And now for something completely different…..
I just want to fill you in on what a rip off Afrihost is, and how they are either the most incompetant service provider on the planet, or as corrupt and crooked a company as you can get. Or perhaps everyone at Afrihost is simply dumb as nails…. who knows.
As I have been using one of their cheaper hosting options for over eight years now, I decided to go with them when installing a new fibre connection to the new house my wife and I just purchased. Over those 8 years downtime has probably been a little more that I would have liked, but at least is was a decent price.
With the new house comes additional responsibility, so stepping up the game comes part and parcel with that. New PC, fast internet, and server upgrade. It seemed easy…… but alas, enter Afrihost.
I ordered a 500/500 fibre line. Below is a timeline of what followed.
The TL;DR of it is do not use these clowns at Afrihost, they are complete idiots.
| Wed 8 Feb 2023 | Placed order for 500Mbps/500Mbps Firbre connection |
| Sat 11 Feb 2023 | Received confirmation From Afrihost that they received the order |
| Wed 15 Feb 2023 | After being advised of pending installation, went to the new house and cable installation was done. I was advised line would be activated within 24 hours |
| Fri 17 Feb 2023 | Went back to house with router to test installation. Connected ok, but speed at speedtest.com showed it to be well below 50Mbps. Was advised by support operator that the problem was with my phone, and she could see 500Mbps up and down. I was told to bring a laptop to test the speed. On activation I was immediately billed for a 500/500 connection (pro-rata for the month) |
| Sun 19 Feb 2023 | Moved into house. Set up PC, and did a speed test. Speed showed no more that 50 Mpbs up and down. I detailed the problem to afrihost with screenshots. |
| Monday 20 Feb 2023 | Received response from Afrihost, with repeated requests during the day for me to clear cache, only use ethernet cable, etc. I was eventually advised that Afrihost had opened a ticket with Metro to investigate, and no further communications were recived for the day. |
| Tue 21 Feb 2023 | I requested an update. None was received |
| Wed 22 Feb 2023 | I requested and update again, twice during the day, and got another request (very late afternoon) to clear cache, use LAN cable, etc to test the speed. I duly supplied all screenshots, but go no response thereafter. |
| Thu 23 Feb 2023 | I received an Invoice for a 500/500 connection, which it was not. I emailed Afrihost asking it that was a joke. I finally received a reply from Afrihost at 16h41 asking me what the problem was. I responded detailing the problem, and that if the problem was not resolved during the day I would cancel the order. No reply was received, and no update. |
| Fri 24 Feb 2023 | I notified Afrihost of the cancellation of the order as no further update had been received. Suddenly there was a slight change, and the connection became 50Mbps/500Mbps. I also received an email from Afrihost notifying me that they will pass a credit for the difference between the 500 and the 50 package, with no reason given for not being able to sort the issue out, and no intent shown on sorting the issue out. I responded that he had misread my email, and that the cancellation stands. |
| Mon 27 Feb 2023 | I received another notification that the cancellation will only take effect at the end of March. I objected strongly as I have to this date not received what I ordered and PAID FOR. Afrihost deducted their thumb suck fee off of my bank account. |
| Wed 1 Mar 2023 | I was notified by Afrihost that on top of being billed for March for something I did not order, they would be billing me for the router as I had canceled within 6 months. Once again I objected strongly with no response from Afrihost. |
| Thu 2 Mar 2023 | The line was disconnected, this 2 days after Afrihost took a payment for it for the month of March. My email response was again ignored. No communications were received from Afrihost regarding the disconnection. |
And another day passes…. no updates, no fibre connection, and no confirmation of it being disconnected. Which would imply Afrihost deducted the money from my bank account with criminal intent.
As I said in the beginning, step very wide of these clowns.
| Sun 5 Mar 2023 | For whatever reason the connection is restored. Safe to presume then it was a breakdown????? who knows with afrihost. Not the connection I ordered btw, just the order that afrihost decided to give me instead, and steal my money for. |
| Thu 16 Mar 2023 | Received an email from Afrihost, asking if my connection has been sorted out. I replied not even close, with a link to this blog post rather than have to repeat myself yet again. No reply and no further contact from Afrihost. |
| Thu 18 Mar 2023 | Received an email from Afrihost, asking me to perform more tests. not bothering, nor bothering to reply. New supplier has already been sourced, so now just biding my time till this rubbish ends at month end. |
| Sun 09 Apr 2023 | Afrihost criminally deducted R999 from my account due to me ‘cancelling the contract’ within 12 months. At zero point did Afrihost supply the contract that was deducted for. The contract was never cancelled, I simply cancelled the order for failure to deliver. At least I have seen the last of that completely rubbish and criminal company. Good riddance. |