False Promotion by MultiChoice

I am extremely disappointed by the false promotion that Multichoice sent me via sms’s. On the SMS’s Multichoice offered me one month free if I had paid my account for 2 consecutive month. I was extremely pleased by the offer. I then kept on trying to find out whether I was eligible for the 1 month free, and called their call centre during after receiving an SMS stating that I was in line to getting May for free and I was told I was eligible. End of May 2019 I didn’t pay as I was under the impression that my one month free would be in effect. On the several calls that I made to Multichoice I was informed to ignore the messages requesting me to pay my instalment due to the promotion I was offered. Last week my DSTV was deactivated and reactivated again. This morning it was again deactivated and now the call centre consultants are singing a different tune, one mentioned that I had to take the SMS to the nearest Multichoice office and show them as they were not aware of the promotion and the other one said I had to reply to the SMS in order to be eligible. There is nowhere on the SMS where they state that I had to reply to qualify for the promotion.

The last SMS I received dated Tuesday 02 Apr 2019 “ You’re still in line to get 1 month on us! Pay on time for DSTV Compact in Apr & we’ll take care of May. Dial *120*68584# for info. T&Cs. Reply to STOP or opt out.” Reading this message it clearly indicated if I wanted to opt out I had to reply STOP, which I never did. Now I am left with a deactivated DSTV account with an overdue amount. This is a clear indication of false advertising and being bul**** to accept anything by Multichoice as they are aware that they have no competition. I am willing to even further this complaint to the next relevant ombudsman if it’s not resolved.