DSTV Monopoly Overcharging on Account

Once again, my DSTV account has been suspended due to non-payment from me. This has happened numerous times before. I used to allow my debit order to just pay my account without checking it. When I did start checking the account about 2 years ago, I found that I was being overcharged for my Holiday View usage, & the dates I was charged did not match with when there were guests. I stopped my debit order & started to pay by EFT only once I had received invoice verifying the charges. DSTV insist on 2 amounts – the monthly Subscription plus the Access Fee for the 2nd decoder (R919) which is payable monthly in advance, & the subscription for the pay-as-you-use Holiday Home decoder which is payable before the 4th of the next month. The DSTV statements account for transactions between the 5th of one month & the 4th of the next month but are never available to view before about 13th of the month. They suspend your services if not paid on about 10th of the month. This means that they expect clients to pay their accounts before seeing the statements. All suppliers of services have an obligation to send clients an account of what is owing before expecting payment – that’s the way business works. I refused to pay before seeing the invoice because of the discrepancies, & the process of getting any credits is very difficult. DSTV are unreachable & untouchable, & on previous queries I only after many emails back & forth did I get any satisfaction, & the issues were usually eventually resolved. On about 5 October 2020 I removed the DSTV decoder from our Guest House & installed a Smart Mi Box with paid Netfix, UTube & other options, as well as DSTV Now through my active main DSTV account. On the statement dated 13 December for the period 5 November – 4 December 2020 I was charged R713.32 for the Holiday Home Guest House decoder usage between 9 October – 4 November 2020. I had removed that decoder on about 5 October when the Mi Box was installed & reinstated the regular monthly payments from my bank account because I was happy to pay the monthly subscription of R919 knowing that there would be no more charges for the Holiday Home decoder that had been removed. When I queried the October charges with DSTV (***) I was told that I had left an instruction by phone with one of their consultants to leave the decoder on during those dates. I do not recall this conversation & as I recall I usually used the phone app to manage the Holiday Home decoder. I was also told that the conversation had bee recorded & if I wanted to hear the recording, I had to go to the nearest DSTV support centre. This is in the next town from where I live & I don’t often go there. I no longer have the emotional energy to fight for what should be a pleasant recreational activity, & I will not be interacting with DSTV anymore & will go without DSTV. Should they want to resolve this issue & credit those October charges they must do so & then contact me. DSTV have a monopoly particularly with sport & therefore do as they please. Their systems are all aimed at protecting them & make it extremely difficult for customer to resolve issues & complain. Try calling the call centre & ask to talk to a supervisor who can make a decision – impossible. Their Chat line on the website is a machine that can only answer standard questions. Email is the most effective communication but is long & drawn out. For me the recreational pleasure of having DSTV is outweighed by the hassle & frustration of resolving overcharges. I have a few clients who have similar frustrations.