The worst, most frustrating service ever.

I am so extremely disappointed with the service I have received from Discovery.

It all started in August, when I submitted a claim for a COVID PCR test - I was told that the test would be covered if it was referred to by a doctor. However, if the test came back positive, then Discovery would pay for it. As my test did come back positive, I am entitled to receive the R850 back, as promised by Discovery. I sent all the requested documentation - invoice from Lancet, proof of payment receipt, positive COVID test result, etc. The way that Discovery handled this was absolutely terrible - I had to continually follow up and chase consultants - I mostly used the online chat service - if anyone from Discovery wants to see the history, it's all there in black and white. I must have tried to follow up about 20 times, and that is not an exaggeration. There were so many times I requested Discovery to email me back with feedback (as I am unable to speak on the phone while at work during the week) - however, I hardly received any feedback. At one stage I requested to escalate my complaint, and was told to email *** - I did this, but no one even bothered to reply to that. There were also times I expressed me extreme unhappiness with the way Discovery were handling this, and that I was prepared to terminate my membership - all I received were apologies. Apologies mean nothing to me if the problem is not being fixed. I eventually received an email from Lucia Ncgobo on 16 November to say the claim has been correctly paid to Lancet. I rep**** saying this is incorrect, the claim should be paid to me, as I was the one who paid Lancet (I had even sent proof of this, more than once). Lucia Ncgobo didn't bother to reply to my email.

After me following up again, I then dealt with Lunathi Tefani who at least provided me with some feedback on 18 November to say that they are dealing with Lancet to try and get the claim to be refunded to me. However, another 2 weeks have passed and I haven’t heard another word from Lunathi or anyone else. Feeling extremely frustrated, I contacted Timothy on 26 November via the online chat – he promised to check with Lunathi and provide feedback by the end of the day. It is now 5 days later and I’m still waiting. I refuse to contact anyone else, as it’s clear the Discovery consultants (as nice as they are) are not truly willing to go the extra mile and resolve customer queries and complaints. If I have to go to this much effort to claim a relatively low amount of R850, how would Discovery handle a claim if I had to end up in hospital? By far, this has been the most frustrating experience with a company – ever.