Disgusted with Multichoice and customer service center

It 's nothing new when people complain about call centers . I have must admit I hate communication with call centers because 9 out 10 times service center agents are poorly trained and they lack to large extent sensibility ....it's like talked to trained robot or can't think for themselves and can only answer on what's within their programming . In most cases of service providers call centers they are set up to merely deflect their short comings and create the illusion that they are been proactive .

Multi choice call center highlighted what's wrong with call centers and most service providers . We have multi choice/Mnet customers for over 26 years , and nothing as been more frustrating to us when we call the multichoice call center for technical assistance and the service agents we got to communicate with lack the technical know how to assist .

We have a simple set up at our property which 2 HD PVR decoders , one which a primary and one which secondary ( extra view) . Initially when we had the dual view PVR and we were asked to upgrade to HD decoders which we accordingly did , however , we consistently had a problem with communication between primary and secondary decoder which was initially linked by a heartbeat cable . After consistently reporting this problem just over 3 years a multichoice accredited technician when changing our decoders , after consultation with multichoice support center removed the heartbeat cable and they linked our decoders via a virtual link . Since then we have never had a issue with set up , however , on 12th September 2018 , we were having a problem with recording capabilities of secondary decoder and after contacting call center and they were unable to resolve problem and determined decoder was problem and as we had unit insured , we were told to send unit into a multichoice center for testing . Unit was taken on 13th and a refurbished unit was hand over to us . On connecting this unit at home , we got a E 43 alert and I contacted the call center , my 1st call lasted in excess of 1 hour and 20 minutes , as can be proven by my call logs . The service consultant firstly instead off trying to resolve problem or getting a senior service engineer involved to resolve problem , tried to continously tried to deflect any legal or contractual liability from multichoice ....by saying that the insurance we paid was for hardware and not installation . Secondly she was asked to go through historical call logs , and amusingly enough it was obvious that she wasn't able to , and interestingly enough over conversation with other service engineers on Saturday , multichoice doesn't keep proper logs and notes on faults and complaints. One would think a a entity like Multichoice , would have proper records to improve customer service and on also improve on their services . My 1st communication on 13 ended unresolved and the consultant trying to convince me that it was not possible for our units to have been operating without a heartbeat cable because their hardware wasn't capable . They insisted if I wanted problem resolved I needed to get a installer out at my cost to install a heartbeat cable and I refused because , I believe it not fair for me to continously bare costs for something that's their fault . Firstly , prior to handing in my faulty decoder, my setup was working fine with no heartbeat . I pay insurance for units on my property and it's the legal responsibility or multichoice as the service provider and insurance provider to ensure that I get the same service , as prior to me handing over old unit . Why should I bare cost because they can't keep proper records or refuse to get a qualified person to rectify problem . My request for talking to senior person was ignored during this 1st call , but i was told that this problem was escalated to extraview department and someone would contact within 1- 3 hrs . This never happened . 2 hours later I called back to get a update and went through the same drama with different consultant . We had no service on secondary decoder from 13th and the following day we waited and still no feedback from multichoice or their extra view department . On the 15 th September , my brother spent a few hours with call center with the same poor response and no service or resolution and after asking to speak to a senior person , the consultant cut call . I had just arrived home at the time and I called the customer service center to lodge complaint because we not getting any resolution , all we were been told was that we need to bare cost for getting a installer out to fit a heart beat cable and what they failed to comprehend or understand was that the heartbeat cable was removed in the 1st place and the decoders was setup without heartbeat cable , by their service engineers to overcome the problems that was been encountered due to heartbeat cable . Can someone honestly tell me they will incur a cost to install a cable which doesn't work properly and would lead to further costs of continously calling out installers. During this call as well , we were cut off after over a hour . I called call center back and asked for consultant who were speaking to contact us back and i was told she was emailed to contact us back , but that never happened . % hours later after returning home on the 15 th and seen the problem was yet to be resolved and multichoice didn't call back , I once again called call center , this time the consultant listened and did get her floor manager to come on to the line . We went through everything again , i wasn't surprised by the fact that that a supposedly senior floor manager gave the same response as their call center agents are trained to do . She also insisted that it was not possible for our units to have been working without a heartbeat , that their hardware wasn't cable off that and at my nerve end , I told her she should actually come along with anyone who actually knows their system to the property and show us were the cable existed on our property for last 3 years . I asked to be contacted by senior customer complaints officer on evening off 15th , however , it's the 17th of September ...I received no communication from multichoice or customer service and my secondary service is still not active . In fact up to Saturday night , we didn't know if the replacement unit worked . The floor manager broke to link between primary and secondary decoder to show that the secondary decoder worked on it's own . Once again which ignored my complaint that primary and secondary decoder wasn't working , as they were together before changing secondary decoder .

After all this drama over the few days , it's clear :-

1. multichoice service/technical center definitely don't know the capabilities off their hardware and software 2. they manipulative and ********* 3. customer service is no existent -we had communication with various consultants and 1 floor manager - you can bet for better common sense and customer care from a tuck shop , than hoping to get any from multichoice 4 . we know have to incur cost for no fault of ours , yet multichoice gets to collect our subscriptions and insurance premiums and operate with minimal responsibility to deliver a efficient service .

If anyone from multichoice management off any ethical values actually reads this , I challenge multichoice to prove me wrong that our set up was working without a heartbeat.

I will be lodging a complaint with ombudsmen , because i believe it my legal right to insist that my set up be restored , as it was before multichoice changing decoders .

But as a customer , I am disgusted with this organization and it;s high time our government opened the door for competitors to multichoice .