Experiences migrating Fibre to Afrihost

[Ecco]

Hi Guys,

I am migrating from another ISP to Afrihost. I am finding it frustrating - not necessarily Afrihosts faults, but the whole thing of having to get the one ISP to release the line, the matter of the backbone provider and their role, and then Afrihost doing there part means there are a lot of stakeholders with their own timelines, and most of these stakeholders do not talk to each other. And then there is the customer who wants a seamless as possible migration stuck in the middle.

What has been your experience with the migration?
How long did it take to get swapped over?
Did it require numerous follow up calls to the original ISP and then to Afrihost?

 

[Ecco]

Ah crap it doesnt look good based on what i am reading on the other threads

Migrating my Fibre to Afrihost has been a bit of a nightmare. Wouldn't recommend it.

• First struggled to get my B number from my previous ISP. Not Afrihost's fault in any way but multiple calls and followups to finally get this information from my previous ISP.
• My previous ISP informed me that they released my line on the 6 September.
• Confirmed with Afrihost via a support ticket and they said they placed my Line Migration order. Should take aprox. 2 days I was told.
• Followed up on the 12th, 14th and 17th with NO feedback from Afrihost.
• On the 19th used Whatsapp Support and was informed that my line had been successfully migrated and that my router was ready for collection. Great news I thought.
• Collected my router at the offices on the 20th. Told the representative it still showed processing on the portal and was informed a supervisor just needs to link my B number and left with the expectation that it will be sorted.
• Nothing happened so followed up via Whatsapp again later on the 20th and was this time informed that in fact my line migration has not been completed and that my line was still locked by the previous operator. I need to follow up again with my previous ISP.
• After painfully again confirming with the previous ISP I got the information that the line was already released on the 6th already.

So now I'm stuck between my old ISP and Afrihost and wondering, will my Fibre die at the end of the month?
@AfriMan @AfriFella - Any advice?

 

[Ecco]

and.............. it's been a month and my migration still ain't complete

 

[Ecco]

Am also on 3 weeks now with line migration incomplete. Support ticket responses say all is done, WhatsApp support says migration still pending. Same company, different answers! At my wits end......@AfriMan

 

[Nimz]

Absolutely pathetic service - I've been with them for 1 month already and my line has still not been migrated

Every time I contact support, i'm told it has been escalated to the Ops manager and Openserve.

No one can give me answers, everything is escalated and wait for feedback

I have resorted to emailing the Openserve CEO to get some answers on who is at fault and what is the delay

 

[Nimz]

To be fair, I cannot fault the actual product.

Just the service is up to ****

 

[hungrymamba]

Don't let a few disgruntled people dissuade you from joining Afrihost - a lot of us had really great 10/10 experience, we just don't share these experiences and the bad experiences people get are amplified.

All companies will have a few cases of bad services once in a while, but 1 bad service out of ten doesn't make the entire company crap. I have my LTE and Pure Fibre with them for about three months now, not a single bad thing to say about them.

What I have noticed is that MyBB people are constant whiners - chronic whiners actually. Sometimes making a meal out of a really honest mistake or oversight by service providers as if they are perfect or robots.

 

[Ecco]

Don't let a few disgruntled people dissuade you from joining Afrihost - a lot of us had really great 10/10 experience, we just don't share these experiences and the bad experiences people get are amplified.

All companies will have a few cases of bad services once in a while, but 1 bad service out of ten doesn't make the entire company crap. I have my LTE and Pure Fibre with them for about three months now, not a single bad thing to say about them.

Did you migrate from one Fibre ISP to Afrihost? Really interested in the migration experience. Based on the above its 3 cases of terrible service.

Its day 1 of the migration for me. Before today i was told the migration is "easy, everything is automated". Between afrihost and the old ISP nobody can give me a straight answer on what the status of my line is

 

[Adenoid Hynkel]

I had issues canceling with the previous ISP. They wouldnt release the line due to billing issues (previous tenant or owner).

I contacted openserve via Twitter and they said I should just order a new line.

Converted migration order to new order through afrihost. Openserver was here 3 days later and exchanged the ONT and I received a new B number. My fibre was activated this morning. Took 2min.

All my communication was via WhatsApp.

 

[Ecco]

Absolutely pathetic service - I've been with them for 1 month already and my line has still not been migrated

Every time I contact support, i'm told it has been escalated to the Ops manager and Openserve.

No one can give me answers, everything is escalated and wait for feedback

I have resorted to emailing the Openserve CEO to get some answers on who is at fault and what is the delay

This is what i am worried about. I was proactive and tried to get both sides aware that i a migrating well in advance, seems like all that effort was for nothing.

 

[Adenoid Hynkel]

Did you migrate from one Fibre ISP to Afrihost? Really interested in the migration experience. Based on the above its 3 cases of terrible service.

Its day 1 of the migration for me. Before today i was told the migration is "easy, everything is automated". Between afrihost and the old ISP nobody can give me a straight answer on what the status of my line is

Everything is automated? They can't cancel on your behalf. Is your line cancelled with your current ISP?
When did you cancel? Some will only release after 30 days, unless a cancellation fee is paid.

 

[Ecco]

I had issues canceling with the previous ISP. They wouldnt release the line due to billing issues (previous tenant or owner).

I contacted openserve via Twitter and they said I should just order a new line.

Converted migration order to new order through afrihost. Openserver was here 3 days later and exchanged the ONT and I received a new B number. My fibre was activated this morning. Took 2min.

All my communication was via WhatsApp.

Sounds like an interesting approach (ordering a new line) - and might be something i consider

 

[Ecco]

Everything is automated? They can't cancel on your behalf. Is your line cancelled with your current ISP?
When did you cancel? Some will only release after 30 days, unless a cancellation fee is paid.

I put in notice to cancel on the 28th August, i paid my cancellation fee. Still dont know if the line has been release or not, but i suspect not because i still have service with the old router/credentials etc

 

[Antono]

Migrating was not a very pleasant experience. Anything in life is manageable and that does not mean everything is flawless. One example where afrihost falls flat is the concept of communication. Their view is that we will communicate when WE feel you need to hear something not really understanding that you need to communicate constantly. Getting information about the migration process out of them was like pulling teeth from a chicken. They never offered information, I had to drag it out of them piece by piece. Then eventually when the migration took place they took ownership of my line without communicating my account details to be beyond an email that stated my user was [email protected] (those were actual XXX) and that I could change my password on the client zone. This obviously left me without connectivity and they did it on a weekend when support is even worse than during the week. Oh and they saw no issue with this approach, none at all.

Bottom line is this - you will experience issue with every single ISP out there, I'm still in search of the customer service holy grail. But it is the way that they handle those issues that you should be concerned with and my personal experience with afrihost was that they do not handle issues well. They are good at talking but that is about it. I'm living my 6 months out while I search for the elusive quality of customer service and then I'm off.

 

[Antono]

I put in notice to cancel on the 28th August, i paid my cancellation fee. Still dont know if the line has been release or not, but i suspect not because i still have service with the old router/credentials etc

My experience with my previous ISP is that the line stays active after they released it back into the pool because you are normally paid up for a month in advance. Afrihost was not very helpful in that respect either. Instead of checking if the line is available they sat and waited for me to inform them of this. Sure it is not their 'job' but they have the B number so why not just check at regular intervals, you are after all going to make money from it.

 

[Gnome]

My experience with my previous ISP is that the line stays active after they released it back into the pool because you are normally paid up for a month in advance. Afrihost was not very helpful in that respect either. Instead of checking if the line is available they sat and waited for me to inform them of this. Sure it is not their 'job' but they have the B number so why not just check at regular intervals, you are after all going to make money from it.

Just to echo what is being said here. My parents got an account with them and basically, doesn't matter what you tell them, they can't help you.
What is worse, is if you ask them to send someone they refuse. If you want your money back, they refuse, etc..

Long story short, just don't use Afrihost

 

[Ecco]

Its not looking promising. My contact with afrihost commenced on Monday - as of today, i am getting very different stories from Afrihost support and the fibre provider. So 5 days later still no connectivity, and it doesnt look like anybody knows what to do or the process for these migrations. @AfriGuy @AfriMan

 

[AfriGuy]

Its not looking promising. My contact with afrihost commenced on Monday - as of today, i am getting very different stories from Afrihost support and the fibre provider. So 5 days later still no connectivity, and it doesnt look like anybody knows what to do or the process for these migrations. @AfriGuy @AfriMan

Hey Ecco, Do you mind PM'ing with your details so that I can check in on your profile ?

 

[Ecco]

So here's an update, despite Afrihost getting notified of the release of my line from the old ISP, the fibre provider has completely different information and so nothing happened on their side. I had to then get in touch with metrofibre to get them to do their part and get another confirmation the line has been released.

Line has now been migrated so all is well. That said, this business of the 3 different providers not talking to each other and me stuck in the middle playing postman is not ideal. There really should be more done by the incumbent ISP to drive the process. Just saying we cannot talk to your old provider is not good enough.

But thanks anyway for the help and getting me connected, my wife can work from home again now.

 

[Antono]

That said, this business of the 3 different providers not talking to each other and me stuck in the middle playing postman is not ideal. There really should be more done by the incumbent ISP to drive the process. Just saying we cannot talk to your old provider is not good enough.

Have to agree. Fixing a lot of the frustration felt by their customer is as easy as communication. There is no such thing as not being able to communicate with other parties, it's a matter of choice. Afrihost fix your stakeholder management and you will resolve a lot of other things. Not that difficult really.