My details were **********ly used

Hi Mpho,

Please escalate this matter to whoever is responsible.

Series of events:

On the 15th May I received an email stating the below.

You have successfully linked the following Smartcard number to your Connect ID:

Linked smartcard : ********** 038 - DTHIUC

If you did not link the Smartcard number to your Connect ID, please email our Customer Care at ********** to report this. Please note it is important to report this immediately to avoid unauthorised access to your account information and services.

I then emailed the above email address and was told to do a live chat. I did the live chat and was told my Smangele that the message was sent in error.

On the 25th May we were cut off.

My husband called Multichoice to find out what was happening and he was informed that they needed to speak to me as the account holder not him. I was at work at the time but I called as requested. The call centre agent told me that my son had called on 15th May to deactivate my account and open another one for R99. I was shocked because I have a 3 year old son and he could not have called. The address and the cell number that the call centre agent gave me were not mine. I was told there is a Malelane address on the DSTV system yet I have never set foot in that town. Who authorized this change of address and contact details? I was told that I had 4 decoders in my name. The agent however changed back my details to the correct ones and then reconnected me. If my “son” called on the 15th, why did Smangele not tell me that on the live chat? Why did she also tell me that the email was sent in error?

26th May I spoke to Dylan and told him my problem. I told him that I needed an investigation on this issue as I was worried that someone out there has my details and is using them **********ly. He said he will listen to recording of my “son’s call and come back to me. He never did.

30th May We were disconnected again on this day. I called the call centre and expressed my anger with DSTV about the frequent disconnections and the non- communication. Dylan had not called even though it was a Wednesday. The lady I spoke to did not even try to understand my anger and what was happening instead she became rude and told me my son called. I got more angry as I felt I am required to keep repeating the same thing about the “son” who I said is not mine. She did not apologise or even offer to investigate what happened instead she took this too personal telling me I deal with different agents and that she did not refuse to speak to my husband and that someone else did. I asked to speak to her supervisor. That was also a waste of my time as she was worse than her. At the end of the call she blatantly refused to give me her name and said that the reference number ( ********** 2i20) she gave me is sufficient. She threatened to cancel everything and even told me that I will remain disconnected until the investigation is complete. The attitude I got from the agents was so bad, they don’t know how to deal with frustrated customers, they make them feel like culprits. Nobody understood that my details are out there and being used **********ly, no apology, no humility, just a bad attitude. Nobody could tell me why they refused to speak to my husband on the 25th yet they can speak to my “so called” son.

A few minutes later, I received an sms stating that I owe multichoice therefore I have been disconnected. I then decided to drive from the South of Joburg to Randburg in order to get a face to face explanation of what happened. I spoke to Nonhlanhla Malinga, she was excellent. She removed the other decoders off my name. She listened to my “son”’s call and then told me that this “son” had all my details and ID number. She asked me to send her an affidavit and said that she will forward it to the ***** department. I have since done that.

*I don’t understand why Smangele did not tell me that my son had called and that the connection I was querying was requested by this “son”. If she had told me on that day, none of this could have happened *I don’t understand why DSTV always refuse to speak to my husband and yet spoke to my “son” *I don’t understand why my details were changed without my knowledge *Why do I have 4 decoders in my name? Who authorized them? The calls for activation of these accounts need to be checked too *Why didn’t the person that I spoke to on the 25th escalate this matter to the ***** department and remove the other 3 decoders? *Aren’t the agents trained to apologise for any inconvenience customers go through due to ********** activities that DSTV allow to happen to their account? Someone there changed my details without checking the legitimacy of the calls made on “my behalf”. *Why was I threatened by the supervisor? Is it okay for her to refuse to give me her details?

To this day, nobody from multichoice has called me to give me feedback. I can't always follow up with them.