Do not trust Arwyp medical centre

On July 25th, my son was scheduled for a procedure, and we arrived at 6 am to complete the admission process as instructed. At that time, neither Arwyp Hospital nor I had received the authorization letter from my medical scheme, resulting in me paying an estimated amount of R 19,623.51 via my debit card. The hospital assured me that once they received the authorization letter, they would promptly refund the amount paid.

At 11:54 am on the same day, the authorization letter was received, and I as well as my medical scheme, forwarded it to the hospital by 11:56 am. Despite this, I had not received my refund after several days. Upon following up, I received an email on July 31st stating, "Dear client, we have a credit due to be refunded. Kindly forward a bank confirmation letter to enable me to proceed with the refund request"

I promptly responded with my banking details as requested, expecting the refund to be processed. However, I still have not received my refund. When I followed up again, I was informed, "Good morning, Sir. I have viewed the account, and no medical aid payment reflects as yet. The refund will only be actioned once payment has been received and allocated."

I am deeply concerned that an authorization letter from my medical scheme is deemed insufficient, and Arwyp Hospital is effectively holding my money until the medical aid funds are allocated. This situation raises a critical question: if a patient arrives with an authorization letter, will Arwyp still require them to pay for the procedure upfront and only issue a refund once the medical scheme funds are received? It has been now It has been 2 weeks now and no one is returning my mails or telephone calls, and I still don't have my money. Extremely poor customer service and no support.