Service From HELL!!

I have been a loyal customer of Multichoice for the last 21 years of their 34 year existence. This morning I had an experience from HELL via two calls that I made to their contact centre.

My service was disconnected this morning and via their self service channels was provided with a re-connection quote which I paid(via 2 seperate EFT transactions). After payment I contact with their contact centre to be reconnected. First call was taken by an agent called Thandokazi(at 08.03am), this lady was abrassive, no listening skills and told me that the amounts paid was "insuffient" and in a screaming manner told me that there no reason to escalate this matter because she is working from home and that there is no manager to escalate to. Whilst I was still mid-sentence she abruptly disconnected the call.

I called the Contact Centre again, this time I was assisted by a very helpful agent called Ranish. This call lasted for 33 minutes. This call reference number is ***3-I376. I related my story and he checked their systems and told me that only one of the two transactions are reflecting(strangely its the last of the 2 transactions that is showing). I told him that on their very own "My DSTV" app both these payments are showing in their transactions list yet not on the "main" DSTV system that the Contact Centre has access to. Even though Ranish was office based he could not escalate to a manager because there was no one of authority on the floor. I was asked to send proof of payment to them and they will get back to me in 24 hours.

My frustration is that I spent almost an hour incurring cell phone costs for which I will not be reimbursed for to get access to a service that I have paid for(remember this is a pay-per-view service). I have paid but cannot view, see the irony? DSTV charges you a pro-rata fee if you pay your service late yet I will not be extended the same courtesy for not have access to as service that I have paid for.

Other notable points: 1. You cannot have self managed agents who clearly does not have the maturity handle this level of responsibility. 2. An escalation process is not a "nice to have" its a necessity. 3. All good and well that you have a number of digital channels available however if these channels all points back to a limit functionality Artificial Intelligence(AI) Chatbot then you are doing your clients a disservice. 4. It is important to have a limited number of after hours(human interface) options available, especially if your are running a 24/7 service offering. 5. How is it possible that your technology platforms are not integrated (Conflict between your App information vs system used by Contact Centre vs Your billing system) 6. Customer experience(es[especially customer loyalty) is clearly not something that is high up on your list of priorities. 7. It seems as if your process and procedures are all inwardly focused as apposed being customer centric.

I am very disappointed in Multichoice!!!!!!!