UNPROFESSIONAL.. FORCEFUL.. RUDE!

About a month or two ago, I received a call from a Platinum Life agent saying someone had given them my details and that I will be receiving a "free gift". I asked who the person was that referred me. They gave the name of someone I have heard of but have never actually met in my life. Someone who works in my industry and had access to my contact details.

My response was, okay great, that's nice. They went on to tell me that the gift would be delivered to me so they just needed a few contact details from me. I said sure.

They asked for my full name, I gave them. They asked for my address, I gave them. They asked for my mobile number, I gave them. They asked for a landline number, in case my mobile was off, I gave them, but insisted for them NOT to use it. They went on to ask me for my ID number and I asked why they would need that information. They said something along the lines of, it's just to keep a record so if I ever were to deal with them in the future, they'd know that I've already spoken to an agent. I found it strange but agreed and gave them.

They then went on to ask if I've ever opened an insurance plan with them, I said no, and that I was not intending to. They assured me that it was fine, that they just needed to know, so they could put it on record. By this point I was a bit skeptical, but provided whatever information they needed.

A few days later I received an SMS from them with a link to a site where I needed to fill in my delivery details and select the "gift" I'd like to receive. None of them really appealed to me, but I chose the perfume, nevertheless. A few days later, the parcel was delivered to my home. It was a Platinum Life box containing a booklet, a pamphlet, a 30ml perfume, a letter stating what is in my "gift pack" (signed by Tanja Yildirim, the Customer Care Manager) and a "Certificate of Free Female Cancer Cover" to the value of R20,000 and valid until 24/11/2020, signed off by two Directors (with no names associated to either of them). Not that I asked for it or agreed to it, but okay.

I thought okay, that was nice of them, great marketing strategy that's targeted at women. I figured it might be worth considering at some point in the near future, and that was it... or so I thought.

Over the course of the following month or so, I received over 8 phone calls from their various agents, during awkward work hours and over weekends. I had asked them to call at a more appropriate time. They asked me when, I told them when. With absolutely no regard to what I had advised, I continued receiving calls at all hours of the day. Not to my surprise, one of the calls was through to the landline number I had previously provided them with, which I had advised them NOT to call because it is being used as an office number.

By this point it was clear that this was a strategy they'd been using for some time. Each time they called, it was from a different number. I took the liberty of saving all the numbers that came through to my mobile phone:

+***9 +***2 +***6 +***4 +***6 +***5 +***2

I have the app called TrueCaller on my phone and when I copy/pasted these numbers into the app, they all came up as SPAM with hundreds of reports from TrueCaller users.

I have just now received a call from Tanja (the Customer Care Manager) at 10:22am on 29 June 2020, from +***2, in the middle of my busy work day and definitely outside of the hours I had advised them to call me at.

Among 3 work calls, I took this call from the mobile number she used, thinking it's one of my clients. It's Tanja, who briefly introduces herself and asks a few seemingly irrelevant questions regarding the weather and COVID-19.

She asked me if I received the gift, I said yes I did. At this point I felt the need to share my experience so far with them and told her that I've been hounded by agents over the last month or so, and I didn't understand why. I didn't sign up or agree to any of their plans/policies.

She quickly changed her tone and went on to ask me "Well, did you like the gift?". I said yes it's okay. She then told me "Nothing in life is free. You need to say thank you and move on" !!!!

I said yes, thank you. She said okay, bye. Then we hung up.

So... the gist of the conversation, in other words, is that I need to be grateful?! For what?! For them sending me a "free gift" (which in my terms is a bribe) and then dangling it over my head in an attempt to make me feel guilty and/or grateful enough to sign up and take out a policy with them?!

In case they haven't noticed, we are in the midst of a global pandemic. The majority of the population (myself included), have not been paid in months. People are poor, people are dying. I don't see how this service is relevant at this time and certainly don't see why it should be FORCED upon people.

This is not the first time I am hearing about Platinum Life's ********** customer service. My mother was also hounded and as she says "harassed" by them, and it continued for months. There are also multiple other women I've recently heard stories from about this company.

A simple Google review search will provide you with enough information to make an informed decision for yourself about whether or not you'd like to work with them.

In my experience and in my opinion, I STRONGLY advise AGAINST working with this company. They are unprofessional, forceful and outright rude. I understand that they are a sales driven company, but there are ways to go about conducting a business.

There are plenty other reputable and well established insurance companies out there that will happily and willingly see to your needs in a discreet and professional manner.

It's 0 stars from me unfortunately!