Openweb - Be Cautious.

[thriel]

Please be cautious when dealing with openweb.

for more details please see the thread in my signature.

Just a little friendly warning to anyone out there that might be considering signing up with them, i strongly advise you to check that thread first.

 

[davemc]

We paid the full sum of R1299 on the 27th of June 2009, 3 days before month end. However, they sent me an email stating that they work on a calendar month and not 30 days, therefore they require us to Pay another R1299 for July's access, and that the R1299 we paid was for 3 days access of June 2009.

Classic case of the customer not knowing what they are purchasing because the details of the product being purchased are not immediately apparent.

But, Openweb not being available on their own telephone support line is a fail of EPIC proportions.

 

[spiderz]

That's just plain ripping the poor client off... Bad on OpenWeb... i'll also avoid them in the future.

 

[thriel]

Classic case of the customer not knowing what they are purchasing because the details of the product being purchased are not immediately apparent.

But, Openweb not being available on their own telephone support line is a fail of EPIC proportions.

Davemc

We are a non profit organisation, our telkom account expired on the 27th and we needed to switch over immediately, we could not have our web server down for 3 days, i explained this to them when we signed up, i had no idea that they were going to try and charge us again 3 days later, and then they still cut us off with no warning.

infact it took me 2 hours to trace it was our isp, i was fighting with telkom thinking it was a line fault ...

 

[bwana]

I'm with openweb on the account side of it - someone could easily make viable use of an uncapped account over three days.

But not being able to get in touch with them is pretty shocking yet somewhat indicative of the was many companies in SA do business.

 

[thriel]

I'm with openweb on the account side of it - someone could easily make viable use of an uncapped account over three days.

But not being able to get in touch with them is pretty shocking yet somewhat indicative of the was many companies in SA do business.

I suppose it is true, but once again, we run a non profit web server, the line is not for private use, how much bandwidth would we use in those few days ?. A 1gb connection is enough to last us 2-3 weeks, i went the uncapped route for long term, our patch server is not yet operational, but when it does go live we may need 4 or 5 times that ammount a month. it seemed the logical choice at the time.

Still, they could have charged us a pro rata fee, and i did suggest it, but they were not willing to compromise. You'd think that with S.A being on thebrink of a major depression that companies would be willing to compromise to keep their clients. Aparently this is not the case in which case they deserve to feel the effects of the depression.

Anyway, the damage is done. but i refuse to let them get away with this unscarred, i will make every possible person i can aware of what kind of people they will be dealing with should they sign up and get an account.

You have to ask yourself this, do you really want to do business with a company that offers poor support and clearly arent willing to compromise to keep a client.

 

[davemc]

I hear you thriel.

I would love for a recording of the conversation where you explain to Openweb the situation and your requirements to be made public.

If the sales person did not explain that you would be disconnected in 3 days, or did not at least explain the exact parameters of the product you were purchasing, then I would be inclined to label the sales person as an unethical con-artist.

 

[bwana]

They should have made it perfectly clear to you about the billing cycle up front. To not have done so seems rather duplicitous of them.

 

[Necuno]

this is why, no matter how lekker the saving or the products looks from them; rather stay away till [-]they[/-] mrBeep truly get his **** in a row. Fair enough there has been some really cool and inovative products, but at the end when i call i want to answered not later, not tomorrow but asap. when i log on it should work, i the customer should not jump through hoops to get some joy at end of very dark and clammy tunnel.

Another great seems to be to reply in mybb with a generic copy-paste-monotonic-repsonse we are sorry to hear ABC, lets look at it vs an actual apolictical response with geez lets really do something about it. how about some real love with the next one ?

This comes back to one of my old posts where i dare ask: are we more than a debit order to you, because that amount i pay to you surely makes a hole in my pocket. I'm yet to find an ISP that is awesome sauce from start to end without cockups included in my monthly services, sure we are all human and makes mistakes, but some tend to display repetitive nature. Sadly it seems that it come down to this nowadays that one should choose between which one screws up the least vs what you get.

my R60-R500 p/m might not be so much that you feel it when i leave, but when the zerg follows and believe me they will with enough *** thrown at them you will regret that we were just handeled as a monthly debit that can be quickly burped and I R ok...

...ODS ? lol i thought they where the worst, but it seems we have a few new contenders on the block who badly wants to claim the top spot.

 

[heynnow]

this is why, no matter how lekker the saving or the products looks from them; rather stay away till [-]they[/-] mrBeep truly get his **** in a row. Fair enough there has been some really cool and inovative products, but at the end when i call i want to answered not later, not tomorrow but asap. when i log on it should work, i the customer should not jump through hoops to get some joy at end of very dark and clammy tunnel.

Another great seems to be to reply in mybb with a generic copy-paste-monotonic-repsonse we are sorry to hear ABC, lets look at it vs an actual apolictical response with geez lets really do something about it. how about some real love with the next one ?

This comes back to one of my old posts where i dare ask: are we more than a debit order to you, because that amount i pay to you surely makes a hole in my pocket. I'm yet to find an ISP that is awesome sauce from start to end without cockups included in my monthly services, sure we are all human and makes mistakes, but some tend to display repetitive nature. Sadly it seems that it come down to this nowadays that one should choose between which one screws up the least vs what you get.

my R60-R500 p/m might not be so much that you feel it when i leave, but when the zerg follows and believe me they will with enough *** thrown at them you will regret that we were just handeled as a monthly debit that can be quickly burped and I R ok...

...ODS ? lol i thought they where the worst, but it seems we have a few new contenders on the block who badly wants to claim the top spot.

True words

 

[LazyLion]

Hmm, I also signed up for the R1299 uncapped product three days before the end of the month. But I specifically asked them when the service would commence and when the first billing cycle would be and how much I would pay for the first billing cycle. Caveat Emptor... do your homework when entering into a new agreement. The onus is not on them to have to explain everything to you. The fine print is there for a reason. You should read it. If you don't have a copy of the fine print, then ask for it.

 

[hj2k_x]

Hmm, I also signed up for the R1299 uncapped product three days before the end of the month. But I specifically asked them when the service would commence and when the first billing cycle would be and how much I would pay for the first billing cycle. Caveat Emptor... do your homework when entering into a new agreement. The onus is not on them to have to explain everything to you. The fine print is there for a reason. You should read it. If you don't have a copy of the fine print, then ask for it.

Good advice.

Depending on who said what to whom, I am still keen to hear Openweb's feedback. I have never had a problem with them. Been with them since 06 when I got ADSL.

 

[thriel]

well, you dont expect people to screw you over. maybe im just to trusting.

isnt the normal procedure to charge a pro rata fee for any days before month end ?

it worked that way with aerosat, iburst and telkom, its what i expected them to do. how in the hell am i suppose to smell that it would be otherwise ?

if they had told me they were going to bill me again in a few days i would never have signed up with them, no one in their right mind would.

 

[hj2k_x]

well, you dont expect people to screw you over. maybe im just to trusting.

isnt the normal procedure to charge a pro rata fee for any days before month end ?

it worked that way with aerosat, iburst and telkom, its what i expected them to do. how in the hell am i suppose to smell that it would be otherwise ?

if they had told me they were going to bill me again in a few days i would never have signed up with them, no one in their right mind would.

Thing is, it is uncapped. Some people might have wanted to dl like 50GB of stuff just over those few days - important stuff or whatever and thus would be happy to pay that much for it.

 

[LazyLion]

isnt the normal procedure to charge a pro rata fee for any days before month end ?

not for uncapped. Because it is possible for you to download more than 50 Gigs in three business days, or 80 Gigs over a weekend, they charge full price. Makes sense for them... you are still getting the value even for those three days. How much did you use in those three days?

 

[[OUPA]MrNutz]

4.13 Payment of your account is due on the 27th of each month, paid in advance for the following months access. Accounts purchased within a month, will only last until the end of the month it was purchased in.

4.14 By logging in to your account, you automatically agree to these terms of service.

 

[hj2k_x]

4.13 Payment of your account is due on the 27th of each month, paid in advance for the following months access. Accounts purchased within a month, will only last until the end of the month it was purchased in.

4.14 By logging in to your account, you automatically agree to these terms of service.

Well, not much more needs to be said, then.

 

[thriel]

4.13 Payment of your account is due on the 27th of each month, paid in advance for the following months access. Accounts purchased within a month, will only last until the end of the month it was purchased in.

4.14 By logging in to your account, you automatically agree to these terms of service.

well i did pay on the 27th, it is when i signed up for the account. i still have the email they sent me on the 27th to say i am now active.

are these their terms you are quoting ? If so they had no right to try and double debit me, neither to disconnect me !

 

[hj2k_x]

well i did pay on the 27th, it is when i signed up for the account. i still have the email they sent me on the 27th to say i am now active.

are these their terms you are quoting ? If so they had no right to try and double debit me, neither to disconnect me !

But they debited you twice for two months.

 

[LazyLion]

well i did pay on the 27th, it is when i signed up for the account. i still have the email they sent me on the 27th to say i am now active.

are these their terms you are quoting ? If so they had no right to try and double debit me, neither to disconnect me !

Did you ask for the account to be active right away? Or did you specify that the payment was for the following month?