@lantic Customer Abuse

[cavedog]

OMG They threatened you with their attorneys publicly. that's not cool!

 

[Looney]

If i were you, i'd actually get my lawyers to look at this and then sue the hell outta them.

 

[ACaD]

Hey everyone. Thanks for the replies.

Why wait 8 months to warn us ?

I initially wasn't going to post anything at all but then I realized, once Hellopeter deletes the posts (posts over a year old are deleted), the incident might as well never have happened. I felt that it was important to keep it alive so that as many people as possible knew what had occurred, even though it was some time ago. From most of the responses here, I'm glad that I did. Better late than never.

Iirc a thread was created on this same issue a while ago and whatever the merits of the complaint are heaven only knows why OP needs to create a new thread on this AGAIN

That thread wasn't about this incident, although I did make vague mention of it. This is the first thread I've posted specifically about this incident.

I moved away from atlantic due to abuse as well. A few years back I had a problem with adsl cap and I phoned their support line. I was transferred to a tech guy who answered the phone with: wtf do you want!!? and then threw the phone down. I then called back to ask to speak to a manager about it and got flatly ignored. I phoned again they told me they would look into it. Did not bother to apologize and never heard anything again. I canceled my account and moved over to another isp.

I know exactly what you went through, Rohan. To make it worse, the week after this happened, nothing was done to cancel the account. The customer had to e-mail support to get the account canceled. The e-mails were ignored. I eventually had to phone Telkom Corporate Customer Care to sort the matter out. I ended up doing a job that the @lantic staff failed at doing.

As stated in my second complaint, ISPA sent me feedback which included e-mail correspondence between the managing director Neil Meyer, the customer relations manager Marius Venter, as well as the Vox chief commercial officer Murray Steyn. Here are two e-mails which will give you an indication of how dismissive the MD was.

This e-mail was sent from the CCO to the MD:

Neil - please take this seriously, I didn't get a response to the first email. I know you are not an ISPA member but I really would like to provide them with some feedback. Thanks.

This e-mail was sent from the MD to the CRM. This was also the only question that was asked about the incident:

Stuur net gou weer jou opsomming vir oor die reseller. Hoeveel kon trakte teken die ou aan?

 

[JerryMungo]

"Die ou" No man, that's funny!

 

[grok]

Don't you just love how the 'net & forums like this gave us consumers a voice?

 

[Zewp]

I wonder when Marius is going to notice this thread and come threaten to 'visit' us all.

 

[matshelane]

"Die ou" No man, that's funny!

Doug Reid used to be the owner and manager of the Sandton Hardware store before he "went into IT" ... which is basically why the place is run like it is. They also burned their fingers horribly when they tried to repeat the Acc-Ross / Pinnacle Point single stock futures debacle

 

[Douglasr]

Really, this issue, the one and only has been going on for years now and basically an on going vendetta because I refused to fire a great member of the team who has one of the nicest, caring and most mellow personalty. All because of one complaint from an irrational reseller. I do have a good idea of our service levels, which are by no means perfect and where we want them to be because my home number and cell number are available to all 200,000 customers who are free to escalate if they get frustrated.

Quite frankly this is an abuse of this forum.

In fact it is time for us to take action.

Douglas Reed.

 

[Looney]

Haha and so it speaks. This is not abuse of the forum. This forum is designed for this exact purpose. Look at every single other thread where people are complaining.

You are threatening legal action because of the damage that his been done by your company and refuse to take responsibility, and now its hurting your current and future customer base. Deal with it. You put yourself in this position by not owning up and taking responsibility and not providing the service you claimed to provide.

Look at how many complaints you have on hellopeter, doesnt that tell you something, or is everyone just crazy?

Take legal action, take it against the OP, take it against me, or even take it against this forum and lets see how far you get.

Dont come here and threaten because you dont like what customers have to say about your company and its service.

I would have respected you if you would have come here, share your side of the story and offer a solution that will satisfy the OP. Thats what a CEO does. Thats what makes a CEO great. You have obviously failed at that and threatening has not done you any good. If at all, it makes you look like a joke.

I will be expecting letters from your lawyers taking legal action against me for sharing my opinion with the forum.

My lawyers are standing by.

Good day to you Mr Douglas

 

[Lycanthrope]

Really, this issue, the one and only has been going on for years now and basically an on going vendetta because I refused to fire a great member of the team who has one of the nicest, caring and most mellow personalty. All because of one complaint from an irrational reseller. I do have a good idea of our service levels, which are by no means perfect and where we want them to be because my home number and cell number are available to all 200,000 customers who are free to escalate if they get frustrated.

Quite frankly this is an abuse of this forum.

In fact it is time for us to take action.

Douglas Reed.

In threatening the poster you've allayed any doubts we might have had about the truth behind the poster's claims, you've just succeeded in proving his point.

I'm afraid that from my perspective you are a disgusting and underhanded company and deserve all the negative publicity you get; may you have just that in abundance.

 

[Ancalagon]

In fact it is time for us to take action.

Ooooohh I'm scared!

Thanks for the warning OP - never doing business with these guys.

 

[xrapidx]

Time for them to take legal action.... Again..... Anyone heard the story of the boy who cried wolf?

 

[Shake&Bake]

What a load of crud?

Geez - never thought Doug Reed would react like this! FFS! This is pathetic! Thanks OP and welcome!

 

[crazy_cat]

Really, this issue, the one and only has been going on for years now and basically an on going vendetta because I refused to fire a great member of the team who has one of the nicest, caring and most mellow personalty. All because of one complaint from an irrational reseller. I do have a good idea of our service levels, which are by no means perfect and where we want them to be because my home number and cell number are available to all 200,000 customers who are free to escalate if they get frustrated.

Quite frankly this is an abuse of this forum.

In fact it is time for us to take action.

Douglas Reed.

Is this how you respond in a public forum to an allegation against you? Dude - you are not CEO material. You actually sound like quite a a-hole!!!

Small tip Douglas - respect is earned, and a company is only as strong as its leader.

I just realised - you probably might have a company of a-holes...

 

[rpm]

Hi folks

While I can understand your frustration, I can assure you that there must be a good reason why Douglas will post what he did here. He is one of the most honest and reasonable CEOs I know, and it may well be that one unreasonable consumer is merely trying to cause harm to the company.

I will try to find more information and give feedback.

RPM

 

[Elimentals]

Hi folks

While I can understand your frustration, I can assure you that there must be a good reason why Douglas will post what he did here. He is one of the most honest and reasonable CEOs I know, and it may well be that one unreasonable consumer is merely trying to cause harm to the company.

I will try to find more information and give feedback.

RPM

Please do, as my past dealings with Douglas over the years and that outburst do not compute.

 

[Looney]

Hi folks

While I can understand your frustration, I can assure you that there must be a good reason why Douglas will post what he did here. He is one of the most honest and reasonable CEOs I know, and it may well be that one unreasonable consumer is merely trying to cause harm to the company.

I will try to find more information and give feedback.

RPM

Hi rpm,

Firstly, its nice to see u actually responding

Secondly, while i am sure Douglas Reed may very well be a "nice guy", he certainly does not seem like CEO material. That is the impression i got from his response. Any respectable CEO would come here, tell their side of the story and offer a solution. Thats what a CEO does. Douglas Reeds solution on the other hand was a threat, against the OP and also against mybb.

While there may be a reason that Douglas reacted that way and threatened to take legal action, there is also a reason why the OP chose to speak up. There is also a reason why hellopeter is filled with unhappy customers and complaints against @tlantic. Maybe the CEO, should figure out why that is, and offer solutions and not threats.

I doubt very much that the OP is intentionally trying to cause harm for no reason. The OP clearly went through something traumatic and felt it was his duty to inform people of the way this company treated him.

I would do exactly the same thing had this happened to me without hesitation.

Please do investigate this issue, i think it will be interesting to see the turn of events.

 

[Sonic2k]

I had similar treatment from a local bunch doing web hosting... some people's attitudes just stink...

Viva... the SA way of doing business... viva

 

[rpm]

Hi Looney

Thanks for the feedback.

Douglas is not only a nice guy, but a really good CEO. More info on him here: http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/208402-Douglas-Reed

That is why I believe there is more to this story than meets the eye. There are unreasonable people who are simply out to destroy, independent of the fairness of the case.

This will also not the the first time a really cool CEO has been the target of a disgruntled customer - has happened with many other CEOs who were in fact consumer champions.

I can understand that many people expect CEOs to be merely PR mouthpieces, but I personally like it if they are honest and up-front about what they are doing.

While i am sure Douglas Reed may very well be a "nice guy", he certainly does not seem like CEO material. That is the impression i got from his response. Any respectable CEO would come here, tell their side of the story and offer a solution. Thats what a CEO does. Douglas Reeds solution on the other hand was a threat, against the OP and also against mybb.

While there may be a reason that Douglas reacted that way and threatened to take legal action, there is also a reason why the OP chose to speak up. There is also a reason why hellopeter is filled with unhappy customers and complaints against @tlantic. Maybe the CEO, should figure out why that is, and offer solutions and not threats.

I doubt very much that the OP is intentionally trying to cause harm for no reason. The OP clearly went through something traumatic and felt it was his duty to inform people of the way this company treated him.

I would do exactly the same thing had this happened to me without hesitation.

Please do investigate this issue, i think it will be interesting to see the turn of events.

 

[7th day adventist church]

Douglas is not only a nice guy, but a really good CEO. More info on him here: http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/208402-Douglas-Reed

Well that satisfied all my questions.