________________

Edith Ofwona Adera

Senior Program Specialist

ICT4D Program and Climate Change & Water Program

International Development Research Centre | Centre de recherches pour le développement international

Regional Office for Eastern and Southern Africa

Tel: +254202713160 | Fax/Téléc: +254202711063 | Skype: edithadera

eadera@idrc.or.ke | www.idrc.ca | www.crdi.ca

Hi,

I would like to bring to attention the extremely poor service provided by Zuku. The quality of service has steadily declined. Emails to customer support are now totally ignored.

When I subscribed to the "Turbo 8" bundle from Zuku, I was informed that the speed would be maintained at a minimum of 70% to 80% (approximately 5Mbps - 6Mbps). However, the down speed on my 8Mbps Turbo 8 fibre link is now 0.33Mbps. (This represents 3.75% of the speed that I am signed up for and is advertised by Zuku.)

Is there a body that performs routine checks on quality of service? e.g. CCK? And if so, is there a specified procedure that one should follow? Also, if a complaint is filed, is it acted upon? Has anyone on this list filed a complaint and a solution has been found?

I am at my wits end. I don't know what else to do.

Below is a summary of some of the communication I have had with Zuku support since mid January.

---------------------- My Turbo 8 connection is has been experiencing slow speeds since Monday 24th January.

I also lost the TV signal from 23rd January until 7th February.

In one of the screenshots, you can see that packet loss on the first two hops is greater than 70%.

A work order number was raised: 298106.

In calls to support, I have been told:

1. That the problem is a node near my house in Lavington.

2. That the modem firmware is faulty.

3. That the modem is fine!

4. That the 8Mbps package is a shared bandwith, BUT SPEEDS OF 0.3Mbps to a maximum of 1.2Mbps on an 8 Mbps link?

5. That support teams would come on specifed days at specified times (They never bothered to show up or call!)

6. That there is an issue with the main line and the issue has been escalated to our maintenance team who are working to resolve the matter.

7. That the support technician who finally came to my house lied and said everything is ok even though my TV signal (which finally came back on its own) still was jerky and the internet speed was 1.2 Mbps Down and 0.8 Mbps Up. My maximum download was 80 - 100kbps download and an average of 40-60kbps. This is supposed to be an 8Mbps link.

8. That the wifi modem would have to be changed to one that does not have wireless and that this will resolve the current issue.

9. To purchase a router as the one that will be installed does not support wireless. (NOTE: The 8 Mbps package clearly states that wireless is part of the package so why should I have to buy one?)

10. That I will indeed be given a new Cable modem + wifi since I am still on Turbo 8. (February 16th)

11. That another technician will come over to check the internet and TV signal issue.

12. That the HD receiver and phone will be issued soon as they are in stock. (They have not been provided to date.)

13. That it was a mis-communication on the previous mail and that you need to change the modem but to one without the Wifi and that I should tell you if I have purchased the router for the wifi! (Again, the Turbo 8 package is advertised as coming with wifi) (February 17th)

14. That you are working on a resolution for this matter and shall get back to me shortly. (February 18th)

I have noticed that packet loss on the link is very high (sometimes between 60% to 80%). I have sent emails with this information which has been totally ignored.

I have also been told:

1. That the receiver supplied is an SD Receiver which will be upgraded to the HD Receiver.
2. No phone set was supplied but will be brought as they out of stock (apparently since November last year).
3. That they have just received the HD decoders and telephone which will be installed soon (I was told this on the 27th of January) once they have been integrated into our system.

It's March 15th and guess what, I'm still waiting for a solution to these problems. We (Kenya) plan to be the ICT hub for East and Southern Africa, with all the plans in place for the ICT city (Malili). If this is a sample of things to come in regards to customer service and quality of service.... well I suppose you can guess what our potential audience will think of us (Kenya).

Brian Ngure