Only 6 Days as a New Customer and Already 18 Hours Without Fiber

I am extremely disappointed with the service I have received after being a fiber customer for only six days.

I signed up for fiber through EAS, and my contact person was Jean, who arranged the service through Evotel. As I understand it, Vodacom is the company providing the fiber service. At this point, I honestly do not even know whether my complaint should be directed to EAS, Evotel or Vodacom — but somebody needs to take responsibility for this situation.

The day before my fiber service went offline, the monthly payment was deducted from my bank account. Approximately 12 hours after they took the money from my account, my fiber service went offline.

It has now been approximately 18 hours without fiber.

What concerns and disappoints me most is the difference between the service I received before payment was made and the service I have received since.

Before any payment was taken, the service I received from Jean at EAS was brilliant. I was, and still am, genuinely impressed with how helpful, friendly and efficient he was throughout the installation process. Unfortunately, once my account had been debited and there was an actual problem with my service, my experience changed completely.

After my fiber went offline, I contacted Jean. At approximately 14:30, he told me that he would phone me. I never received that call.

At 16:11, he told me that someone would phone me. Again, nobody called.

At approximately 16:47, I contacted Vodacom myself. After spending around 22 minutes on the phone, I was told that somebody would call me back within 30 minutes. That call never came either.

At 18:07, I contacted Vodacom again. This call lasted approximately 30 minutes, and I finally managed to have a support ticket opened.

Ticket number: SR***

In total, I spent approximately 53 minutes on the phone trying to get this problem resolved. I have proof of these calls, including screenshots showing the calls and their duration. As a brand-new customer who had only had fiber for six days, I do not believe I should have had to spend almost an hour on the phone simply trying to get someone to take responsibility for a service that had stopped working.

Jean from EAS also told me that my fiber would be working again by the following morning. I have a text message from him stating that my fiber would be back on in the morning. I also have screenshots of the messages between Jean and myself, including the messages regarding the promised phone calls and when I was told the fiber would be restored.

It is now the following morning. My fiber has been offline for approximately 18 hours, and I still do not have a connection.

I am a brand-new customer. My fiber was installed only six days ago, and I have signed a 12-month contract. Technical problems can happen, and I understand that. What I do not understand or accept is having to chase different companies for assistance while being repeatedly told that someone will call me, only for those calls never to happen.

What makes this situation even more frustrating is that the monthly payment was successfully taken from my bank account, and approximately 12 hours later my fiber service went offline. Six days after installation, I am now paying for a service that I cannot use.

Before payment was taken, everything went smoothly and the customer service was excellent. Now that the payment has been collected and there is a problem, I am the one spending my time making phone calls and trying to figure out who is actually responsible for restoring my service.

Is it EAS? Is it Evotel? Is it Vodacom?

As the customer, I should not have to figure that out. I signed up for a fiber service, I have paid for that service, and I expect the companies involved to communicate with each other and resolve the problem.

I was initially extremely happy that I chose EAS, Evotel and Vodacom. Unfortunately, only six days later, I am already regretting that decision.

I am now seriously considering cancelling the fiber service altogether. I understand that I signed a 12-month contract, but if this is how a brand-new customer is treated after only six days, I have serious concerns about what the next 12 months are going to look like.

I would like this matter escalated urgently. I would also like a clear explanation of who is responsible for resolving this outage, why my fiber has been offline for approximately 18 hours, why the promised callbacks never happened, and exactly when my fiber connection will be restored.

I would also like to know what my options are regarding cancelling the 12-month contract if reliable service and reasonable customer support cannot be provided.

I have screenshots and records to support what I have stated above, including the duration of the calls I made trying to resolve the problem and the messages exchanged between Jean and myself.

Six days ago, I was a very happy new customer and extremely impressed with the service I had received. Unfortunately, this experience has changed my opinion very quickly.

I am not asking for anything unreasonable. The monthly payment has been taken from my bank account. I am simply asking for the fiber service I am paying for and for someone to take responsibility for getting it working again.