additional hires since then).

We've already seen a huge reduction in call times and faster turnaround in ticket responses. There is probably a settling period as we roll-out the Afrihost culture to all our new people, but I really think we've got a great bunch of guys (and girls) and they're going to take into the next phase.

Can we have a ETA on this? Your support is as appauling as your IPC outage. It's damaging your company and reputation just as much, and just like your IPC issue, it's something that's been left WAY to late, and that should have been addressed months ago...

So why are you only responding to this matter now? Where have your engineers and support staff been all weekend?

I see you opted not to respond. Let's add to this... It's 15:00 now, the entire day has gone by. No status update? Are all your engineers on leave?

Still waiting for your support desk to respond to my tickets too, and ironically, some even mysteriously deleted...

 

[Looney]

I feel like you're crossing over into a personal realm here - so let's not do that. Aside from what I get paid to do, I don't think that should be interpreted as a lack of empathy or that I don't genuinely understand what is being said here on the forums.

I don't think I'm the first rep to do anything, but this is also not the first time we've faced technical challenges, and this is not the first time I've laid my cards out on the table and given you guys on the forum all the information that I have so that you know I am being a straight shooter. From that point you've got to make your own decisions.

At the end of the day, I think I've shared everything I can with you, maybe even a little more than I'm supposed, but I genuinely believe that the trust between us and our clients is not built by only good experiences. Sometimes they are tested in the bad experiences and it strengthens the relationship for the challenges that are still to come. I don't think any of us believe that there won't be challenges in the future, and with them will come high emotions, frustration, anger and so on. That's why engaging with each other, trusting each other and being transparent is a priority for me - because there will be times like this when I can't offer more than that.

You'll need to make a decision from there, and I'm sure you'll make one that's right for you.

Don't get me wrong, I am not personally attacking you in any way. I understand that you are doing your job. Which is damage control.

If you would tell us that you have informed management of the uproar from your business clients and that management have made a decision to offer compensation to its business clients. Believe me, I would be singing a different tune.

All I want is to get the service I paid for. And if I don't get the service I pay for 1 month, then I expect to be compensated.

You want my trust? Trust is earned.

Prove to me that I can trust you.

Prove to me that I can rely on Afrihost to look after me as a client.

I am not here to bash either you nor Afrihost. My experience with afrihost has been fairly decent for the short time I have been with Afrihost. I have had ups and downs and have "waited it out". But there is a limit to how much I and everyone else here can wait.

 

[kienah]

Nice to see you actively trying to put out fires on the forums, but would it kill you Afriman to reply to your PM's?

 

[Type RSA]

So I think it's also important to remember that we're going to be extending that by adding more capacity even though we won't be increasing our fees

I hear you, but wasn't there some discount passed on to Afrihost and other ISPs from Telkom that we were supposed to get as well? No sign of these "discounts" yet either..

 

[jeanres]

Unless a management decision is made to that effect, I don't think there will be a blanket refund policy.

Like I said, we'll determine what the impact has been to clients in general and we'll find a way to make that up to our clients in a way that makes sense. We've always gotten it right in the past, and I have every confidence that Gian and the management team will do so now - and continue to do so in the future.

Ja nee, once again a company shafts its customers Its fine man it really is. I will however look for an alternative provider because this is not working for me

 

[AfriMan]

Just a heads up on latency in the North.

We've lost a very small portion of our IPC in that region. It was small enough that it was not noticeable, but the loss increased latency across the network.

We're busy with working with Telkom to restore full capacity on the network. Until then we'll be shaping Uncapped accounts at max to preserve realtime performance and Business and Capped accounts in the affected region as best we can.

 

[savage]

Just a heads up on latency in the North.

We've lost a very small portion of our IPC in that region. It was small enough that it was not noticeable, but the loss increased latency across the network.

We're busy with working with Telkom to restore full capacity on the network. Until then we'll be shaping Uncapped accounts at max to preserve realtime performance and Business and Capped accounts in the affected region as best we can.

But... Your customers already noticed it on Saturday??? I'd hardly call that 'not noticeable'

 

[AfriMan]

Why am I not surprised... What more can your high end customers paying premium prices expect... Typical.




Can we have a ETA on this? Your support is as appauling as your IPC outage. It's damaging your company and reputation just as much, and just like your IPC issue, it's something that's been left WAY to late, and that should have been addressed months ago...



I see you opted not to respond. Let's add to this... It's 15:00 now, the entire day has gone by. No status update? Are all your engineers on leave?

Still waiting for your support desk to respond to my tickets too, and ironically, some even mysteriously deleted...

I don't know how you feel the sarcasm and edge to your comments make this a productive engagement. I really think it's going to have the opposite effect. Just my 2c - Use / Don't Use

This is not just suddenly being discussed - we've spoken about this for months, in fact from just after mid last year. I don't know if you've only just joined this thread or haven't given any weight to what's been said previously, but this has been an ongoing conversation and will be until the new capacity goes live. And even then the conversation will continue as we improve and receive client's feedback about what they experience and how we can expand and improve that experience.

 

[AfriMan]

But... Your customers already noticed it on Saturday??? I'd hardly call that 'not noticeable'

There were very intermittent reports of latency, and none of them were to the extent that we've seen during IPC outages. As I said, it's a very small portion of the IPC, so it's difficult to pick up due to the size of the current capacity that we're fielding in the region. We generally see latency go much higher, so we've been troubleshooting and testing on our side. We've never dismissed the reports we've received, but running a network this size is not as simple as a home or office network. These are complex processes requiring multiple resources.

 

[jeanres]

http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/i/815473191 this is why I am pissed off. I am getting a 10th of my line speed.

Ping will be higher then usual because of static ip

 

[jeanres]

There were very intermittent reports of latency, and none of them were to the extent that we've seen during IPC outages. As I said, it's a very small portion of the IPC, so it's difficult to pick up due to the size of the current capacity that we're fielding in the region. We generally see latency go much higher, so we've been troubleshooting and testing on our side. We've never dismissed the reports we've received, but running a network this size is not as simple as a home or office network. These are complex processes requiring multiple resources.

Looks like the wheels have well and truly come off!

 

[AfriMan]

Don't get me wrong, I am not personally attacking you in any way. I understand that you are doing your job. Which is damage control.

If you would tell us that you have informed management of the uproar from your business clients and that management have made a decision to offer compensation to its business clients. Believe me, I would be singing a different tune.

All I want is to get the service I paid for. And if I don't get the service I pay for 1 month, then I expect to be compensated.

You want my trust? Trust is earned.

Prove to me that I can trust you.

Prove to me that I can rely on Afrihost to look after me as a client.

I am not here to bash either you nor Afrihost. My experience with afrihost has been fairly decent for the short time I have been with Afrihost. I have had ups and downs and have "waited it out". But there is a limit to how much I and everyone else here can wait.

I think you do misunderstand. Nothing about my job is damage control. I'm here to talk to our clients and listen to what they're saying and answer from a company perspective. Sometimes that means saying "We screwed up, and I'm sorry". Other times it't about explaining the complexity of events that lead up to an incident or a decision. My job is to try to communicate what's happening in our minds so that we reach some kind of understanding. I'm not a spin doctor, I'm not a marketer. In fact, I think it's because I never learned how to lie convincingly that Gian asked me to do this job

Trust goes both ways. You also need to show faith in us that we're a) doing everything possible to resolve the problem and are sincere when we say that; and b) that we're going to find a way that makes sense to us and you to show you that we value you as a client. Everyone digging their heels in doesn't take anyone forward. Only open interactions, transparency and trust will get us forward and onto the next milestone - which is important to all of us. As we grow, we've always passed those benefits to our clients first, and we won't ever stop doing that.

 

[jeanres]

I think you do misunderstand. Nothing about my job is damage control. I'm here to talk to our clients and listen to what they're saying and answer from a company perspective. Sometimes that means saying "We screwed up, and I'm sorry". Other times it't about explaining the complexity of events that lead up to an incident or a decision. My job is to try to communicate what's happening in our minds so that we reach some kind of understanding. I'm not a spin doctor, I'm not a marketer. In fact, I think it's because I never learned how to lie convincingly that Gian asked me to do this job

Trust goes both ways. You also need to show faith in us that we're a) doing everything possible to resolve the problem and are sincere when we say that; and b) that we're going to find a way that makes sense to us and you to show you that we value you as a client. Everyone digging their heels in doesn't take anyone forward. Only open interactions, transparency and trust will get us forward and onto the next milestone - which is important to all of us. As we grow, we've always passed those benefits to our clients first, and we won't ever stop doing that.

I think our debit orders have shown that we have faith in you

Now it's your turn.....