MWEB prices look ridiculous!!!

[Roman4604]

Guys, these "mweb sucks" type threads are really pointless in a forum like this.

Havent you figured it out by now ... companies like mweb are not targeting or even interested in the business of the the techno savy minority.

As much as they are a rip of to you and me, they have their place in the market.

Without their marketing muscle half n00bs with ADSL would still be on dialup, oblivious to the fact that ADSL actually exists.

Also consider if the small specialist 'large cap' providers have call centers large and patient enough to sit on the line for 30min trying to support someone who still trying to figure out where the power switch fits into the scheme of things.

 

[Angellus]

I think a better idea is to not hammer mweb but to instead try and educate people.

Maybe we can contact Magazines like NAG,PC Magazine SA, PC Format(Don't like them but they sell lots of magazines) and .Net and then ask them to maybe put an article in reviewing current services and prices. In this sort of review Mweb would get knocked and more people would see how they are getting ripped. It's like Telkom, we have to tell the people. Maybe even trying to get more mainstream magazines to do an article on it.

 

[buster]

I think a better idea is to not hammer mweb but to instead try and educate people.

Maybe we can contact Magazines like NAG,PC Magazine SA, PC Format(Don't like them but they sell lots of magazines) and .Net and then ask them to maybe put an article in reviewing current services and prices. In this sort of review Mweb would get knocked and more people would see how they are getting ripped. It's like Telkom, we have to tell the people. Maybe even trying to get more mainstream magazines to do an article on it.

I like your thinking there buddy ... have the mag write an article on how Telkom are ripping the population off, then a pricing comparison amongst the ISPs.

 

[Roman4604]

Magazines like NAG,PC Magazine SA, PC Format

The 'un-enlightened' majority you're trying to get throught to dont read those ... try Huisgenoot, CAR, Home & Garden, Getaway .... and probably Loslyf.

 

[Angellus]

The 'un-enlightened' majority you're trying to get throught to dont read those ... try Huisgenoot, CAR, Home & Garden, Getaway .... and probably Loslyf.

From my own experience many people who buy PC Format know very little about tech. They buy it to learn more that is why it is a good start. The magazines you talk of have much higher circulation numbers but won't go for such a story. Remember it will be a knock on effect. Guy buys PC Format and sees the articles. He then tells 3 friends who then each tell another 2, and so on. Myadsl is a very small group of people. NAG is one of the best targets because there are so many gamers who buy it. ADSL is very important for gaming thus they will read it and tell the folks about it.

From the magazines you mention the only one worth taking a shot at is Huis Genoot, the other won't go for it imo. Huis Genoot & You have high circulation and if you can convince them to publish an article you would reach a huge amount of people. Problem is they will be hard to convince.

 

[rocker]

i suppose all the other isps dont have big advertising budgets ,
mweb sites says afforadable?

what i think they should do is go to companies send post
or use billboards on lamppost or post in pappers like northglen
free papper based in durban
thoses things cant nerarly be as eaxpensevie as tv.

 

[Roman4604]

We're all eager to 'enlighten' those who are not in the 'know' with the 'truth', however I think you're still missing the big picture.

For the average member of these forums, broadband access is like a hobby or at least a keen interest. We're power users and we demand the most bang for our buck.

For the average broadband user, ADSL is just a tool, a means to an end, to read email, find information or do business. As long as it does the job they want at a performance they expect they're happy.

From what I've been told, the vast majority of the ADSL base dont even come close to hitting their 3GB cap on an average month.

I fear you may be preaching to the un-interested.

 

[Nano0k]

hehe - lol !

 

[Angellus]

It's not about people being interested, it's about people paying more for less.

Mweb : R329 for 3GB
Axxess : R350 for 30GB
WA : R198.99 (Only till 31st October)

People deffinately care about price but if they don't know about cheaper options they don't mind paying R329 for 3GB. Personally I have no problem paying more, paid R718.20 for UUNet uncapped and I would pay it again if it was like when I started using them. People need to know they are paying way too much, but from what you say I am not going to make any effort. I will seek out the best option and tell my friends about it. Let Joe public(The uninterested as you put it) overpay and suffer.

 

[Pedantic]

I happened to see a newspaper ad in the Cape Times for Axxess advertising their new prices!

Well done Axxess for getting to a larger client base than MyADSL, although I would agree most users are from MyADSL.

I could tell you where the largest amount of signups for saol.com comes from, but that would be telling all the other ISP's too

We have been monitoring our sites stats for a while - myadsl has been GREAT value for advertising but there are other avenues too. We have a huge migration of Mweb & Telkom users to saol.com and they're not coming from myadsl forums - users here are mostly power users "in the know", while most Mweb & Telkom users are everyday people who use ADSL as a means to run their business or for email.

---
Pedantic
www.saol.com

 

[bb_matt]

We're all eager to 'enlighten' those who are not in the 'know' with the 'truth', however I think you're still missing the big picture.

For the average member of these forums, broadband access is like a hobby or at least a keen interest. We're power users and we demand the most bang for our buck.

For the average broadband user, ADSL is just a tool, a means to an end, to read email, find information or do business. As long as it does the job they want at a performance they expect they're happy.

From what I've been told, the vast majority of the ADSL base dont even come close to hitting their 3GB cap on an average month.

I fear you may be preaching to the un-interested.

100% - pretty much what I outlined too in my earlier post.

I shared an ADSL line with another company and had to be careful with it until the end of the month. Between five people, the line rarely went over 1.5gig.
Obviously I would use as much as I could on the last 2 or 3 days of each month.

As a consumer, the best you can do is to advise people seeking an ISP to steer clear of MWEB, but don't lose any sleep over it.

 

[Decotey]

Mweb have a good name, I doubt very much that your average joe is gonna know about axxess and the like with all the advertising mweb push out.

 

[munwaal]

I don't understand how you can compare mweb's 3 gig prices to these 30 gig LOOPHOLE prices?! If anything, wait until telkom announces its latest screwage prices, then compare. As far as I know, mweb refuse to do something "under the counter" with regards to telkom. Can you imagine a company the size of mweb announcing 30 gig caps for 3 or 4 months, and then removing them again? Because of their size, they have to remain stable.

 

[bb_matt]

Well, it's not really the 30gig thing that's bad about it.

Telkom themselves charge R249 for 3gig, MWEB are charging R329 - R80 more.

There's nothing special about an MWEB account, unless you think their "exclusive content" is worth R80 a month extra.

Not that I really care, as has been pointed out, there's always a big company like MWEB ripping off the unaware public, especially in such a non-competitive country as ours.

I hope that the competition hots up and companies like MWEB are forced to cut their prices - it can only be good in the long run.

 

[munwaal]

Sorry, my post was aimed at those whining about the 3 gig vs 30 gig prices.

 

[LethalChicken]

Like was said before, MWeb are aimed at corporates and people who don't really know.

Corporates want them for the 'big' image, laymen want them because they watch the ads and think that MWeb offers more. I mean all the encyclopedia, black box .... Google is your friend .... for free !

 

[Roman4604]

ripping off

Well being ripped off is relative to your situation and your needs.

Lets paint a hypothetical situation where your grannie's cookie business is really taking off. She needs to be online all the time to respond to the mountain of emails coming in and to keep her eyes open for new recipies.

Granny tries 2 ISP, lets call them A & B. A gives her a 30gig cap, 10 email address, has all the latest Linux distros mirrored locally and costs X. B give a 3gig cap, 1 email and cost X + R100.

Inevitably something goes wrong.

Granny calls ISP A. After trying a few times the call gets answered, but unfortunately she has to hold for 20 odd minutes. Eventually an operator comes on but after reciting some standard script the problem isnt solved, impatience is setting in. The call is escalated to the guru, and granny tries to explain again. The guru really doesnt understand why granny cant understand concepts that are so 'obvious' and granny doesnt understand the words the guru is using ... you get the picture.

Granny calls ISP B. On the first attempt after 5 rings the call is answered by a pleasent sounding chap. Although he is not a 'rocket scientist', with his training & experience he patiently takes granny through all the possible situations that may have caused her problem using word & terms that granny understands. Eventually after 20 min of elimination the problem is found, and the call is ended with a brief discussion on popular cookies avaliable on the market.

Now who do you believe granny thinks is the better ISP and who is the 'rip off'. Service value is directly related to the users particular needs, even if there is a price differential.

 

[bb_matt]

Totally moot points.

If you would've thrown grannys cookie business into the equation, Granny Cookie Company A and another grannys cookie business, Granny Cookie B and then extrapolated the costs they each charge for their cookies when compared to the two different ISP's that they connect through, then that would be about as useful.

To sum up, just because a company charges more, it doesn't mean their service is better.

Just ask Granny A and Granny B !

 

[nrg_wp]

Roman, As i agree with your theory,
But in reality, I have been nothing but skrewed over by the "more expensive,better" ISP. Regarding my connection, regarding email, and being tripple Billed (R3000-00) one month. I have been with the very much cheaper "inferior" ISP, who organised my email in 1 day, not 2 weeks, who responds within 10 mins of emailing them, and who debited on time, the exact amount...

 

[Roman4604]

then extrapolated the costs they each charge for their cookies when compared to the two different ISP's that they connect through

Now your missing the point again ... with ISP A, broadband stops being an effective business tool cause they cant help her make it work. So granny goes back to dialup which is more expensive & less efficient. BTW It's my story and I'll decided how it ends!!!

To sum up, just because a company charges more, it doesn't mean their service is better

No it doesn't, but when we exit hypothetical story land and go back to reality in S.A. thing are a lot clearer.

I'm a dialup customer of mweb (yes I want to keep the email) and a customer (not the right word) of WBS/iBurst. All I can say when comparing the 2 call centers ... its a waste of oxygen talking to WBS. Heaven help those that are not technically self proficient.