Appalling service at VFS Global

I app**** for a the Zimbabwe Exemption permit on the 27th of November 2017 using my tablet. I immediately received a link via email so II could complete my application but the link was not responding. I emailed the vfs help desk immediately asking them to urgently help so I could complete my registration. I explicitly emphasised that I wanted to beat the deadline which was 30 November 2017. They quickly responded informing me that the deadline had been extended to 31 January 2018.

That was good news but nevertheless I decided to register using my gmail address this time. Iregistered on the 29th and this time the kink they sent me worked and I completed my application online. The only problem was that while I could log in and view my application form, there was no option to print the receipt. This never bothered me because I had a whole two months to complete my application. I would once in a while log in to see if the option to print was there but there was none. On January 16 2018 I decided to now finish my application and submit. I tried loging in to my account only to find my details were now said to be invalid. I decided to go to the Midrand office to have them restored.

When I got to Midrand I was met with notices to the effect that the registration closed on 30 November 2017. I was told there was nothing they could do about it. I asked to see the manager and one lady and some two gentlemen dressed in black and white came to see me and I showed them the email. They told me that there was nothing they could do. One of them said I must write back to the help desk. I went home and emailed the help desk. At first it looked like they were willing to help. When they asked me if I had paid I told them that there was no way I could have paid when the receipt was not printing. Apart from that they had assured me that the deadline had been extended so I knew I could still pay. They now told me that the deadline for payment was 22 December 2017. Why they never gave me all those different deadlines when they first responded to me only God knows. They now told me that there was nothing they could do.

I wrote an email to the department of home affairs and when I got no response I went to the Sophie du Bruyne branch. I was told to go back to vfs and get a letter to take to Head office. I went straight to Head office and explained my problem. The lady at reception gave me a small note with the name Kavish and the VFS Bruma address. She told me to go to Bruma and see Kavish. When I went to Bruma the next day I was told that Kavish was based in Brooklyn.

On Wednesday morning I went to Brooklyn and was told that Kavish was in Rivonia. I insisted to see the manager who wrote to Kavish while I waited and she told me to go to Midrand to see him. I asked her if it was not possible to wait for him there and she told me that he was not coming to Brooklyn again and he is the one who told her that I should go to Midrand. I took a taxi to town then another one to Midrand. When I got there I was told Kavish had gone to Brooklyn. I refused to go back to Brooklyn and asked to see the manager. The manager who came to see me this time was not wearing uniform. His name was Phillip. When I explained my story he asked me to photocopy the email and leave it with him. I told him that after so many trips I did not have money for that. I asked for his email address or Kavish's one so I could simply forward the correspondence with help desk to them and he refused. At last he gave me another call centre email address for queries. I forwarded my query in his presence and I left copies of my ID and previous permit with Phillip.

I write to say up to now I have not received even an acknowledgement of my query. I used more than R300 on transport being tossed from one office to another. By writing to you I am also creating a record because from the way the vfs people operate, tomorrow they will deny that I even went there. I need my issue to be resolved soonest. My first correspondence with their help desk was not to seek an extension of the deadline because I was still on time to beat their original deadline but they told me they had extended it on their own. Why must I pay for their mistake?