Twice burned, now I want answers

Discovery Insure has made my cellphone-owning life a misery.

Starting in August 2017 when I first instituted a claim for a damaged iPhone screen. My phone was sent to a third-party repair store for an assessment and repairs. Unbeknownst to me, only the iStore is authorised to assess and "repair" iPhones, and with subsequent iOS upgrades, my phone was essentially rendered useless since these upgrades exclude non-authorised parts. This was shared with me when I booked my phone in at the iStore for a battery repair. They refused to touch my phone, stating that once third-party parts had been used - the technician immediately spotted the different screen - they were no longer able to assess the phone. I was not able to claim the battery replacement. I shared this update with my claims assessor, who requested proof from the iStore stating this.

Fast-forward to April 2018, when my phone was damaged again. I again instituted a claim with Discovery. When I was notified of my claims assessor and his details, I immediately mailed him with the details of my previous encounter. At my own cost, I had an assessment at the iStore which detailed that since the phone had previously been repaired by a third party agent, the iStore technician was unable to touch it. I shared this with the assessor, Grayson-Lee, too.

I was travelling from the time the phone was damaged, and noted an e-mail on June 6 from the repair store that had been authorised to assess my phone, stating that they had been unable to reach me and I should contact them. From what I could see on my damaged phone, I had 2 missed calls from an unknown number on a Friday. When I tried calling the following week, the calls would not connect. Upon checking my mails a few days later, a new Discovery employee had made contact, saying my claim had been placed on hold until they had a new number on which to reach me. I furnished my work cellphone number, and urged them to use it. There was no response. Upon going through my mails this weekend, I stumbled across a mail dated June 6 from Discovery assessor Manasseh - who I had previously mailed and tried unsuccessfully to call - "verifying" that I had requested my claim by withdrawn.

I immediately mailed Manasseh requesting the details of when I had withdrawn the claim. I have previously said that while I am not opposed to my phone being assessed by a third party, I would like a replacement phone for what has become a dud following the last Discovery sanctioned "repairs". My current bout with Discovery Insure is starting to test my patience and my loyalty. I would like some word from Discovery Insure to tell me exactly what is going on with my claim.