Must the customer pay for poor performance

I live in the Karoo with very poor cell phone reception and no land line. This makes communication by phone difficult and I therefore requested that I be communicated with by email. The following is a brief history of correspondence with DirectAxis since 14 June.

Date Correspondence Action 14-6-2020 Email to Customer Care requesting settlement amount. Automated reply received 17-6-2020 Received sms stating I was in arears. Phoned Accounts, success after 4 attempts 17-6-2020 Accounts gave me a reference number and an amount of R62414-10 to be paid into Westbank Ltd with reference number ************X. Standard Bank did not clear the transaction as Westbank Ltd rejected the payment due to not recognising the reference number given by their consultant. 17-6-2020 Phone accounts again, success after 8 attempts. Accounts tried to give me a different reference number but I could not hear clearly. Accounts also complained that the system “freezes” and she can’t assist me. 17-6-2020 Email to Customer Care following up my request, specifically stating I want an email reply due to bad phone reception. Automated reply received 19-6-2020 Follow up email to Customer Care requesting action. Automated reply received 20-6-2020 Email to Complaints, complaining about the lack of feedback to my emails and detailing the problem with phone calls. Automated reply received 22-6-2020 Sms received demanding payment for the arears amount. 22-6-2020 Sent email to Complaints requesting feedback. Automated reply received 25-6-2020 Sent an email to Customer Care and Complaints requesting feedback. In this email I mentioned the number DAX>>>>>A received but stated I was unsure of the number due to poor reception (luckily I did not pay it as it was wrong). Automated reply received from both Customer Care and Complaints 30-6-2020 Received a phone call from Collections wanting payment on my arears amount. I explained the situation to C B who took the trouble to listen to my problem and finally sent me an email with the correct details 30-6-2020 Paid R62414-10 which was the amount originally quoted on 17 June 30-6-2020 Sent an email to C B thanking her for her assistance and stating that as far as I am concerned, the shortfall lies with DirectAxis due to their negligence. Copies of the email also sent to Customer Care and Complaints, automated replies received. 1-7-2020 Bank account debited with R55-00 and R69-60 2-7-2020 Received email from SettlementLetters2 stating that I owe R718-25 2-7-2020 Received email from Customer Care stating that I owe R718-25 2-7-2020 Received email from Complaints stating that I owe R718-25 3-7-2020 Received an email from Complaints advising me that I will be provided with feedback until the matter is resolved. 9-7-2020 Received an email from Complaints apologising for the delay, blame placed on Covid-19, but informing me that I still have an outstanding balance.

When I first contacted DirectAxis on 14 June, I was in a position to settle my outstanding loan in full and sent an email to that effect. Their consultant gave me a reference number on 17 June which did not work. As far as I am concerned, all interest accrued from that time is as a result of DirectAxis not giving accurate information. I sent repeated emails to Customer Care and they chose to ignore me. I then started to send emails to Complaints, in the hope that I would get a response, but they also chose to ignore me. Finally when C B phoned me to request payment on the arear amount, she had the patience to listen and then react swiftly by sending me an email within 20 minutes. To blame Covid-19 at this late stage for not answering 6 emails is stretching it, especially when the first was sent on 14 June and followed up on 17 June, 24 previously. Answering an email is quicker and more accurate than a voice call, especially if one takes all the security questions and confirmations involved. This whole affair reeks of incompetence or a lack luster approach to the handling of funds, with me the customer having to foot the bill.

When one considers the above, I fail to see why I must be held accountable and pay for Direct Axis’s poor performance. I therefore requested that: a. The amount of R718-25 be written off my account. b. The debit orders for R55-00 and R69-60 be reversed and my bank account be credited with those amounts.

Since then I have received a statement stating that I have made advance payments and now have a Contractual Balance of R36523.10 with advance payment of R57628.73. Like what the hell!!! And yet still no one at Direct Axis has the decency to send me an email accepting responsibility for their poor performance.