Shocking service from OpenWeb

[MrBEEP]

Hi fluffypony,

We have now done some further testing on your account using our 6Mbps test line.

Herewith the results:







We have had an interesting case today where a client created a ticket reporting slow speeds. After some extensive troubleshooting, it turned out that their ADSL Pots filter was faulty! If you have a spare router / Pots filter, it would be great if you could try changing these and logging back into your ADSL account.

Also, herewith a link to our Router Setup Guide that lists the optimal settings to use when connecting to an OpenWeb ADSL account: http://www.openweb.co.za/setup/OWRouterSetupGuide.pdf

Dude what planet are you living on?!

1. I don't care, I've cancelled it, I am not required to problem solve the account when it has escalated to this point. Your insinuation that I should continue troubleshooting the problem when they have ignored my emails is, frankly, insulting.

2. Aaaaand...who are you? I don't need to drop my pants and traceroute because you ask me to - see point 1.

3. This is 110% about managing the customer. Had they kept me updated with regularity, explained what they were doing (in brief, laymen's terms even) to resolve the issue, and taken positive steps towards identifying the problem I would not have become frustrated and moved elsewhere. Bear in mind, too, that I have many choices when it comes to an ISP, so I am not forced to wait for them to resolve the issue. They were given ample opportunity and they chose, instead, not to resolve the problem.

4. Keeping the support ticket open after I've cancelled my account is of no use to anyone. It's a poor play after they've been shown up, and it doesn't help on any level.

 

[123Eish]

This is a very interesting thread, I side with the OP. A big ISP company like openweb should just give him a refund they losing more customers because of this thread. Pulling their t&cs is such a joke. They can pay for their dstv in the office. Thats probably what they doing the whole day(watching tv) cause their support stuff is clueless. I remember when i first used openweb the one guy i spoke from the callcenter or office was so rude.

 

[mika1000]

my hat off to mrbeep for answering @ 1.00 in the morning

 

[MrBEEP]

Hi mika1000,

I am busy developing some new products so its a late night for me

my hat off to mrbeep for answering @ 1.00 in the morning

 

[MrBEEP]

Hi Tremayn,

I do not believe we are losing customers. We provide a great service, and have tested this particular account on numerous occasions. I am actually connected to it on 3 x test lines at the same time, performing various tests just in case we can pick up something. If we pickup a problem, we will not hesitate in offering a refund.

In the meantime, I stand by my post earlier today.

This is a very interesting thread, I side with the OP. A big ISP company like openweb should just give him a refund they losing more customers because of this thread. Pulling their t&cs is such a joke. They can pay for their dstv in the office. Thats probably what they doing the whole day(watching tv) cause their support stuff is clueless. I remember when i first used openweb the one guy i spoke from the callcenter or office was so rude.

 

[MrBEEP]

To the OP:

What we can offer you is a complimentary account for April 2013. It will be the same value as the account you are using now.

I still feel this fault goes beyond the scope of the ADSL account, but I believe that if we provide you with a complimentary account for April, it will allow you the opportunity to troubleshoot the issue, and prevent any further issues with whichever ISP you call home in the future, as I believe this issue will pop up again, no matter which ISP you use.

There is a clear fault on the Telkom / Router / Equipment side, and you must get to the bottom of it.

If you would like to accept the offer, kindly drop me a mail: [email protected] and I will make it happen for you

 

[Paul Hjul]

Have you ever gotten a refund for a phone or electricity bill?

Yes on both counts.

Telkom are actually quite good at dealing with refunds as a result of their failing to deliver proper service or billing for the wrong service except that it is only on the next bill - Vodacom on the other hand have hopefully rectified their billing department in the last 6 years.

 

[Bona Botse]

There is a clear fault on the Telkom / Router / Equipment side, and you must get to the bottom of it.

A fault that only affects his OpenWeb account? Sounds like a cop out to me.

Did you even try to give him new and/or different accounts to test if those also have problems?

 

[fluffypony]

To the OP:

What we can offer you is a complimentary account for April 2013. It will be the same value as the account you are using now.

I still feel this fault goes beyond the scope of the ADSL account, but I believe that if we provide you with a complimentary account for April, it will allow you the opportunity to troubleshoot the issue, and prevent any further issues with whichever ISP you call home in the future, as I believe this issue will pop up again, no matter which ISP you use.

There is a clear fault on the Telkom / Router / Equipment side, and you must get to the bottom of it.

If you would like to accept the offer, kindly drop me a mail: [email protected] and I will make it happen for you

It's too little, too late. Your attitude in this thread shows just how you perceive and value your customers. I would have been happy to resolve this - even at my expense - had their been effective, regular communication, and at least some positive movement towards figuring out the issue. Your "radio silence", poor product support, and attempts at passing the buck have alienated me as a new customer, and destroyed any hopes of brand loyalty or even giving you a second chance.

 

[diabolus]

Just my thoughts, even though it's nothing to do with Openweb, but rather the line/congestion issues.

I had a similar issue for ages where my traffic would "stop" after a period of time. Only after a router reboot would i get a good burst of speed again, only having it grind to a halt after a period of time (Anywhere from 10 mins to 2 hours etc).

It was tricky to test all this, since it's not a predictable thing. I had spare ISP accounts to use, and they would magically feel better, but the process of switching accounts on the router and all that, tends to have the effect of "rebooting the router" and i never felt i can trust results obtained this way. Especially if it's not something i can immediately test for.

So long story short? It was the speed my line was syncing. My line was "upgraded" to sync at 6Mbps somewhere last year (from 4MBps). However this seemed to put my sync quality pretty much on the edge of "erratic behaviour" . So certain times of the day, or certain conditions would dip below the recommended values for a good line quality sync, and that's where things just died.

The only way i could see this was by moving my line to Afrihost with those online line sync tools of theirs. The moment my line was acting up, i checked and what do you know, everything was in the red (Noise ratios/Line Attenuation etc).

Lets' just say, getting my line to sync at 5Mpbs instead of 6Mbps has made all the difference.

Anyway, i had this happen to me while on Mweb, and it was still happening on Afrihost. Only after sorting the syncing out did this become better. So i'm rather surprised i'm not seeing these kinds of data in this discussion too. It's one thing to do traceroutes, but sometimes you need to see those line quality stats -at the time- too. And trust me, a router reboot change these values, hence why things look all hunky dory after an initial reboot or when switching ISPs. I think it's quite easy to fall in this trap of being on main ISP account for x-hours and it starts to crawl and then you switch to your backup ISP account, and voila everything is 100% speed, and suddenly you think it's the main ISP rather than the router reset/reconnect.

I wonder how many people has gotten their speeds upgraded without their lines capable of handling it consistently? I guess i'm simply too far from the exchange or something, but this didn't stop Telkom from mysteriously letting my line sync at 6Mbps , resulting in quite a drop in overall performance.

 

[Bryn]

This thread is fascinating. I've tried two Openweb trial accounts, as their 4Mbps Gold Uncapped & Unshaped seems heavenly. The first account (6Mbps shaped Gold Uncapped) was barely functioned for me at all, and only the first of the two days on the 4Mbps Gold Uncapped & Unshaped trial worked acceptably. It wasn't unshaped though. Speeds increased towards the end of office hours, making me wonder why they advertise it as 'unshaped 24/7'.

I need a new ISP from April and I'd like to give Openweb a proper chance. They claim the trials run under the exact same conditions as the paid accounts, but maybe they're just talking s**t.

Fluffy!

I believe you have made a huge mistake. You cannot use something like tracert or traceroute to troubleshoot connectivity issues. Download pingplotter instead.

You will most likely quickly realize that the problem with your latency is on your first hop. The issues you describe and the traceroute posted look exactly like the kind of problems I am having. I have looked at so many of this by now that I am almost certain that you are experiencing some form of telkom exchange screwup.

The reason I say this is I have not come across any explanations about what exactly is going on in these exchanges. How are they set up? OpenWeb came after those other ISPs, so maybe the way that they implement it causes the last one to lose out.

Also, I am convinced that whoever is running these telkom exchanges don't know what they are doing.

Go run that proggy and check. You will notice crazy random lag on your first hop that is worse at certain times of the day.


PS - Ashara! Is Trath organizing a reunion?

I installed Ping Plotter but don't really understand the results. I don't suppose you or anyone else available could express an opinion on my connection? I've had major issues with Mweb the last two or three months, my Web Africa trial performed averagely and my Openweb trials were as I described above. I do achieve good download speeds infrequently.

I've direct linked to images because I don't want to bloat this thread up, and the quote tag doesn't seem to work. I'm on Mweb's 4Mbps Premium Uncapped package and my line is syncing at 6Mbps.

mybroadband.co.za Ping Plotter
cracked.com Ping Plotter
Local speed test - 1.92Mbps
International speed test (London) - 0.55Mbps
Download speed in Orbit Download Manager (from a source that always runs fulls speed)
mybroadband.co.za tracert
cracked.com tracert

 

[MrBEEP]

I am so sorry that you are not willing to accept our offer.

We wish you good luck with your future ISP, and would strongly suggest you get the the bottom of your issue to avoid any further downtime

Have a great afternoon, and drop us a mail if you would ever like to take us up on the offer.

It's too little, too late. Your attitude in this thread shows just how you perceive and value your customers. I would have been happy to resolve this - even at my expense - had their been effective, regular communication, and at least some positive movement towards figuring out the issue. Your "radio silence", poor product support, and attempts at passing the buck have alienated me as a new customer, and destroyed any hopes of brand loyalty or even giving you a second chance.