Dear Web Africa. Goodbye.

I am ever so excited about your new 10GB ADSL trial.
I signed up as soon as I could and as you told me:

Dear 6000

Congratulations and thank you for signing up in time to participate and receive your 10 Gigs of FREE bandwidth! We have hit our target of 5, 000 sign ups.
All applicants will be informed via e-mail and optionally SMS, as soon as the trial begins and you will then be supplied with your login details.
We will periodically be sending updates regarding the starting date, however please visit our Forum regularly to stay informed on additional news and progress reports.

Since then, you have sent me precisely no SMS’s and one email, detailing how my trial account would be activated “between 1st and 7th October”.

Today is the 8th of October and I have heard nothing more. The 8th falls outside that 1st – 7th activation period you gave me, see?
And while I accept that this was a “free trial” and there were terms and conditions attached, courtesy – especially when directed towards your customers – really costs nothing.

Sadly, this is symptomatic of the general decline in the quality of your services in the 3+ years that I have been a customer. On the occasions that you have sorted out issues and problems, it’s only because I have repeatedly chased you to get answers.
On your front page, one of the testimonials describes you as being “like a breath of fresh air”. That’s how I felt when I first signed up with you, but now things have got a bit stale and there is a faint whiff of BS around the place.

With the advent of SeaCom, South Africa finds itself in a very promising position. Higher speed internet and greater bandwidth capacity have provoked huge excitement throughout the IT industry and amongst internet users across the country. SeaCom opens up huge opportunities in every sector, from Education to Commerce to Science and Technology.

Sadly, to get to the people that matter and to make a difference, it has to go through ISPs like you. And if your service is anything to go by, it will probably never get there.

So yes, I was ever so excited about your 10GB ADSL trial, but now I will be taking my bandwidth elsewhere.