Lack of Service

To whom this may concern,

I have been a customer since August 2019 and I have had issues with my line and complete lack of service from Axxess and Openserve for 3 months, going on 4.

I realise the below is lengthy but please read it through as it is a detailed account of my horrible experience with both Axxess and OpenServe.

I moved to a house that already had an Openserve line installed (unfortunately for me) as I am now held hostage and cannot change to a more reliable line like Vumatel – who I had for 2 years at my previous home and NEVER EVER experienced the kind of ‘service’ I have experienced with Axxess and OpenServe.

To note: I am paying for a 100/50Mbps line and since August have only had a true speed for approx. 10 days in 3.5 months.

On 6 August a technician came to install the fibre box in the wall as the previous owner had removed it. The next day I reported a fault through the dashboard that the line speed was not right as I was only getting 27.87Mbps download and 32.55Mbps upload. For 3 days I had to endure a consultant ask me a myriad of questions which had no relevance to my fault as the consultants are not technical and read from a script of troubleshooting questions – I had to eventually get rude before she would act on the issue and log a fault with Openserve which eventually came on 9 August. 3 days after reporting the issue.

The problem then persisted after 2 OpenServe technicians came to the house to try solve the issue. We even changed the router and that didn’t work. Due to the lack of service received when dealing with consultants via email I opted to rather call to speak to a consultant. The results were much the same and I had to run through the whole history and all the tests several times. One call lasted half an hour – at my cost. This entire process took approximately a month. My line speed improved to approximately 60Mbps. It was still not the line I was paying for but I was so exhausted from dealing with your technical department that I just left it.

By 26 September we had a new problem, I was experiencing intermittent connection. Several times a day I would be disconnected from the internet – ‘Connected – No Internet’ I would need to reset the whole system 3-4 times per week for several weeks.

I logged a ticket on the dashboard again. We went through the usual troubleshoots of changing channels and testing speeds and the emails eventually became tiresome so I called in and was helped by a consultant on 3 October. It took a week to try find a resolution. Unfortunately, nothing improved so another fault with Openserve was logged. Eventually, the third Openserve technician who came around 14 October simply removed a bridge device from the wall box and my line speed was in the 90’sMbps. This lasted a short while.

And then Axxess was hacked.

Since the hack, my line speed has not been more than +/-19-24Mbps. I monitored the notifications to see when the hack would be resolved which took a few days but my line never returned to full speed – or even anything near it. In fact, it's now worse than ever.

I called your technical department on 29 October to advise them of the problem and the consultant, Analisa advised that she would report the fault with Openserve. I waited a few days and I never received a reference number nor did get a call from Openserve – so the fault was never logged by your consultant.

31 October I logged another ticket with your technical department and included the history and speed test screengrabs. 20 hours later I had still not received a response. The response I eventually got was, ‘Please include a screenshot of the speed test….’ Meaning she had not even read my ticket or looked at the attachment. I responded immediately and advised the consultant that the image attached to the ticket included the screenshot of the speed test – I got a response on the 5th November!!!!!! 5 days to get a fault logged with Openserve. On 6th November I got an ‘after service survey’ from Telkom. They had not come to the house. I immediately added a follow-up email to my ticket to inform your consultant that OpenServe had not come to the house.

8 days since I called to report the fault with Analisaand still nothing was done to try solve the issue.

On 7 November I still had no response from your technical department.

On 8 November I called again to speak to a consultant. We conducted 3 speed tests on the guest account and I added the images to the ticket. He advised that the fault was with Openserve. A fault was logged with Openserve and the technician came on Saturday 9 November. We again ran tests using multiple test accounts and changed the router and the results were the same – the speed was never more than 20Mbps. We called the OpenServe technical hub and the technician advised that on their side it shows I am getting 100Mbps speed and that the issue is with Axxess.

We called the Axxess technical department together and the consultant had me on the phone and on hold for over 30 mins – we informed her of what had been done and while I was on hold the OpenServe tech left as the issue was with Axxess.

When she eventually came back on the line she informed me that the issue was not Axxess – it was OpenServe and that she would log a fault for a specialist at OpenServe.

AGAIN! neither Axxess nor OpenServe willing to take responsibility or ownership of the fault.

On Monday, 11 November I got a call from Openserve specialist who asked me if I had extenders on my wi-fi. I explained that this could not be the issue as the speed from the router was 19Mbps. He got rude and informed me that the issue was with Axxess as on their side it's showing I have full speed. After arguing with him he assured me he would be sending a specialist to PROVE that the problem is with Axxess.

No technician or specialist arrived. I waited the whole day. During the course of the day I lost internet twice ‘connected – no internet’. So I called the Axxess technical department, again. Explained the whole story, again. And requested that SOMEBODY take responsibility for the issue. I said that opening a new ticket with Openserve would solve nothing as this had now happened more than 3 times since 30 October and my line speed is still broken. The consultant logged a new ticket with OpenServe…… after I explained that it needed to be escalated with Axxess.

I have been passed from pillar to post between Axxess and OpenServe. I am a customer paying over R1000 a month to be treated this way and still not get what I am paying for.

I am beyond livid and fed up. I have NO more patience.

Axxess and OpenServe need to talk to each other and not me.

At the end of the day I am a consumer and I am paying you, Axxess for a service – the CPA dictates that I have the right to fair value, and good quality goods and service.

I have the right to:

High-quality services, which consumers are entitled to expect

Suppliers are required to remedy any defects in the quality of services performed or goods supp****; or refund the consumers a reasonable portion of the price paid for the services performed and goods supp****, in the event of these being sub-standard.

Consumers are entitled to receive goods or services that are of good quality, in good working order and free of any defects, and that comply with any applicable standards set under the Standards Act, No. 29 of 1993 or any other public regulation.

I have spent 3 hours and 20 minutes on the phone since August, sent multiple emails and experienced 10 days of the speed I am paying for. And still nothing has been resolved!