Fibrestream is the worst...

I signed up with Fibrestream (Pty) Ltd in November 2019 for a 10 Mbps line speed for uploading and downloading, a No Fair Usage Policy and a Contention Rate of 1:10.

On my December 2019 invoice the Contention Rate was changed to 1:15.

Suddenly in January 2020 my line speed went down to 1 or 2 Mbps. Since then I have not received a 10 Mbps line speed for uploading and downloading. The internet is so slow that I cannot use it for the purpose I got it for in the first place.

Fibrestream were in no rush to help me with this. I emailed them numerous times without resolve. I also phoned them numerous times without them being able to assist me and promising to phone me back which they then did not do. Then I had to pay a call out fee for a technician to come out to fix the line speed with no change to my line speed. Up to date I have not received any answer from them as to why I had a lower Contention Rate than what I am paying for.

When my line speed first went down in January 2020 I contacted Fibrestream regularly about the issue, at first they would only reset my dish from their side, even though I kept telling them it does not work. When the technician was sent out fix the issue, he informed me that the beam was damaged and I would have to replace the beam. I paid R747.50 for the callout without any improvement on my line speed. When I asked him to test the beam with a new one I was informed that I would have to arrange for another call out and pay R2,800 for the new beam. The technician did not even climb on the roof to test or check anything. What if the pole was not fastened properly during installation and shifted in a storm. After 24h00 at night for a couple of hours the line speed would go up to 7 Mbps. I asked the technician why my contention rate was dropped to 1:15 and why I only got a line speed of 1 or 2 for most of the day except for after midnight for a couple of hours when the line speed would go up to 7Mbps and he could not give me an answer and informed me to phone Fibrestream.

I then called Fibrestream only to have the phone calls dropped or someone promising to phone me back or promising that a technician would phone me back which they then did not do.

Since I could not get a reply from Fibrestream I contacted 5 different Internet Providers and chatted to their technicians. All 5 confirmed that the problem could be a lot of things, interference, sector capacity i.e overloaded sector, the contention rate that was lowered, fair usage policy, etc. but not a damaged beam as damage could not be limited to 22 hours a day and not to the other 2 hours after midnight.

I have called Fibrestream on so many occasions trying to sort this out. I get no reply to my emails as to why my contention rate was lowered to 1:15 and why I only got a line speed of 1 or 2 for most of the day except for after midnight for a couple of hours when it would went up a little (still not 10 Mbps which I was paying for).

Finally, on 26 February 2020 I emailed them to cancel the services.

I then received an email on 4 March 2020 informing me that they believed it was reasonable for me to pay them R12 982.17 for the remainder of the contract which I will not use and they are not delivering on and in breach of. On the email they stated: “Please note that we will try our very best to try and save or convince you from proceeding with cancelling. Based on your reason for cancelling, your matter will be relayed to the relevant department for assistance.”

I rep**** to their email on 8 March stating that I believed it was reasonable for them to supply me with the service I am paid up to date for. Based on the above I waited for someone to contact me to resolve the issue. Again, I received no replies and no phone calls.

I then received an invoice from them on 17 March that my premium would increase with 11.8%.

For me it was that I had 1 or 2 speed line and that my contention rate was lowered without notification or explanation.

I can't be expected to pay for something I did not receive, something they have no interest in fixing.

Then on 25 March 2020 I received an email from Accountability saying that I will be reported to the NATIONAL CREDIT REGULATIONS if I fail to pay the R12 982.17. I rep**** to this on 26 and 31 March and 18 April 2020.

On Monday, 6 April 2020 a lady from Fibrestream gave me call to ask why I am cancelling the contract. After our conversation she said that she would get back to me.

Since then I have received no phone calls and no emails with a response.

Again, Fibrestream is not interested in sorting out the problem.

It suggests that the only reason I received that phone call is because they want to cover themselves because on the email they stated: “Please note that we will try our very best to try and save or convince you from proceeding with cancelling. Based on your reason for cancelling, your matter will be relayed to the relevant department for assistance.” and they want to give the impression that they are willing to sort out the problem.

The truth is that they could have given it through to the relevant department for assistance in January. I only received the phone call on 6 April after I stated it in the email to Accountability on 31 March. And after that nothing.

I used Fibrestream’s services from November 2019 until March 2020. I am fully paid up until 31 March 2020. I have cancelled Fibrestream’s services on 26 and 27 February 2020. I do not use Fibrestream’s services.

So they want to blacklist me for not paying R12,982.17 to cancel a future service that I have not yet received or used and that I have cancelled solely because Fibrestream did not deliver since December 2019 and January 2020.

If I used their data for 24 months I would agree with them that I have to pay for that data. But I don’t and I have not. I paid for the months that I used it.