iBurst - Meeting with the Office of Consumer Protection

MagicDude4Eva

MagicDude4Eva

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Dear all,

representatives of the Office of Consumer Protection will meet with iBurst next week to raise current issues. This originated from a number of complaints I raised with iBurst and subsequently failing resolution forwarded to the Consumer Protection office.

I have a comprehensive list to substantiate the reported problems and should you wish to strengthen this (and voice your problems as a customer) please PM me your issues experienced.

These needs to be concrete facts and need to include:
- Date/time/iBurst-incident number
- Your contact details (email / phone) which you are willing to share with the Consumer Protection Office.

Please provide this information by COB tomorrow (20/11) so that I can consolidate this. Ensure that your details are accurate.
 
i unfortunately have nothing to contribute that can officially be substantiated at this stage - however i agree with your action, provided it is to encourage / force iBurst to improve their service delivery.

regards

michael
 
although I am not with iBurst anymore (cancelled with end of this month), I do hope that this will result in improved customer service (provided that iBurst is willing to listen)
 
Just want to let you know that iBurst has brushed off every single issue with a half-arsed answer in a formal document drafted by their legal team.

I am glad that as of 1st December I am not having to face the problems I did in the past. It is equally disappointing that many of the forum members here complain but when it comes to the crunch and substantiate their problems, no-one comes forward.

So for all the guys who still get billed the old rates - sorry for you, you should have read all the iBurst communication.

For all the guys who experience service issues, iBurst "is an agnostic service provider and allows customers to migrate to other services to avoid downtime" - glad to see that you where able to switch to something else while you had issues.

Also for all the guys who had issues with towers or connectivity - I am glad to know that you received access to 3G and Wimax - I am so happy for you.

The most disappointing part: iBurst had the guts to compare their complaints with MTN and Vodacom - how the hell can you do this (i.e. 20 million subscribers vs the few you have left).

So, consumer protection will do nothing, iBurst will carry on as is and will laugh into all your faces (and all the way to the bank).

I at least can confidently say that I tried as a consumer to protect my rights and demand the service I thought I paid for - if you are not willing to do the same, you don't deserve pity or compassion on this forum.

I must thank the Office of Consumer Protection and the The Department of Trade and Industry - it is good to see that they at least try and protect/investigate issues - just a pity that the consumers are too scared to face a corporate and rather hide behind an avatar.
 
MagicDude4Eva said:
Just want to let you know that iBurst has brushed off every single issue with a half-arsed answer in a formal document drafted by their legal team.

I am glad that as of 1st December I am not having to face the problems I did in the past. It is equally disappointing that many of the forum members here complain but when it comes to the crunch and substantiate their problems, no-one comes forward.

So for all the guys who still get billed the old rates - sorry for you, you should have read all the iBurst communication.

For all the guys who experience service issues, iBurst "is an agnostic service provider and allows customers to migrate to other services to avoid downtime" - glad to see that you where able to switch to something else while you had issues.

Also for all the guys who had issues with towers or connectivity - I am glad to know that you received access to 3G and Wimax - I am so happy for you.

The most disappointing part: iBurst had the guts to compare their complaints with MTN and Vodacom - how the hell can you do this (i.e. 20 million subscribers vs the few you have left).

So, consumer protection will do nothing, iBurst will carry on as is and will laugh into all your faces (and all the way to the bank).

I at least can confidently say that I tried as a consumer to protect my rights and demand the service I thought I paid for - if you are not willing to do the same, you don't deserve pity or compassion on this forum.

I must thank the Office of Consumer Protection and the The Department of Trade and Industry - it is good to see that they at least try and protect/investigate issues - just a pity that the consumers are too scared to face a corporate and rather hide behind an avatar.
Click to expand...

MD4E. Your willingness to take your case as far as you did was and is comendable. The only problem is that your original request for further information from other forum members was a little on the short notice side (one day by the looks of it), so this could have played a really large part on the lack of participation.

That being said, you are correct in that if consumers do not take issues like this seriously and voice their concerns to the right authorities, nothing if anything will ever come of it (and we are all guilty in this regard).

A few questions pertaining to the outcome. Has the PP and DTi stated that this is the end of the matter? Would it be possible for you to post iBurst's complete response to the allegations (and in saying that, a transcript of your allegations) you put forward?
 
RVFmal said:
A few questions pertaining to the outcome. Has the PP and DTi stated that this is the end of the matter? Would it be possible for you to post iBurst's complete response to the allegations (and in saying that, a transcript of your allegations) you put forward?
Click to expand...

I am awaiting a response from PP/DTi. The letter I received was a forward from PP of the email they received from iBurst's legal department. I do not want to publish this letter yet as well as my complaints.

A summary of iBurst's response was listed in the above email (some even quoted verbatim). I will post a follow-up email once I have more clarification regarding this.
 
Battling with a corporate is never easy, keep in mind Dinosaurs can't Tapdance - don't give up though, use all available avenues.

It seems the most unlikely avenues, generally deliver the best results. Don't bother with ICASA, ISPA and the like as they have their own agenda's and I'm sure you've noticed big business in South Africa is incestuous.

Regards

M
 
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Most of the forumites here only access MyBB before 5,5pm and you enter the deadzone

Think if you gave them a headstart they may have complied :P

Commendable for you to attempt to go the extra mile to take them to task
 
Without generalising too much, I think regardless of how much time given to people to respond, the South African culture demonstrates a high level of apathy and people tend to avoid any confrontation.

This is not just represented by the lack of interest in this initiative (and we can all agree that there are many regulars visiting this specific forum) but also applies to the way most us lead our lives. You see this in the lack of participation in elections, letting corporates abuse our consumer rights etc.

Without digressing too much: how on earth can people tolerate poor service (DSTV and their shoddy HDPVR, iBurst and their consistent problems, Telkoms slow turnaround on installations, Home Affairs corruption/lack of service). If people continue accepting the status-quo, things will never improve. Sometimes it's worth to rock the boat to have people see an issue from another perspective. Taking everything for granted will not improve anything.
 
MagicDude4Eva said:
Without generalising too much, I think regardless of how much time given to people to respond, the South African culture demonstrates a high level of apathy and people tend to avoid any confrontation.

This is not just represented by the lack of interest in this initiative (and we can all agree that there are many regulars visiting this specific forum) but also applies to the way most us lead our lives. You see this in the lack of participation in elections, letting corporates abuse our consumer rights etc.

Without digressing too much: how on earth can people tolerate poor service (DSTV and their shoddy HDPVR, iBurst and their consistent problems, Telkoms slow turnaround on installations, Home Affairs corruption/lack of service). If people continue accepting the status-quo, things will never improve. Sometimes it's worth to rock the boat to have people see an issue from another perspective. Taking everything for granted will not improve anything.
Click to expand...

While I agree that South Africans are very apathetic, I must point out that the root of the problem is that we have very little resources. Sure I could take a company to court, but there would be very high legal fees for me to cover. Class action suits are not known here in SA.

And how do you justify putting train on our legal system for a crappy connection when there are murderers, rapists and corrupt officials to be charged? Can we really bog down the tiny bit of resources the SA legal system has with these trivialities*? (*compared to murder, rape, etc...)

What we need is a culture of accountability. If a large company screws up they must be held accountable. But this is a chicken or the egg problem. Who will start this culture of nobody cares?

But I do thank you for taking this so far. There are a lot of people that get screwed over by ibust every day...
 
Pilgrim said:
And how do you justify putting train on our legal system for a crappy connection when there are murderers, rapists and corrupt officials to be charged? Can we really bog down the tiny bit of resources the SA legal system has with these trivialities*? (*compared to murder, rape, etc...)
Click to expand...

Agree with you - hence I was completely surprised to receive a call from the Consumer Protection within 7 days after submitting my issue. I was amazed that the DTi actually did something about it, as I initially thought that they would pretty much be in bed with the corporates.

If you don't start somewhere, things will never change. While I might be the guy who takes photos of cops parking in handicap spots and reporting them, many people feel it is too much effort and nothing will happen. Guys complain about potholes in the road, but if you don't report it to the roads-agency, no-one will fix it. You complain about traffic lights not working, but hope that surely someone must have notified the authorities.

It all comes down to taking up a bit of your own responsibility (and with it gaining a sense of achievement, even-though it might be minimal)
 
Hey all

Could it not also be that those who have had troubles with iBurst beyond tolerance have moved on, gone ADSL or some other route and are just not bothered about iBurst any longer? Also, in all my dealings with them, I think I only got 1 reference number that was deemed valid by their helldesk.

I also remember on every occasion that I had to phone the helldesk it ended with me almost breaking the handset on the modem in sheer frustration and anger.

I know from my own experience that the only time I stumble across any reference to them is an advert on the radio now and again.

Other than that, I could not be bothered.

Those still with them will need to perhaps take it further... and how many of those have internet access anyway or know of this forum?

Well done though... I commend you. In hind site though, I should have recorded every helldesk call and logged ,in detail, names, dates, etc. Well done.
 
Thanks for the good work.
Really appreciate it...

Pity about the 'Please provide this information by COB tomorrow (20/11) so that I can consolidate this. Ensure that your details are accurate.'...

I was not following the forums at those dates and would have loved to provide you with a wealth of information.

Still, Kudos in all respects for taking these issues futher.
 
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