Telkom Afrihost and Webafrica Support Suck

[Cyeber]

What's the point of having the likes of Afrihost and Webafrica support the client with line management when they can't do a thing when something goes wrong with the clients line and all they do is log an error on hellkoms web site which is what anyone can do. No priority no nothing, submit error online and tell the client they must do without Internet over the weekend and time booked off work for at least 48 hours which is how long it takes Hellkom to consider reading submitted errors. This happens after every big storm my line goes down and I'm left without Internet, the previous time was with webafrica and my line was down over a week before Telkom got off their lazy ass and visited my exchange to fix the problem. But guess what, they obviously still have not protected the exchange box from the storms as its happened again and my Internet is down again, except this time I'm with afrihost as I told webafrica to shove their account because of the crap response, now it looks like I will be telling afrihost the same shortly. It's like living in the Stone Age with cave men managingthe controls. And for this I pay R1000 per month, R12,000 per year to get the best service, pathetic!!!!!!!

 

[Tinuva]

Here is a radical idea, why don't you move to another city where the lightning don't kill your internet. In Pretoria I lost 5 modems in a single December month.

Now here in Cape Town...I forget about the internet being on, it never goes down, at least not to lightning.

 

[Webafrica Helper]

What's the point of having the likes of Afrihost and Webafrica support the client with line management when they can't do a thing when something goes wrong with the clients line and all they do is log an error on hellkoms web site which is what anyone can do. No priority no nothing, submit error online and tell the client they must do without Internet over the weekend and time booked off work for at least 48 hours which is how long it takes Hellkom to consider reading submitted errors. This happens after every big storm my line goes down and I'm left without Internet, the previous time was with webafrica and my line was down over a week before Telkom got off their lazy ass and visited my exchange to fix the problem. But guess what, they obviously still have not protected the exchange box from the storms as its happened again and my Internet is down again, except this time I'm with afrihost as I told webafrica to shove their account because of the crap response, now it looks like I will be telling afrihost the same shortly. It's like living in the Stone Age with cave men managingthe controls. And for this I pay R1000 per month, R12,000 per year to get the best service, pathetic!!!!!!!

Our ADSL Line speed optimiser tool only allows you to adjust your speed and reset your port which is something that our customers prefer having in their control so they do not need to continuously call support and has no relation to logging line faults. Also as I'm sure you aware of that in S.A Telkom own the telephonic infrastructure so all other ISPs can do is log the fault to them so they can get there engineers out to repair the problem.

Unfortunately, we are entirely dependent on Telkom and have to work off their timescales for repairs. We do escalate all faults if not attended to after 48-72hrs but what you must bear in mind that if lightning has affected your exchange it has probably affected many more exchanges and customers' lines. This will put Telkom's engineers under severe strain and they will not be able to get every exchange/line repaired within 48-72hrs.

Again, I can fully comprehend why you are so frustrated and unhappy but what you must also realise is that we have to work with Telkom to get things resolved. As well our customers must have an understanding of the processes involved especially relating to your particular (lightning) problem which is not an easy fix and assuming that we are doing absolutely nothing to get a fault resolve is incorrect.

 

[MarsWarrior]

Given the way Telkom are downsizing their technical support structures, their ever diminishing levels of service really isn't surprising! If you're fortunate enough to be contacted by one of their technicians, you have to accept the fact that they do not work over weekends whereas they expect you to have people at home during weekdays when/if they feel the obligation to investigate the fault.

 

[VScheepers]

I respectfully have to disagree with your statement about Telkom techs not working over weekends.

I logged a call with Telkom yesterday morning (Sunday) at around 11am. At 3pm I received a sms to say the line has been restored....and it was.

PS. My line was also down due to lightning. (they do seem to close tickets every now and then without fixing the problem)

Given the way Telkom are downsizing their technical support structures, their ever diminishing levels of service really isn't surprising! If you're fortunate enough to be contacted by one of their technicians, you have to accept the fact that they do not work over weekends whereas they expect you to have people at home during weekdays when/if they feel the obligation to investigate the fault.