Many iBurst subscribers were furious at the news that they will not automatically migrate to the new, lower priced packages and that there will be a migration fee of R 199 for moving to a cheaper package. <\/p>\n
In an online poll 87% of subscribers said that they think the R199 migration fee is unjustified. The company seems to have alienated many of their long-time subscribers and may have damaged their brand in the process. <\/p>\n
“I still remember people speaking highly of iBurst, not unlike how people speak of Neotel these days,” said one commentator. “Used to be with iBurst, now on ADSL. To be quite honest, it does not surprise me in the least that they would pull this sort of thing,” said another.<\/p>\n
iBurst however says that an administration fee of R 199 has always been charged for downward migrations.<\/p>\n
“iBurst subscribers may remain on their current package or they can request a migration to a package more suitable for their needs. An administration fee of R199 has always been charged by iBurst for downward migrations while upward migrations are free,” the company said.<\/p>\n
“Upward migrations are allowed on both 24 month and month-to-month packages. In order to accommodate customer requests we have reduced the downward migration fee to R99,” the company announced.<\/p>\n
The reduction may come as good news to many current iBurst subscribers, but some users still feel that any price reduction should automatically be applied to existing subscribers.<\/p>\n