Why is it that some pinheads make money, while many decent, conscientious people never seem to make it? If you have been following our ongoing saga, in trying to get a better, faster internet connection, you will know that we have been trying for all of 13 months now and have been plagued by poor service, unreliable business people and a total lack of commitment, from these businesses.

We enjoyed, if you can call any Telkom service enjoyable, ADSL connection, while living in Pietermaritzburg. After a serious injury to my neck and spinal cord, I had a long period of convalescence and rehabilitation therapy. During these 2 years, I was not able to walk properly, had a lot of aches and pains and often required the wearing of a neckbrace. It is during this time that I became involved in Internet Marketing.

Due to the therapy, being unable to work at a “job” and being faced with huge medical bills, we decided to move out of town and to rent a delightful cottage on a farm in the Manderston area. As peaceful as this is, there are drawbacks. Being only 12 Kilometres, as the crow flies, from the city of ‘Maritzburg, means we are on farm lines when it comes to telephones and the only means of access is the dreaded dialup.

The condition of the lines is so bad, that at best, I’m able to get speeds of around 42 Kb per second. This means that download speeds are only around 2 to 2.5 Kb per second and it is normal for Telkom’s old equipment to drop the connection, at least 3 times in an hour. Add to this, the fact that we are only able to use the internet at night and certainly not when it looks like we might get a storm and that we pay exorbitant rates and that we are charged each time we dial up and you will see that nobody in his right mind would want to be cursed with this abomination.

But, it is marginally better than nothing, so we have had to endure. During the first six months, we tried all the other “options” available in South Africa, but soon learnt that unless you live in one of the major cities, these other options do not work. It kind of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it? As many as 12 options, if you live in the city and no alternative to dial up, if you live out of the city.

The bottom line is, if you live on a farm, live out in the rural areas, live in a small town, live in virtually any place 8Kms or more from a Telkom exchange, or don’t have Telkom phone lines, you just can not get internet access.

Anyway, I don’t give up easily and after trying and failing with 10 options, I came across a company, whose mission it was, to provide internet access to the outlying areas, by means of a system operating on radio waves. Through them, I found a small business in Pietermaritzburg, who held the contracts, to supply this service to the smaller towns, along the freeway, between Pietermaritzburg and Durban.

I contacted them immediately and after about a week, a technician arrived, to do a signal test. Obviously, we were unable to receive the signal from town and we discussed how we could relay the signal, through a series of repeaters, to areas such as ours. A good site was required and I duly set about finding one. After many trips and phone calls, I found a perfect site, atop the highest hill in the area. From this hilltop, coverage would reach as many as 14 other communities and towns stretching as far as 20 Kms in radius. I spoke to the farmer who owned the hill and discovered that a large tower, or aerial mast was already in place. This made it easier to erect the equipment, as the basic infrastructure was already in place and an electrical feed was present.

I phoned and nagged and pestered the owner of the business, for 5 solid months, but all I got was promises. This guy is, in my opinion, the worst businessman and the most unreliable, lying, idiot I have ever met.

Eventually, after 5 months, I was graced with his presence for all of 14 minutes, while he explained how much he had done (hadn’t done) to arrange the feed. As a short term solution, I asked why they couldn’t arrange a temporary feed to our side of the hill and identified a neighbour’s water tower, as a likely spot. This was agreed upon and we were promised service in about a week.

Well, that week stretched to two, then three and eventually a month had passed. As it was my birthday on November 8th, we tried to use this, as an incentive for him to satisfy us. Each day he promised, emphatically, that he was coming to fix the feed and each day passed, without a call, an apology, or anything else.

After having been messed around for 6 months, I heard of another chap, who had just recently arrived in the area, from Johannesburg. It was said that he did something similar, so I gave him a call. He was here to see me within the hour and then the story unfolded.

He had been contracted by the main company, to identify sites, get permissions and arrange installation of the equipment. He had had dealings with my “friend” who he also found to be inefficient, ineffectual, unreliable, lying and not interested. He had “seen a gap” and had moved here to make some money. It turned out that my ”friend” had been lying all along. He had no authority to erect masts, towers, aerials, or repeaters. He only had contracts to supply individual connections and to oversee the maintenance of those sites.

My newfound friend, Steve, had an interest in internet business and was very interested in my business. He wants to set up servers for a hosting company and a few other ideas, too. He said he would see what could be done to help me and said he didn’t think it would take long. He went off to download images off Google Earth and plot co-ordinates and so on. So, I’m waiting again, but we have received confirmation that the service will be installed.

But how is it, that a youngster, with no experience, no ethics, no integrity, no manners and no drive, is able to own a business and make money, while there are plenty of decent people, who have to struggle? How can he lie to customers? How can he afford to show no interest in getting something like 50 new, paying customers? I don’t understand how he sleeps at night.

Before you think how gullible I was, imagine yourself in that position, of having no alternative, of being desperate and of being promised support! What would you do? I can’t really name this business, as that would maybe be misconstrued as slander, but be wary!

Derek Robson is an up and coming, South African, internet marketer, with a vision of empowering all fellow South Africans and non U.S folk, to have equal opportunity and success, on the internet. He is a syndicated article writer. He and his wife Sally, have started a string of sites, resources, courses and articles, as part of Dersalsites. For daily postings and articles, on Internet marketing, South African business, list building, affiliate marketing, the law of attraction, rugby and general topics, check his blogsite, at: http://dersalsites.com/southafricanbusiness  

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