Definitely not the Best Student Accommodation in SA!

They promote the best Student living in SA, this may be true if you could actually communicate with someone and work the portal/website. As a parent moving your child to another province to study is very stressful and all you want is to get them settled and know they have a place to live. I started my application in the beginning of November and paid the deposit and (non refundable) application fee. After 2-3 weeks the progress had not changed from "Waiting for Campus key acceptance". To get hold of anyone on their contact number, which is the same number the students need to use to communicate is a total nightmare. And then on email is even worse, cause they just don't reply. When I eventually did communicate I got told to re-apply (wrong email used) and then again to re-apply because I selected the wrong year (which was impossible as it said we could only move in on the 15 Jan 2023). By the 12th December after the status still saying "Waiting for Campus Key Acceptance" I cancelled the application. I did not cancel out of the blue, I had been emailing every couple of days expressing my concern and frustration as I needed to secure accommodation and book flights. I have just received a refund from them today (more than 21 days after my cancellation) and they have only paid the deposit back. The R1850 application fee was not refunded at all, not even 50% of it. I made it clear that the cancellation was not my fault, but 100% theirs as they did not communicate and cannot expect people to wait for nearly 6 weeks for the next step in an application. I do understand it said "non- refundable' but if I had failed a credit check or I had defaulted on the deposit payment I would accept losing the money. At the end of all this, I am out of pocket and my son is in accommodation that was not our first choice, this is all due to the lack of service and communication from the Observatory branch. I am very unhappy and would not recommend any parent to put their trust in this Campus. I cannot speak for any of the other CampusKey accommodation though.