This week has been a struggle. That’s why this month’s 6000 miles… crossword is – as is now becoming traditional – late.
Still. Don’t let that stop you diving in and exercising your grey matter now that it’s actually here.
[crossword]
This one’s got birds, salads and some World Cup links.
I knocked it off in fewer minutes than usual. Can you?
I actually sent them this letter in a more traditional “closed” fashion yesterday, but I’m so very irritated at being repeatedly ignored that I thought I’d take the gamble of publishing it here too.
‘Gamble’ because this blog is hosted by… er… Afrihost.
And because my internet connectivity is supplied by… er… Afrihost.
But while we’re here, before diving into the misery and nonsense below, let me say that I’ve been pretty happy with their hosting. That’s why my blog has been on Afrihost for many years now. Uptime is generally very good, and thus I’ve never really had to use their customer service much.
And, again, as an ISP, they’ve done the job, and done it well. Je suis content.
See. My. Smile.
And that’s why when we decided to make the switch from ADSL to fibre, I decided upon them as the service provider, through Openserve.
It’s been a disaster. Firstly, they told me that they couldn’t do it, even though their website said they could. Then they said that they could do it, but it would take 4 weeks. That was ok. Good things come to those who wait.
Long story short, I’m due some really – really – incredible things, because I’ve been waiting more than a year now.
Hawu. Eish. Wena.
And it’s not so much that I’ve had to wait – it’s that they keep promising and then not delivering. And their customer service has all gone a bit MTN.
Here’s the email they sent me yesterday morning:
Good day I trust you are well 🙂 We apologies it took so long to give you an update. Openserve have notified us that they are still working on the fibre infrastructure in your area and they have not given an estimated date of completion. We will however change your order to a pre-order for now. As soon as your area goes live we will notify you. So in the meantime you may opt for our RAIN/LTE services whilst we wait for the activation of fibre in your area. We apologize for the inconvenience caused and thank you for your patience. If you need further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Truth be told, I’ve searched my SENT ITEMS folder, and I actually have no idea what they’re feeding back from. But that last line looked so good, so inviting, so I got in touch:
[email begins]
“If you need further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.”?
Well, ok: YES! I HAVE QUESTIONS! ASSIST ME!
It’s been over a year since you promised me fibre in 1 month.
Literally, I have emails from last May (already) apologising for messing up my initial request. Lolz – warning bells, much?
To cut a ridiculously long story short, though:
In January 2018, you told me I could have it on “April 31st”. Ha!
Good day I trust you are well. We receive feedback from Openserve in regards with your order and they have informed us that there is a Project scheduled for completion 2018/04/31 . Please note that I have changed the order to pre order and will follow up after the project to confirm installation. Have a great day
But there are only 30 days in April, we joked. Lolz – warning bells, much?
Then, when “April 31st” came and went (10 days ago, in fact), you said it would now be July 31st. Here’s that email, in case you have forgotten:
Good day, I trust you are well. Please note that Openserve has given us feedback that your order is linked to a project that is estimated to complete on the 31-07-2018. Once the project is done, Openserve will be in contact to schedule you for an installation. Apologies for the lack of feedback thus far. Kind Regards Afrihost Fibre Ops
Well, at least there is a July 31st, I thought.
But now you tell me that Openserve “have not given an estimated date of completion”.
SOOOOOOO…..
How come when I go onto your Fibre Availability page (it’s here: https://www.afrihost.
(Note: Image subtly altered to protect my home address as the neighbours don’t appreciate the hordes of fans camping outside.)
“Approx. 1 weeks”?
Really?
Really really?
This is actually complete bullshit, isn’t it?
It looks deliberately inaccurate; bordering on deceitful even, I’d say.
I mean, the cynic in me wants to suggest that if you were to put the truth there, like “Openserve “have not given an estimated date of completion””, for example, instead of that 1 week nonsense, people might not go for your offering and might take their business and money elsewhere.
And your footnote:
Installation lead times are a guide based on averages and will vary. Line activation and connection times need to be added for full turnaround estimation
suggesting that that 1 week time is based on an average, means that you must be installing literally within MINUTES somewhere near here, because, as we’ve been through above, you have no estimated date of completion for Openserve in our area, so God only knows how you can suggest that 7 days timeframe as an average.
Who does this kwik maffs?
I’ve been in touch via email before. And on twitter. I’ve held for ages on your phone line before giving up.
But I’ve (quite literally in that last case) had no answer as to what’s going on with my installation and as to why you’re still punting a product that you – knowingly – simply can’t deliver.
What happens now?
You’ll blame Openserve, I guess. “It’s out of our hands”, “they need to do the infrastructure work” etc. etc. you’ll tell me.
But if you know that, and you don’t know when that work is going to be done (like you told me above), why are you falsely advertising to potential new customers that you can provide a service on that same infrastructure within a week?
I can’t wait for your reply.
[email ends]
I will wait though. Experience tells me this.
And when I get it, it will promise feedback, which won’t ever happen.
To be honest, I don’t know if anyone else can provide fibre to my home more quickly that Afrihost can. If they’re right and the infrastructure isn’t there (despite the fact that several neighbours have fibre and have done for over a year), then there’s nothing much anyone can do. But really, I’d much rather work with a company which is honest and open about the limitations of providing their service.
And not one which is clearly making false claims and has consistently broken promise after promise.
Things do go wrong. Any reasonable person can understand that, and I can like to be a reasonable person. It’s how you deal with the things that go wrong that makes the difference.
So, last chance, Afrihost. Let’s play the decent customer service game like you used to do, and let’s have the truth about my fibre installation, please.
If there’s one thing that everyone on Earth can clearly agree on, it’s that there can never be such a thing as too many drones.
And it seems that NASA are now planning to start the drone craze on Mars as well with a new helicopter device:
The US space agency said Friday it plans to launch the first-ever helicopter to Mars in 2020, a miniature, unmanned drone-like chopper that could boost our understanding of the Red Planet.
I’m not sure how they plan to get a GPS lock, given that there are no S’s around Mars, but this is NASA, and if they faked the moon landings, well, then they can do most anything. And that likely includes coming up with a superb name for this craft, just like they did with Apollo, Challenger, Discovery and Titan.
And that name is… [drum roll]…
The Mars Helicopter
[sad trombone] Oh.
And they’re starting small:
Its first flight calls for a brief vertical climb of 10 feet (three meters), followed by hovering for a half minute.
Wow. 10 feet. 30 seconds. Hold the front pages.
Don’t push yourselves, NASA.
I clearly need to get my Mavic out there, stat. I’d be buzzing Olympus Mons, shooting high quality 4K video and doing dronies on Curiosity while NASA’s rookies were still putting the paperwork and requisition forms together, wondering if they could maybe risk trying a gentle turn to the right.
If you’re reading this, NASA, I am available for this kind of thing (in between my lab antics with TB). I’ve flown over the Northern Cape: I know what desolation looks like.
But I don’t think I need to be in Texas or Florida or California or wherever you’re running your circus from at the moment. If you can control a drone on a planet 55 million kilometres away, I really don’t think it matters if I’m across a bit of sea from your place.
And I’m certainly not going to Mars.
Have drone, won’t travel.
Here’s a great way to start your Monday…
There was much displeasure last week over the cancellation of popular cop TV series Brooklyn Nine-Nine (so much so, that it might already have been revived elsewhere).
I first watched it on Emirates flights, and really enjoyed it. Obviously, the more you watch, the more you understand the characters and the more you enjoy it, but if you haven’t seen any of it before, this clip is a great introduction:
This has reawakened my interest, and so now I’m off to find completely legal downloadable content to enjoy.
It’s Mother’s Day here and everywhere else in the world that didn’t already do it in March. I was going to do a nice leisurely breakfast for Mrs 6000, but instead, I’m going to drive to Wellington at some ungodly hour and drop some kids off for a hiking competition. They can walk back. After all, that’s kinda the point, right?
We’ll do lunch instead, ok?
This post is just to say a big thank you to all the Mums out there who do an amazing and – all too often – unrecognised job at being the glue that holds families together, the giver of hugs and love, and the organisation behind everything from school uniforms to playdates to toilet rolls for school projects, and (more often than not) all while holding down a full time job.
Mrs 6000 also has to deal with a beagle. And me.
She’s awesome.
You’re all awesome. Thank you, Mums.