Inability to deliver on router as promised - cost me R999

Fibre installation (to a unit in a fibre-ready estate) was ordered via Vumatel, with Level-7 as ISP, on 23 March 2020. National lockdown commenced on 26 March. On 1 April I have had no reply, so I had to phone Vumatel, who indicated that the delay is with Level-7, who have to accept the order on their side. Cost me a phone call to Level-7 to get them to do it. Signed agreement with Level-7 on 1 April. On 2 April, Level-7 informed me they are unable to place the order, as system indicates either an existing order is in progress or there is a running service with another ISP for the address. As we did not have an existing ISP, the only issue could be that they duplicated our order on their system. After I pointed this out, our order was quickly processed, and installation by Vumatel confirmed for Monday, 6 April 2020. Finally, 8 working days after placing my order. So Vumatel arrives on 6 April and did the installation, which we then immediately confirmed with Level-7. Level-7 indicated that router delivery ETA is 1-2 days, and requested username and password for router set-up. Heaven forbid, early on 7 April Level-7 phones me with a “small problem”. The courier is unable to deliver our router as they can only deliver in Gauteng currently. We will have to wait until after lockdown. After phone call, Level-7 then sends email confirmation that delivery outside of Gauteng can take up to 3 weeks (meaning 3 weeks after the end of lockdown??), and there is no confirmed or guaranteed ETA. So what good would router delivery be for me in three weeks from now, when I have to work from home NOW? After I was told ETA of 1-2 days.

In the end, i had no option but to cancel with Level-7 today on 7 April, and to engage with another ISP that can actually deliver our router to us in CPT within 1-2 days. For this non-delivery, I now have to pay a cancellation fee to Level-7 of R999. Ridiculous. But hey, I signed their agreement. So it allows them to indicate an ETA, and if reality is different, to throw up their hands and to say “it’s out of our control”. I won’t recommend Level-7 to anyone. In trying times like these we need GREAT service, not soddy service which limits our ability to work from home.