Paid for Fibre Installation That Never Happened

I am writing this review after more than a month of unresolved issues involving Afrihost and Vumatel regarding a fibre installation that should have been straightforward.

I placed an order for fibre through Afrihost (Vumatel line). Installation was repeatedly scheduled and repeatedly missed. I was told technicians would arrive on multiple occasions (including specific weekends and weekdays), yet no one arrived and no proactive communication followed.

Despite no fibre box being installed and no internet service being delivered, the debit order for December was processed. This directly contradicts the advertised policy of payment after successful installation. I paid for an entire month without receiving a single day of service.

Over this period, I logged numerous tickets and escalations (over seven) with Afrihost. While the support staff were polite, the outcome never changed: responsibility was continually deferred to Vumatel, with no concrete resolution or timelines. Escalations labelled “urgent” or “emergency” produced no action.

When I eventually made contact with a Vumatel representative, I was told I would need to pay an additional installation fee for work that was contractually included and should already have been completed. This was presented as the only way to “speed things up”, despite the fact that payment had already been made and installation failures were not caused by me.

At no point was clear accountability taken between Afrihost and Vumatel. As the customer, I was left stuck between two companies who work together but do not appear to take joint responsibility. The customer should not be required to mediate between an ISP and its fibre provider.