GEMS Review – Disappointing Experience with Membership Termination - ***

On 21 August 2024, I submitted a membership termination form to GEMS due to excessive costs resulting from my recent lack of subsidy. The next day, on 22 August 2024, I called GEMS before any processing of the termination request and submitted a Retraction of Cancellation Request stating that after careful consideration, I decided that downgrading my medical aid option would be a more suitable course of action than canceling my membership entirely. I sent this retraction along with a Request for Option Change and the completed mid-year motivation for the option change. This was informed by a GEMS marketing representative during my call, where I mentioned that my reason for cancellation was the high rates and lack of subsidy.

To my surprise, on Saturday, 24 August 2024, I received correspondence from GEMS stating that my termination had been processed, effective at the end of September 2024. When I called today, 27 August, to inquire why my retraction and option downgrade request were not processed, I was told by the operations section that it is not possible to retract the cancellation and that I would need to reapply. This is after being a GEMS member for over 13 years.

This whole experience has taught me that GEMS does not care about keeping members. With so many members, it seems they don’t care whether you leave or stay, as they are likely making substantial profits. Why not give a client who has been a member for over 13 years a courtesy call to try and retain them? Instead, they processed my termination request within a day. They don’t seem to care about retaining long-term members, which is disheartening.

I called within just 5 hours of submitting my termination request, trying to stop everything, but they terminated my membership the next day without hesitation.