Webafrica leverages the safety and anonymity provided by AI and chatbots to evade accountability for service delivery failures and incompetence.

The polished façade of a seamless and pleasant sales experience, facilitated “telephonically by real people”, may present Webafrica as a preferred choice for internet services. However, as with all fairytales, the harsh reality becomes apparent as soon as a customer raises an aftersales concern or query. It is at this point that Webafrica adopts a hermit philosophy, retreating into their shell and utilizing the safety and anonymity of AI and chatbots to avoid addressing customer concerns or complaints directly. Their simple strategy is to frustrate customers with AI and chatbots until they eventually submit.

My frustration, and current state of being held hostage, began during this hermit stage. For the sake of brevity, I have been a Webafrica customer since January 2024. In early 2025 I realized that my data package was insufficient to adequately support my son, a first-year engineering student, in running the necessary software programs. Consequently, I decided to approach Webafrica and apply for a package upgrade. The upgrade experience was seamless and pleasant, and since it was a sales interaction it was facilitated “telephonically by a real person” who advised that the upgrade would be activated within 48 hours. This occurred around the 14th of January 2025.

On 20 January 2025, I contacted Webafrica to ascertain the status of the upgrade, as it had not yet been activated. Since this interaction was no longer considered a “sales interaction,” I was no longer able to engage “telephonically with a real person”. Instead, the arduous journey of WhatsApp chatbot communications commenced at 10h49. By 12h53, after approximately 47 WhatsApp messages, I was informed that the “pleasant” sales consultant had erred in advising me that the upgrade required 48 hours for activation. Instead, I was informed that the upgrade would only be activated at the end of the month. Despite my dissatisfaction, I had no option but to wait an additional 10 days until the end of January 2025 for the required upgrade.

On 04 February 2025, I once again contacted Webafrica to ascertain the status of the upgrade, as it had still not been activated despite prior commitments from Webafrica. Once again, another round of WhatsApp chatbot communications commenced at 14h45. By 16h16, after approximately 48 WhatsApp messages, I was informed of Webafrica’s office hours and advised to re-engage with them during those times.

On 05 February 2025 at 07h26, he WhatsApp chatbot communications resumed. Information ranged from “no upgrade request on record” to “the upgrade was scheduled for the end of February 2025 and that I had my dates incorrect”. However, my refusal to accept this resulted in an admission of Webafrica’s oversight regarding the upgrade. The conversation concluded at 07h44, after 10 WhatsApp messages, with confirmation that my upgrade had been escalated to the Critical Care Team for immediate resolution.

Expecting an update, I once more contacted Webafrica via the same WhatsApp chatbot communications at 13h40. After 30 WhatsApp messages I disengaged at 16h00 without any further information.

On 06 February 2025, without any clear indication of the upgrade status or activation estimation, I instructed Webafrica to cancel my subscription completely. This process required an additional 40 WhatsApp messages, and I was informed, in no uncertain terms, that Webafrica would not make the fibre line available to another Internet Service Provider until I served a one-month notice, expiring on the 31st of March 2025, and paid a R999 cancellation fee. In simple terms, the fibre line is used as ransom to compel my acceptance of Webafrica’s cancellation terms, even though my cancellation is entirely and solely a consequence of Webafrica’s service failure and incompetence.

Sadly, after enduring nearly 100 WhatsApp messages over several days, filled with inconsistent information and false commitments, compounded by the fact that my fibre line is now being held hostage in exchange for serving a notice period and paying cancellation fees, I gave up. I was simply frustrated into submission.

I realise it will be futile to expect anyone from Webafrica to emerge from their AI and chatbot bunker to meaningfully address these concerns, but I implore prospective internet service provider customers to pay careful attention to the dark side of Webafrica’s polished sales promise.

A word of customer advice to Webafrica … deeply invest in customer experience (CX) sciences as great customer experiences secure customer loyalty and grow the customer base … the return on CX investment is exponential; a concept clearly foreign to Webafrica.