Afrihost, same old same old

A

Antono

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And it did not take afrihost took long to show it's true ISP colors. Initially getting signed up was a bit of a mess with 'support' nowhere. Well I started the process and I might just as well see it through. Now just short of 3 months in the speed and latency has degraded to the extent that streaming is a mother buffer affair. Typically I would get 5-10 down on a 20 down line. So I figured I would log a call. Wasn't a real surprise when

a) they first tried to go down the hardwire, single device route.

b) and then the real response - it does not matter if I pay for a 20 line, it's not guaranteed and if I get it then well done for me. I know it's not guaranteed but somewhere in the vicinity would be umh..... good? Half that?

Sound to me like a barrel and vaseline situation neither which I'm fond of. So I guess it's of looking for that elusive 'service' thingy I always hear my grandmother talk about. Nice doing business with you afri 'what you see is what you get' host.
 
Antono said:
And it did not take afrihost took long to show it's true ISP colors. Initially getting signed up was a bit of a mess with 'support' nowhere. Well I started the process and I might just as well see it through. Now just short of 3 months in the speed and latency has degraded to the extent that streaming is a mother buffer affair. Typically I would get 5-10 down on a 20 down line. So I figured I would log a call. Wasn't a real surprise when

a) they first tried to go down the hardwire, single device route.

b) and then the real response - it does not matter if I pay for a 20 line, it's not guaranteed and if I get it then well done for me. I know it's not guaranteed but somewhere in the vicinity would be umh..... good? Half that?

Sound to me like a barrel and vaseline situation neither which I'm fond of. So I guess it's of looking for that elusive 'service' thingy I always hear my grandmother talk about. Nice doing business with you afri 'what you see is what you get' host.
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I totally get where you are coming from. It's important to remember that different technologies will work in vastly different ways. For ADSL, it could be due to congestion in the area, the distance from the exchange, or the quality of the fibre line.

Fibre is a lot less prone to these issues, but it also depends on the PoP and backhaul each individual provider has provisioned in the area.

However, we should be giving you clear feedback so you can make an informed decision about what to do next.

Please drop me a PM, and I'll make sure we provide you with clear feedback.
 
AfriMan said:
I totally get where you are coming from. It's important to remember that different technologies will work in vastly different ways. For ADSL, it could be due to congestion in the area, the distance from the exchange, or the quality of the fibre line.

Fibre is a lot less prone to these issues, but it also depends on the PoP and backhaul each individual provider has provisioned in the area.

However, we should be giving you clear feedback so you can make an informed decision about what to do next.

Please drop me a PM, and I'll make sure we provide you with clear feedback.
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Ok the only sensible thing you said here is that you should give clear feedback. I probably made my first connection to beltel before your 'support' staff was born so telling me that I will get what I get and nothing is guaranteed is basically a big F YOU to the customer. Your 'support' staff is saying what they are told to say, nothing more, nothing less. It's not a mistake or incompetence, it is a deliberate part of your operating procedures.

BTW The last time I was requested to send a PM to your boss I got no response so stop with the cut and paste crap please.
 
Antono said:
Ok the only sensible thing you said here is that you should give clear feedback. I probably made my first connection to beltel before your 'support' staff was born so telling me that I will get what I get and nothing is guaranteed is basically a big F YOU to the customer. Your 'support' staff is saying what they are told to say, nothing more, nothing less. It's not a mistake or incompetence, it is a deliberate part of your operating procedures.

BTW The last time I was requested to send a PM to your boss I got no response so stop with the cut and paste crap please.
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I get what you are saying - I'm not here to argue or antagonize here. Just here to help.

As much as I hate the phrase "best-effort", I think it applies here. In the case of ADSL, certain factors make it impossible to achieve certain service speeds. If you are more the 2kms aways from an exchange, for example, nothing will give you speeds at a consistent 20Mbps. Even if you lay brand new copper all the way to the exachnge. The technology simply cannot achieve those speeds.

If you're happy to accept my assistance, please drop me a PM or you can email me on [email protected] so I can assist.
 
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OP there is no need to be combative. The dude is trying to offer you help. Again, to repeat what AfriMan said, The service an ISP provides is a best effort service. It will never be perfect. There are external factors that need to be taken into account.

- Issues with fiber provider(You can give them a call to find out if there is an issue with their network)
- Issues with backhaul and teraco links
- Issues with international latency and things like Cloudflare affecting overseas traffic.

Afrihost have no control over the above as they do not own any of the above.
A little bit of patience will go a long way if you work with the support guys(yes bad support staff exist), however, even though I use a competing ISP; all ISP's have the same issue according to customers - shitty support.

You decide if you want to be a happy customer or not, even though a service you are paying for is not working correctly.
 
CT_Biker said:
OP there is no need to be combative. The dude is trying to offer you help. Again, to repeat what AfriMan said, The service an ISP provides is a best effort service. It will never be perfect. There are external factors that need to be taken into account.

- Issues with fiber provider(You can give them a call to find out if there is an issue with their network)
- Issues with backhaul and teraco links
- Issues with international latency and things like Cloudflare affecting overseas traffic.

Afrihost have no control over the above as they do not own any of the above.
A little bit of patience will go a long way if you work with the support guys(yes bad support staff exist), however, even though I use a competing ISP; all ISP's have the same issue according to customers - shitty support.

You decide if you want to be a happy customer or not, even though a service you are paying for is not working correctly.
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Not being 'combative'. Consumer in this country is seen as 'combative' if they demand what they are paying for.

"Best Effort'" is just a way of saying that you get what you get and not what you pay for.

I actually pay the ISP and NOT the fibre provider hence it is the job of the ISP to ensure that they know what is going on with the fibre provider, something the ISP support staff should do instead of telling customers that their service is not guaranteed. The same with back-haul issues. The fact that shitty service is a given is not a reason for me to accept it. The fact that elements in the supply chain is beyond their control is no reason for me to accept **** support. It is because it is the new normal that it continues to deteriorate. What motivational speakers like you conveniently forget is that customer service is NOT about never having issues, it is about how these issues are addressed. Hint 1: telling the customer that whatever service they pay for is not guaranteed as the first response is not the correct way to address an issue. Hint 2: Use form responses such as PM me with no response to the PM is not the correct way to address an issue.

My happiness has no relationship with crap service but again that does not mean I will just sit back and accept it or start doing their work for them. My happiness as a customer and my happines as an individual has no relationship.

But thanks for the motivational talk, I really enjoyed it and I feel much happier now, even at half the speed I pay for.

BTW support knows it is a fibre link so why I keep in getting lengthy explanations on ADSL is beyond happy me.
 
Antono said:
Not being 'combative'. Consumer in this country is seen as 'combative' if they demand what they are paying for.

"Best Effort'" is just a way of saying that you get what you get and not what you pay for.

I actually pay the ISP and NOT the fibre provider hence it is the job of the ISP to ensure that they know what is going on with the fibre provider, something the ISP support staff should do instead of telling customers that their service is not guaranteed. The same with back-haul issues. The fact that shitty service is a given is not a reason for me to accept it. The fact that elements in the supply chain is beyond their control is no reason for me to accept **** support. It is because it is the new normal that it continues to deteriorate. What motivational speakers like you conveniently forget is that customer service is NOT about never having issues, it is about how these issues are addressed. Hint 1: telling the customer that whatever service they pay for is not guaranteed as the first response is not the correct way to address an issue. Hint 2: Use form responses such as PM me with no response to the PM is not the correct way to address an issue.

My happiness has no relationship with crap service but again that does not mean I will just sit back and accept it or start doing their work for them. My happiness as a customer and my happines as an individual has no relationship.

But thanks for the motivational talk, I really enjoyed it and I feel much happier now, even at half the speed I pay for.

BTW support knows it is a fibre link so why I keep in getting lengthy explanations on ADSL is beyond happy me.
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name and same fiber provider!
 
Antono said:
:D :D These is no shame in bad customer service in RSA so I doubt if anybody will be ashamed.
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We'd definitely like to help. Not sure if you sent a PM to a different rep, but I haven't received anything from you.

Would be happy to try and sort this out for you and restore your faith in us.
 
AfriMan said:
We'd definitely like to help. Not sure if you sent a PM to a different rep, but I haven't received anything from you.

Would be happy to try and sort this out for you and restore your faith in us.
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Thanks @AfriMan but I will just ride out my 6 month sentence and get out. Maybe something to consider - typically speed problems sort themselves out after a few days as things are being reset, rebooted ect. so by the time attention is given the crisis is over and we wait for the next one. The idea of good support is to be able to get help when the problem is present.
 
Antono said:
Thanks @AfriMan but I will just ride out my 6 month sentence and get out. Maybe something to consider - typically speed problems sort themselves out after a few days as things are being reset, rebooted ect. so by the time attention is given the crisis is over and we wait for the next one. The idea of good support is to be able to get help when the problem is present.
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Post your ADSL stats.
 
You posted this in a public forum.
Help is being offered, so stop being a petulant child and give them the required info to help resolve the issue.
 
Antono said:
Thanks @AfriMan but I will just ride out my 6 month sentence and get out. Maybe something to consider - typically speed problems sort themselves out after a few days as things are being reset, rebooted ect. so by the time attention is given the crisis is over and we wait for the next one. The idea of good support is to be able to get help when the problem is present.
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We definitely want to assist when you need us, that's why we offer multiple channels of support. But sorry that we couldn't chat sooner so I could ensure we got back to you in time.

Maybe over the 6 months there will be more opportunities to redeem ourselves and we rise to the occassion. I am confident our team will.
 
If he pays his r1k cancelation, will he keep the router ? OP maybe cut your losses jump ship
 
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