So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

The internet market in South Africa is far too volatile to expect loyalty.

If you want loyalty, buy a dog.
 
Cut the BS. Loyalty se groot gat! No ADSL provider will get my loyalty without backing it up with something from their side.

Afrihost seems to be the only company worthy of any loyalty at this stage, but don't get me wrong, I would only be loyal to them for a short time while paying higher prices than if I moved to another ISP. If have not jumped on the MWeb uncapped bandwagon yet (except for a free account of course). I will wait for Afrihost, as I believe in them, and they've given this community as well as ALL it's subscribers so much, not just myBB members:

- Using their advertising budget to bring us cheaper prices (initially at least)
- ADSL at R29 per GB when the standard was R50-R70 per GB
- R14.50 top up specials from time to time
- Keeping it all really simple (as compared to Cybersmart's products for rocket scientists)
- The current cheap specials on high usage accounts
- Gian's comments in the past (and present) that Afrihost will bring us uncapped

All of the above buys Afrihost some good loyalty from my part, at least for a while. But if they end up being a dead rock (like WebAfrica) then I will move.

I"ll say it again.

Loyalty se groot gat! No ADSL provider will get my loyalty without backing it up with something from their side.

/hands some vaseline to the OP. Enjoy the ass-raping.
 
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Any business needs to be dynamic and continually strive for excellence, they need to be at the leading edge or they will wither and die. Customer loyalty is something that you have to work at, its not always the lowest priced product, often it's the customers perception of how he/she is treated. Customers may be prepared to pay a premium if they feel that that the company also looks after their interests, loyalty works in both directions, up and down. As the previous poster said cannot rest on your laurels you need to to continually strive to offer a better experience to the customer. As far as comments made on this forum are concerned, they need to be taken with a pince of salt! They are anonymous, you often have no concept of the depth of knowledge or experience of the poster and in many cases the data sample is exceedingly small and should not be used to make judgement calls. One poster has a bad experience and mouths off, followed by some other members, this in many cases does not mean the forum as a whole supports the stance. Just my 2pnce:)
 
Abe said:
It seems to me that majority of members on mybroadband have forgotten why this forum existed in the first place. To fight against the whole broadband situation in SA. .
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This site was first started to track telkom adsl faults.

Brand loyalty is silly, unless they offer a good product at a better price.
 
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I used to spend in excess of R5000 on internet access for my small company per month which gave me very limited access as well.
Please tell me why I should not change and save R4500 per month?
Is loyalty worth R50 000 a year?

I do however agree about some of the comments made were not appropriate.
 
Abe said:
It seems really strange to me that people who were slating MWeb (a company that has done nothing but rip off their clients for the last 5/10 years) up until a few weeks back are happy to use them when they come out with a "special" deal that allows those same people to hammer the internet downloading their pirate games, songs and movies which they don't want to pay for.
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+1
 
Abe I get what you are saying about people's expectations and all that. BUT, remember - it takes two to tango, and how often do these ISP's not create these expectations with lines like "we have great things planned" , "this year is gonna be a big year" etc etc. my quote is not to the word, but I think you grasp the point.

I have only lashed out at Isp's that promise a service that I pay for, and then fail to deliver the service effectively. For me, that warrants it.
 
I disagree about loyalty, in a capitalist environment you move to the cheapest provider of a commoditised product. Once an acceptable price point has been achieved for the vast majority then providers focus on premium products to widen their margins.

Internet access has been launched as a "premium" product in this country and that is where the mistake started, it is meant to be another basic service readily available at a reasonable price to most. It is only now that the most basic of ideas, "uncapped" is gaining traction. Once this concept has killed off the per gig model then we will see the rise of "premium" providers to the centre stage. Until this time price is king for the masses.

A side on WA, they need to learn to control their responses to the public. They continue to make blunder after blunder in their statements to the public. Oh and a good business rule is NEVER badmouth the opposition, if they turn out to be revolutionary you won't be able to follow their path without looking like a hypocrite.
 
Personally I am waiting to see where this whole "price war" will lead us. Yes people have said bad things about a lot of ISP's. But could that not be seen a positive critisism?
As children we grew up in our parents homes where they tried to shelter us from the world , but we had to grow up & see all that happens around us with our own eyes. Just like that the ISP's have now grown up & have opened their eyes to what you have said here & other places.
So what if the first ISP to offer you the package that you want is one that you have slanted a lot in the past. Have they taken your critisism & done something positive with it? The other ISP's are now waking up to that call & are trying to see if they can match the example that has been set. If you wish to be loyal then stay where you are. But then dont cry when you have spent 100 times more than others on your internet a year from now.
Wait a month or 3 & see who comes to the dance. It will certainly give us a chance to see who offers what performance & value for your money. We all have freedom of choice & the ability to make those choices. It is up to each person to decide how their demands & needs can be met.
What are the chances of any ISP going out of business soon? My opinion: very little if they are prepared to listen to their clients.
All this talk of loyalty? Does loyalty not start with loyalty to oneself? Then charity should start at home, take care of yourself to thus better enable you to take care of others.

The game we all play is called: The survival of the fittest.

The ISP's should give us a reason to want to stay loyal if they want to stay fit to meet our demands & needs.
 
After being a loyal customer to SAOL for 5 years, in which time my monthly cost of ADSl actually went up, they have offered no additional options to there ADSL offereings. I am on the 10GB account, which cost R499.00/month. I was excited to hear about the WA Freezone as I am a Steam user and 10GB never seems to be enough. I was on the new network trial and was very impressed. Waited for the new prices and like many was dissappointed.

Why should users be loyal, what do we get in return? In the current economic climate, price is very important. WA could have made all of this uncapped almost seem pointless, if they had offered the 30GB for R199 to all.
 
I could not agree any less.

Brand loyalty is a foolish endevor, which lets companies screw people and allows situations like our Big 5 Banks to perpetuate through consumer brain washing and marketing.

It's one thing to like a company, appreciate their service and enjoy their branding or contribution to market change. WebAfrica demonstrated that the best thing an ISP can do is nothing, empower your customers to serve themselves.

That doesn't mean you have to keep paying them when they aren't willing to compete.

If you agree with that sentiment, I encourage you to switch to Neotel because they are "changing the landscape of SA telecoms" and because Telkom is an ugly bureacracy. Ignore the fact that Neotel has lackluster serivce, a boring product range and currently the highest prices in the world. Good luck with that.
 
Been with my ISP for 5yrs now. They offer good service (Can't see myself getting hold of the mweb ceo/directors) and I have a unshaped service for which I'm willing to pay more as I get the same speed 24/7.

I would possibly consider moving to Telkom but never Mweb.

But yes, in general I agree with the OP. Lot's of childish comments/attacks, people talking/arguing about stuff they know nothing about. Place generally feels dumbed down.
 
I think this thread have been the best mannered with constructive inputs without spewing out a lot of garbage and ranting, in a long time.
I enjoyed reading comments and will give this thread a rating.

:)
 
Abe I'd tend to agree with most of what you are saying; there is no need to be abusive to each other or to the companies that do bother to participate in such forums. I am currently with WA and have had nothing but the best of service from them but do I now like their pricing ? no ! I am also thinking of moving to uncapped as it suits my needs better and if WA don't very soon come up with a matching uncapped option I will move to some other ISP and keep my fingers crossed on service levels :) At the end of the day we should do what we think is best of us, I personally don't believe in brand loyalty, only loyalty to my needs and my wallet :)
 
Abe. The WA service was slowly deteriorating according to many, many users. I've supported them for years out of personal reasons until I felt the the weight of it on my back with the problems I had with them. Their attitude towards the client changed. I don't think they are doing right by their supporters, and they need to know this. It's like the uncle that showed you magic tricks and bought you chocolates, then raped you when you turned 16.

They can sit back, not participate and watch it all unfold, then join the fight in a few months time, but they will be stripped down quite a bit by the looks of it all...
 
Abe said:
Mods, this post is in the ADSL ISP discussions for a reason. Please leave it here as it pertains to the ISP's.

It seems really strange to me that people who were slating MWeb (a company that has done nothing but rip off their clients for the last 5/10 years) up until a few weeks back are happy to use them when they come out with a "special" deal that allows those same people to hammer the internet downloading their pirate games, songs and movies which they don't want to pay for. They are happy to switch off AH at the drop of a hat after all the good that AH has done recently towards improving matters. These people make snide comments about WA despite all of the good WA has done for this community and for ADSL in SA over the past years. The 30GB deals a while back, the first company to introduce prepaid, the free 20GB odd of internet that a lot of us got while they were testing their new tier 1 systems. This all because people didn't get the sort of pricing that they expected WA to give out.

It seems to me that majority of members on mybroadband have forgotten why this forum existed in the first place. To fight against the whole broadband situation in SA. What is the state of play now? People jump as fast as they can to the next "cheapest" product. Anything to save a buck. If a company does not give them what they expect, they slate the company. Despite the fact that others may actually need the type of bundles offered by the company. Not everyone needs substandard internet during the day and unlimited downloads after hours. The majority of smaller businesses and home users have totally different needs.

WA have said that the latest pricing is unsustainable, maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I know their pricing was poor, at least at the higher end. Does that justify the comments? Instead of waiting to see what the situation is 3 months down the line, we get people throwing off nasty comments at every chance they get. MWeb have spent the last 5 years ripping off people and probably using that same dirty money to pay off their whole Tier 1 infrastructure. No one has even waited to see what their "solution" will be like when put under strain.

If you want to sleep with the devil, be my guest. I will personally wait and see what happens.

Now to the whole point of this post. Enjoy the new "spirit" on the forums, I doubt I will be around much any more. Telkom has just announced that they have uncapped plans, despite the posts here to the contrary, I can just see a whole bunch of you running off to them if they offer even R20 a month off the MWeb price. Threads about loyalty to ones self seem to forget the past and only concentrate on the present. The new member mantra is "what do I get out of it now" instead of looking out for the community and the future and remembering what companies did in the past.

In the words of Douglas Adams, So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish.
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Let's put this into perspective. The likes of AH and WA or MWEB are not here to contribute to the community. Rather, they are set up to make a profit. They usually achieve it by reducing the frills like support. AH and WA do this marvelously. After hours, support dwindles to naught. They will tell you otherwise though. Once you realise all this, the consumer is left with just chasing the best deal. Since MWEB currently has the best deal on the block, they are going to get the business.

Once WA and AH sort out a deal that involves something different, they will get some of the action. Making games free is not cutting it anymore. For one thing, hardly anyone plays on WA servers. Uncapped is free as well.
 
enx said:
Abe. The WA service was slowly deteriorating according to many, many users. I've supported them for years out of personal reasons until I felt the the weight of it on my back with the problems I had with them. Their attitude towards the client changed.
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Agreed. I have been with Web Africa since they started selling 30gig accounts for R200 back in 2005. I canceled my 3gig account with them as everyone else started charging lower per gig where WA still charged R70 per gig because WA "offer such wonderful service". I recently canceled my 30gig local only IS accounts with WA and have registered for one of the uncapped offers.

WA's attitude towards their customers also changed. They told us to wait for a price drop and a lot of us waited only to be disappointed, every other ISP was asking +-R50.00 per gig and Web Africa only had a R1.00 price drop.

When people questioned WA about the price drop, some of the WA staff started bad mouthing customers, Afrihost and how Afrihost will fail as their business model is not sustainable.

Everyone complained about the price failure and instead of doing anything about it Web Africa told people to wait till June :sick:
 
Actually why do we need to support a company like Web Africa ? When last did they do anything noteworthy for the consumer ?
 
That's the thing that bugs me the most. I saw all the bad-mouthing and crystal ball bull by WA members about how lower prices will destroy the market and how only they care about the customers. Getting all defensive on the forums, instead of being pro-active is a small-minded tactic. If they don't do something, I can see a round of retrenchments happening in the next 6 months...
 
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