ISP email support tested

South African Internet service providers (ISPs) offer various ways to contact support or sales teams for details on processes like transferring from one ISP to another.

While email is a core part of ISPs’ support channels, they are often neglected as ISPs prioritise call centres and live chat support.

To determine how some of the country’s best ISPs perform regarding email support, MyBroadband posed as someone looking to transfer from one fibre ISP to another.

We sent our query to major ISPs in South Africa and rated their response time and accuracy.

The email template we used was as follows:

Hi there,

I would like to move over to *ISP* as a fibre ISP. I am currently with Afrihost on Vumatel.
What is the process to move over, and how long would it take?

Would I experience any downtime, and how can I limit the time I am without a connection?

What would be the costs involved in migrating, other than the regular monthly price?

Regards,
Johan

The ISPs we attempted to contact include Afrihost, Atomic Access, Axxess, Cell C, Herotel, Home Connect, MetroFibre, Mind-the-Speed, MTN, RocketNet, RSAWeb, and Vox.

We also looked for email contacts for Cool Ideas, Mweb, Rain, Supersonic, Telkom, Vodacom, and Webafrica. However, these ISPs didn’t offer visible email addresses or contact forms.

Of the 12 ISPs we could email, nine sent us an answer within our 48-hour cutoff time. This excludes automatic responses or acknowledgements.

Herotel was the quickest to send feedback, giving us an answer in just six minutes. Mind-the-Speed was also very quick to send feedback. It sent an answer just 27 minutes after we sent the query.

All other ISPs took at least two hours to respond. Afrihost sent an answer to our query in just under two-and-a-half hours, Vox took four hours and 21 minutes, and Atmoic Access responded in just under five hours.

Several ISPs took between 13 hours and 48 hours to respond, with Rocketnet responding in the nick of time, just nine minutes before the cutoff.

Accuracy of responses

To measure the accuracy of responses, we assigned a point to the ISP for each part of the query where they gave a satisfactory answer.

These include:

• Did they explain the process?
• Did they give a timeline or estimated downtime?
• Did they explain the costs?

Only three of the ISPs scored the full three points. These were Afrihost, Vox and RSAWeb.

Afrihost explained how to cancel our current package and place a new order with them. It said there would be no additional costs as we already had an installation. It gave an activation timeline of 24 to 72 hours, assuming the customer cancels correctly.

Vox explained that it covers the setup costs. However, it added that it has a clawback if customers cancel within 12 months. It also charges a delivery fee of R50.

It said the activation time should be two to three weeks, adding that it could be delayed up to six weeks. It also asked for customer details to provide a full quote before starting the process.

RSAWeb sent multiple responses within our timeframe, with the first explaining the process of cancelling the current fibre package and placing a new order.

The email also provided a timeline of one to seven working days and said the customer would face no additional costs. The next day, it sent a second email asking for an address and contact information.

The results of the ISP email response test are summarised in the table below.

ISP	Email	Response time	Score (out of 3)
Afrihost	[email protected]	2 hours, 26 minutes	3
Vox	[email protected]	4 hours, 21 minutes	3
RSAWeb	https://rsaweb.zohosites.eu/	22 hours, 29 minutes	3
Mind-the-Speed	[email protected]	27 minutes	2.5
Axxess	[email protected]	13 hours, 25 minutes	2
Rocketnet	[email protected]	47 hours, 51 minutes	2
Atomic Access	[email protected]	4 hours, 58 minutes	1
Home Connect	[email protected]	28 hours, 22 minutes	1
HeroTel	[email protected]	6 minutes	1
Metrofibre	[email protected]	Over 48 hours	0
MTN	[email protected]	Over 48 hours	0
Cell C	https://www.cellc.co.za/cellc/contact-us-Write_to_us	Over 48 hours	0

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Written by Myles Illidge and Wikus Steyn.