Poor Customer Service

<p>My name is Tebogo Thantsa and I'm lodging a complaint on behalf om y parents as I'm the one responsible for the medical aid expenses. My parents' medical aid was changed from Key Care to Essential Saver as of 1 January 2017 and when I phoned to confirm about the prices before the changing the options, the prices that were on the brochure were confirmed to me telephonically as the correct ones meaning for both my parents it was going to be R3259.00. My father received a letter last week stating the new monthly contribution of R5100. On the 30 Nov 2016 @ 10:00 I phoned Discovery and spoke to Earlene (Ref# ********** 743), I asked Earlene to explain the where the R5100 was coming from and she stated that it is because of the late joiner fee, I then asked where is the late joiner fee stated because I did not see it on the brochure. Earlene explained to me that later joiner fee is not stated on the brochure but instead it is stated on the form that is signed when joining the medical aid. I stated to Earlene that when moving from Key Care there was no form that was signed and I was told we must send an email for change option. Earlene mentioned that the form that was initially signed in 2011 when joining the medical aid stated the late joiner fee. My next question to Earlene was, "until when is the late joiner fee?" She then stated that it is until eternity or until the membership is terminated. I then asked her to please send the form that my parents initially signed in 2011 as I needed proof of this late joiner fee. Earlene put me on hold while consulting with new business department for the form that was signed. She then came back to and confirmed that the form is sent to her and that she will send to me, I asked her to do it immediately of which she put me on hold and later came back to tell me that unfortunately she cannot send external email but her manager will send it in the next 10 min.</p> <p> </p> <p>Around 13:55 on the same day I phoned again and spoke to Sandile Nzima (Ref ********** 109) whom I explained the whole story and mentioned that I'm still waiting for the email with the form signed in 2011. Sandile then told me a different story about the late joiner fee and mentioned that it should be reviewed frequently and that is is not paid forever. He then asked when last where my parents on medical aid before Discovery I mentioned that I wasn't sure how long they had a break before Discovery. He asked me to send my parents' membership certificate before joining discovery to email address ********** I got the membership certificate and sent it the same day to the email address provided with subject "Sandile Nzima" as he mentioned. Come 02 Dec 2016 I still had not received any response from Discovery, I phoned again around 10:58 and spoke to Nicole (Ref# ********** 083) and explained my whole story all over again. Nicole stated that she will send an email to Earlene, Sandile and Ahmed requesting them to attend to my query as a matter of urgency and also stating on the email that I still needed the form signed in 2011. Today it is the 04 December and I still have not received any feedback from Discovery and I'm so not happy, I no longer have the energy nor the airtime to phone customer service again hence I'm reporting this on Hello Peter, if they are not going to respond to this query I will then have to take this to the Medical aid board Ombudsman or to Checkpoint on eNCA. I feel Discovery is ripping us off here, I need explanation on the crazy amount they are charging and the original form that was signed in 2011 so that I can see where this late joiner penalty is coming form or when is going to end. </p> <p> </p> <p>Regards</p> <p>Tebogo Thantsa ( ********** )</p> <p> </p>