Appalling Service - Disgruntled Client

I have been a client of Discovery Health since 2019, along with my family. In December 2023, I removed my husband as a dependant as he was travelling out of the country. Upon his return, I immediately readded him to my medical aid without any delay, we received confirmation of acceptance and with no any waiting periods (effective 1 October 2024). My medical aid is also through my company so I understand that with corporate, waiting periods do not apply. Unfortunately, he got ill on the 14th of October, the surgeon requested for admission into hospital for treatment and to our surprise, we experienced issues getting authorisation. He was told that his GP would need to complete a PMA Form (mind you, he has been a client of Discovery before 2019 and have access to all his health records, and was only taken off my medical aid for the duration of his overseas trip - proof of his travel is readily available. He was told that he would receive feedback within 48hrs, however, after 3 days I had to call the medical aid myself, only to hear that they are still awaiting the form. After no feedback, I eventually had to contact the doctor myself only for the them to confirm that they have not received any form from the medical aid! Days go by and there is *zero communication* from @Discovery. On the 22 of October, my husband falls ill again,*most likely due to not getting the treatment that he needed to begin with from the 14th!!!* . He goes to another doctor (thinking that the initial doctor night have made an error which affected his authorisation. This 2nd doctor also advises that he needs to go for a procedure. *Once again, admission is requested for the 12th November and the authorisation is delayed,* pending the PMA form. On the 30 October, the initial request from the first Doctor was updated to declined on the App, on the basis that the form was not received from them - yet Discovery did not send them the form. I call @Discovery continuously, almost daily thereafter trying to resolve this and I am told by the agent that the relevant department will contact me on the 4th of November as there seems to be a confusion (bearing in mind, 2x doctors have confirmed that he needs a procedure and still he has not been treated and yet Discovery show *zero urgency nor concern for his health!!!*.On the 4th of November, I still do not receive any call from Discovery and I call back myself and speak to an agent who assisted to get the PMA form rerouted to the current doctor. Simultaneously, we receive a written APPROVAL for part of the procedure, requested by the second doctor and an SMS to state that they are reviewing the request (to our knowledge, this is for the rest of the procedure that was not on the approval). Days later, I am informed by my Doctor that the APPROVAL was withdrawn and that they need the PMA form completed?????. There is still zero communication from Discovery and we are receiving this feedback from the Doctor. The doctor completes the required form and the standards dept confirms receipt. We then receive feedback from the current Doctor that they were advised that the initial form, from the first Doctor needs to be completed (mind you, this request was declined on the 30th and I was informed that the form is being re-routed to the current Doctor for completion). I call Discovery again and speak to Ruth who advises that the feedback received from the current Doctor is infact correct and unfortunately they cannot proceed with the current process until the form is received from the initial Doctor ????. I ask to speak to a Manager and *Ruth advises that her team leader says that speaking to the manager will just upset me more as speaking to the Manager will not change the Outcome???* *Really!!?*

At this point, I am absolutely frustrated, terribly disappointed by the poor service I am receiving from Discovery. I am being tossed from pillar to post, using my own airtime, doing both my job and Discovery's. I speak to the Manager named Taylor and she informs me that she will get in contact with the initial Doctor to get the completed form. On Monday (4th November), I received a call from Taylor who says she has being trying to get hold of the Doctor, to no avail, however my husband goes to the Doctors rooms and the Doctor advises that Discovery had been mailing the form to the incorrect email address. I furnish Taylor with the email addresses that my husband obtained from the Doctors rooms at 10.06am and advised her that the handwriting of the email addresses was unclear, however she advised that she will give me feedback. In the same conversation, I also requested feedback on my claims put through the wealth fund for consultation, as my wealth fund has a balance and the claims were rejected stating 'wealth fund exceed'. At 12:22pm,I call the Doctor's rooms and am informed that the form was not received from Taylor. I send a request via the WhatsApp chat for her to contact me around 13.00pm (during my lunch break) and am advised that she responded to the agent's request that she is in meetings and will call me at 14:00. She calls back around 13.30 and advises that the email addresses I had provided her with was incorrect (should it have not been her duty to follow up with the doctor straight after the form was supposedly emailed to the doctors rooms? Or at least call me if the email bounced since this matter was already delayed so badly by Discovery's errors! she obtained the correct email and sent through the forms and advised that she will call me back at 14:30. Eventually I receive a fruitless call at 16:30, advising that she cannot get hold of the Doctors rooms. On 12th Nov (the expected day of procedure), I receive feedback from the Doctors rooms at 11:45, that the form has been sent through, however no feedback from Taylor? *Even the manager is not sticking to the promises made to me as their customer and not assisting to get the matter resolved and of course my husband has still not been treated- despite the matter being escalated to a manager!?* . I send a request once again for her to contact me and I am again told after 14:00. I was advised by the WhatsApp agent Dazree, ' *Taylor has a broad job description. She is not able to call at anytime.* So I guess the failures on Discovery's side don't warrant any sense of urgency being placed on my query. She can only make outbound calls once she has some time'. Am I a valued client? Has all the money I've paid to Discovery only matter when it's time for the debit order? Taylor tries calling around 14.22 and I answer but we both can't hear each other well. She advises via voicemail that she will contact me back - and did not, AGAIN! 15:49pm, I have to call Discovery myself, as no word from Taylor and ask to be transferred to her but am transferred to another supposedly RM. In conversation with the RM, I am informed that they are trying to get ahold of the Doctors rooms because the ref number provided could not be located( *should this not have been done before the Doctors rooms closed???* ) I asked for a way forward and I am told by a very clearly annoyed "relationship manager" , "We are trying to obtain the reference number." Which means another day wasted. Does Discovery not take their clients seriously? Should I be doing their work for them? This type of service is absolutely appalling!!! If this is not resolved before COB tomorrow I will be escaping this to the relevant Ombudsman!

It's sad that my last review of Discovery was one of a happy customer and today I have been so let down by you!