Absolutely disgusting

On 15/6/25 my son Jody was advised to visit emergency room with suspected appendicitis. We went to Victoria hospital but the waiting room was cramped with patients. Because he was in so much pain and could barely sit still, we decided to take him to Melomed in Tokai. He is not on medical aid but we were willing to pay regardless. At front desk we were told to pay an amount upfront which we did without hassles and he was taken to emergency room. Still at front desk assistant was explaining additional costs should he go for blood tests etc.. We agreed. After doctor examined him, he told us he was transferring Jody to Victoria hospital. After already explaining in front our reasons for being there, we again told the doctor we came from there and emergency room is full. His exact words were:don't worry, i organized everything and spoke to doctor on that side who will meet jody at emergency room. He then said jody will have to be transported via ambulance even though we could have taken him as it was only 15mins away. Dr was adamant he must go via ambulance. Now additional cost for ambulance was R1650 which we also had to pay upfront and did. When he got to Victoria, he was taken to emergency room and left with a full room of patients. We were still moving towards the emergency room. Needless to say my son became agitated, there was no place to lie down and he was on a drip. 4 hours later we were still sitting there, him with a by now empty drip. Nobody was willing to help we were told to wait. Calls to doctor at melomed proved fruitless as his explanation was, he does not control what happens other side. I was furious, what did we pay all that money for? After explicitly explaining over and over we did not want to wait. Besides paying upfront for consultation, we at no time said we will not pay for any treatment, we also had to pay so much money for a 15min ride in ambulance that dumped him in the very place we did not want to be.@10pm,after sitting 8hrs on a hard bench, he was finally helped. I have made numerous calls to melomed, send 5 emails complaining about service and ripping us off monetary wise. It's unforgivable and unacceptable that after taking money for a service, they relegated it to someone else. I'm still furious because we wasted all that money. Numerous requests to solve this matter has been met with silence, not even an apology. I feel we should be reimbursed, afterall, they did nothing! I will nevet recommend anyone to this institution as the are *****ulent and what they claim to be is so far from reality, its not funny!