Afrihost will buy majority stake in Cool Ideas

[Swa]

That was sort of the point when Afrihost paired up with MTN, and that didn't work out so lekker at the time IIRC.

Then again CI is not MTN so this might have a more balmy (rather than barmy) outcome.

That was the other way around. MTN rubbed off on Afrihost. Hopefully this will improve CI's service. Perhaps we'll even see them launched a true ISP in the future and not this separate network and access model.

 

[TheRoDent]

lol. Yes. You only start a business to make money. That's why I have been saying no-one should begrudge you chaps for actually making money from your venture.

We just sad that it might become another "you-just-a-little-bit-of-money" kind of organisation. I forget how many folks I recommended to CISP for having the opposite inclination.

So, everyone should start business to NOT make money?

Our deal with Afrihost is the best thing we envisaged as shareholders, and directors.

And I really hope that you will continue referring folk to CISP, because we're good at it. If we let you down, then by all means, take me up on it. Here, personally. On this forum. Cause that's were I'll be.

 

[Jordan_Za]

to be fair i haven't had a major complaint against Afrihost, although I don't use them personally we use them for a community place's connection.

My only gripe is that you can be someone who's worked in IT and with network equipment for 16 years and tell them "our internet is down, I can ping my router its up, and the CPE is up but I can't traceroute past your gateway" and you'll get a response like "Please restart your Wi-Fi router" and I want to drink all the Vodka in the house and pull my hair out with a pliers.

Hahaha, First line... I hate it so much. CISP does it too though... Honestly, we're the minority in the grander scheme of things... Glad the (real) team come and talk to us here, and answer PMs etc.

 

[Reaper1242]

Agreed.

After the absolute bare-faced lies Afrihost told me (many years ago) I have zero trust in their integrity. If I were still a CISP customer I would now be looking for another provider, with a very heavy heart.

Yea. When I walked from Afrihost I had my home fibre, 3 business fibre locations and 10 hosted sites. The frustration ended when my relationship with them ended.
And honestly, I stuck with them for over 10 years

 

[Splinter]

Sorry dude but go take a walk through the social comments and see the overall negative response. Then ask yourself how you managed to kill so much trust that the very mention of this makes people want to jump the CISP ship simply by association to AH.

Actually, the trust I have with CISP is why I will not jump ship straight away. I have a monthly contract.

Where would you jump-ship to anyway?

 

[Splinter]

So, everyone should start business to NOT make money?

Our deal with Afrihost is the best thing we envisaged as shareholders, and directors.

And I really hope that you will continue referring folk to CISP, because we're good at it. If I let you down, then by all means, take me up on it. Here, personally. On this forum. Cause that's were I'll be.

hey? You misread what I said. Of course you started a business to make money.

 

[Reaper1242]

Actually, the trust I have with CISP is why I will not jump ship straight away. I have a monthly contract.

Where would you jump-ship to anyway?

Agreed. I've got no reason to jump until I have a reason to jump.
For one. I trust CISP and for another, I hate admin so I've got no urge to change without reason. I shall wait and see.
But the fact that the mere thought of AH involvement promoted the response says a lot about AH

And that's a big part of the problem there. Sure, there are a ton of ISPs out there but not many good ones. If the good ones become crappy then we end up with fewer options. Just a thought.

 

[Hunted]

Does being a client mean you have an "investment" in a company? Of course, our clients have a hand in the success of our business. If we did things poorly, we wouldn't have clients. If we did things well, we would have clients.

Does that mean you are an investor? By paying for a service that the company provides ?

Does paying your Vodacom bill make you an "investor"?

I'll rest, I don't think you see my point. I never said we are investors and I explained I were trying to say we chose to spend our money in your business. For a lack of better word I chose "invest" our money.

 

[TheRoDent]

lol. Yes. You only start a business to make money. That's why I have been saying no-one should begrudge you chaps for actually making money from your venture.

We just sad that it might become another "you-just-a-little-bit-of-money" kind of organisation. I forget how many folks I recommended to CISP for having the opposite inclination.OK,

hey? You misread what I said. Of course you started a business to make money.

Sorry about that, I read what I read.
We're going to do what we've been doing.

We were small, we grew up.

 

[TheRoDent]

I'll rest, I don't think you see my point. I never said we are investors and I explained I were trying to say we chose to spend our money in your business. For a lack of better word I chose "invest" our money.

All good, choosing a provider does mean "investing". Even if it's your reputation, I get that.

 

[ponder]

We will continue to service our clients as we always have, and we're not changing the way we operate.

Everybody has heard that line before...

 

[TheRoDent]

Everybody has heard that line before...

From whom ?

 

[ponder]

Our deal with Afrihost is the best thing we envisaged as shareholders, and directors.

Yeah those always come first...

 

[Splinter]

Everybody has heard that line before...

The question is - have you ever heard this from the peeps concerned?

I mean - these chaps don't really need to sit here and take our abuse. I'm sure they now very wealthy.

So what do you not get about that?

 

[ponder]

From whom ?

Oh it's a generalisation from corporate mergers.

 

[TheRoDent]

Oh it's a generalisation from corporate mergers.

'Tis not a merger, it's similar to when I bought (x)% of shares in CISP 4 years ago.

Yes, a controlling share could be considered that, but I had a stake ? Yet nobody knew....

 

[Priapus]

@TheRoDent - Appreciate your engagement with your customers on a very public forum. I have been with Cool Ideas for a few years and was worried when I read the headline. Having read this thread and your responses to some good questions; I'll take the wait and see approach. I have no reason to change ISP's until I am given one. This isn't it - as it's not a merger.

 

[ponder]

'Tis not a merger, it's similar to when I bought (x)% of shares in CISP 4 years ago.

Yes, a controlling share could be considered that, but I had a stake ? Yet nobody knew....

Technically not a merger but a majority stake is not that much different. Did you buy a majority stake in CI?

 

[TheRoDent]

@TheRoDent - Appreciate your engagement with your customers on a very public forum. I have been with Cool Ideas for a few years and was worried when I read the headline. Having read this thread and your responses to some good questions; I'll take the wait and see approach. I have no reason to change ISP's until I am given one. This isn't it - as it's not a merger.

I would do the same. Change is inevitable. But not always for the worst.

And if we gave you a reason to change, even before these events, I would be just as concerned. We'll keep on doing the good work.

 

[TheRoDent]

Technically not a merger but a majority stake is not that much different. Did you buy a majority stake in CI?

Yes, it was signifcant.