WebAfrica response to R29/Gig offer.

Before I get into my response to Webafrica's response let me just say that I think Webafrica is a great company. I know Matthew Tagg personally and I know that he is dedicated to giving his client's great service and value.

Having said that our aim is to develop and deliver the best ADSL experience for our clients at the best price we can - Although we will not be able to offer the R29/GB offer to new clients for much longer (but remember if you do manage to sign up for R29/GB then that will always be your price) we will always aim to deliver fantastic value.

Here are my comments on the WebAfrica response:

"This offering is an IS (Internet Solutions) product which is a limited offer provided by Afrihost"

This is true. We believe the IS Fibre network compares very favourably to the SAIX network and based on speed tests posted by our users in this forum you can see that this is true.


"When the special ends top up pricing will increase to whatever they decide the top up rates will be which can be viewed at http://www.afrihost.com/adsl-faqs.php - there is no confirmation that this is definitely not going to be higher as you will see in their FAQ "depending on" - the price increase is on the top ups and is going to take effect but the amount that it will increase by is not guaranteed"

When the special ends the topup pricing will no longer be R29 / GB. However I guarantee that the new top up rate will be less than R49 / GB.

We are already offering our Prepaid GB's at R49/GB. And this is not going to change. Thus it follows that our monthly GB rate and topup rate will be less than this.


"Also I noted that their is no guarantee that once the special has ended that should one change the package one is going to get the same pricing on the fixed package for either upgrade or downgrade"

Whatever you signup for at the R29/GB special will be locked in. If you do choose to upgrade at a later stage after the special has expired then your upgrade will be charged at our new rate.

"If one needs support does one really want to wait an hour for a response and why should you? When support is needed you can call us regardless of the time of day or year (including all weekends and holidays) not have to wait on an sms or support ticket to be answered within "57 minutes""

We do have technicians on standby 24 hours a day. If you need help after hours you can log a 24 hour Support Ticket in your Client Zone or SMS us and we will phone you back within the hour (our average time to call back has historically been about 15 minutes)

Having said this we will definitely be implementing full 24 hour telephonic support in the future.


If you have any other questions or concerns please let me know and I'd be happy to answer them!

Have a great public holiday :)
 
Good response to a response :)

I am still telling anyone who'll listen to sign up with Afrihost TODAY.
 
hj2k_x said:
Good response to a response :)

I am still telling anyone who'll listen to sign up with Afrihost TODAY.
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Put it in your sig then...

Anyway, I don't see any reason to have to pay WA R70 for a GB when I can get it for R29...also, WA aren't gonna match this price so only thing left to do is drop 'em like it's hot. :D

I'm also gonna get rid of my do3 account after I do a bit of research on what's the cheapest options but it's looking like Social Flu and Afrihost are gonna be my joint ISPs.
 
feo said:
Put it in your sig then...

Anyway, I don't see any reason to have to pay WA R70 for a GB when I can get it for R29...also, WA aren't gonna match this price so only thing left to do is drop 'em like it's hot. :D

I'm also gonna get rid of my do3 account after I do a bit of research on what's the cheapest options but it's looking like Social Flu and Afrihost are gonna be my joint ISPs.
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Buy the stuff in my sig, then I'll have space for it ;)
 
What I like is that you can sms them to call YOU...

Damn, if I wasn't getting my internet for free I would definitely sign up now!
 
[cross-posted from WAForum]

Hat's off to Gian and the boys, I know them personally and they always a friendly bunch to deal with. :) It's a fantastic piece of publicity and excitement for Afrihost and a great way to enter the market. Especially considering so many of us had high hopes for Seacom and the prices dropping through the floor etc. The pent up demand was like a damn waiting to burst.

In fact IIRC WA did the same back in 2005 with the 30GB deal, we just undercut everyone and sold it just above cost and created quite a splash which worked well. I think its also great news for the deal hunters, and definitely you should make use of it! I know I would.

On a more sobering note, anyone remember the Dotco/Allyoucaneat crowd? Once lauded as "liberators" of the ADSL landscape they eventually imploded and eventually ending up going bust just leaving customers in the lurch. Now Afrihost are no Dotco, but my point is merely some people have short attention spans :D

What is important to remember is that its sold below cost and naturally the business is loosing money so that is not sustainable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_leader It's definitely not a case that the rest of the of the industry was profiteering. Quite the opposite in fact.

From the WA side our focus has always been about sustainability and the end game, we in it for the long run and will always put our customers first. Our lads together with Telkom Wholesale techs are working flat out this weekend preparing the network trial which will enable us to bring a host of new offerings in the future.

In short, well done to Afrihost, and we look forward to an ever increasing competitive environment.
 
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the problem with afrihost is its SHAPED and will be pointless for gaming ? but.. that being said.. fantastic price..
 
NaushadE said:
the problem with afrihost is its SHAPED and will be pointless for gaming ? but.. that being said.. fantastic price..
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The general response indicates that it's only shaped during office hours and unshaped after hours. Unless you game during office hours, I don't see that as being much of an issue.
 
wamatt said:
[cross-posted from WAForum]

Hat's off to Gian and the boys, I know them personally and they always a friendly bunch to deal with. :) It's a fantastic piece of publicity and excitement for Afrihost and a great way to enter the market. Especially considering so many of us had high hopes for Seacom and the prices dropping through the floor etc. The pent up demand was like a damn waiting to burst.
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Nice to see WA changed tactic and decided not to attack Afrihost with vague obfuscations.

In fact IIRC WA did the same back in 2005 with the 30GB deal, we just undercut everyone and sold it just above cost and created quite a splash which worked well. I think its also great news for the deal hunters, and definitely you should make use of it! I know I would.

On a more sobering note, anyone remember the Dotco/Allyoucaneat crowd? Once lauded as "liberators" of the ADSL landscape they eventually imploded and eventually ending up going bust just leaving customers in the lurch. Now Afrihost are no Dotco, but my point is merely some people have short attention spans :D
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A case of Ooops, I did it again? That seems like a comment meant to imply that Afrihost's brilliant strategy will fail...You can keep the short attention span...

What is important to remember is that its sold below cost and naturally the business is loosing money so that is not sustainable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_leader It's definitely not a case that the rest of the of the industry was profiteering. Quite the opposite in fact.
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Your economics don't gel with the situation. Your short attention span made you forget, that they are using their marketing budget. It is sustainable, by the very fact that a finite amount of accounts, can be subsidised this way.

From the WA side our focus has always been about sustainability and the end game, we in it for the long run and will always put our customers first. Our lads together with Telkom Wholesale techs are working flat out this weekend preparing the network trial which will enable us to bring a host of new offerings in the future.
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Surprise us...Afrihost did...sustained...Match that.

In short, well done to Afrihost, and we look forward to an ever increasing competitive environment.
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Us too...
 
wamatt said:
[cross-posted from WAForum]
From the WA side our focus has always been about sustainability and the end game, we in it for the long run and will always put our customers first.
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With the problems I have had with your billing department, and continue to have, I feel anything but 1st. There have been numerous posts on this forum about your billing issues but you have done nothing to resolve it. Even my PM to you personally went ingnored.

I have cancelled with WA due solely to these issues, and believe me, you will find I have a very long “attention span”.
 
+1, WebAfrica's support isn't what it used to be and by the sounds of it the billing is pretty bad.
As for the argument around "topups" on AfriHost, I'm pretty sure 99% of people on MyBB know how to change account details when their cap is reached and the topup cost isn't favourable.
I didn't know that AfriHost prepaid GB's were only R49 but that's pretty good news too. I think WA was the first to offer prepaid GB's so they are doing some good work. Don't forget they also gave away 10GB "network trial" accounts for free.

Competition is fantastic, slagging off the competition isn't. WA, AfriHost and a bunch of others represent a world that's bigger than Telkom/Mweb/iAfrica.
 
wamatt said:
What is important to remember is that its sold below cost and naturally the business is loosing money so that is not sustainable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_leader It's definitely not a case that the rest of the of the industry was profiteering. Quite the opposite in fact.
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i'll give a short refresher course here in case it slipped your short attention span on what happened in the ODS vs Openweb price saga; sustainable you ask but which one of the two still exists as a sole isp ?

WickedWeasel said:
Attention: MrBEEP

Lets get the following straight: I said, "if a ISP sells below cost, how would they continue to run, and provide support" do they get free food and lodging. If you would like to take it further, please feel free to do so as it is your constitutional right. and so is free speech. Our prices are quoted ex vat. but we make that clear on our website. however I will amend that to include VAT.
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WickedWeasel said:
At the end of the day every ISP needs to make a profit, or what would the point be. Everyone needs to eat.

If Openweb wish to destory all the profits for themselves. Let them do so. ODS will maintain its pricing, and service offering. We cannot be the cheapest.

But what we can do is provide excellent service.
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MrBEEP said:
I'll still be making a profit.

And I think its called competition.....
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wamatt said:
From the WA side our focus has always been about sustainability and the end game, we in it for the long run and will always put our customers first.
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But the fact remains that the only thing you have sustained is the same products at the same prices for the last three years, while both your wholesale costs and support levels have dropped dramatically.

Based on this clear proof that you do not put your customers first you can understand why your ex-clients on this forum are highly skeptical.

You are currently losing your end game. You will need to make a bold sacrifice to get back in the game.
 
Gatecrasher said:
But the fact remains that the only thing you have sustained is the same products at the same prices for the last three years, while both your wholesale costs and support levels have dropped dramatically.

Based on this clear proof that you do not put your customers first you can understand why your ex-clients on this forum are highly skeptical.

You are currently losing your end game. You will need to make a bold sacrifice to get back in the game.
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We've had our ups and downs sure. Take billing for example, earlier this year we had to clamp down because of abusers, no-payers etc sucking our goodwill dry and threatening our overall viability as a business. In doing so we screwed up and some of our loyal customers got caught in the crossfire. I'll be the first to admit and we learned a hard lesson.

We have been pretty active here on MyADSL since the start and always welcomed criticism and been open and I that to me means we committed to the customer.

As for support levels dropping, yes they have!. Does this mean we not offering fantastic support anymore? Of course not! its just now more realistic. We'd go so far as to even help guys fix their virus infected PC's etc or help them fix their programming scripts etc. Now we can offer that but you'll pay 3x the price, and then we more than just a service provider.

Also we not the mom-and-pop we once were. Do you want the CEO personally coming to install your line and phone you after hours? I don't think that's a good or scalable way to run a business. All our staff are passionate about our customers.

It's very easy to give fantastic support if its one person or a small team and you know all the clients.

But you mention facts, lets look at our September 2009 customer survey:

Overall Experience with WA
90% revealed a good or great experience with WA
5% Average
3% Poor

Our agents are passionate and easy to deal with?
95.75% responded Yes
4.25% responded No
These are hard numbers, and will continue to track this every month. Why? Because we care. This affects all of us here.

If you still skeptical, come by to our offices and we'd be more than happy to show you how we do things and the data etc.

Whether we "on top of our game", I can't say what that means. All I know is we work hard and enjoy what we do and are always cognisant of the fact: We exist for the customer.
 
@wamatt

If your customer satisfaction survey only includes existing clients then you are missing the point entirely.
 
Web Africa is just too damn expensive, no matter how good of an after hours service they claim to have
 
Well I am with Webafrica (Web hosting and ADSL) and last took out an account with Afrihost , so far Afrihost support was on par if not better than them. My reason for actually moving was because of their threats to shut down my website due to non payment even though I emailed them Proof weeks before. Not only dont I owe them any money but I am in fact in credit cos I keep paying them extra.

When I mentioned the new pricing of Afrihost they chose to ignore me. Now I dont use their pay as you go (R70) and rather use the 2GB bundle of Afrihost for R58 already R12 cheaper than their 1GB I use to use.

Next week I might be moving my websites over to them as well , just waiting to see if they are reliable. Anyone have any experience with their hosting ?
 
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