Shame on you, DSTV MULTICHOICE

I can not begin to express my disappointment in this company. It has just gone from sad to worse. Not being the petty kind to run to social media and spew my disgust in an unprofessional way to anyone who would listen ... I tried to and PAID for the friendly way. They *******LY (without my consent) upgraded me to a package and had me paying for services not used. Then when I call, charge me R2-90 per minute to hold on, listen to menu options, hope for action to be taken. They are totally unequipped and unprofessional in dealing with queries. Play the big company and we will shove you off for as long as we can because we can.

My story

I have two (2) queries that need urgent attention. 1) The ******* action on the part of DSTV on upgrading my account ( ***3-I61 ), without my permission. On Wednesday 02 March 2022 at 18:49 I made a call to DSTV Customer services. I spoke with Sivuyile Mbombela. Call lasted 20 min. I enquired as to why my account is being debited for a package I did not order. After checking the system he confirmed that I am indeed on said package since October 2021. Upon my asking how that could have taken place as I had no recollection of said action being authorized from my side. He informed me that he would have to listen to the call to gain information. After some time in which he was in communication with his supervisor, he informed me that they have located the recording and that they are about to listen to the call. He asked whether I wanted to stay on the call with him or whether he should call me back after listening which was a kind gesture on his part. He however never returned the call.

On Thursday 03 March 2022 at 08:28 I made yet another call to DSTV Customer services. This call lasted for 8 min. I can not remember the consultants name. She enlightened me to the fact that she can not find any reference to my call on the system. I enquired why this is because I needed the company to respond and attend to my query. She said that only critical matters get logged in this manner to which I responded confused and frustrated as it seemed the company didn’t see this as a matter of urgency. She asked me to action an email to *** , to explain my situation, which I did. Moments later the help desk confirmed receipt of my communication.

At 15:18 on Thursday 03 March 2022, because I have not received any further reply, I made a call to DSTV Customer services. After revisiting my situation for the third time, Desiree, the consultant, helped me, by placing me in contact with her supervisor.

After he informed me that he can not assist me in any other matter than simply to downgrade my package, he downgraded my package and further informed me that the matter is now a financial one, which falls under a different department. He said that they would typically need 24 – 48 hours to reply. This call lasted 33 min.

I have since remembered that I made said call on 13 October 2021, to the call center from my phone ON BEHALF OF and in assistance of a family member. The call started by me stating that I am doing so on behalf of said family member. After realizing that there is documentation involved and that this needed to be supp**** to the company before the requested CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP could take place, my recollection of the call is that we would rather proceed by delivering the documents to the local branch office, rather than trying to do so online. Because I have had no need for the service for quite some time, I can not think why I would have initiated the upgrade. As I have no access to the recording I can not verify this for my self. PLEASE SUPPLY ME WITH THE RECORDING so that I can confirm that this was indeed the case.

On Monday 07 March 2022, I attempted making a call to DSTV Customer services. I was informed by my service provider that I do not have sufficient airtime available to make such a call. This surprised me. Upon checking my balance and confirming with my service provider, I discovered that I had bountiful contractual minutes of call time available. Upon retrying to make the call and getting the same message, I placed another call to my service provider. Upon explaining that I get this erroneous message, the consultant informed me that I made calls to a PREMIUM SERVICE and was charged R2-90 per minute for such calls, and would have to either increase my billing limit or deposit the airtime before attempting such a call again. This was very alarming. Which brings me to my second query.

2) There are no indications either online or at the commencement of a call to the customer helpline, of PREMIUM SERVICE costs, relating to a call made to the customer service line. Calls to the center are extended by a maze of options, of which the caller is footing the bill. If given the option and accepting the offer, the company does not honour their commitment in providing said service. If this was known to me I would have rather visited my local branch which I also did. The consultant at the desk was also not aware of said costs and equally surprised that this was the case. I have a recording of my visit to the service desk and enlightened the service consultant as to my recording our encounter.

As my interaction with the company over the past few days amounted to 61 minutes, I have a Bill of R176.90. I find this totally unacceptable. That is over and above the costs incurred by the upgrade.