“Innocent” is not so Innocent

DO NOT USE: Sat Techs in Gauteng (A.K.A Dish Repairs 24/7, A.K.A Dish installers PTY LTD) - Grossly inflated prices - Install incorrect LNB - Demand immediate payment (very aggressively) - Want to charge call out fee to come fix his own installation (purposefully incorrect)

NB: Same person flagged as DStv Multi Choice, see review by Marius R 29 Nov 2023) NB: Brian also flagged as DSTV Techs in Gauteng by Sizwe Z (21 Nov 2019) and by Gandhi M (8 March 2019)

Story below of his Modus Operandi: On 15th Dec, after a few weeks of intermittent signal loss, set recordings not working and catch-up not working, DSTV walk-in center replaced our decoder. After plugging the new one in, we had a “no signal error”. I found Sat Techs in Gauteng on the internet – website looked ligit. Call-out fee was R350, we agreed & Innocent came the next morning to look at the issue. First tried to blame the HDMI cable after fiddling with wires (we fixed that issue by switching on the amplifier!!). Then asked for a ladder (seriously? What tradesman doesn’t have their own equipment?). He then just started replacing the main cable from the dish to the decoder – no explanation or quote. Once completed he asked the account holder to WhatsApp a number (figured out later it was DSTV self-service line). Hey Presto, we had signal and picture. I flipped through some channels & checked catch-up. He said catch-up would take 2 days to load fully. He WhatsApp’d the Invoice (only realised later the company name on invoice was different to website and his phone!!). R2525 for: - R 450: Inverto eye (this is a brand of LNB, price at Macro is R79 – only after climbing on roof to check later, this is a single LNB, not same as original smart LNB) - R1700: Service fee or labour, trouble shooting, accessories (his rates are double the average GP / doctor visit??!!) - R375: Signal cable (average price for 100m of cable = R400, only used about 10m)

I printed the POP and he got very angry that it was not an immediate payment (no such instructions on invoice or by him). He said he needs petrol money and we should have checked before paying. He left very angrily.

Following the “repairs” we were back where we started, and realised he had installed the incorrect LNB, so we asked him to come back. He accused us of fiddling with the LNB, then said he was away on holiday and couldn’t help us. I told him to send someone else, so said he would tell Brian to contact us. Brain never called, Innocent wouldn’t give me Brian’s number and eventually ignored all my messages over the next week. I waited until the first working Monday in January to call Innocent back. First said he would come the next morning. Later he said he’s not available till next month and his brother would call. His brother insisted I pay a call out fee. I told them both I would not pay for a re-call on Innocents shoddy job. Innocent told me he hadn’t charged a call out fee originally, and any re-alignment of the dish was also chargeable. I said “thank, you. Please come in the morning”. Innocent confirmed he would come at 8am (not sure how he was suddenly available). Innocent never arrived. After an internet search, we bought a new smart LNB, installed it ourselves, cleared the “no signal” message on the self-service WhatsApp number, set-up the new LNB to talk to the decoder and tweaked the signal until we had 100%. When Innocent called at 12:30 the next day to say he was on his way, I told him not to bother.