webafrica

[waCliff]

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

From what I see, 2 users affected, for 10min before returning to normal.
I'm not quite sure what you want me to do about what appears to be brief glitch in network somewhere?

If you have a fault that you would like me to investigate please PM me the details and I can check it out for you.

 

[who.is.michael]

Glitches should not happen!

I'm concerned about your marketing.

 

[HavocXphere]

Glitches should not happen!

In the real world glitches do happen....thats why the uptime SLAs are 99.9...% not 100%.

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.

Last time I requested a change it took 2 business days until the changes were live (DSL console). Hell, even got 2 progress reports. Maybe I'm just lucky....hmmm lotto ticket.

 

[who.is.michael]

In the real world glitches do happen....thats why the uptime SLAs are 99.9...% not 100%.


Last time I requested a change it took 2 business days until the changes were live (DSL console). Hell, even got 2 progress reports. Maybe I'm just lucky....hmmm lotto ticket.

You lucky - 3 months to transfer line...

 

[Conack]

Glitches should not happen!

Seriously?
Unbelievable.

As Jeff pointed out, very few users seem to have been affected. During the 10 minutes I asked around on IRC but only 2 of us were affected which was pretty surprising as I know for a fact that a huge amount of WoW and SC2 players use WA.

 

[HavocXphere]

You lucky - 3 months to transfer line...

Line transfers usually involve 2 ISPs + Telkom so its impossible to judge who is screwing up. Someone clearly is...but the risk of allocating blame unjustly is just too high.

 

[waCliff]

As Jeff pointed out, very few users seem to have been affected. During the 10 minutes I asked around on IRC but only 2 of us were affected which was pretty surprising as I know for a fact that a huge amount of WoW and SC2 players use WA.

Yip, this is what I was pointing out. Could have been anywhere on the network, something like this is very to pinpoint especially if it occurs so rarely and randomly.
If it rears it's head again, please let myself or one of the other Web Africa guys know, and we'll have it checked out for you.

 

[Lobesy]

Oh hey, could you make the line graph in the DSL control panel thing be a cumulative total for the month rather than daily usage since it makes no sense for a line graph to be doing what it currently does.

 

[who.is.michael]

Line transfers usually involve 2 ISPs + Telkom so its impossible to judge who is screwing up. Someone clearly is...but the risk of allocating blame unjustly is just too high.

WA, blamed Telkom - I phoned Telkom Wholesale and provided WA with the order number which they apparently couldn't obtain.

 

[HavocXphere]

WA, blamed Telkom - I phoned Telkom Wholesale and provided WA with the order number which they apparently couldn't obtain.

If you phone Telkom you get treated like a potential customer & Telkom hauls ass. If a competitor phones them they get treated like the enemy & Telkom does not haul ass.

Telkom fights dirty. Its pretty common knowledge.

 

[who.is.michael]

If you phone Telkom you get treated like a potential customer & Telkom hauls ass. If a competitor phones them they get treated like the enemy & Telkom does not haul ass.

Telkom fights dirty. Its pretty common knowledge.

It might be so, however; If I was the ISP that was affected by poor service from Telkom (if this is indeed related to this specific case) - I would improve relations and meet the department concerned, so as to prevent my customers from being affected and it reflecting poorly on my company's service levels.

That is what I do for my clients concerning DSL installations and no installation (after contacting those involved) has ever exceeded two working days.

Blaming Telkom is not taking responsibility... or maybe I'm just expecting too much.

 

[HavocXphere]

improve relations and meet the department concerned

That works in normal voluntary commercial transactions where each side hope for a win-win outcome. Here it is not voluntary (they have to deal with Telkom & there is no alternative). And the only possible win outcome for Telkom is making the competitors life miserable. Bilateral relations cannot succeed if one side is determined to make it fail.

Blaming Telkom is not taking responsibility... or maybe I'm just expecting too much.

Dunno its tricky. The ISPs have neither control over outcome nor choice of suppliers in the matter so one can't really hold them responsible. On the other hand the customer has a reasonable right to expect results. Damn state sponsored monopolies create nothing but trouble & messy situations like these.

no installation (after contacting those involved) has ever exceeded two working days.

Impressive.

(if this is indeed related to this specific case)

Yeah that was a bit of an assumption on my part. Not entirely unreasonable though.

 

[who.is.michael]

Thanks for the objectivity...

And the only possible win outcome for Telkom is making the competitors life miserable. Bilateral relations cannot succeed if one side is determined to make it fail.

Well if one can show that there has been a concerted effort to resolve the detrimental behaviour and proper records are kept - it can be interpreted as anti-competitive behaviour and this could potentially be costly to Telkom.

Dunno its tricky.

Agreed

The ISPs have neither control over outcome nor choice of suppliers in the matter so one can't really hold them responsible.

Agree to some extent – if you do not have a choice, it is best to keep relationships, amenable and respectful.
At the end of the day it is a person doing the task, (they might not like it or be diligent, sometimes have no interest) however - if one can facilitate the task in a manner where it is less taxing for the individual and the individual is informed that his / her assistance is appreciated, it normally oils the process. (Ultimately your brand depends on an oiled process)

On the other hand the customer has a reasonable right to expect results.

Agree – a regular status update on the customer portal would have sufficed

Damn state sponsored monopolies create nothing but trouble & messy situations like these.

Well they are not going to disappear, while they contribute to the state coffers. There has been some interesting developments in other parts of the world, where the “BEE” strategy has been approached from a total different perspective. Where the industry has matured and all work together to find solutions as they realise it is in the industry and everyone's best interest. Per example; where private companies have trained stae employees.

You can only positively affect another’s behaviour or negotiate for that matter, when a high level of mutual respect and understanding is present.

***

Unfortunately, I did not provide the full context (other multiple issues and some not so thoughtful PM's ) in my initial post.