Afrihost Pure VOIP

[Brian_G]

Service continuing to work the next day, looks like we're ok now (for usage anyway).

Likely done with this thread.

 

[RatX]

Anybody had issues with accumulated minutes disappearing? I was always happy to retain my PureVoIP service, as I only occasionally use it but my monthly R50 would accrue - last time I checked I had R1000+ minutes "banked".

Checked again today and it had dropped to R150-something, and upon checking with support they advised that minutes were only valid for 60-days and I couldn't possibly have had such a large accrual.

The limited reporting capabilities make it difficult for me to ascertain if these minutes did indeed expire, or I maybe accidentally used them (I was doing a lot of international calling for work testing purposes). It would also have been cool to get a notification of the enforcement of the validity period (if that is indeed where my minutes went).

 

[Brian_G]

Anybody had issues with accumulated minutes disappearing? I was always happy to retain my PureVoIP service, as I only occasionally use it but my monthly R50 would accrue - last time I checked I had R1000+ minutes "banked".

Checked again today and it had dropped to R150-something, and upon checking with support they advised that minutes were only valid for 60-days and I couldn't possibly have had such a large accrual.

The limited reporting capabilities make it difficult for me to ascertain if these minutes did indeed expire, or I maybe accidentally used them (I was doing a lot of international calling for work testing purposes). It would also have been cool to get a notification of the enforcement of the validity period (if that is indeed where my minutes went).

See my posts from #180 onwards, sounds like you've got the same issue.


Afrihost are no longer responding to this

 

[Afrigirl]

Anybody had issues with accumulated minutes disappearing? I was always happy to retain my PureVoIP service, as I only occasionally use it but my monthly R50 would accrue - last time I checked I had R1000+ minutes "banked".

Checked again today and it had dropped to R150-something, and upon checking with support they advised that minutes were only valid for 60-days and I couldn't possibly have had such a large accrual.

The limited reporting capabilities make it difficult for me to ascertain if these minutes did indeed expire, or I maybe accidentally used them (I was doing a lot of international calling for work testing purposes). It would also have been cool to get a notification of the enforcement of the validity period (if that is indeed where my minutes went).

There was an issue with VOIP allocations and clients being able to access and use more call time than they should have.

Basically, we did not cut off access to call time allocations older than 3 Months (they allowed rollover), so some clients accrued massive balances or used much more than they should have. Any extra usage will not be penalised against the client.

 

[Brian_G]

There was an issue with VOIP allocations and clients being able to access and use more call time than they should have.

Basically, we did not cut off access to call time allocations older than 3 Months (they allowed rollover), so some clients accrued massive balances or used much more than they should have. Any extra usage will not be penalised against the client.

THIS ^^ is NOT what happened to me, I DEFINITELY had valid credit left over and it was ALL removed.

Adjust accordingly!

Rude people, not answering me You have my money!
Should I now consider small claims court?....

 

[RatX]

There was an issue with VOIP allocations and clients being able to access and use more call time than they should have.

Basically, we did not cut off access to call time allocations older than 3 Months (they allowed rollover), so some clients accrued massive balances or used much more than they should have. Any extra usage will not be penalised against the client.

OK, that at least explains it. From a customer perspective, though, it doesn't leave an impression aligned with Afrihost's usually very good service. It seems unfair that accrued balances should be blown away with no consultation. I don't recall seeing anything regarding retention policies previously, or any comms that they were about to be enforced.

The way that Afrihost's system behaved historically led me to believe that minutes could be accrued indefinitely, and this suited my sporadic usage use case so I treated it accordingly. The fact that there might have been users who were somehow exploiting the accrual in order to access more minutes than they were entitled to has absolutely nothing to do with me, and it is annoying that I should have R1000+ worth of talktime disappear. I mean from a policy perspective, fine, but from a good customer service perspective, nah come on.

 

[deweyzeph]

To be honest I hardly ever use my VOIP account, so I've always just treated the R50 per month as a rental fee which most other similar VOIP providers also charge over and above the per call charges. So paying R50 per month which also includes airtime even if it does expire in a limited time is still a pretty good deal compared to most other VOIP providers.

 

[Brian_G]

I don't recall seeing anything regarding retention policies previously, or any comms that they were about to be enforced.

This much I can confirm, the rollover is supposed to only cover a 3 month period. On my type of account anyway, bu I suspect it's a wide policy.

However, we are certain we've never used even as much as R50 for calls in any single month since we joined a few months ago. I've watched the account regularly enough to be sure of that.

From a customer perspective, though, it doesn't leave an impression aligned with Afrihost's usually very good service.

To be honest I hardly ever use my VOIP account, so I've always just treated the R50 per month as a rental fee which most other similar VOIP providers also charge over and above the per call charges. So paying R50 per month which also includes airtime even if it does expire in a limited time is still a pretty good deal compared to most other VOIP providers.

Yes, also most surprised by this change of direction with their usually great service.

@deweyzeph , although I agree it's a pretty good deal, it does not give them permission to then treat the account as some sort of favour... there is an official agreement in place.


And them not answering me??
Perhaps I'll go quiet if I get a favourable PM from them instead, I'm not looking to embarrass them but this is really not on at all.

 

[deweyzeph]

This much I can confirm, the rollover is supposed to only cover a 3 month period. On my type of account anyway, bu I suspect it's a wide policy.

However, we are certain we've never used even as much as R50 for calls in any single month since we joined a few months ago. I've watched the account regularly enough to be sure of that.




Yes, also most surprised by this change of direction with their usually great service.

@deweyzeph , although I agree it's a pretty good deal, it does not give them permission to then treat the account as some sort of favour... there is an official agreement in place.


And them not answering me??
Perhaps I'll go quiet if I get a favourable PM from them instead, I'm not looking to embarrass them but this is really not on at all.

I agree. Clients being able to access more airtime than they "should have", sounds like an Afrihost problem, not a client problem.

 

[Brian_G]

I agree. Clients being able to access more airtime than they "should have", sounds like an Afrihost problem, not a client problem.

At least they're not denying that.

Gave this some further thought overnight. Although the other factor of concern is a small amount in our case it's still clearly fraud on their part, but we're sure it wasn't intentional so going to drop this.

Probably just someone in management now trying to cover their arse.

 

[Brian_G]

Hi @Afrigirl , new concern I need feedback on please.

At least 2 devices are used for accessing our account online. The current secondary device was approved a while ago with an OTP that was sent to me. Now it wants to send an OTP again for the same device.

Please let me know how or find out what can be done to make the registration of new devices permanent.

 

[Brian_G]

BTW Afrihost, not looking for a fight. Just how to fix this.

Or confirmation if it's just the way you choose to do it - a nuisance but not a train smash.