Crystal Web DSL performance feedback thread Part 4...

BohemianImp said:
I have just spoken to someone at Telkom with a bit more brains. According to them with the fact that I have cancelled my line with CW on the 16th October my line will automatically reverted back to Telkom on the 16 November 30 day notice period. BUT i will be held liable for all unpaid fees on my line. So we will have to see what happens Friday. So a double edge sword may be in my future thank to CW
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Well what do you know, today is the 16th and my line is dead. Wonder if that means if I phone telkom tomorrow they will actually help and not just refer me to Crystal Web.
 
Crystal Web customers are threatening to leave the ISP after OpenServe mishap

It’s been a tough year for Crystal Web. Once named the best ISP in the country in 2015 according to a MyBroadband survey, the company has been beset by issues in the past couple of months. Earlier this year, the company featured in headlines regarding a sustained, weeks-long DDoS attack that rendered the connections of most customers unusable. Over a month ago, customers began complaining once more about the company’s service, as masses of customers leasing ADSL and fibre lines operated by OpenServe through the company saw their accounts suspended and connections rendered unusable. There are rumours of financial mismanagement, bankruptcy, and incompetence being shared on the local web, and customers are frustrated with the lack of an explanation as to what happened.
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Source: NAG
 
@CataclysmZA I take it Telkom/OpenServe did not want to respond to those lines that are stuck in limbo?

Great article, gives us a great understanding of why we are suffering and sadly that customer book is going to be worthless now. Once I get my line back I am leaving EvoNet, a part of me is suspicious that they purposely de-valued the customer book but no proof so just a suspicion. They could have and should have handled this better via communications but they did not and this will be the result, people leaving.
 
Anakha56 said:
@CataclysmZA I take it Telkom/OpenServe did not want to respond to those lines that are stuck in limbo?
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I chose not to contact them. OpenServe's only involvement in this is that they're not being paid, so I didn't see a need to press them for details.

Anakha56 said:
a part of me is suspicious that they purposely de-valued the customer book but no proof so just a suspicion.
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There is that possibility, but I think it would be too easy to discover thanks to Paul's access to the company's financial records. It would be one hell of a coup though if it was manufactured.

EDIT: Financial records, not finances.
 
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quovadis said:
Very thorough article. I hope you can provide some clarity. Is EVONET completely independent to Crystal Web ? I can't find any history other than this whole crystal web relationship.
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With the resignation of Shaun Kaplan and Karen Charlton and putting the company under Paul's curatorship, the companies are now completely separate. Previously they were sister companies.
 
What a mess... No wonder our lines are in limbo... Well my last 4 invoices from CrystalWeb have my line rental being charged so they can stop taking me hostage and give the damn line back. I do not want to go into the Christmas period with no DSL...
 
If anyone has recently had their DSL line moved into the holding pool without having to contact Openserve, please contact me. This might be happening to some clients to get them connected to the internet without having to wait for the dispute in court to come to a head.
 
Read the article was good. I had cancelled my line with CW tried for weeks to get my line moved to holding pool. Openserve wont release it due to CW. Telkom wont force move them tried, so I was forced to reactive my line with CW as I have work that needs to be done and cant keep buying data for my phone. But I have only been charged for the data side of account. I had to make a few calls to ensure my line was still "active" after the cancellation which it still was according to Openserve and Telkom.

So unfortunately I have been forced into a corner to get work done for the end of year. I don't see any end to the great big balls up. But once the mess has been corrected I will be canceling CW again
 
CataclysmZA said:
If anyone has recently had their DSL line moved into the holding pool without having to contact Openserve, please contact me. This might be happening to some clients to get them connected to the internet without having to wait for the dispute in court to come to a head.
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I have had no feedback from Telkom or ICASA yet, debating if I should ask for feedback now or give it another week...
 
BohemianImp said:
But I have only been charged for the data side of account. I had to make a few calls to ensure my line was still "active" after the cancellation which it still was according to Openserve and Telkom.
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I know of one other person who cancelled their account, and only had the data portion of their account cancelled. It's a real mess.

Anakha56 said:
I have had no feedback from Telkom or ICASA yet, debating if I should ask for feedback now or give it another week...
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I think give it another week. Now that there's ligitation from Openserve's side, this may need actual intervention by ICASA instead of just passing along the complaints to the right person.
 
UPDATE: Openserve lines are being moved slowly into the holding pool. I'm trying to find someone to officially comment and tell me how this is going to work.
 
I was informed when I tried table a proposal of how to sort out the technicalities of this mess, that transferring the ADSL connections from CW to Evonet could only happen via the holding pool. CW to Holding Pool to Evonet, as these are the two legal entities. The brand "CW" plays no roll at all.
In theory, those that sit it out, will have to wait for this process to complete by itself. If you cancel the connection with CW and then ask for the service to be transferred to Evonet may push your specific case up the list. Rest assured, that at some time or another, the "bill" for "line rental" will also show up. At this point those affected should ask for a rebate for the days when the line was suspended, especially if you managed to get the line activated in the meantime.
If you ask to be transferred back to Telkom, the process is likely to be handled a bit faster, especially if you also have a working fixed line voice service associated with the "line".
 
UPDATE: I've had confirmation from Openserve that ALL customers that had their DSL service suspended have had their lines moved back into the holding pool. ALL of them.

If you're a CW customer waiting for them to move your line back into the pool, wait no longer. CW will not be able to help because Openserve has control now.

All affected customers are now able to switch their connections over, and must do so, to a new ISP within the next 30 days.
 
I can't believe anyone will stay with this company now ..... and if you do, to be frank, you're a fool
 
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