Web Africa Networks
Reviews and Complaints

I had LTE with Webafrica and once Fibre became available, I moved over. I was charged for a router, LTE and Fibre. I cancelled my debit order, while struggling to get credit notes passed. I was promised telephonically and by Whatsapp that the credits will be passed, finally the router was credited, however not the LTE service fee. Monthly a debit order would go through for the wrong amount, due to the difficulty in getting these sorted out, I would cancel my debit order.

My line was then cancelled by Webafrica. Finally I paid the full amount, even though a credit was owing to get my line reinstated. Another router was delivered, I was billed for two routers, installation and July fees, even though my service was only activated 10 days later. Again a debit order for the wrong amount went off my account, I cancelled the debit order.

A credit for the routers and installation was done, however not the service date.

I need my line cancelled and lifted. I applied with Afrihost for Fibre.

It is impossible to communicate with Webafrica. They do not answer the phone, or you hold for an hour or longer for someone to answer, messaging takes hours and you get transferred without them listening to your story. The only department fully functioning is the sales department.

I get 30Gb data per month from WebAfrica (Telkom) and noticed this month I only got 20Gb data. I tried to phone the support line, notified that it would take 43 minutes to get to an operator (wow). went to Whatsapp line and after more than a hour got to talk to a support staff member. Eventually he asked me if we could continue the next day as he wanted to go home. Next day no response from him. Went back on Whatsapp next day, reached eventually a lady in support. Same story, waiting for a response from Telkom. That was the end of Webafrica. A week later still no response from WebAfrica. I have NEVER seen such bad service anywhere. I have at least 6 reference numbers, every time you get back on Whatsapp a query starts from scratch as a new reference is given. So every time you have to retype your problem to a new person who then blows you off.

On friday the 16th july I received an promotional whatsapp to upgrade to a 40/10 fibre line. Which I accepted monday the 19th, which would have activated in 2 hours, according to the promotion.
7 days later, nothing has happened. I have communicated via whatsapp with numerous of your agents (kevin, melissa, and a kevin) without any success.
It seems each one's response is that the matter will be escalated, but nothing happens.
This is terrible client service.
My contact details is [protected].

Adrian Ely has got an LTE service for almost two years and has been billed incorrectly in June 2021 and has according to webafrica been sorted but must also mention I have not have service for two weeks in the month of June, however July 2021 has arrives and exact same problem incorrectly billed which was a mistake on their part but been battling for almost a month now to get connected. Webafrica is now blaming Telkom..I have dealt with so many consultants and Emails have been sent to the managers but it seems like a losing battle im fighting payments gets made but no service to date. PATHETIC

I want to voice my absolute disgust at the service I have received from your company

I moved to Webafrica from Cape Connect recently and have been unhappy ever since. It took a week just to get my line connected once it was connected I was not receiving the line speeds I am paying for I have tried for 2 days now to get this resolved I have used your whatsapp channel which does not work as you can never get hold of anybody and when I call in my call gets taken and get told I will be transferred to someone to assist only for the call to be put down. I have gone through Hello Peter and seen that there are numerous clients with the exact same issues as I have now. Your support agents tell you to do tests and when you do them and they dont work you get told to do them again I am very frustrated with you guys as I constantly need to call you guys for assistance and never have any luck with resolving them but I know that at the end of this month there will be no issues when it comes to debiting my account.

Should this continue I will have to look at migrating to another ISP and escalating this to either Icasa or another authority as this is not the way of doing business and goes against the consumer protection act

I look forward to hearing from you soon

Kind Regards

Adrian James

Hi

I am being changed a unfair cancellation fee with webafrica, where they didn't even have to do a installation the fiber was in place already.

I have tried to resolve this fee with webafrica but I keep on getting bounced from person to person with no resolution.

I have also emailed webafrica with no response and I get a automated response saying the they don't deal with there customers over email anymore and they don't answer there phones.

Please help me resolve this issue I feel the cancellation fee is unjustified.

Webafrica will debit your bank account without your permission and signed agreement. No one is available to assist. They use whatsapp to frustrate you senseless while you sit with the financial burden. Scum.
I demand a refund and demand to know on what basis did you put a debit order through?
Show me the signed agreement and debit order instruction.

i need someone to urgently get hold of me on [protected] Zubeidah Stevens [protected] made payment on the 5 February 2021 and was told to expect installation its been a month and no joy in the service that i have received on all your contact platform the advertising is so false as i have been trying to connect to your what-app for days only robotic reply's i need someone to URGENTLY GET MY PROBLEM LOOKED INTO VERY UNACCEPTABLE

Hi good day vuma tell install a Fibre box in my house first it was the constitution from outside then the box inside then rewired everything still nothing I have made payment as well I chose u guys because of what I haerd what a good network you are but to my surprise and disappointment its has been a month since the 1st time the guys come to my house please can u assist me.

Fibre was already installed at the premises when I moved in and I even provided WebAfrica with the previous owner's WebAfrica account number. I never even opened the modem as I had my own modem which I used. The modem was returned after cancellation and receipt was confirmed on the WhatsApp line. An amount of R3, 879 was deducted from my bank account on 02 Jan 2021 and no one on email, telephone or WhatsApp is able to assist with my query.
Can someone please assist with a refund of the full amount?

My request was submitted on the 1st of December 2020 and Vodacom was out to install the fiber convertor. Once this was done I got no feedback till today the 21 December 2020. I am very unhappy with this service because I've tried to contact them and all I heard was it's still within SLA. I need this service urgently as I am currently working from home. I have an existing line with WebAfrica for my mother's place which has been working fine all these years. I don't understand why I am battling to get good service from them on an additional line. Please help...

Have been in contact with webafrica for about two weeks am still not connected in my new house. How am I supposed to work without connectivity. Apparently my query was escalated to the seniors which they cannot provide details of them to date they haven't contacted me. They take me to pillar to post, as if am not a paying client. I have a object number from vumatel which is VT-OB-VR-0684. I want to be connected not later than today please. My work is behind because of you. Its school holidays and my kids cant even watch tv or connect their gadgets. I was promised that it will be connected 2 days ago but still not connected.

I placed a pre-order for Fibre installation on: 24.08.2020, My area went live on the 30th October 2020.

My Fibre order was accepted on the 04.11.2020. I have not heard a word since.

Upon following up via the whatsapp support portal which is a complete nightmare. I am given the same information over and over:

Melissa: Order checked, accepted and progressed.
Duplication check done, no duplicates found for this address.
This area in Protea Glen East 1.1 is LIVE.
Build and installation assigned to a contractor who will make contact with the end user to schedule an appointment.
Please be advised that our standard lead time applies.

Please be advised that not all road names are available on the map, in this precinct, this means that if the pin has been incorrectly plotted there is a chance that this clients address may fall into an area that is not yet live.

The above being the latest response from Webafrica.

I am then later told the following:

Melissa: There is an issue with your address, they are looking into the fact if they are able to install in the specific area, as it could mean that your area is not live for fibre as yet. They have sent through to Frogfoot to double check so that the order can be accepted and progressed and sent off for scheduling.

So why dont you keep me as a client informed about this?

Am I going to wait until the new year to have fibre installed?

I am far from impressed with Webafrica and Frogfoot as this is just no sense of urgency anywhere.

I require contact from someone at Webafrica with tangible information on the cause of the delay and confirmation of when my Fibre will be installed.

My area recently suffered from cable theft and I was without internet for a week and that has put my job at risk as I work from home.

Account number: [protected]@wafibre

Dear Sir
My account [protected]@wafiber
My complains so far have been met with an immediate closure of the 'ticket' or termination of calls.
The following are examples of yesterdays responses.
I have all emails and ticket numbers.

1.
I would like an explanation as to why my fibre line is apparently ‘cancelled' each month. When I do eventually get through to SUPPORT I am told I must speak to PROVISIONING. The "problem" has thus far been resolved in this manner. It takes an enormous amount of time and cell cost.

Here follows today's communication to ‘Amanda James'. As you can ALSO SEE, she terminated communication at 5:51pm with no explanation.

[5:51 PM, 10/15/2020] Webafrica: Amanda: service is cancelled i will generate a callback request for re-connection
[5:51 PM, 10/15/2020] Webafrica: Amanda: I've just created a call-back request for one of our provisioning agents to contact you, reference #1655654. They'll contact you shortly to assist.
[5:51 PM, 10/15/2020] Mike Berry: I was told last week when this occurred that my fibre line was cancelled only to have 'provisioning' tell me this was false. Somehow the line was fixed within a about a minute after.
[5:51 PM, 10/15/2020] Webafrica: Looks like you're done, your live chat session (ref #385685) has been closed and you're back with Willie again, Press 1 to reopen chat, Press 2 to rate your experience with Amanda or press 0 to return to the main menu.
[5:51 PM, 10/15/2020] Mike Berry: 1
[5:52 PM, 10/15/2020] Webafrica: Let me try to reconnect you to the Live Chat agent you were chatting to, please hold a moment...
[5:57 PM, 10/15/2020] Mike Berry: I have NEVER cancelled. This has occurred repeatedly. Please reconnect the service.
[5:57 PM, 10/15/2020] Webafrica: I'm still trying to put you through to one of our Live Chat agents, if however you'd prefer to cancel the Live Chat request, simply type ENDCHAT.
[6:00 PM, 10/15/2020] Webafrica: I'm sorry its taking longer than usual to connect you to an agent. I'll keep trying...

2.
My second issue points to your terms of service which clearly state in your Code of Conduct
Minimum standards for the services offered by Webafrica
11.8 respond within 3 (three) minutes (averaged over six months) to any call directed to the Webafrica call centre;
Your automated call system indicated today a waiting time of 1hour 50minutes. It then informs me that it will cost me less to opt for a call-back. This has not happened once and I have been a client for over a decade. In all honesty, I have never held on for less than 20min.

This service surely violates your Terms & Conditions and Code of Conduct.

Please will someone in a senior position contact me and explain how my continuous service ‘cancellations' can be resolved and also how I can contact assistance within an acceptable time-frame.

There is no complaints email address, no workable telephone no for complaints only a very long wait and maybe a sudden ‘cut-off'.

Yours
Mike

Mike Berry [protected]

My Mom Pauline Oberholzer joined WebAfrica to get a fibre connection in March 2020, the line was installed by Frogfoot and the modem was sent via courier to her and when she plugged everything in nothing worked.

My Mom is 70 years old and lives on her own and doesnt understand how technology works so we got hold the support to assist her and they actually laughed at her and thought she was a joke because she didnt understand what they tried to tell her.

I got hold of them and was told that I had to pay someone to go out and assist her because they do not do that and that was that. After numerous fights and messages, I told them to cancel the contract because they wanted to take money off for something that she was not able to use at all and that was never actually connected. I was told that I had to give them confirmation of our order with Afrihost (See Below correspondence) In order for them to cancel the automated costs for Frogfoot (clawback) :

If we are not able to confirm the Afrihost order - we will run the immediate cancellation, the router as stipulated in previous messages has already been processed for collection from the account holder address. The installation fee will be auto -charged by the system, unless Frogfoot as the underlying infrastructure provider are able to transfer the installation fee to your new ISP of choice

If we cancel - the profile will be auto charged
we are willing to action the cancellation as per your requests - again, we're trying to ensure no charges along with this immediate cancellation inquiry
Making contact with Frogfoot wont be of much help. There support staff will not be aware of this arrangement option

I did give the Afrihost contract details and now all of a sudden WebAfrica has handed my mom over for that fee. These people treat old people with disdain and think they are cash cows and they are bullies, no service was rendered. You people removed your modem from my moms property, this was the worst experience ever, getting fibre is supposed to be exciting all you people did was treat my mom really badly, upset her terribly. Nobody answers any of my mails or messages all I get is we will get back to you and nothing happens. Pathetic Pathetic

April 6 2020

Incident 4036 - Bill deducted at the incorrect amount, again. Tickets, Issues, Complaints logged. Service lines phoned. Whatsapp BOT contacted. Emails sent. No response on any service. On hold till airtime depletes.

Worst. Service. Ever.

Personal recommendation: Instead of signing up with WebAfrica - Maybe try some tin-cups and string or a carrier pigeon instead.

I was notified via e-mail in October, that my lite package would not be available anymore and that I would be changed to a Telkom package.

It took 2 weeks of fighting with the inferior courier service to get the sim card delivered, of which Web Africa did not want to assist with.

Finally got the card to be activated on the 1st of November, only to find out it has been cancelled by them. The old package was still active and told to just continue with it.

1st Of December my data was cut in half. Logged another ticket, numerous e-mails promises that the Telkom sim would be activated and now its Christmas, sorry Telkom is closed until January and it's their fault. While they are happily taking my money as I keep on topping up on data and wasting data trying to contact them. No compensation offered at any point of-course.

Don't offer a service if you cannot provide it and passing the buck when you clearly incompetent and incapable of doing so yourself.

At this point no management or senior has contacted me, as I was told in writing that it was escalated to senior management. Not sure if they have any at this point. Probably on vacation till January.

I am a re-seller for Webafrica in regards to providing internet services and fibre and have client accounts linked to my profile. I requested cancellation of one of the client accounts but webafrica proceeded to cancel two additional account that was not to be cancelled. They then charged for installation fees for the two accounts that they cancelled in error. After I refused payment for this as it was an error on their side, they suspended all the accounts forcing me into payment. After I have made payment, I then had to request again for the accounts to be re-activated and the fees to be credited. After a long struggle this has been done. However for this month Webafrica, did double invoicing on the accounts and have not corrected this is yet, despite my logging a query on the 8th of August 2018. Webafrica again suspended my account, forcing payment out of me before they are willing to fix their mistake. Thus evertime they make an error I have to pay for it, hoping that it would be fixed, but it seems after every payment, the problem seems to worsen. With Webafrica taking no accountability. I did a search on Hello Peter and it would seem this is a problem for many of their clients.

This is the complaint as published on HelloPeter, which nobody seems to want to respond to.

Shocking customer service and very bad attitude towards resolving problems.

I duly signed up for WebAfrica's LTE internet option, via their online portal. The particular webpage verified whether you were in a LTE-covered area, before you could continue with the order. Satisfied that my area was actually covered, I placed the order, and after an absolute nightmare of trying to get further assistance from WebAfrica, the equipment was finally delivered. Impressed with the speed and connectivity, I let the initial bad experience go, and continued without any further problems. Then suddenly - two months later - I suddenly could not connect. I contacted WebAfrica through their chat portal, and explained the problem. This was on Friday 01-09-2017. I explained that I was running an online business, and that I was losing clients and money in down-time. They responded that they did not know what was wrong, but that the problem would be resolved within 24 to 48 hours. When the problem persisted through the weekend, and several attempts to contact WebAfrica had failed, I finally got hold of them again on Monday 04-09-2017. After spending most of the day trying to get them to pay attention to the problem, and being handed off to "Internet Solutions" (their service-provider) and "Rain" (their network specialists), neither of whom were interested in my particular problem, but simply told me to communicate through WebAfrica, I was told the following by WebAfrica: I signed up and bought the equipment, knowing that I was not in a LTE-covered area, and that this was my own problem. If I wanted to get onto the internet, I could contact another company (which I presume is linked to them) to get an antenna which would give me access. When I responded that I would not have been able to even buy this equipment originally if I did not fall into a coverage-area, and that the equipment actually worked for two months before it suddenly and mysteriously stopped, the simply reiterated that I did not fall into the LTE area. When I asked for a manager, I was told that they were not available, but that they would be given a message to contact me. Ridiculously, I was actually asked what resolution I desired from speaking to a manager... Wow! Have we really become THAT insolent that we treat our customers like idiots, and then shift the blame to them when our bad service becomes too apparent to deny? In the meantime, the monthly rate of R999 has already been deducted off my account, and I have yet to see any benefit thereof. My business is losing clients and money, due to this laughable incompetence. My recommendation: DON'T GO TO WEBAFRICA! They will promise you the earth, make you pay for it, give you a taste of what 's promised, and then rip the carpet out from under you. Then, when you complain, you will be dragged around and treated like a fool, until they manage to get you to agree to spending more money on their service... Rather choose a more expensive, but more professional provider.

The conversation on Monday with your agent "Ricardo" is as follows:

We discovered that the issue is on the Rain server, we are currently working closely to have it resolved.03:45 PM

HOW DOES THAT RESOLVE MY PROBLEM OF BEING WITHOUT FOR THREE DAYS, AND STILL NO RESOLUTION?03:46 PM
What are you doing to make up for this? And the money and clients my business has lost? And the money it's cost me to try and run this from a cellular network?03:47 PM
WHEN IS THIS GOING TO BE RESOLVED?03:47 PM

i am working on it with the rain team as we speak.03:51 PM
this is a high priority for us and will have it resolved shortly.03:52 PM
They have requested that you do a hard reset.03:52 PM

That is exactly what you guys said on Friday. And what about restitution?03:53 PM
Hard reset done. Still red Mode.03:54 PM
That is exactly what you guys said on Friday. And what about restitution?03:55 PM
Hard reset done. Still red Mode.03:55 PM

it out of range it seems.03:58 PM

Absolutely impossible - the router has not changed position since I have had it. What are you doing to resolve this issue, and when will it be resolved? Should I then hold you personally responsible for damages suffered, as you simply refuse to answer my questions pertinently?04:01 PM

Try reposition the router, other than that not much can be done other then getting an enttana, if you check on the website you will see you are out of range.04:05 PM
40 New Scotland Rd, Pelham, Pietermaritzburg, 3201, South Africa04:05 PM
HTTPs://WWW.webafrica.co.za/lte04:05 PM

That is absolute nonsense! This router has been working all along, until now. Even if it is out of range of LTE, it should automatically switch to 3G, which it doesn't. Do you really want to tell me that I am suddenly in a cellular "Dead Zone" (which happened spontaneously over night), when everyone around me are having no communication issues whatsoever?04:08 PM
you can contact these guys, they can advise you on an enttena04:08 PM
HTTP://poynting.tech04:08 PM

Please! That's just ludicrous.04:08 PM
Give me your manager's contact details, please. I have never heard such rubbish in my life.04:09 PM

an i arrange for a manager to contact you?04:14 PM

When will this happen?04:14 PM

who assisted you with the sign up?04:15 PM
did you sign this up yourself?04:15 PM

Nobody. The process was online. What does that matter? I have a problem with the service and WebAfrica's reluctance to fix their problem, but rather obfuscate the matter with stupid excuses.04:16 PM

are you saying you knew you were out of range but signed up?04:17 PM

I WAS NEVER OUT OF RANGE! At the time, my address was within range, otherwise I never would have signed up. The process from your end was such that you had to check whether you were in fact in range first - if you weren't, you could not continue with the order. If I was out of range, HOW DID I HAVE INTERNET UNTILL NOW? Come on, man!04:19 PM

In all respect doing that is at your own risk if you siged up out of range, it does show it on our map that you just miss it and that is not an excuse, the best we can do is to help you get a suitable adviser for an antenna, I spoke to rain regarding this and this is what is advice going forward.04:22 PM
I COULD NOT HAVE SIGNED UP IF IT WAS OUT OF RANGE! YOUR PROCESS ONLINE WOULDN'T ALLOW THAT! Are you reading my messages?04:23 PM
If I was out of range, HOW DID I HAVE INTERNET UNTILL NOW, ON THE SAME EQUIPMENT?04:23 PM
This chat is recorded, and I am going to take this to public forums. This is pure incompetence. Give me the contact details of your management, please.04:24 PM

i have arrnage the call back for you.04:25 PM
please allow us to further investigate and contact you asap.04:25 PM

WHEN WILL THIS BE?04:26 PM
I cannot afford this to drag on endlessly.04:26 PM

it is a bit late at the moment and you can expect a call back by tomorrow for the latest.04:28 PM
i hope this help.04:29 PM

NOT ACCEPTABLE! Then we are going into five days! If I do not get a call before 17:00 today, this entire conversation is going onto public forum.04:29 PM

And your name will be in there.04:30 PM
If you wish to gain more insight on this query you can confirm directly with Rain support.04:31 PM
Rain
Tel: (+[protected]:31 PM

They will tell me exactly the same as IS earlier today - that the query must run through WebAfrica. If your management does not contact me before 17:00 today, this all goes onto public forum, with IS, and Rain.04:33 PM

currently, the LTE manager is not available hence i have logged it and we can contact you tommorow.04:35 PM

Not my problem then - you will have to deal with the fallout.

What is the out come you wish to see once you have spoken to a manager?04:38 PM

Is this really that difficult? I am paying for a service which was working perfectly, until it wasn't. Now, I am losing money, and my business has ground to a halt, because I cannot get online. I want the same internet service - which was working perfectly before, and which I have paid for - to work. This is what your service promises, and delivered, but now no longer does. I want my internet access reinstated immediately, I want credit for the days I did not have access, and I want you to pay the damages suffered due to this nonsense. And every day your bad service drags on, the bill escalates by thousands of rands.04:42 PM

ok.04:44 PM
i will relay the message.04:45 PM
I hope this help.04:48 PM

DO YOU REALLY THINK IT DOES? STOP READING OFF THE SCREEN AND THINK FOR YOURSELF! HAVE YOU REALLY HELPED ME? THINK FOR YOURSELF!04:49 PM

i understand your frasrtaions.

If you did, this joke would have been resolved long ago. Please don't try to placate me with further irrelevant and idiotic nonsense - I am now taking this further, and your contribution to this joke will be noted.04:55 PM

I am really sorry for the internet connection issue you are experincing and the lack of connection.04:56 PM

On Tuesday, I followed up again, as still no resolution has been arrived at, and still no communication from any manager. The conversation follows here:

ASE27 / [protected]:39 AM
Still no communication from your management about my ongoing lack of internet access which I have paid for, which worked perfectly, and now suddenly doesn't. Shall I update the Hellopeter review to this extent as well?08:39 AM

Hi Etienne08:44 AM
I've just checked the mailbox for feedback from Internet Solutions08:44 AM
I can forward the mail to you08:44 AM

Please do that. I am still waiting for your manager's call, as promised by Ricardo yesterday. When is this matter going to be resolved? Or do you guys simply not care?08:45 AM

We do care Ettiene we have been trying to resolve this with Internet Solutions08:46 AM
I apologize if you've not received a manager callback yet, but please note the manager will only be able to do us much as myself as an agent will be able to do08:46 AM

But maybe I would actually be able to speak to someone who actually takes note of my specific complaint and responds pertinently to the same, instead of reading the recommended response from a screen. Then, maybe the problem could actually be resolved... WHEN WILL THIS BE RESOLVED?!08:48 AM

The main reason as per Internet Solutions advice is that you are in a poor coverage area, so this is highly likely the reason you're unable to connect08:50 AM

That is just absolute [censor]! I have had this service for three months now, and it worked perfectly for the first two, until suddenly last week, when it stopped working. Absolutely nothing changed in the coverage area. Nobody else in this area has any problems with connectivity. If LTE itself is a problem, the system is supposed to automatically revert to the next available signal, in this case 3G. Do you really expect me to be stupid enough to accept that this is your actual explanation for your failure? Or do you simply not know enough about your own product? Or, AGAIN, do you simply not care enough?08:54 AM

And now simply no answer. Well done! You fit the performance and service-expectation at WebAfrica.09:01 AM

WHAT IS GOING ON? IS THIS REALLY HOW THEY TREAT THEIR CUSTOMERS?

I applied for fibre wifi through fibrehoods and webafrica is the ppl I chose
I specifically asked the person Neo that I want my internet connected from the 01st of May 2017. Yesterday The installation guy by the name of Kyle came and installed my TP-LINK router I had to pay R 200.00 for him to install nothing was told to me when I spoke to Neo about the installation fee. Then early hours this morning the 22nd of April 2017 I receive my invoice stated unpaid it shows that I have to pay the full amount of R679.00 for the wifi which Neo explained to me I only pay for the days left of the month and not the full amount so now I received a bill from Webafrica for the full amount. Im not even a day with them and problems already starting.