GPRS and Vodacon service underwelming

[rabbiddog]

I was bragging to a friend of mine about the speed of HSDPA. She told me to make a little video clip she could put on her tech / fashion BLOG (www.anina.typepad.com). On my first attempt it failed to connect ; the second time round it shows me being unable to connect to any of the 5 mailservers in my Outlook profile. LOL

Will have to make a new one.

She did add some news from MyBroadband to her site, just glad it was nothing related to Ivy.

I have had great speed and reliability till the about a week ago, since then it seems to have degraded. This is the second day my ISDN is faster than 3G/HSDPA

 

[rabbiddog]

I have finaly been able to remain connected for 1 hour.

 

[lilDeath]

Gratz with your 'achievement'
Dare I ask if you are still connected?

 

[rabbiddog]

Gratz with your 'achievement'
Dare I ask if you are still connected?

On and off. International is dead!! Downloads at less than 800 kbps

My dialup is still faster for Downloads

Just reconnected 5 times in 5 minutes

 

[ic]

...Downloads at less than 800 kbps
...

did you mean 800bits/s or 800kbits/s?

 

[rabbiddog]

did you mean 800bits/s or 800kbits/s?

sorry 800 bits/s

Now that every one is on the road...

local:
* Download time: 5.406 seconds
* Size of file: 500 KiloBytes
* Estimated line speed: 754.7 (kilobits/second)
* Estimated line speed: 92.5 (kiloBytes/second)

ICPIQ:
Download speed 358.32 KBits/sec
44.79 KBytes/sec 358.32 KBits/sec
44.79 KBytes/sec
Upload speed 322.08 KBits/sec
40.26 KBytes/sec

 

[MyDraadloos]

I just killed a Meerkat .........

Well in Afrikaans we have a saying " Moenie ou koeie uit die sloot uit opgrawe nie", but it seems this one was not dead yet.

The bad Vodacom GPRS service in my area has driven me make use of other networks, unfortunately there were still a number of outstanding issues.

-I don't believe the GPRS has been fixed which means that the failover for 3G & HSDPA is a dead duck and the service is generally useless.

-Unresolved billing query relating to receiving useless data and excessive data use due to network congestion, testing & monitoring of connection.

Usually I am a very jovial person, but I have my limits. Below is a copy of a letter I sent to Manager: Billing - Commercial Systems Group - Vodacom.

----------------------------------------------------------

Dear ******,


It would seem that my billing query is unlikely to be resolved. There seems to be nobody willing to make a decision on this, the issue merely gets passed from hand to hand. Considering that this has started in May of this year I have spent as much time on this matter as could be asked.

Having been a good customer in the past I now have to revert to the opposite. I could not with clear conscience continue to pay the arbitrary bills received from Vodacom. I therefore thought to remit a mere token payment of R250 as a sign of my disgust.

In general most matters have been left unresolved ............... I am now less hopeful than ever.

Kind regards

***********

 

[lilDeath]

any response to your letter yet MyDraadloos?

 

[MyDraadloos]

any response to your letter yet MyDraadloos?

They responded as any large corporate would, by quoting chapter line and verse from the contract ........ which basically gives them the right to bill with impunity.

Seems Vodacom are not liable for any bad service or non-delivery of service. In real terms things means that they get to bill premium rates for a best effort service.

OK, so they have won this round. That does however not mean that they were correct in their decission. It will however cost them a lot more in the long run.

What started as a fight to get better service, will merely become a crusade to rid my life of all things Vodacom & Telkom related.

Even the US underestimated the power of "one" and guerrilla tactics.

 

[MainMeat]

Yeah, well...seems like this thread is just to increase insize, and VodaCom is not going todo anything about their...well...non existant sevice. Here is a few examples:

1) last night it was 619 error all over the place in PTA east again. So, considering that I would have like to get a few important emails out of the way, I phoned VC at 23:30..held the line for 20 minutes, and decided to use the call back option, since I was starting to fall asleep. They called just before midnight, I reported the problem and was informed that "they have had numerious calls from customers in PTA. It seems like the network has a problem..." - no ****
This morning it was all up and running again, but the point I am trying to make is that I purchased the GPRS datacard for the ability to connected to the internet when I want, not only when the service is avaialable.

2) tried to show someone how GPRS works and why it is a usefull tool to have avaialable...guess what Vodacom - I advertised a 619 error for you and was not able to connect at all...so much for that idea. Anyway, the person decided to go with MTN...I wonder why...and to my supprise, the MTN GPRS service is not only working, but noticably faster than the service provided by Vodacom - and it remains to be faster. I hope number portability also includes the GPRS service?!?

So, Vodacom - I hope you enjoy taking my money every month. I can honestly tell you that I cannot wait for this damn 2 year contract to run out, becuase the day it ends, is the day I say goodbye to Vodacom for good - even the service provided by Telkom seems like a better options again, beside it being pretty expensive, at least it is more reliable.

 

[MyDraadloos]

Yeah, well...seems like this thread is just to increase insize, and VodaCom is not going todo anything about their...well...non existant sevice.

This is the Internet equivalent of a padded cell and straight jacket. I can make us much noise as I want but it won't do any good other than to inform other users.

I would like to thank the technical guys that tried to help - V3G, Lee, Ignatius, Andre ........ GPRS is still very sucky, but at least you tried. HSDPA is better, but not stellar.

Unfortunately I have a different interpretation of what a billable session might be.

Me - client connects to internet, tranfers files, downloads updates, sync e-mail and disconnects of his own choice.

Vodacom - Anything the client does is billable. This includes disconnections, half a web page, 50% of your AV update, 90% of a 5MB e-mail ...... anything goes. They are not responsible for the quality of their network and as such they do not have any minimum standards other than profit margin.

Something else that makes for a bad user experience is the fact that they use Telkom as they ISP. This means that anything hosted on the other ISP's will be dead slow as Telkom has the worst record for maintaining good peering links with other ISP's.

Add to this the likely 50-1 contention ratio and it no longer adds up to the premium rates being charged.

I have said it before ...... Cellular data in SA is premium priced product for best effort service.

 

[kaspaas]

I have said it before ...... Cellular data in SA is premium priced product for best effort service.

I beg to differ: My recent experience is rather - all consumer data services are premium priced products for some semblance of service most of the times.

Holds for Telkom, VC.MTN and iBurst.

PS: Murphy dictates that there won't be service when you need it most!

 

[MyDraadloos]

I told myself I was going to be sensible about it and let Vodacom fix their problems and give them an opportunity to make ammends. I gave them a month to look at the data I had collected. So when I put them on the spot the Meerkat started to foam at the mouth.

They were to afraid that it might set a precedent for other users. So yesterday they had some stuttering individual call me Accounts Department @ Vodacom. Off the bat he starts quoting Para 14 from the Vodacom contract that states that they are not responsible for any crappy service. He dared me to take them to court saying that there had already been a case that they had won giving them the right to bill with impunity.

Lovely ......... he tells me that Vodacom will bill for any traffic that is generated by the user, his system or otherwise. You don't even have to receive the traffic to be billed for it, if you get diconnected from the tower you will get billed for what ever passes by their billing engine.

Oh boy ! and are they ever proud of their billing engine, it must be the telecommunications equivalent of a Lotto machine.

They say it is no use crying over spilt milk, but somehow VC have started to believe that their "high speed" milk does not have to be fresh or delivered.

 

[lilDeath]

This is just sad, man. I cannot be lieve the arrogance.

A service and customer-orientated company will at least try and sort out the problem or try to make amends...

but no...not the big bog beast.... what is one in millions of clients, hey.... as long as the $$$ keep rolling in!!

We keep on hearing now and then that MyADSL Vodacom data clients represents but a small minority of the base, but I actually wonder how many are actually happy with VC...
Not everyone complains and just take sit up the a$$...

I have spoken to a couple of retail channels and pulse them a bit whether they get any people coming back or complain and they do admit that they do, quite a few actually... and yes "VC is having problems on their network"

The broadband survey did indicate that VC did not fair well at all and 60% or something like that want to leave for another provider...

 

[MyDraadloos]

This is just sad, man. I cannot be lieve the arrogance.

A service and customer-orientated company will at least try and sort out the problem or try to make amends...

but no...not the big bog beast.... what is one in millions of clients, hey.... as long as the $$$ keep rolling in!!

We keep on hearing now and then that MyADSL Vodacom data clients represents but a small minority of the base, but I actually wonder how many are actually happy with VC...
Not everyone complains and just take sit up the a$$...

I have spoken to a couple of retail channels and pulse them a bit whether they get any people coming back or complain and they do admit that they do, quite a few actually... and yes "VC is having problems on their network"

The broadband survey did indicate that VC did not fair well at all and 60% or something like that want to leave for another provider...

The problem for them is that if they admit that they were wrong then they set a precedent, which might turn into the legal challenge.

Trust me the safety of the billing engine is far more inportant than the integrity of the network.

Unfortunately the MyBroadband crowd will always be the bleeding edge first adopters that help and support new services. I think the service providers might be surprised at the spending power contained here. I was not one of the first of the 3G/HSDPA train as I had a very satisfactory ADSL connection at the time. I have however used about everything that is punted on this board.

The visitors here are as varied as their views and range for pre-pubescent to geriatric.

On the day of the Broadband Survey I was lucky enough to be experiencing sub-dial-up speeds so I could hardly contain my elation towards the Vodacom service.

Just thought it interesting that they asked me if I wanted to mount a legal challenge ....... and then proceded to tell me that they had won a voice related billing case. Strange behaviour .............

For now I will continue to collect data, my contract expires at the end of the month and will decide what to do with them then.

 

[ic]

..., my contract expires at the end of the month and will decide what to do with them then.

Ultimately it's your own sanity that matters, and if Vodacom's GPRS is driving you to insanity, then you're hardly likely to get stuck in another contract with any of the network operators: deciding not to sign a contract gives consumers the power to choose - even when there are few options available, and perhaps more importantly forces network operators to realise that consumers will increasingly force network operators to better compete with one another...

 

[MyDraadloos]

Ultimately it's your own sanity that matters, and if Vodacom's GPRS is driving you to insanity, then you're hardly likely to get stuck in another contract with any of the network operators: deciding not to sign a contract gives consumers the power to choose - even when there are few options available, and perhaps more importantly forces network operators to realise that consumers will increasingly force network operators to better compete with one another...

It is somehow doubtfull that any of thew mobile or mobile data operators care about individual customers.

Due to the severe herd mentality of South African consumers it is difficult to steer them in a new direction unless they are moving en-mass.

Sentech certainly did not learn it's lesson and i-Burst is about to display the power of advertising over inovation and technical competence.

Vodacom and MTN know these things, they pay consultants big bucks to give them the movements of the herd.

 

[lilDeath]

It is somehow doubtfull that any of thew mobile or mobile data operators care about individual customers.

Due to the severe herd mentality of South African consumers it is difficult to steer them in a new direction unless they are moving en-mass.

Sentech certainly did not learn it's lesson and i-Burst is about to display the power of advertising over inovation and technical competence.

Vodacom and MTN know these things, they pay consultants big bucks to give them the movements of the herd.

I have to agree.
They know where the money makers are and know what it takes for the money to come in.

MXit is a prime 'herd' example. (not that it is a bad service, not at all AFAIK)

I liked your other sig, it was funny, this one's too real....

 

[ic]

It is somehow doubtfull that any of thew mobile or mobile data operators care about individual customers.

Due to the severe herd mentality of South African consumers it is difficult to steer them in a new direction unless they are moving en-mass.

Sentech certainly did not learn it's lesson and i-Burst is about to display the power of advertising over inovation and technical competence.

Vodacom and MTN know these things, they pay consultants big bucks to give them the movements of the herd.

But the vast majority of SA consumers, that also possess a cellery phone, are in fact pre-paid customers, and therefore only bound to specific network operators by means of the number(s) associated with their sim card(s) - the consumer herd as you put it is quite unpredictable and might even start making use of GPRS|EDGE|3G|HSDPA...

 

[MyDraadloos]

But the vast majority of SA consumers, that also possess a cellery phone, are in fact pre-paid customers, and therefore only bound to specific network operators by means of the number(s) associated with their sim card(s) - the consumer herd as you put it is quite unpredictable and might even start making use of GPRS|EDGE|3G|HSDPA...

Well at present I have enough SIM cards for a mosaic, but the little nip on the one corner makes it difficult to get a contiguous pattern.

So then the question is ...... how does one sow mass panic to get the herd to stampede ?

I wish H.G. or Orson had still been around.

PS.

Dear Vodacom,

Thank you for disconnecting my post-paid line.

I will pay your ransom as soon as I receive payment for the blood, cornea, kidney, liver and sperm I sold.

Your sincerely

An aenemic, one eyed, bag pi$$ing "customer"