Poor Service delivery

I am truly disappointed with the service received from Discovery as well as their appointed plumber Rekopane Katok Plumbing Electrical & Projects.

The initial claim for geyser was lodged on 06/07/2020 as it was tripping the circuit breakers. A discovery appointed service provider being Rekopane Katok Plumbing Electrical & Projects inspected and found that the geyser needed to be replaced. They also confirmed that the geyser did not comply with PIRB guidelines for replacement of the hot water system specifically relating to the unit not having a drip tray as well as a pressure valve. The cost to customer in order to make the hot water system compliant was quoted by Discovery as R1100.

Approval for this was given on the 09/07/2020. I then directly spoke to the service provider and requested the geyser to be mounted on the outside to avoid them having to cut the new brandering on the roof and the under tile sheeting. The service provider then quoted me R400 for the extra work needed to mount the unit on the outside wall above the carport. Pictures of the installation provided in a separate email. This was accepted and agreed in principle. There was no discussion of non compliance or electrical work that would be outstanding.

On Tuesday, 14/07/2020, Rekopane Katok Plumbing Electrical & Projects presented to my home 1 hour later than agreed upon, and inspected the property for a second time, to view and confirm the required work. This was done telephonically with myself since they arrived late for their appointment. At this stage I requested that a plumbing certificate of compliance be issued once the work was completed, to which I received the response that the supplier, Rekopane Katok Plumbing Electrical & Projects, would not be able to do so on the same day as he did not have any compliance certificates. We then agreed that they would return on 16/07/2020 to complete the work as agreed upon, and provide the required certificate of compliance.

Rekopane Katok Plumbing Electrical & Projects arrived on 16/07/2020 in order to replace the geyser and drain the water from the damaged geyser inside the roof as agreed telephonically with Johannes. He demanded payment from my Wife prior to starting the work, thus we were not aware that we would not get a working geyser. Furthermore, his invoice was due for R1 550, and not the agreed R1 500. Upon my return from work I inspected the installation and found that the electrical was not connected and the system still not operational.

I inspected the certificate of Compliance no 395506, Licenced registration number:4570/19 and found that under section Pre-existing non compliance conditions we now had more non conformances listed being: The geyser is unbalanced pressure. Pipes inside roof not secured. Pipes around the geyser do not have lagging on it. I immediately phoned the service provider and was told that the reporting of the unbalanced pressure was done in order to satisfy PIRB auditers should they decide to inspect the installation. I was also told that they did not quote me on lagging. Johannes then said that he needed to speak to the office to get the electrical sorted and also he would return to patch the drilled holes as he did not have cement with him.

Service provider demanded payment for the plumbing prior to starting the work thus not allowing us as a customer to confirm we have an operational geyser.

Please consider the following points which needs to be resolved as a matter of urgency: It is now 14 days since lodging the initial claim, and I still do not have a compliant or working geyser. I was forced to pay R1550 upfront for incomplete work that is still not compliant and a COC that is not worthy of the paper it is written on. I was charged for a drip tray that was clearly not installed. Pre-existing non-compliance conditions are now provided, when this was never mentioned or discussed before, leading me to believe that the supplier did not complete a thorough inspection initially, which subsequently gives rise to the quality of workmanship. I have spent hours on the phone as well as typing emails in order to have my queries addressed but with no resolution. I would appreciate acknowledgement of this email as well as confirmation of how it will be resolved speedily. Failure to do so will result in me having to follow the next step and lay a complaint with the PIRB as well as the ombud for short term insurance as I have exhausted all the avenues within Discovery insure.