"Out of goodwill" ruined my trust in Discovery.

Good day all,

I would hereby like to complain about some of the worse and careless service I have ever received. I am 27 years old and I have been a loyal discovery client since I left school. I have never had any issues until I really needed their help. I really hope I can help someone by reading this and avoiding the same horrible experience I have had with them.

I went to the dentist in November 2017 as I had very bad tooth pain, the dentist advised I will need to have a root canal done which adds up to about R4000 (Over 2 sessions). I had no medical savings or money to pay for this treatment as I just recently went through a divorce, which really gave me a massive financial knock. I reached out to discovery and they send me an "Ex Gratia" application which means "out of good will" the application contained everything from what the issue is, what treatment is needed, quotes to be attached, x-rays needed and myself to complete an income and expenditure statement, 3 month bank statements, payslips and more. I completed this application form and sent through everything they required from me and advised them of the urgency here, as there is a big chance I can lose my tooth, and this will be my second one on the opposite side.

I submitted my request with everything they required on 27 November 2017, they rep**** on 29 November requesting a comprehensive letter of motivation and a panoramic x-ray from the dentist. While I went to the dentist for the x-rays, they did the first phase of the root canal of about R800 which I paid for as I was in severe pain and could not function. The dentist was very helpful in providing me with all required by discovery as the Dentist shared my urgency in getting this tooth fixed before I lose it. I sent all this to Discovery on 1 December 2017. On 5 December, I asked for an update from them as this started becoming a big problem for me. They rep**** on 6 December stating that it is still under review and they will get back to me, with no further details as to when or what to expect. A week goes past again, my tooth is a massive risk as per Dentist, and I followed up again on 11 December and again on 18 December, as I was getting no feedback from discovery at all, they really just could not care less about my tooth. On 20 December, they rep**** and said sorry I have missed the cut-off date and I will need to wait to 2018, I completely understand that this is out of goodwill and the outcome cannot be guaranteed, but it has been a month now with absolutely no communication to the next steps.

On 8 Jan 2018, I sent a mail to discovery asking for feedback again and expressing my disappointment in the lack of communication, empathy, information and urgency I have been receiving from Discovery. On 9 Jan 2018 they again sent me, a message just saying that it is still under consideration with no date on when to expect and answer again no empathy for my problem. Now my tooth is starting to give many problems. On 18 January I sent them another mail stating that I am still not getting any communication, and that I still don’t know anything more than I knew 2 months ago and it really felt that no one cared about me when I was in need. (Like I said it’s the first time ever I asked Discovery for help like this in 6 years I have been with them. The next day Discovery rep**** and said, “Based on the information supp****, the application was declined.” Providing absolutely no reason of why it was declined.

My complaint here is not only about the fact the declined without even telling me why, but the horrible communication and lack of empathy received. To a company like discovery we are just numbers on a book and nothing more. There is no words to express my utter disappointment in the service received.

All my trust lost in discovery with one single incident.