Think twice before using Wireless SA

On Tuesday 20 th of May I started shopping around for another wireless ISP (Internet service provider). I was making use of Snowball Effect (Tel 021 880 2228) at the time. They are based in Stellenbosch, and I contacted a guy named Eugene around a month and a half ago before the 20 th of May, asking him to look into me having access to a peer-to-peer connection.

I knew at that time that their company policy is not to allow anybody peer-to-peer networking, but I also knew that some businesses that were making use of Snowball Effect as an Internet Service Provider (ISP) did have access to peer-to-peer connections. I told Eugene that, and ever since then I did not hear anything from him, nor did he return any of my phone calls. Could it be that I knew something that I wasn’t supposed to know, or was it because he couldn’t give me an answer as to why certain businesses had access to these facilities while others were excluded?

(After publishing this article on www.nightguide.co.za I did receive a phone call from Eugene from Snowball Effect on Wednesday, the 18 th of June, and he did make it very clear to me that Snowball Effect did not allow any peer-to-peer connections at all. According to him, they block peer-to-peer totally, and should someone find a way around that it’s their issue. Bottom line is, Snowball does not allow Peer to peer, and that is their company policy.Needless to say, I understand their point, and I didn’t have any problem with them while I used them as service provider. As a matter of fact, on the 11 th of June I even e-mailed Melanie Chisnall at Snowball, thanking her and Snowball for their service over the time I have been with them.)...

Needless to say… on the 20 th of May 2008 I decided to start shopping for another Wireless Internet Service Provider that will allow me peer-to-peer connections. After contacting quite a few, I came across Wireless-SA… a company based in Blackheath, Cape Town. I saw them doing a promotion in the Somerset Mall some months ago, and had a brief chat with them. They literally begged me for my business after I explained to them not only the amount of traffic my websites get, but also what exactly I do for a living and who I deal with. They were very eager to convert me to their network, making use of their services, and even wanted to come and have a site-inspection ASAP. Then I was only shopping around, but now that I was eager to change ISP’s, their proposal did not look that bad after all.

The soonest I could commit to a site inspection was on Thursday, 22 nd of May, and so we set up a meeting for that day. I also explained to them that I’m still in the process of shopping around, and that the transition from one ISP to the next should be done very smoothly, as I cannot be without Internet for longer than a few hours. I also stressed it very clearly, that I’m happy with Snowball’s services, and the only reason I’m leaving is because they wont allow me peer-to-peer networking.

Thursday arrived, and so did the Wireless SA “Technician”. He established that I did have line of sight to their high-site, and that they will have to exchange my 5.8 GHz grid with a 2.4GHz grid, as it was “More Stable”… and also need to move my current aerial installation to the other side of the building. They also informed me that they will have to take my board, installed with the aerial, which houses all the Mikro-tik goodies and gadgets, to their “office” to reset. They convinced me on the spot that it would be a trouble-free move and that I would be up-and-running in no time. I gave them the go-ahead, as long as everything is done on Thursday, 22 nd of May. Unfortunately I had other things to attend to, and told them that I cannot stay to look over their shoulders as they changed my current installation. I asked the “technician” to please ensure that everything is working.

Arriving back home on Tuesday, 22 nd of May, I discovered that I could not even connect to the Internet, let alone do peer-to-peer or FTP addressing for any of my websites. I contacted them, and they said that they would have to come back the following day. I then had to connect via my Cellphone that evening just to check e-mails… and what did I find???? A nice Invoice from Wireless-SA for the installation (R800-00) as well as Internet for the duration left for the month (R 129-03). I found it funny that they don’t stipulate any VAT on the invoice, and that did make me suspicious… But while I was on the Internet via my cellphone anyway, I decided to pay it anyway.

Taking a walk around the building, I also noted that the aerial was never moved as they told me they would have to do, but simply pointed in another direction, to their high-site. I wondered what exactly the R800-00 installation fee was for that I just paid…

Friday 23 rd arrived and I was up bright and early, awaiting the arrival of the Wireless SA “technicians”… that afternoon, around 14h00/15h00, I contacted the Wireless SA office to find out where their technicians are…

This is how the conversation went…

Me: Hi there… Are your guys still coming today?

Reception Lady: Haven’t they been there already… oooo my… let me phone them and I will get back to you right away…

Me: Your company assured me that I will have no problem moving over to your company as a ISP… and already nothing is working.

Reception Lady: I’ll get back to you.

A while later, she (Melissa Roberts) phones me again and here is the shortened version of the conversation:

Reception Lady (Melissa Roberts): I’m sorry, but a water pipe burst on their vehicle… as soon as it’s repaired, they will be with you…

Me: O, and do they have cell phones?

Reception Lady (Melissa Roberts): Yes, they do….

Me: And they couldn’t phone???….

Reception Lady (Melissa Roberts): No…..

Me: Clearly you don’t see this the way I see it… I stayed at home, wasting work-time, waiting for your guys… further more I left my dad here all day the few times I simply had to go out, wasting his time as well… Clearly this is not a great start to a business relationship, as you guys were the ones begging me for my business. Let me explain something else to you…. I’m on my way to hand-deliver some invoices due to the fact that I don’t have Internet… Your company’s incompetence to simply install working Internet, are now costing me time and money… speaking of money… did you receive the payment for the installation that you have sent me via e-mail last night? I faxed proof of payment to you this morning…

Reception Lady (Melissa Roberts): Yes we did, thank you.

Me: So are you going to refund me for two days I’m not having any of your services then?

Reception Lady (Melissa Roberts): No, I can’t do that…

Me: Well, get your guys over here, or come fetch your stuff and refund me my money. I don’t even have any phone numbers for technical back up, support or anything.

Reception Lady (Melissa Roberts): Would you like me to give you some numbers?

Me: Yes Please

Reception Lady (Melissa Roberts): Ok… you can phone this number, the office, on 021 979 4851

Or you could phone Graham Thompson on 083 350 9420 or (I think she said Pietie, not sure) who MIGHT be able to help you with Technical Support… (Number removed after it was established that Wireless SA outsourched their Tech support) .

Now unfortunately I’m very good with numbers… and alarms did go off in the back of my head because on the invoice that I paid to them the previous evening, Graham Thompson’s Cell number was given as 082 536 9865 and not 083 350 9420. Also the “MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP YOU WITH TECHNICAL SUPPORT” part bothered me quite a bit…. But I have paid them and maybe they would sort out the flaws… BOY, was I wrong!!

I then had to leave for Stellenbosch, leaving behind my elderly Dad to await the arrival of these so-called “Technicians”, clearly instructing my dad that when they are done to please phone me and let me know what was wrong.

After 17h00 my phone rang and they (Wireless SA’s Technician) explained that they had to re-align my new grid, change the degrees of the aerial (It was installed Horizontal, and now was fitted Vertically – like it would make a difference) and that they forgot to take out the reset-jumpers found on the Micro-board installed next to the aerial.

I asked them if everything was working now, and they assured me that everything was fine and tested. When I got home I found that it was nothing but so…

Arriving back home I found that I could now connect to the Internet, but that I could not send E-mails. Building websites and running Internet Businesses I immediately knew that it must be a SMTP issue. So, I decided to phone their “Technical Guru” (Think his name is Pietie) on ****** (Number removed after it was established that Wireless SA outsourched their Tech support)

Conversation as follow:

Me: Hi, you guys installed a new wireless Internet system and I’m unable to send e-mails. What is your SMTP addy, and do you allow SMTP.SAIX.NET users to send e-mails.

Pietie: No, we don’t. Unfortunately you will have to change your SMTP address to XXXXXXXX

Me: Can’t you re-route my mail… I have 64 email addresses….

Pietie: No Sorry…. By the way… how did you get my number….

When he asked that… more alarm bells should have rung in my ears…

Needless to say, I changed all 64 e-mail addresses to their SMTP address…

Then I wanted to try out my peer-to-peer connection… but that didn’t work either. Being late, I decided to leave it till Monday, 26 th of May. Friday evening (23 rd May) I was working, taking pictures in clubs etc that had to be uploaded onto one of the sites… Saturday the 24 th of May I did the same thing, and Sunday morning, the 25 th of May I was up bright and early to start uploading pictures and maintaining websites, since I lost almost 3 and a half day’s work due to Wireless SA’s incompetence to supply me with a 100% working Internet solution…

What did I discover on Sunday 25 th of May? I can’t connect to any of my FTP addresses and update or maintain any of my websites. Now I was really beginning to get fed up with these guys from Wireless SA, so much so that I was starting to think that I bought a share in Useless-SA…

Monday Morning I phoned Graham Thompson, and the office… the office (Melissa) could not help me, and Graham Thompson from Wireless SA said he “can’t believe it”… It must be a setting on my side, but he will get his technician to call me right away. I explained to him that I’m able to connect to any FTP address to any of my sites via my cellphone, but not when I’m connected thru Wireless SA’s Internet.

He again said his technician would contact me ASAP. Monday came and Monday went… with no technician calling me….

Tuesday, 27 th of May, I decided that I had enough of Wireless SA, their incompetence, empty promises and failure to deliver a service as promised, for which I have already paid for. Surely you don’t sell a car but tell the customer that the wheels will be arriving a bit later… You give them the whole package that they have paid for. So, lets work it out… I charge R 340-00 per hour for website design, fault-finding and maintenance… Thursday 22 nd of May I moved over to them, and now it was already Tuesday 27 th of May. That’s 6 days of 8 working hours a day worth an hourly income of R 340-00 missing…. 6(Days) x8 (Hours per day) = 48… 48(Hours) x R 340-00 = R 16320-00 gone!! Missing!! Money lost!! Not in my bank account!!

Then I also have the problem of people e-mailing me asking were the pictures are that was taken over the weekend and that was supposed to be uploaded onto the site. I have another website on my case wanting to know why their new advertisements are not uploaded onto their websites. I get phone calls from sponsors wanting to know why their specials are not uploaded on any of the sites I maintain, build and update etc… Needless to say… Wireless-SA was making my company look really bad, all because of their incompetence. Sponsors were threatening to withdraw their commitments … I was loosing money… BIG TIME!!

Having no other choice than to dump this so-called Internet service provider, I started looking for another option, and quickly found someone else willing to help me. I also had a chat to my layer and she advised me to get rid of this incompetent company as soon as possible. I phoned up Melissa Roberts at Wireless SA again, and kindly instructed her that I had enough of their empty promises, and that I couldn’t really complain about their services, simply because there was no service to complain about in the first place!! I asked her to please send someone to come and remove their non-operating installation, and to refit my old installation the way that they have found it.

I furthermore advised her that I will be taking legal action against them for my loss of income, and that I do expect them to reimburse me the fees I have paid for their installation that was still not working as promised some 6 days ago. Her answer to me telling her all that?? A simple…. “OK….”

I then phoned Graham Thompson, the supposed “Big boy” of this pathetic company as well, and he told me that he was chatting to Melissa Roberts and that I must hang on a while so he can sort out things. His exact words were “Let me call you back in 2 minutes…”

Almost 2 hours later one of their so-called “Technicians” phoned me back and this was the conversation:

Technician: Hi Mr. Fuchs… I was told to call you and that you seem to have a problem…

Me: Yes… My Internet is working and I’m able to surf the net, but I can’t connect peer to peer or use any of my ftp accounts to connect to my servers as promised.

Technician: That’s strange.

Me: It must be a firewall setting or a Mikro-tik issue, as I’m able to connect from my cellphone to any of the ftp addresses I need to. Just log in on your mainframe and ping me, then pick me up.

Technician: Ummmmmmmm oooookkkkk… (Very uncertain and completely caught by surprise)

Technician: Ok, I see you are online….

Me: Right, I’m going to connect to a remote server… watch what happens….

Technician: Yes I see you are trying to do something on this side…. Ummm where did you go??

Me: Exactly!! I got disconnected…. Nice hey? So, you agree it must be a firewall setting that wont allow me to connect directly, as my peer to peer also doesn’t work. Either that, or a NAT setting on the Mikro-tik system or a setting not reset on my installation card…

Technician: I don’t know what is wrong…

Me: Well, find me someone that can fix it… or log into the system, look on my Mikro-tik profile and check for firewalls and all the other configured settings…

Technician: I don’t know exactly what to do there, and the other guy is the admin, so he’s not here right now…. Can we call you back as soon as he is back in the office?

Me: If you can promise me that you will sort out this shit before the end of business today, then do so, otherwise, come fetch your non-working installation and put back my old stuff…

Technician: OK

Needless to say and as can only be expected by a totally useless company like Wireless SA, nobody phoned as promised… Also, I decided to give them the whole of Wednesday, the 28 th of May to call me back as well, just in case their phone-lines were stolen or their cell phones ran out of airtime or something… Once again… no call-back… no service… no technical support… no 100% working Internet… no peer to peer… no connections to any ftp servers… Another 2 days of income lost... Pure incompetence from Wireless SA!!

Thursday the 29 th of May, Melissa Roberts phone me “to find out if my issues were resolved” I said no, and also said to her that I’m still waiting, 2 days later, for their so-called technical department to figure out what was wrong and to phone me back.

She clearly had no idea what was going on, and frankly, I didn’t care any more. I simply said to her that she could expect a phone-call from my layer, and that they must come undo their installation immediately. She then told me that their technical department was out on a site, and therefore couldn’t call me back, and that they are busy with installations, bla bla bla….

I then contacted my layer, and instructed her to go ahead with proceedings. My layer contacted them time and time again, with Graham Thompson not being in the office.

Friday the 30 th of May, 9 days since my installation, and me loosing bags full of money because of Wireless SA’s incompetence, empty promises and lies, my layer finally got hold of Mr. Graham Thompson from Wireless-SA. He told her that me contacting a layer and getting one involved was taking it a bit far… clearly he had no idea what was going on in his company, or frankly just didn’t care. He also asked my layer if she was a personal friend of mine!! How pathetic!!

He then also said to her that he would contact her and see when he can come undo their installation, but that they were busy. That meant that I would have to wait, as I did not want to remove anything that they might later say that I have damaged, since I would like my money repaid to me.

My layer kept contacting the office throughout the day, speaking to Melissa Roberts, the receptionist at Wireless SA, asking her countless times to please remove their system from my property. It later turned into my layer demanding some action!! Melissa Roberts from Wireless SA’s response: “I get plenty of these phone calls every day…” Well now… that should say enough about a pathetic company such as Wireless SA!!

I contacted him myself on the afternoon of 30 th of May, asking him when they will come remove their installation. He told me that he did not give my layer any specific time or date, and that I must just wait till they find the time. When I asked him about giving me my money back for the installation, he told me that I paid for the installation, and not necessarily for the new aerial… thus he can not re-pay me the money I paid to them.

So, in other words… I didn’t pay for the aerial… I paid for the installation according to him… well.. Wake up Graham Thompson!! Your company’s installation wasn’t working!! Point!! Enough said!!

Needless to say, I got a new service provider, asked them to take down Wireless SA’s junk and fitted my old stuff back… configured my settings to the new ISP’s specs and I’m no longer wasting my time with Wireless –SA. I am however in the process of taking legal action for loss of income, and trying to get my money back that I paid for their non-operational installation.

So, as a final word…

If you would like a service provider that feels absolutely nothing for you, your time, your business or your income… use Wireless SA!

If you would like to make use of an Internet Service Provider such as Wireless-SA, don’t expect any fireworks or technical back up.

If you would like to make use of Wireless SA, expect not to be called back anytime soon.

If you do use Wireless SA, make sure you don’t pay them anything until everything is working 100%.

If you use Wireless SA, try sign-language… they might just understand that…. Since they find it hard to follow any other instruction.

If you use Wireless SA, don’t complain about service, cause their isn’t any service to complain about!!

Use Wireless SA if you want to get screwed like me.

If you would like to contact me about my ordeal with Wireless SA, or would like to ask me any questions about my ordeal regarding the total incompetence, lack of service and a pathetic way in which a company such as Wireless SA is doing business, you can gladly mail me at junk @ nightguide.co.za , or contact me on 083 755 5958

Carl Fuchs

Strand

South Africa