A complete and total waste of hard-earned money!

UIF Connect - a ****? Well I write this review as honestly as I possibly can. I received email confirmation of my application being successfully filed with Department of Labour - this is important to note! I'm advised of a 4-5 week time frame whereby all documents will be captured and reviewed by Department of Labour - Now look, I was in no hurry to receive my benefits as I was well aware of "how long and tedious" the process is BUT "how long" is long really? I also am well aware that around the time I had submitted my claim we were entering the Covid-19 season and lock down etc so again, I was very understanding and patient. What got to me eventually was the lack of communication regarding application status. I would receive email correspondence every few weeks with the exact same feedback, copy and paste style. No telephone communication whatsoever, ever. Also, I recommended UIF connect to a colleague and what was more annoying was that her experience was no different to mine. I decided to, on my own, "try my luck" at Department of Labour (pick up the phone and call hoping to get someone on the other end of the line because according to UIF Connect, they could NEVER get hold of Department of Labour and advised that Labour never answered their emails) to my surprise, I got through! Eureka! I was advised that my application never got to Department of Labour and I was asked to resubmit. In a total of two weeks my application was processed and payment was made. Shocking right? What was more annoying though was that UIF connect would continue to, weeks after, send me 'copy and paste' email correspondence saying that Labour was still not getting back to them. Did you even try and call them, UIF connect? I don't think so. I hate the fact that some companies such as UIF Connect are using Covid-19 as an excuse for terrible service i.e. delayed application process in this regard. The whole world was affected by this pandemic but business must continue. For R850, which is a lot most people do not have during these hard times, the least you could do is be honest and pick up the telephone once in a while and speak to your clients, return their call when they ask you to and don't hide behind your keyboard. I don't mind a slow process but what does it for me is when you actually correspond with original feedback and a phone call!