Web Africa ADSL general feedback

[Necuno]

Jeff will be here momentarily to ask for your client code and follow it up. The moment you make it public that support is ignoring you they want to jump to help.

I also inwardly chuckle every time Jeff promises you guys they're working on fixing and improving their service. Just like the ANC, there's lots of talk but not much action. How long have they been making promises now?

CT time is different from normal time.

Jokes aside, I'm going to get something of my chest:

At least they have presence, more that one can say from Afrihost. They just turned scared after their uncapped debacle to never return. However service levels, products, support and related leaves much to be desired at WebAfrica. I think we all had our fill to the brim of just being told and it seems that nothing happens. That is a dangerous perception which is constantly being fed. So far everyone that I meet that asks for uncapped opinion, well I can't say that it is very optimistic when I have to explain the current situation. Especially talking to people that is in actual business and what business accounts they can use. When you are a business you'd prefer a no limitation situation. I mean it is a business after all.

It might be wise to close new registrations of uncapped accounts till it's fixed, but this can also be adverse. I mean how would you feel if you are an existing client and something is stopped till further notice. They (webafrica) need to fix quite a few things that is broken. One has to ask how did we arrive to this point? I have to say that this is part arrogance (with all due respect), because how many times did we hear the pie story, network quality. When finally the product arrives it was good, but this was only because there was few in number uncapped users.

Then when the product was put through it stages it started to show cracks. This tells me that things that was not suppose to be used or they were not scalable was slapped on without thought of future proofing. One has to wonder how many notices was sent out in err due to the monitoring software that seems to be quite imperfect. How can one then be sure that the rolling windows are actually correct?

People have a asked what is the plan? when will it get fixed? what is the way forward?

However this was met with usual spin of more backbone, things are being looked at and of course we didn't know there was a problem. I've been with wa as a capped user for a long time before I went over to mweb. The worst problem was their billing and it took them a long time to get that sorted. Not even the cancel my account button did work correctly. I mean even now I got a billing notice and I don't even have capped account any more, but only prepaid for fallback.

What are we asking? Why are Graal and myself on your case? Why are we angry?

Simply because we knew how well oiled the wa machine was and how terrible it is now. If you honestly look at the situation without adding more spin you will see that this is the actual reason.

How can those give comment on something they are not even subscribed to?

This is quite obvious, if one are not on your toes you will slack and slack wa has. If we all just went head in ground I can quite assure you dsl would not be what it is today. How many TAG, Hellkom, etc etc we had to do to get through. Simple case and point is mweb and the one account approach. Through pure pressure the idea of multiple accounts for multiple things started to break down. Now they have a gaming team that can and will optimize traffic on the uncapped accounts. We don't need 10 accounts to do what we want, we need one account for everything. This isn't impossible, it is quite possible.

Now I personally think the way forward for wa is really to stop with appearing to do something and really do something. Stop with the spin and really tell us what is going on. You guys are making fools of yourself and we are not the sheep you think we are. Your product is broken on so many levels, it's time to write down the levels and fix them one at a time. Maybe that is better than trying one solution for all, you can't just stick or throw money at something you actually have to work through it. If you don't cover all the holes then you will have leak, it is simple.

Finally if you want to be seen as a respectful company then start treating your customers the same way.

 

[Mercury12]

Been experiencing intermittent connectivity for the last couple days. Was down for a bit today, reset my router and seems to be fine now. Had similar issues over the weekend, called customer care and they had to "reset the line". Worked after that.

 

[Fulton17]

CT time is different from normal time.

Jokes aside, I'm going to get something of my chest:

At least they have presence, more that one can say from Afrihost. They just turned scared after their uncapped debacle to never return. However service levels, products, support and related leaves much to be desired at WebAfrica. I think we all had our fill to the brim of just being told and it seems that nothing happens. That is a dangerous perception which is constantly being fed. So far everyone that I meet that asks for uncapped opinion, well I can't say that it is very optimistic when I have to explain the current situation. Especially talking to people that is in actual business and what business accounts they can use. When you are a business you'd prefer a no limitation situation. I mean it is a business after all.

It might be wise to close new registrations of uncapped accounts till it's fixed, but this can also be adverse. I mean how would you feel if you are an existing client and something is stopped till further notice. They (webafrica) need to fix quite a few things that is broken. One has to ask how did we arrive to this point? I have to say that this is part arrogance (with all due respect), because how many times did we hear the pie story, network quality. When finally the product arrives it was good, but this was only because there was few in number uncapped users.

Then when the product was put through it stages it started to show cracks. This tells me that things that was not suppose to be used or they were not scalable was slapped on without thought of future proofing. One has to wonder how many notices was sent out in err due to the monitoring software that seems to be quite imperfect. How can one then be sure that the rolling windows are actually correct?

People have a asked what is the plan? when will it get fixed? what is the way forward?

However this was met with usual spin of more backbone, things are being looked at and of course we didn't know there was a problem. I've been with wa as a capped user for a long time before I went over to mweb. The worst problem was their billing and it took them a long time to get that sorted. Not even the cancel my account button did work correctly. I mean even now I got a billing notice and I don't even have capped account any more, but only prepaid for fallback.

What are we asking? Why are Graal and myself on your case? Why are we angry?

Simply because we knew how well oiled the wa machine was and how terrible it is now. If you honestly look at the situation without adding more spin you will see that this is the actual reason.

How can those give comment on something they are not even subscribed to?

This is quite obvious, if one are not on your toes you will slack and slack wa has. If we all just went head in ground I can quite assure you dsl would not be what it is today. How many TAG, Hellkom, etc etc we had to do to get through. Simple case and point is mweb and the one account approach. Through pure pressure the idea of multiple accounts for multiple things started to break down. Now they have a gaming team that can and will optimize traffic on the uncapped accounts. We don't need 10 accounts to do what we want, we need one account for everything. This isn't impossible, it is quite possible.

Now I personally think the way forward for wa is really to stop with appearing to do something and really do something. Stop with the spin and really tell us what is going on. You guys are making fools of yourself and we are not the sheep you think we are. Your product is broken on so many levels, it's time to write down the levels and fix them one at a time. Maybe that is better than trying one solution for all, you can't just stick or throw money at something you actually have to work through it. If you don't cover all the holes then you will have leak, it is simple.

Finally if you want to be seen as a respectful company then start treating your customers the same way.

@Prophet - respect for this superb post. I do not think I would disagree with you on anything.

I totally agree on the spin. I find it so annoying because whatever is said there is some counter statement - just man up and move on. If we are lucky we might get the odd moment of integrity but for me, I hold little by WA promises. Too many let downs and spins in the past. Now the only thing that will make any difference is a good product that actaully does what it is supposed.

When I have time I am going to write on my experience of the past year or so with WA and my new discovery of MWeb who I would totally recommend at present.

 

[Jarrod]

Pr⊕phet nice post and it sums up how alot of us loyal customers of WA was ( I was one of the first to get a 30gig account from them when they managed to get a work trough on telkoms system many many years ago) I was always loyal to them but now im feeling a bit the mo3r in. Not with them but at myself for supporting them.
ATM I am trying to get out of this calander month notice thing so now i have to basicaly give them 50 days notice (as of today) What happend to the you can cancel an account with them upto the 25th of that same month. Now they just beeing sneeky and force you to pay them for an extra month.
WA never again will i make use or recommend you to anyone.

 

[Astound]

CT time is different from normal time.

Jokes aside, I'm going to get something of my chest:

At least they have presence, more that one can say from Afrihost. They just turned scared after their uncapped debacle to never return. However service levels, products, support and related leaves much to be desired at WebAfrica. I think we all had our fill to the brim of just being told and it seems that nothing happens. That is a dangerous perception which is constantly being fed. So far everyone that I meet that asks for uncapped opinion, well I can't say that it is very optimistic when I have to explain the current situation. Especially talking to people that is in actual business and what business accounts they can use. When you are a business you'd prefer a no limitation situation. I mean it is a business after all.

It might be wise to close new registrations of uncapped accounts till it's fixed, but this can also be adverse. I mean how would you feel if you are an existing client and something is stopped till further notice. They (webafrica) need to fix quite a few things that is broken. One has to ask how did we arrive to this point? I have to say that this is part arrogance (with all due respect), because how many times did we hear the pie story, network quality. When finally the product arrives it was good, but this was only because there was few in number uncapped users.

Then when the product was put through it stages it started to show cracks. This tells me that things that was not suppose to be used or they were not scalable was slapped on without thought of future proofing. One has to wonder how many notices was sent out in err due to the monitoring software that seems to be quite imperfect. How can one then be sure that the rolling windows are actually correct?

People have a asked what is the plan? when will it get fixed? what is the way forward?

However this was met with usual spin of more backbone, things are being looked at and of course we didn't know there was a problem. I've been with wa as a capped user for a long time before I went over to mweb. The worst problem was their billing and it took them a long time to get that sorted. Not even the cancel my account button did work correctly. I mean even now I got a billing notice and I don't even have capped account any more, but only prepaid for fallback.

What are we asking? Why are Graal and myself on your case? Why are we angry?

Simply because we knew how well oiled the wa machine was and how terrible it is now. If you honestly look at the situation without adding more spin you will see that this is the actual reason.

How can those give comment on something they are not even subscribed to?

This is quite obvious, if one are not on your toes you will slack and slack wa has. If we all just went head in ground I can quite assure you dsl would not be what it is today. How many TAG, Hellkom, etc etc we had to do to get through. Simple case and point is mweb and the one account approach. Through pure pressure the idea of multiple accounts for multiple things started to break down. Now they have a gaming team that can and will optimize traffic on the uncapped accounts. We don't need 10 accounts to do what we want, we need one account for everything. This isn't impossible, it is quite possible.

Now I personally think the way forward for wa is really to stop with appearing to do something and really do something. Stop with the spin and really tell us what is going on. You guys are making fools of yourself and we are not the sheep you think we are. Your product is broken on so many levels, it's time to write down the levels and fix them one at a time. Maybe that is better than trying one solution for all, you can't just stick or throw money at something you actually have to work through it. If you don't cover all the holes then you will have leak, it is simple.

Finally if you want to be seen as a respectful company then start treating your customers the same way.

Awesome post, maximum respect for saying it just like it is!

Am also waiting out my notice period which ends this month.

Sometimes one just has to vote with ones feet and move on, _maybe_ to return if things really gets fixed.

There must have been a great deal of truth from WA's original view on the Uncapped packages, - UNSUSTAINABLE!!!

Trying to sustain with rolling windows, is unsustainable. It is what got me going ... to MWEB. No rolling windows, and still sustainable after turning uncapped on its head in this country.

Back to the drawing board, before the exodus is complete, maybe with the help of 30 day calendar month notice stemming the tide a bit.

Used to be good back in the day, fix it and people may return, nobody will leave a _good_ product that works, no-one.

 

[TofuMofu]

Been experiencing intermittent connectivity for the last couple days. Was down for a bit today, reset my router and seems to be fine now. Had similar issues over the weekend, called customer care and they had to "reset the line". Worked after that.

That would be a line fault, not the ISP.

 

[biometrics]

It's very slow today. You guys as well?

 

[Pellito]

Yup, browsing is fine, can't download anything at any appreciable speed It's almost as if I'm throttled, on a capped account.

Edit: I've had enough, submitted my cancellation.

 

[stocksie]

Same in Western Cape...browsing slow, downloads buggered

Over 5 mins to d/l 15.5mb firefox setup from za mirror on a 4mb line capped account

EDIT Swapped to AH Capped and OK

 

[scud]

WA has never been this slow for me, called them and they say it's probably my exchange (Clareinch) because the WA network is working 100%.
Going to try AH and see if thats any better. aaarrrrrghhh

 

[saffakanera]

If there's a problem with service, just switch to MWEB? I don't understand why this has to be so complicated????

 

[abandonallhope]

Also experiencing very slow download speed today. On my WA 15GB titan account that is.

 

[bees]

Same this side, since yesterday. Wish I hadn't "won" this 30gb for R199 special, would have made the switch over to someone else much easier...

 

[scud]

WA has never been this slow for me, called them and they say it's probably my exchange (Clareinch) because the WA network is working 100%.
Going to try AH and see if thats any better. aaarrrrrghhh

So, I tested on AH and speeds are just as bad, so must be my exchange.
Also on the 30GB / 199 special, almost convinced that WA are trying to force me to upgrade

 

[saffakanera]

You guys dont think this has anything to do with WACS going live tomorrow? Perhaps they ended a contract and are only starting tomorrow?

 

[Grimspoon]

We haven't had emails at work the entire day. Apparently due to WA outage.

 

[grim]

You guys dont think this has anything to do with WACS going live tomorrow? Perhaps they ended a contract and are only starting tomorrow?

Nope, those contracts are for years not months or days and aren't easily cancelled.

 

[WAJeff]

Sorry for not being so active on this thread guys. Been a hectic week - but things are looking up and posts will be attended to.
To address the post below:

CT time is different from normal time.

Jokes aside, I'm going to get something of my chest:

At least they have presence, more that one can say from Afrihost. They just turned scared after their uncapped debacle to never return. However service levels, products, support and related leaves much to be desired at WebAfrica. I think we all had our fill to the brim of just being told and it seems that nothing happens. That is a dangerous perception which is constantly being fed. So far everyone that I meet that asks for uncapped opinion, well I can't say that it is very optimistic when I have to explain the current situation. Especially talking to people that is in actual business and what business accounts they can use. When you are a business you'd prefer a no limitation situation. I mean it is a business after all.

First off, thanks for the honest post. As always, feedback is appreciated. Hope I can clear some things up for you here.
We do have a presence here as well as a few more online platforms that are monitored on a daily basis. Granted we can be doing a better job on this and we are. Already mentioned here a few times that Justin has officially joined me in the Online Team and will be becoming more and more active around MyBB. We aren't scared to post here, just been improving and changing a lot in the team structure and getting things waxed in the background.

It might be wise to close new registrations of uncapped accounts till it's fixed, but this can also be adverse. I mean how would you feel if you are an existing client and something is stopped till further notice. They (webafrica) need to fix quite a few things that is broken. One has to ask how did we arrive to this point? I have to say that this is part arrogance (with all due respect), because how many times did we hear the pie story, network quality. When finally the product arrives it was good, but this was only because there was few in number uncapped users.

Then when the product was put through it stages it started to show cracks. This tells me that things that was not suppose to be used or they were not scalable was slapped on without thought of future proofing. One has to wonder how many notices was sent out in err due to the monitoring software that seems to be quite imperfect. How can one then be sure that the rolling windows are actually correct?

Not an option at all no. We have plenty of happy customers on our Uncapped product. It's selling really well and have seen a lot of positive feedback around the accounts. Not to say it's 100% perfect, I think we've admitted this already - but we're aware of this and are busy getting things up to our good standards.

As much as I'd like to openly discuss what happens in the background (which I think sometimes here gets forgotten entirely and a perception of "WA is just making a profit and doesn't care about their customers") I unfortunately can't. Between Product and Networking - these two teams are 100% behind improving Uncapped and making it the best possible experience. Again, as soon as feedback is pushed through to me and it's feedback where I'm allowed to go into details and post publically, I do.

People have a asked what is the plan? when will it get fixed? what is the way forward?

However this was met with usual spin of more backbone, things are being looked at and of course we didn't know there was a problem. I've been with wa as a capped user for a long time before I went over to mweb. The worst problem was their billing and it took them a long time to get that sorted. Not even the cancel my account button did work correctly. I mean even now I got a billing notice and I don't even have capped account any more, but only prepaid for fallback.

What are we asking? Why are Graal and myself on your case? Why are we angry?

Simply because we knew how well oiled the wa machine was and how terrible it is now. If you honestly look at the situation without adding more spin you will see that this is the actual reason.

And this is exactly what the plan is. We've been extremely transparent about how Uncapped works, what the issues are and what we're doing to improve things. What I say here about additional capacity, trailing different rolling windows, improving our Support process and the hiring of additional staff is all true and it's a massive concentration point for us now, as well as for the last quarter. I'm really not sure on what else to say. I've said it in a comment one or two quotes above - we know Uncapped isn't reaching it's potential but we know and are admitting this. Yes we can fully understand that you're frustrated and upset about how things are operating - but at the same time there are also plenty customers out there who love our Uncapped products.

How can those give comment on something they are not even subscribed to?

This is quite obvious, if one are not on your toes you will slack and slack wa has. If we all just went head in ground I can quite assure you dsl would not be what it is today. How many TAG, Hellkom, etc etc we had to do to get through. Simple case and point is mweb and the one account approach. Through pure pressure the idea of multiple accounts for multiple things started to break down. Now they have a gaming team that can and will optimize traffic on the uncapped accounts. We don't need 10 accounts to do what we want, we need one account for everything. This isn't impossible, it is quite possible.

Now I personally think the way forward for wa is really to stop with appearing to do something and really do something. Stop with the spin and really tell us what is going on. You guys are making fools of yourself and we are not the sheep you think we are. Your product is broken on so many levels, it's time to write down the levels and fix them one at a time. Maybe that is better than trying one solution for all, you can't just stick or throw money at something you actually have to work through it. If you don't cover all the holes then you will have leak, it is simple.

Finally if you want to be seen as a respectful company then start treating your customers the same way.

Interesting points being brought up here. Granted our products used to be a touch confusing - however this is also something that we're busy cleaning up. Legacy migrations are taking place weekly and simple separation between Home and Business accounts is already here. Offering a Home and Business solution is something that we're doing and is in our companies road map.

Could you maybe go into a bit more detail around the different accounts that are on offer?

Also, if you're keen - we're looking for a Junior Product Manager as well as a few other positions. Drop me a PM if you're interested and you can maybe have some of your ideas and opinions implemented http://www.webafrica.co.za/about/careers/positions/

 

[grim]

Yet you brag about being the most reliable ISP in SA but your speeds are down compared to last year, 2.37 vs 2.79 and as show by this graph your speed has pretty much collapsed recently: http://cdn.netindex.com/static_char..._level=2&top_value=46&lastupdate=May 11, 2012
Your upload speeds have also gone too crap recently: http://cdn.netindex.com/static_char..._level=2&top_value=46&lastupdate=May 11, 2012

The graphs are available at www.netindex.com.

Youtube still buffers at anything above 360p on a 10Mb line whereas a 4Mb uncapped account from a different ISP streams 720p flawlessly on the same line?

Throttling users on capped accounts is unacceptable and something other ISP's haven't done for years now.

You can get unshaped, unthrottled bandwidth starting at around R19/GB yet you still charge R50/GB for bandwidth that isn't even completely unshaped or unthrottled.

You have over subscribed your network, admit it.

 

[Zewp]

WA throttles capped accounts?

WTF is this ****? Capped accounts are supposed to be a way to avoid shaping and throttling policies.