Sneaky billing, not cool!!

[MagineMe]

So, last month I noticed Afrihost was billing me more for my Fibre (100Mb/100Mb) connection than advertised on their website - R1047 as opposed to R929. I queried this and was told that it was because I was on a "special" package.

Now, I never signed up for any special package. Afrihost was running a special whereby they were offering double the speed for a limited time period for free, after which you could opt to stay on that speed or if you let the special run out, you'd drop back down to your original speed.
In the interim, I the prices dropped for the 100Mb package that I am on, yet my billing was increased/kept up to what is now the 200Mb price. (I unfortunately only realised this beginning of this month, but I've actually been overbilled since March this year!!) So, firstly I've been billed for something I didn't sign-up for nor agree to and the special actually wasn't free as it was being marketed! Secondly, when the package price dropped for the package I am and did sign up for, my billing should have been adjusted accordingly!

When I questioned this, I was told that because I'm on the special I'm being billed a different price (for my 100Mb package) as to the price advertised on the website, as that is for new customers only. Uh, what??? And if I wanted to pay the cheaper price, I can go into the Clientzone and drop my package to the cheaper 100mb package???
So, in Clientzone, it actually states that I am on the PureFibre 100Mb package. Then in the dropdown I can change my package to a 100Mb package for the cheaper price??? How can this even be a thing???
I was also told that the double-speed special will stop mid September and if one hasn't opted to stay on the faster speed, it will drop back to the original package. Guess what, it's past mid month and I just received my new invoice for the 200Mb speed package, but according to the system I'm on the 100Mb package!!!!
Oh, and if I try drop the package now from 100Mb to 100Mb I still have to pay the higher amount for October as the billing run has started... WTF????? Disgusting Afrihost!!!

I've taken this issue up directly with Afrihost, and to date all I have dealt with is an annoyed support person, had no response from Gian (if this is even an actual person) and an apology via Twitter for the inconvenience. That's it. WTF???

 

[epah]

@AfriFella @Afrigirl @AfriGuy

 

[Afrigirl]

So, last month I noticed Afrihost was billing me more for my Fibre (100Mb/100Mb) connection than advertised on their website - R1047 as opposed to R929. I queried this and was told that it was because I was on a "special" package.

Now, I never signed up for any special package. Afrihost was running a special whereby they were offering double the speed for a limited time period for free, after which you could opt to stay on that speed or if you let the special run out, you'd drop back down to your original speed.
In the interim, I the prices dropped for the 100Mb package that I am on, yet my billing was increased/kept up to what is now the 200Mb price. (I unfortunately only realised this beginning of this month, but I've actually been overbilled since March this year!!) So, firstly I've been billed for something I didn't sign-up for nor agree to and the special actually wasn't free as it was being marketed! Secondly, when the package price dropped for the package I am and did sign up for, my billing should have been adjusted accordingly!

When I questioned this, I was told that because I'm on the special I'm being billed a different price (for my 100Mb package) as to the price advertised on the website, as that is for new customers only. Uh, what??? And if I wanted to pay the cheaper price, I can go into the Clientzone and drop my package to the cheaper 100mb package???
So, in Clientzone, it actually states that I am on the PureFibre 100Mb package. Then in the dropdown I can change my package to a 100Mb package for the cheaper price??? How can this even be a thing???
I was also told that the double-speed special will stop mid September and if one hasn't opted to stay on the faster speed, it will drop back to the original package. Guess what, it's past mid month and I just received my new invoice for the 200Mb speed package, but according to the system I'm on the 100Mb package!!!!
Oh, and if I try drop the package now from 100Mb to 100Mb I still have to pay the higher amount for October as the billing run has started... WTF????? Disgusting Afrihost!!!

I've taken this issue up directly with Afrihost, and to date all I have dealt with is an annoyed support person, had no response from Gian (if this is even an actual person) and an apology via Twitter for the inconvenience. That's it. WTF???

Morning, I am sorry to hear that you have not received feedback till to date. Please share your Account details via PM so I can have a look at what's going on.

 

[MagineMe]

I've sent a PM. Really not happy!

In simple terms:
I signed up for package X @ R100. I was then offered another X on top of my X for FREE (let's call this X2), for a limited period, no strings attached out of the goodness of Afrihost's heart. During the promotion period, the price of X dropped to R70, yet Afrihost continued to bill me R100. Then when I queried this, I was told my X price is still the old X price and wasn't changed because I was actually on the X2 package, and if I want to pay the new X price, I need to drop my X (X2) package to the new X package...
That doesn't sound very fair now does it? Plus how many other folks haven't even noticed that if they compare what they signed up for to what is advertised on the website, they are paying more than they should?

 

[AfriNatic]

I've sent a PM. Really not happy!

In simple terms:
I signed up for package X @ R100. I was then offered another X on top of my X for FREE (let's call this X2), for a limited period, no strings attached out of the goodness of Afrihost's heart. During the promotion period, the price of X dropped to R70, yet Afrihost continued to bill me R100. Then when I queried this, I was told my X price is still the old X price and wasn't changed because I was actually on the X2 package, and if I want to pay the new X price, I need to drop my X (X2) package to the new X package...
That doesn't sound very fair now does it? Plus how many other folks haven't even noticed that if they compare what they signed up for to what is advertised on the website, they are paying more than they should?

Hi

Apologies for the misunderstanding regarding the promotion vs the new pricing on the website.

100Mbps Vumatel package was R1047. There was a promotion from Vumatel to ISPs to offer double speeds on the base line rental. From an ISP we decided that we will extend these double speeds to clients for free and absorb any extra capacity costs from an ISP perspective.

A few days later we decided to make these prices permanent and leverage the promotion to lower the costs of the packages and when these speeds and prices become permanent clients can choose what packages they want to stay on after the double speed promo has ended at the end of January 2023.

The 100Mbps package essentially became 200Mbps for R1047. When the website prices were loaded clients could downgrade at anytime in ClientZone if they wished to do so. The double speeds are still in effect for these clients meaning if you are on a R1047 per month 100Mbps package you are still getting 200Mbps.

If you wish to pay less than you are free to downgrade to the 100Mbps package at R929.

Due to the promo and the base pricing changes at different times we could not automatically reduce everyone's monthly bill.

 

[supersunbird]

So, last month I noticed Afrihost was billing me more for my Fibre (100Mb/100Mb) connection than advertised on their website - R1047 as opposed to R929. I queried this and was told that it was because I was on a "special" package.

Now, I never signed up for any special package. Afrihost was running a special whereby they were offering double the speed for a limited time period for free, after which you could opt to stay on that speed or if you let the special run out, you'd drop back down to your original speed.
In the interim, I the prices dropped for the 100Mb package that I am on, yet my billing was increased/kept up to what is now the 200Mb price. (I unfortunately only realised this beginning of this month, but I've actually been overbilled since March this year!!) So, firstly I've been billed for something I didn't sign-up for nor agree to and the special actually wasn't free as it was being marketed! Secondly, when the package price dropped for the package I am and did sign up for, my billing should have been adjusted accordingly!

When I questioned this, I was told that because I'm on the special I'm being billed a different price (for my 100Mb package) as to the price advertised on the website, as that is for new customers only. Uh, what??? And if I wanted to pay the cheaper price, I can go into the Clientzone and drop my package to the cheaper 100mb package???
So, in Clientzone, it actually states that I am on the PureFibre 100Mb package. Then in the dropdown I can change my package to a 100Mb package for the cheaper price??? How can this even be a thing???
I was also told that the double-speed special will stop mid September and if one hasn't opted to stay on the faster speed, it will drop back to the original package. Guess what, it's past mid month and I just received my new invoice for the 200Mb speed package, but according to the system I'm on the 100Mb package!!!!
Oh, and if I try drop the package now from 100Mb to 100Mb I still have to pay the higher amount for October as the billing run has started... WTF????? Disgusting Afrihost!!!

I've taken this issue up directly with Afrihost, and to date all I have dealt with is an annoyed support person, had no response from Gian (if this is even an actual person) and an apology via Twitter for the inconvenience. That's it. WTF???

Can your router even do more than 100mbps? Maybe they are providing it, you just can't use it. My router is limited to 100mbps.*

*that's if you are not seeing 200mbps speeds on your end.

 

[Jean Claude Vaaldamme]

Can your router even do more than 100mbps? Maybe they are providing it, you just can't use it. My router is limited to 100mbps.*

*that's if you are not seeing 200mbps speeds on your end.

I had the same with RSAweb. These promos was for line speed upgrade, not lower price. SO they upgraded us older clients from 100mbs to 200mbs for the same price. Yet I only noticed a year later that the original router they gave me could not do anything over 100mbs.
Could not really be angry with them as I should have checked myself earlier. But when I queried it, they offered me a downgrade to lower price or an upgrade to better router.

 

[MagineMe]

Can your router even do more than 100mbps? Maybe they are providing it, you just can't use it. My router is limited to 100mbps.*

*that's if you are not seeing 200mbps speeds on your end.

Hi, this thread is not about the speed I'm getting, but yes, my router can handle it.

 

[MagineMe]

Hi

Apologies for the misunderstanding regarding the promotion vs the new pricing on the website.

100Mbps Vumatel package was R1047. There was a promotion from Vumatel to ISPs to offer double speeds on the base line rental. From an ISP we decided that we will extend these double speeds to clients for free and absorb any extra capacity costs from an ISP perspective.

A few days later we decided to make these prices permanent and leverage the promotion to lower the costs of the packages and when these speeds and prices become permanent clients can choose what packages they want to stay on after the double speed promo has ended at the end of January 2023.

The 100Mbps package essentially became 200Mbps for R1047. When the website prices were loaded clients could downgrade at anytime in ClientZone if they wished to do so. The double speeds are still in effect for these clients meaning if you are on a R1047 per month 100Mbps package you are still getting 200Mbps.

If you wish to pay less than you are free to downgrade to the 100Mbps package at R929.

Due to the promo and the base pricing changes at different times we could not automatically reduce everyone's monthly bill.

Hi, thanks for the reply. I get the theory of your reasoning, however as an end-user, I don't accept it.

I did not ask for a 200Mb promotion, it was given to me, no strings attached and was only going to last for a certain time period and I would then be back on my regular package, as per the comms from Afrihost.
In my initial comms with Afrihost regarding this matter I was told that the promo was ending mid-September and my line would be reverted back to a 100Mb line.

Afrihost then dropped the price for the 100Mb package, with no notification to its current user base (as for all intense purposes, I was and still am on the 100Mb package) but kept the existing user base on the old price.
There was no comms from Afrihost notifying me that I will now be kept permanently on the 200Mb line at the old 100Mb price, nor was there any notification that if I wanted to rather go back to 100Mb at the new cheaper price, I could by doing this in the Clientzone.

So, the comms from Afrihost regarding this promo and the knock-on package upgrades/downgrades, price changes etc. were not communicated at all!

I would still be oblivious to the fact that I should be paying less for the package I signed up for had I not gone out and done some comparative checks and noticed that the advertised price for the package I believed I was on was different to that which I was / am currently paying. And even going into the Clientzone doesn't really make it any clearer as it says I'm on a 100Mb package (yes, + the Vumatel promo, but how am I supposed to know that this promo is actually not a promo but more of a speed bump for my old 100Mb package?)

Had I been made aware that there is actually a choice of staying on my package for cheaper or to stay on my old package for more with more speed, I would most likely have opted to take the cheaper 100Mb package!

 

[MagineMe]

I had the same with RSAweb. These promos was for line speed upgrade, not lower price. SO they upgraded us older clients from 100mbs to 200mbs for the same price. Yet I only noticed a year later that the original router they gave me could not do anything over 100mbs.
Could not really be angry with them as I should have checked myself earlier. But when I queried it, they offered me a downgrade to lower price or an upgrade to better router.

Yeah, but why is one only ever notified when you query it? Surely if there is a package change, price change etc. on a subscription one has, it needs to be communicated properly.

It really feels like the freebie was given, to mask the price-drop and somehow justifies one not being told what the alternative options are.

 

[Jean Claude Vaaldamme]

Yeah, but why is one only ever notified when you query it? Surely if there is a package change, price change etc. on a subscription one has, it needs to be communicated properly.

It really feels like the freebie was given, to mask the price-drop and somehow justifies one not being told what the alternative options are.

Can't really help with this. Mine was on Openserve. It was well documented, you can even go into the archives here on MBB that Openserve gave a line speed upgrade/double up. So most ISP relayed that upgrade to their clients. So I did not really feel the my ISP was wrong as they did give me the upgrade they got from Openserve. It was always a speed upgrade and not a price decrease and it came from Openserve. I would guess Vumatel did the same to compete with Openserve.
So yes, in my case I would have preferred RSAweb contacting me to at least let me know my router cannot handle this speed upgrade. But that was the only complaint, could not complain about a speed upgrade that they just relayed to customer from Openserve.

 

[epah]

@Afrigay
@Afrilesbian
@Afribi
@Afritrans
@Afrithey

You have some pronouns missing there mate

 

[cpu.]

So, last month I noticed Afrihost was billing me more for my Fibre (100Mb/100Mb) connection than advertised on their website - R1047 as opposed to R929. I queried this and was told that it was because I was on a "special" package.

Now, I never signed up for any special package. Afrihost was running a special whereby they were offering double the speed for a limited time period for free, after which you could opt to stay on that speed or if you let the special run out, you'd drop back down to your original speed.
In the interim, I the prices dropped for the 100Mb package that I am on, yet my billing was increased/kept up to what is now the 200Mb price. (I unfortunately only realised this beginning of this month, but I've actually been overbilled since March this year!!) So, firstly I've been billed for something I didn't sign-up for nor agree to and the special actually wasn't free as it was being marketed! Secondly, when the package price dropped for the package I am and did sign up for, my billing should have been adjusted accordingly!

When I questioned this, I was told that because I'm on the special I'm being billed a different price (for my 100Mb package) as to the price advertised on the website, as that is for new customers only. Uh, what??? And if I wanted to pay the cheaper price, I can go into the Clientzone and drop my package to the cheaper 100mb package???
So, in Clientzone, it actually states that I am on the PureFibre 100Mb package. Then in the dropdown I can change my package to a 100Mb package for the cheaper price??? How can this even be a thing???
I was also told that the double-speed special will stop mid September and if one hasn't opted to stay on the faster speed, it will drop back to the original package. Guess what, it's past mid month and I just received my new invoice for the 200Mb speed package, but according to the system I'm on the 100Mb package!!!!
Oh, and if I try drop the package now from 100Mb to 100Mb I still have to pay the higher amount for October as the billing run has started... WTF????? Disgusting Afrihost!!!

I've taken this issue up directly with Afrihost, and to date all I have dealt with is an annoyed support person, had no response from Gian (if this is even an actual person) and an apology via Twitter for the inconvenience. That's it. WTF???

I don't understand your complaint. The R1047 package you were/are on was doubled to 200mb. Then the original speed you were on was lowered (irrelevant to your free upgraded package).

I'm not with Vumatel, nor Afrihost but was aware of all these changes.

The doubled speed was suppose to end, but then extended to January so why you expected an automated price change before then is beyond me.

Did you proactively asked/selected to be downgraded back to your original 100mb before the promotion end?

Bread buttered on both sides is my impression here. Enjoy the higher speed, but still want to pay the new lowered price for your previous speed that you have (and had) the option of returning to.

Please correct me.

 

[Pho3nix]

I don't understand your complaint. The R1047 package you were/are on was doubled to 200mb. Then the original speed you were on was lowered (irrelevant to your free upgraded package).

I'm not with Vumatel, nor Afrihost but was aware of all these changes.

The doubled speed was suppose to end, but then extended to January so why you expected an automated price change before then is beyond me.

Did you proactively asked/selected to be downgraded back to your original 100mb before the promotion end?

Bread buttered on both sides is my impression here. Enjoy the higher speed, but still want to pay the new lowered price for your previous speed that you have (and had) the option of returning to.

Please correct me.

Same feeling I get. Was happy to use 200mb at the old 100mb price but grumpy over R100. Lol

 

[saor]

I don't understand your complaint. The R1047 package you were/are on was doubled to 200mb. Then the original speed you were on was lowered (irrelevant to your free upgraded package).

I'm not with Vumatel, nor Afrihost but was aware of all these changes.

The doubled speed was suppose to end, but then extended to January so why you expected an automated price change before then is beyond me.

Did you proactively asked/selected to be downgraded back to your original 100mb before the promotion end?

Bread buttered on both sides is my impression here. Enjoy the higher speed, but still want to pay the new lowered price for your previous speed that you have (and had) the option of returning to.

Please correct me.

I saw it more like this:

You're a baker and I'm selling various sized baking chocolates. You only need 100g a week so you opt for the 100g @ R10 option. A few months later I give you 200g at the same price (R10) but start selling 100g chocolates at R7 to new customers.

You might sit there and think that my supplier was giving me free chocolate but instead of passing a discount on to you for what you need (100g), I instead keep you paying the same amount for something you didn't need. If all you wanted was 100g a week I'm sure you'd rather I just offer you the new cheaper rate for the thing you wanted.

 

[AfriNatic]

I saw it more like this:

You're a baker and I'm selling various sized baking chocolates. You only need 100g a week so you opt for the 100g @ R10 option. A few months later I give you 200g at the same price (R10) but start selling 100g chocolates at R7 to new customers.

You might sit there and think that my supplier was giving me free chocolate but instead of passing a discount on to you for what you need (100g), I instead keep you paying the same amount for something you didn't need. If all you wanted was 100g a week I'm sure you'd rather I just offer you the new cheaper rate for the thing you wanted.

We are stuck in a situation

1. Offer the free double speeds and then clients that don't want it fight against it as those clients rather want to save monthly.
2. Not offer double speeds and just give everyone a monthly saving but then we are called out for not providing the free double speed promo.

That is why we launched the double speed promo and upped everyone but the option to downgrade for clients that didn't want extra speed was always there we just didn't communicate it as we had just a few days prior emailed everyone about the double speeds.

Constantly emailing clients also subject us to ISPA and ICASA complaints for spamming. It's really difficult to balance and accommodate everyone every time unfortunately but we try to make promos and offerings as transparent as possible for everyone.

 

[AfriNatic]

Can your router even do more than 100mbps? Maybe they are providing it, you just can't use it. My router is limited to 100mbps.*

*that's if you are not seeing 200mbps speeds on your end.

I had the same with RSAweb. These promos was for line speed upgrade, not lower price. SO they upgraded us older clients from 100mbs to 200mbs for the same price. Yet I only noticed a year later that the original router they gave me could not do anything over 100mbs.
Could not really be angry with them as I should have checked myself earlier. But when I queried it, they offered me a downgrade to lower price or an upgrade to better router.

We have never and will never provide routers to clients with anything less than 1Gbps WAN/LAN ports. We give routers and not loan them so the admin surrounding exchanges because of speed increases is never an issue for Afrihost because the hardware we supply is capable on any speeds we provide.

 

[cpu.]

I saw it more like this:

You're a baker and I'm selling various sized baking chocolates. You only need 100g a week so you opt for the 100g @ R10 option. A few months later I give you 200g at the same price (R10) but start selling 100g chocolates at R7 to new customers.

You might sit there and think that my supplier was giving me free chocolate but instead of passing a discount on to you for what you need (100g), I instead keep you paying the same amount for something you didn't need. If all you wanted was 100g a week I'm sure you'd rather I just offer you the new cheaper rate for the thing you wanted.

You forgot that I have and always had the option to take the R7 option.

I'm not even with them and knew it.

 

[Thugscub]

Dumped this lot years ago for stuffed up billing.

 

[supersunbird]

We have never and will never provide routers to clients with anything less than 1Gbps WAN/LAN ports. We give routers and not loan them so the admin surrounding exchanges because of speed increases is never an issue for Afrihost because the hardware we supply is capable on any speeds we provide.

Well, he could be Afrihost clients like us who are using our own older router that is limited to 100mbps and never got any router from Afrihost.