webafrica

[diabolus]

Wow!
Some extremely good points here diabolus. Much appreciated. We're always looking at ways of improving.

I'll have your post forwarded onto the Product Team and a few other people around the office and throw some ideas around

@Everyone else: We really do take community feedback extremely seriously. If you have suggestions, constructive critism or anything else you'd like to raise you are more than welcome to either post it here on MyBB or on our forums.

Ok, cool, i think WA got good pricing if you invest enough and go all the way with them . There's a relative high "entry barrier" to get to the good pricing and unfortunately i don't think the current packages are advertised in such a way to expose that "optimal" solution. The user is left to figure out for themselves . Heck, i would think having a "solution" that says [20GB Package : 10GB Peak + 10GB Offpeak @ R500 ] would go alot further than one that is 10GB @ R449 .

 

[Fulton17]

Hey Smirnov,

Our in and out-bundle rates are extremely cheap along with superior bandwidth being provided here.

Jeff, I think it would be better if you could simply explain how you are so cheap? You quote figures with ease - please back them up because you are just being a good politician and mentioning figures assuming that we will just believe you. For me to have those cheap prices, what package do I need to be on.

You guys keep changing the ball park every few months and all it does is simply confuse people.

Also you forget to mention the fine print and restrictions, such as with this option it is only available from X to Y hours. When you show us how you are so cheap, please also mention the fine print.

Looking forward to the meaningful explanation. Thanks Jeff

 

[Gatecrasher]

WA was an excellent option with the R15/Gig recharge. Then came the 160% price hike. And now R39/Gig top-up is EXPENSIVE for "silver" ADSL bandwidth. Complete packages are reasonable, but for the price offer far less value than rival uncapped packages. The straight data packages make your eyes bleed. The only cheap things on WA are the once-off titan specials, which are now a thing of the past, and are something for which WebAfrica's regular clients are now having to pay for. The silver-gold-titanium-platinum stuff is just a sick joke, and does not augur well for the future of the poor old "silver" clients who now find themselves at the bottom of the priority ladder when WA need to demonstrate or prove the differentiation of their premium packages.

 

[HavocXphere]

Jeff, I think it would be better if you could simply explain how you are so cheap?

Its not cheap when comparing rand per gig with competitor ISPs. The logic is "Its cheap considering the quality you get". Whether thats a worthwhile trade-off depends very much on you're needs. e.g. If you'll be downloading lots of stuff then its not worthwhile as cheaper cap will work too. If you care about intl speeds & latency then it might be worthwhile. Very subjective business.

The silver-gold-titanium-platinum stuff is just a sick joke, and does not augur well for the future of the poor old "silver" clients who now find themselves at the bottom of the priority ladder when WA need to demonstrate or prove the differentiation of their premium packages.

+1 Not chuffed about that story at all.

 

[who.is.michael]

Its not cheap when comparing rand per gig with competitor ISPs. The logic is "Its cheap considering the quality you get". Whether thats a worthwhile trade-off depends very much on you're needs. e.g. If you'll be downloading lots of stuff then its not worthwhile as cheaper cap will work too. If you care about intl speeds & latency then it might be worthwhile. Very subjective business.

Not to mention; the increase in latency / decrease in speeds of the regular MyBB / Titan accounts during business hours - I feel like a fool for supporting WA.

WA was an excellent option with the R15/Gig recharge. Then came the 160% price hike. And now R39/Gig top-up is EXPENSIVE for "silver" ADSL bandwidth. Complete packages are reasonable, but for the price offer far less value than rival uncapped packages. The straight data packages make your eyes bleed. The only cheap things on WA are the once-off titan specials, which are now a thing of the past, and are something for which WebAfrica's regular clients are now having to pay for. The silver-gold-titanium-platinum stuff is just a sick joke, and does not augur well for the future of the poor old "silver" clients who now find themselves at the bottom of the priority ladder when WA need to demonstrate or prove the differentiation of their premium packages.

Couldn't agree more...

 

[Fur]

I must admit i dont find the off peak attractive at all i cba to sit and start downloading at those times.

Let me compare....... currently i have a afrihost 6gig account (1gig free) and a telkom account 9gigs and 30gigs local free which give me a total of 15gigs + 30 gigs local and iam paying around R800(i think its a little less) a month and it cost me R29 a gig from afrihost and sometimes i get 2gigs for the price of 1. I do most of my downloading from NZBSA so i do use most of my local cap.

Webafrica i Pay around R999 a month and i get 10gigs peak and 10gigs off peak and then i can only download from 1am in the morning if i want to use the other 10gigs also if i move over i will lose my 30gig local. I Know that web africa has better latency and quality bandwidth but what you offer in comparison to other ISP,s dont seem to match aswell as i can bet it will be a ball ache to move my line accross which tbh i cba with, I rather just stay the way Iam then.

 

[WAJeff]

Jeff, I think it would be better if you could simply explain how you are so cheap? You quote figures with ease - please back them up because you are just being a good politician and mentioning figures assuming that we will just believe you. For me to have those cheap prices, what package do I need to be on.

You guys keep changing the ball park every few months and all it does is simply confuse people.

Also you forget to mention the fine print and restrictions, such as with this option it is only available from X to Y hours. When you show us how you are so cheap, please also mention the fine print.

Looking forward to the meaningful explanation. Thanks Jeff

Hi Fulton,

Hope things are going well your side.
Sure, can work these out for you no worries

As I mentioned on the previous page, our in and out of bundle rates are extremely cheap, specifically looking at our HomeComplete ranges here.

Let's look at the most popular product in this range, our Smart 10GB package. To simpify things a little, lets presume you've worked through the first 3 month discount period of R399 and you're now paying R599.

This is what R599 gets you per month:

• 10GB Bandwidth Allocation

• DSL Line rental included up to 10Mbps

You're Telkom DSL Line rental portion is already R413/month, so:
R599 - R413 = R186 <-- The total cost for your data. This works out then, to an extremely well priced product. On top of which, you don't have to deal with Telkom, we do that for you.
We can take this one step further and activate Download Plus on the product. This then doubles your monthly bandwidth, now with a 50% discount, adding R40 per month to your bill.

Total cost with Download Plus - R639 - R413 [line rental] = R226 for your data portion. Drilling down a little more, R226 / 20GB's = R11.30/GB.

I think that's enough maths for a Friday morning

Touching on Download Plus though, on the product page I've been referring to for my figures (which can be found here) it does mention that Download Plus hours are from 12am - 6am.

 

[Gatecrasher]

As I mentioned on the previous page, our in and out of bundle rates are extremely cheap, specifically looking at our HomeComplete ranges here.

Everyone acknowledges that prices on HomeComplete are reasonable (other than top-ups and the larger packages which do not compare well with uncapped). But many people do not want to move their line rental away from Telkom. Please apply your arguments to this large section of the market.

 

[Fulton17]

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for actually giving us some facts and figures.

As Gatecrasher said, yes that is for a complete package which is reasonable. The problem is it does have strings attached - move your line to WA. Also to get the best rate you have to take the very limiting download option which - for most of us in the real world - is flawed for a number of reasons.

 

[Abe]

Everyone acknowledges that prices on HomeComplete are reasonable (other than top-ups and the larger packages which do not compare well with uncapped). But many people do not want to move their line rental away from Telkom. Please apply your arguments to this large section of the market.

IMHO, I don't think WA want to play in that market. People chop and change monthly for the cheapest price. I think they are also trying to pick up customers for LLU.

The download plus option does not appeal to me at all. I don't like it when they factor into the price of the GB's. It's pretty much a waste of time for me but the complete options do offer very good value for money and the quality of the product is good. I have an AH backup account which I use from time to time but you certainly can't compare the two in terms of latency, etc.

Although I don't often use the top ups of late, I would prefer it if they scaled the price with the size of the package that people buy. I have a 30GB account and think that I should get a better rate for top-ups when compared to a 1GB account. From the looks of it, they canned the 3GB/R49 top ups because people were buying 1GB accounts and then using only top ups. This would solve that problem.

 

[waCliff]

As Gatecrasher said, yes that is for a complete package which is reasonable. The problem is it does have strings attached - move your line to WA. Also to get the best rate you have to take the very limiting download option which - for most of us in the real world - is flawed for a number of reasons.

Hi Fulton17,

That combined rate per GB works out to R13/gb which is insanely low. I'm personally using it, setup my large downloads to start a midnight, and it's working really well.
Even without Download Plus, the rates on Complete are still only R19/gb, which is exceptional especially given the quality of the service.

Perhaps I'm missing something, what is the reason you don't want to move your ADSL line to Web Africa or any other provider for that matter?
It's a pretty simple process, and happens completely seamlessly in the background. If you wish, you can easily transfer it away again.
Perhaps you could offer a suggestion of what we could do to make it more appealing?

 

[Fulton17]

Hi Fulton17,

That combined rate per GB works out to R13/gb which is insanely low. I'm personally using it, setup my large downloads to start a midnight, and it's working really well.
Even without Download Plus, the rates on Complete are still only R19/gb, which is exceptional especially given the quality of the service.

Perhaps I'm missing something, what is the reason you don't want to move your ADSL line to Web Africa or any other provider for that matter?
It's a pretty simple process, and happens completely seamlessly in the background. If you wish, you can easily transfer it away again.
Perhaps you could offer a suggestion of what we could do to make it more appealing?

Hi Cliff,
I am on a MyBB Complete 7 (or whatever the package is called now) so you already have my line.

I just feel that claims are made that are not backed up. Jeff did do some calculations in an earlier post on the one package and that helped to understand how you arrive at R X per gig. I just think there are times you make a statement that is partially true and do not give all the facts.

As to what could make it more appealing? I am pleased to see that you seem to be introducing from 1/12 some flexibility in the gigs we can choose - it has not been explained to anyone yet, but if I am assuming the principle correctly, that could be good. Maybe you could explain how this aspect is going to work.

Also why not make the hours after hours and weekends? Surely during weekends business usage is low? I just find the hours very restrictive

As to quality of service, sadly for me there has been a steady decline since I have been with WA on this special. Initially I could stream you tube full speed and browsing was great. Now - in general - you tube during the day is totally hit and miss and will seldom stream properly. Yes early in the morning it is still generally good, but why has what was a great service just slowly become worse and worse? Please do not suggest an upgrade to your home pro or whatever you call it at plus R 370 as that just destroys your argument for price and quality.

Anyway, thanks for asking!

 

[MVGL]

I know that some will say that I am babbling again about WA but...

Wow!
Some extremely good points here diabolus. Much appreciated. We're always looking at ways of improving.

You always promise this but never actually go through with it. WA only caters for WA and not the end users. As we all know, we used to be resellers for WA and would have walked though fire for them until they treated us like sheit and even threatened legal action for complaining on their reseller forum; admitted with harsh words at the time.

As far as I know, we where the only resellers being banned indefinitely from their Forums. We had stuck with them for years only to be shown the toffee. Other MYBB members can confirm this.

I'll have your post forwarded onto the Product Team and a few other people around the office and throw some ideas around

This is an old one. Very old as a matter of fact and it might even be included in one of your “Guide Books”. Might still work on Noobs but the rest of us should know better.

Show that you are doing something, agree to the customers request and make him / her feel important and then just, well, brush it under the carpet.

@Everyone else: We really do take community feedback extremely seriously. If you have suggestions, constructive critism or anything else you'd like to raise you are more than welcome to either post it here on MyBB or on our forums.

I will post it right here. Thanks for the opportunity not that it had anything to do with you. I would like to just mention that MYBB is the best thing other than MWEB that has happened to the SA Internet Scene. Go Guys.

To WA…..Go Jump.

PS: I have an account with you through an Alias and let me tell you, your Service, Speed etc etc has declined so badly it is not even funny. Bites when you build something on BS.

 

[diabolus]

Here's the real problem:

It's the 26th of the Month, my WebAfrica 25Gb bundle is done. There's no point in activating any add-ons (because they are not billed pro-rata) , and i'm left with R39 p/gb topups .

OR

I can go to Afrihost and pay R15 p/gb straight forward, no line moving , no add-ons or specific packages i need to be on.


Guess who i am using right now....

Conclusion? WA is expensive. To be exact WA is 2.6 times more expensive in this scenario, and i'm 110% certain i'm not the only one that gets in this situation at the end of the month.

So know what's even worse for WA? Now i am using my "backup" Afrihost account and realise "hey, this is not actually bad at all" and then my eye start to wander and check out Afrihost's 25GB+ equivalent packages ...and then i wonder why i don't just move there completely...and then Desember starts and i forget again until the 20th. One day i'm not going to forget.

 

[MVGL]

Here's the real problem:

It's the 26th of the Month, my WebAfrica 25Gb bundle is done. There's no point in activating any add-ons (because they are not billed pro-rata) , and i'm left with R39 p/gb topups .

OR

I can go to Afrihost and pay R15 p/gb straight forward, no line moving , no add-ons or specific packages i need to be on.


Guess who i am using right now....

Conclusion? WA is expensive. To be exact WA is 2.6 times more expensive in this scenario, and i'm 110% certain i'm not the only one that gets in this situation at the end of the month.

So know what's even worse for WA? Now i am using my "backup" Afrihost account and realise "hey, this is not actually bad at all" and then my eye start to wander and check out Afrihost's 25GB+ equivalent packages ...and then i wonder why i don't just move there completely...and then Desember starts and i forget again until the 20th. One day i'm not going to forget.

1.) Take Hand...
2.) Hold up horizontally facing your face
3.) Bring forward very quickly….very quickly – repeat steps 1 to 3 at least four times
4.) After the Pain Sensation, ask yourself if you will forget again.

 

[diabolus]

1.) Take Hand...
2.) Hold up horizontally facing your face
3.) Bring forward very quickly….very quickly – repeat steps 1 to 3 at least four times
4.) After the Pain Sensation, ask yourself if you will forget again.

Ultimately WA's connection is pretty good, as in the service i am paying for i am getting 100% without hassles. That's why i'm forgetting so easily, if the service were to get bumpy this will obviously make it more certain that i will cancel .

So as it is the WA + Afrihost combo looks to be my fate, but i will most likely use more Afrihost services in the future rather than paying for add-ons/extras/inflexible combos at WA.

 

[MVGL]

Good Luck Bro - Let us know how it goes .

 

[waCliff]

You always promise this but never actually go through with it. WA only caters for WA and not the end users.

This is simply not true.

We've just released flexible allocations on Download Plus as a direct result of requests via our forums.
Last month we introduced Business ADSL, which had been requested as well.
We've also made numerous improvements to our DSL console and other management interfaces, in the recent months.
On a reseller front alone, we've made massive improvements to the Allocation Realm interface, implementing features that users are requesting. Another round of which is currently in development.

You need to be aware that these things don't happen over night. We also can't implement every suggest that our users make, we have to pick and choose based on priority and benefits they will offer.

I assure you, that regardless of what you may believe, we take customer feedback and suggestions seriously.

 

[who.is.michael]

I assure you, that regardless of what you may believe, we take customer feedback and suggestions seriously.

Cliff Hazell - Marketing Executive - hopefully you did not have a hand in the flyer, as I would have fired you, no matter your title.
Web Africa - Smart Made Simple http://www.webafrica.co.za
Telephone : 0861 555 222

Then for god's sake take this seriously: http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/289267-WA-traffic-gone-to-hell

No intent to hijack thread.

Should your network be "superior", trust me - it is by a small margin (if at all) when compared to other high end suppliers like Vodacom.

 

[waCliff]

As to what could make it more appealing? I am pleased to see that you seem to be introducing from 1/12 some flexibility in the gigs we can choose - it has not been explained to anyone yet, but if I am assuming the principle correctly, that could be good. Maybe you could explain how this aspect is going to work.

Also why not make the hours after hours and weekends? Surely during weekends business usage is low? I just find the hours very restrictive

Hi Fulton17,

How the flexible allocations will work has been explained on our forums, I see that you're following the discussion there.

Regarding the offpeak hours, weekend usage while not quite as high as peak business hours, aren't low at all. The key purpose of the product is to offer the ability to download at a massively reduced rate during a time when there is very little traffic on the network. Those hours are between 12am and 6am, hence the allocated time.