Buyer Beware

this is the second time i'm submitting this. maybe i should blog about the bad service im getting from this blog.

as previously said, V has no interest or links to any of the companies mentioned in these threads.

have you even read the comments on the other thread? Don't take all criticism as a personal attack. Try and understand it.

ur daddy's a fanboy. :)

Kevin,

Maybe those giving you flack should get their facts straight first. According to your agreement you get 3GB per month. After you reach your cap you get put on a 64kb connection. Nothing was ever said about restricting the amount of data you may download once on the 64kb connection, and they are indeed in the wrong to disconnect you.

And to those calling downloading 6GB abuse, please let's get real!! Since when is that abuse? Here in SA we are paying anything from R600 per month upwards for a 1Mbit (or lower) connection with a 3GB cap and we are actually happy with that. It's madness!! Nowhere else in the world are people getting screwed like this and still happy with it. We have by far the most expensive and prohibitive internet access in the world. The presentations at the recent ICASA hearings have displayed that again.

Anyhow, if you really want the proper information of how we as internet users are once again getting screwed, do yourself a favour and visit the MyBroadband iBurst forum at www.mybroadband.co.za/vb. This latest disconnections has been iBurst's mistake and one in a very long line of incompetencies.

Jerrie

we know all these things. yes, we have it hard in this country. yes, they made a mistake, but give them some time to rectify it before you start ringing all bells!

oh and YES, they _are a Telkom alternative.

next time, see what gets done when you bitch and moan to telkom. and see how long it takes to get hold of anyone _before you can even start bitching.
Was this problem sorted out? How long did it take since they were aware of it until completion?


serisously though...give them(and the other alternative SPs) a chance. This is not helping them; They've just started. If you want to straight away destroy any Telkom competition that even attemts to arise, then sure, you're doing The Right Thing(TM). IMHO, this is not how people should go about "constructive criticism" and "helping" each other out.
Esp in the current RSA Telkom dominated climate.


> Maybe those giving you flack should get their facts
> straight first.

maybe you should read what i said first.

vv - i listed the facts of an issue that has affected me, and if you join iburst may in turn affect you (implying a generic 'you', before you get back on your horse).

Now we are discussing it and thrashing out whether they were right or wrong to do what they did, whilst you are bitching about the fact that I am knocking them instead of waiting to see how it pans out.

Let me explain how blogging works - it is an organic thing. This is not a static page where i post a barb and then move on to the next topic like a news site. The posts are fluid, they get updated, they get commented on and followed up on, other people blog about your post and link back to it, starting an open public debate about the topic at hand.

Can you see what i am getting at? If tomorrow iBurst issues an apology for making a mistake, you will hear about it right here. If other people disagree with what I am saying, you will hear about it here. I never took what you were saying as a personal attack, so please stop clouding the issue.

> maybe you should read what i said first.

Don't remember mentioning your name.....

As far as giving them time - complaints against WBS has been going on for quite some time already. They have made promises about when things were supposed to be fixed and have broken those promises time and again.

This whole thing is turning out to be a second Sentech. Making promises and not keeping them. Blaming your users and labelling them as abusers - when infact it is your own incompetence.

BTW, as far as the abusing goes there are a number of documented cases on the MyBroadband forums where users have duplicate usernames and it seems as though the bandwith usage of all these various users with the same username gets counted up together. So I ask you - you label your users as abusers when the ballsup is on your side??

Let me just add that I am not an iBurst user. I was considering, but after this latest show of incompetence I will most definitely not become one and will advise everyone I know against them.

It's time SA companies start treating their customers with respect.

I don't have time to reply now fully, but...

look at your headings:

Buyer Beware
DON'T GET IBURST!!!

just from that, i can see that you've made up your mind about the issues at hand _without waiting for a solution.

ever hear of responsible journalism? maybe we should start practicing responsible blogging.

If i make another post that says i want to have iBurst's babies will you go away?

> Don't remember mentioning your name.....

V will do.

<i always wanted to say something like that...>


> As far as giving them time - complaints against
> WBS has been going on for quite some time already.

they've only launched 21 days ago. yes, there was a test period.


> Let me just add that I am not an iBurst user. I was > considering, but after this latest show of
> incompetence I will most definitely not become one
> and will advise everyone I know against them.

i think this just help prove what i'm trying to say.
see note about "responsible blogging".


> It's time SA companies start treating their customers
> with respect.

agreed; i've mentioned that before as well.

> If i make another post that says i want to have
> iBurst's babies will you go away?

that was just oh-so-snappy!

Good, see it has made ITWeb. Now even more people can read about it.

http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/internet/2005/0504211110.asp?A=MAW&S=Mobile%20and%20Wireless%20Technology&O=FPT

Hey v-man, stop being a pussy and post your real name and address. The only reason I can see for you not disclosing a name or URL is fear that your vested interest in one of the companies will come to light.

Also, the whole idea of responsible blogging is absurd. This is not a journalism site, it's a private site, with no obligation to serve as anything other than somewhere for the owner to air his opinions.

> Hey v-man, stop being a pussy and post your real name
and address.

a very mature response, Craig. what do my real name and address have to do with this discussion? Will it affect the validity of the arguments in any way? Or will it just give you a name you can swear at when your arguments are weak and illogical?


> The only reason I can see for you not disclosing a name or URL is fear that your vested interest in one of the companies will come to light.

is that really the only reason you can see? Well, looks like you've really thought hard about this whole in'rnet thing.

> the whole idea of responsible blogging is absurd.

are you trolling?
That's a whole new discussion we can attend to in another thread if you're willing to start one.Let me know where it is.

AAAAAW!

I just never fit in anywhere!
Im a happy iburst user...

Maybe its because Im not wearing wet panties.
You guys should try that.

Must be fun getting an angry mob together to *burn some witches* !!

Amen!

> Or will it just give you a name you can swear at when your arguments are weak and illogical?

You're the one concerned with a responsible argument; call it full disclosure if you will. I haven't even made an argument yet, and already you're assuming that it will be weak and illogical? Is that a mature response?

> is that really the only reason you can see? Well, looks like you've really thought hard about this whole in'rnet thing

I post my name and URL, and am prepared to stand by my comments. I don't see any particularly worrying privacy concerns in this case.

> are you trolling?

Actually no, I'm an iburst user as well, although I haven't exceeded my cap and didn't have my account suspended.

I could ask the same of you..

lol!

yeah, you're right. wet panties give me itchy bum. when i have itchy bum i go to peoples blogs and irritate them.

<scratchscratch>

>You're the one concerned with a responsible argument;

uhm....ok.


> call it full disclosure if you will. I haven't even
> made an argument yet, and already you're assuming
> that it will be weak and illogical? Is that a mature
> response?

if my first ever contact with you is "stop being a pussy", what kind of response do you expect?

>ever hear of responsible journalism? maybe we should start practicing responsible blogging.

oooh! NOW you've opened a can of worms!!! It was not long ago that these guys here were all bickering about "responsible blogging".

Let me also get into this conversation. I am currently in New Zealand, I have a 2Mb line with a 10GB cap, I am paying around R400 for it. If I exceed my cap, I don't get downgraded, my cap is increased and I pay about R25 more for each GB I go over my cap. Now tell me why telkom and the other guys cannot do that in South Africa? Keep in mind that living costs are in general a lot more expensive here in New Zealand.

I love IBurst because it's not Telkom and will continue to support them. It's not an ideal situation but when I compare the issues with Telkom vs IBurst, IBurst is a clear winner. IBurst do need to clarify their contract so you don't get any nasty surprises, but capping is common around the world. After you sign up for ADSL you will probably find some hidden cap too. Until this Bananna Republic gets sorted out, we are all going to suffer.

6GB is a whole lot of porn...maybe you need to ease up.

What do you download/upload to reach your 3GB cap that quickly? (movies would get you there quickly.) Perhaps you should consider renting some porno DVD's and not downloading it?

Other options you have includes:
1. Get ADSL and see if you prefer that.
2. Leave the country and go get ourself a proper broadband connection somewhere else.
3. Get a diginet line.
4. Get a dedicated radio link.
5. Fuck off and stop complaining.

Let's see R600/month = 24 porn DVD rentals @ R25 (roughly 8GB x 24 = 192GB). Then you just need to add dialup costs so you can check your e-mail.

I think assuming i spent my cap on downloading porn is both rather juvenile and also extremely presumptuous considering you have never met me (not that there would be anything wrong with downloading porn IMHO - each to there own).

When i got the 3gig cap, i also thought there is no way i would ever need that much but believe me when you are running at that speed it goes amazingly quickly. Running streaming audio, a couple of trips to downloads.msdn.com, or atomfilms.com etc and it is gone.

That is something South Africans dont realise - there is so much we are missing out on not having the bandwidth to be able to hook into, the internet is not about static html anymore, there is so much more out there!

But again, we digress. This post was not about caps or bandwidth, it was about service, customer satisfaction and contractual obligations. The fact that it coincidently also happens to be about these other things by reference is once again exposing the inadequacies of the South African telecommunications legislation and infrastructure and there are better places to discuss that (like here: www.mybroadband.co.za).

> Now tell me why telkom and the other guys cannot do
> that in South Africa?

coz they don't have to. they can milk us now, and they know we'll pay. their price is dictated by the amount people are willing to pay. right now, people are willing to pay coz they need more pr0n. simple.

:. get a girlfriend, surf less pr0n, and maybe the bandwidth price will drop? everyone can help!

as soon as we start boycotting them with our money, things will change.

Prices are high because South Africans are porn addicts? Dude, where do you get off making assumptions like that?

Is the petrol you put in your car so expensive because you keep making those long trips to hillbrow to get whatever it is you must be smoking? Maybe you should start walking everywhere to bring the prices down (preferably a long walk off a short pier).

It is the local legislation that has conspired to give telkom a monopoly and allow them to control the market and artificially inflate prices. Simple.

> I think assuming i spent my cap on downloading porn is
> both rather juvenile and also extremely presumptuous
> considering you have never met me

dunno, you have a blog, so we just thought, you know....

;)

Let the flames begin:

http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/internet/2005/0504221200.asp?A=MAW&S=Mobile%20and%20Wireless%20Technology&O=FPT

I would like to bring to your attention the following salient points on Mr Mtshali's diatribe:

"they were consciously abusing their ability to exceed their monthly allowances"
What would he have me do, run a throttle on my own machine? I noticed my speed didnt really drop - at work it is crappy, slow and constantly disconnecting, at home it flew, but i made nothing of it. (I am still not sure if my connection is throttled, it is pretty quick still).

"Mtshali commented that if subscribers used up their monthly allowance within a week, they should have realised they were abusing the broadband wireless service"
Running at the speed supplied by iburst you could use your cap in a single day.

"Mtshali also claims that in clause 3.6.1 of the iBurst contract"
I signed my contract through FusionReactor and was never given, nor signed this contract. There may be some legal fine print on their website about it, but i haven't see it anywhere.

"all the users that had been disconnected had been forewarned by the company via e-mail"
A blatant lie. The email arrived *after* my i found my service was cut - i had to use my employers connection to see it.

"some users had found a way to bypass the 64Kbps throttle"
Another lie/misleading statement. Their throttle was broken, at no time did i, or any other suspended users as far as i am aware, make an attempt to bypass anything.

I have been reading all the comments on this and other service related issues during the past month or so. For people who have never been outside South Africa, and thus have nothing to compare with, it must be fine. I lived abroad for two years and also have the frustration of knowing what real service in a competitive market is. The person referring to Telkom is absolutely correct. They do not have the faintest idea what the word means, and they charge what they want to, because they can. There are alternatives if you go to the trouble of comparing apples with apples, as I did by putting my account on a spreadsheet and comparing the same calls to the cost as if I had made them from a cellphone. To complain about poor service and being overcharged is a right, not a privelage.The other wrong assumption is that business has the right to market untested products, and then expect the consumer to pay to test their product, and be patient while they try to make it work.

hi 10x for site good luck!

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