Extremely poor service from Prime South Africa

I got into a Car accident 3 weeks before writing this,

What happened was I was driving on the N12 From Delmas Towards Benoni on Tuesday 06/05/2025 @18:30 at night when I hit a foreign object in the road, people that know this road well, knows that it can get extremely dark around this time in the winter months,

Unfortunately where the incident happened is also known as a crime hotspot for Hijackings, Spiking and armed ******ies, being on my own in the car, the scene felt unsafe for me to stop, after realizing that no one else was involved in the incident I Decided to prioritize my own safety and the safety of the vehicle and headed straight home as the incident could have been an attempted spiking, a few kilometer later I realized that the car started to overheat, Keep in mind that I am now just before the Putfontein offramp where 2 people got shot a few years back after running out of fuel and stopping there,

Instead of Stopping I decided to rather limp on with the car until It is safe for me to stop, By this time I have already informed my family members of what has happened and that I am on my way home, my brother then instructed me to stop at BP Tom Jones to Prevent Engine damage to the vehicle, I Agreed to do so, and by the time I got their my brother was already 2 minutes away,

Being in shock I went into BP and bought us coffee whilst we wait for the car to cool down, After drinking the coffee my brother insisted that we rather tow the vehicle home than trying to drive it and risking further damage to the Engine, I agreed and my brother towed me 2km home. Once myself and the car were safe, I immediately logged a claim on Prime South Africa's website, expecting them to call me.

The next morning at 7:00 I went to Benoni police station to get a Claim number for the incident, whereas I still haven't gotten a call from prime yet, fast forward 2 hours later and I finally got a call from them, The lady has asked me details about the incident and I proceed to give her details, she then asked me if the car was towed and I said yes, my brother came to assist me and it was only 2km.

The Day after we got an SMS to send the car to an RMI Approved Panel beater for an assessment and I immediately started making arrangements, The car was then picked up by my chosen panel beater on Friday 09/05/2025.

The Panel beater got back to me with a quote on Tuesday 13/05/2025 and I immediately sent the quote to Prime South Africa a day later I got an email from Prime South Africa stating the outcome of my claim, However this is where I got a Complete shock as the Access amount is R3750.00 More than it should be, and that they have chosen their own panel beater.

I Immediately phoned in and raised a complaint, First for the very high access where the gentlemen that assisted me said it was for using a different towing service from theirs, where I Immediately stopped him as I Did not make use of any towing services and in fact my brother assisted me, I Then proceeded to ask him what about the quote from the panel beater I Sent him and he said they will investigate both complaints.

5 Days Later on 19/05/2025 I Called them again, asking if there is any response to my complaints as yet, and the gentlemen said that it has been expedited and someone will call me later, The next day I Called again as I Did not receive any feedback and the same answer was given to me.

21/05/2025 I Started getting Impatient and I then sent an Email and Whatsapp only to get a formal response that afternoon. Nothing has been resolved, only now they are stating that the Extra R3750.00 is for limited information as I Did not make use of their roadside assistance and that their tow truck operators would have been able to do an assessment of the incident had I contact them, and it was because I did not stop at the accident scene. and that they received my quote and they are still reviewing it.

My response to this email was I Did not stop because of my own safety, I proceeded to attach links to Several news reports of incidents on this particular stretch on the highway to assist with my case.

No response was received from them on email regarding this. Instead I got a phone call from the claims agent 2 days on Friday 23/05/2025, where I Exclaimed that I Am unhappy with their service and nothing has been resolved in 2 Weeks, she then told me that she will ask the guy that sent me the email to call me.

Later that afternoon I got a phone call and I Again stated that I am very unhappy, I Proceeded to explain my situation and got a response of yes but I Did not stop at the scene and did not call road side assistance, obviously this ended up grinding my gears as I Have told them I Couldn't stop as I Feared for my own safety, he then proceeded to tell me that I Could have ordered roadside assistance when I Was at the garage, whereas my response was that I Was in shock and all I Wanted to do is get home, so that is why my brother assisted me.

I then proceeded to ask, what if I wasn't towed and went straight home, would we still have this conversation whereas the best response was as per the email, and we cannot do anything for you, In this instance I Was done arguing and told the guy I Will pay the additional access if they will put in writing that they prioritize their protocol above their customers safety, obviously they will not do it.

therefore I Asked the same questions again and got the same response, I Said a swear word and was asked not to use that type of language, I Then corrected my sentence and the phone was hung up in my ears

After this heated phone call I Sent another email expressing that I am extremely unhappy and explaining my situation again stating the fact PRIME SOUTH AFRICA DOES NOT CARE IF THEIR CUSTOMERS ARE IN DANGER, IF YOU DON'T COMPLY WITH THEIR RULES THEY WILL CHARGE YOU FOR IT. TAKING THE EASY ROUTE INSTEAD OF BUILDING A CASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!