MultiChoice Africa / DSTV
Reviews and Complaints

Hi I purchased your product on the 23dec 2016. Today being the 2nd of Jan an I stil can't get someone to instal my dstv. [protected] Kule was recommended to be be my install by pep stores. The guy is blatantly a liar an can't keep to his word of when he be avail. This I feel is totally unacceptable from a big company like dstv. Tomorrow I will post my complaints to hello Peter so everyone can knw wat a inconsiderate liar an rude person u guys have allocated to instal my dstv. How can u hire such people to work for you. Very highly disappointed ne client

On the 31st of dec I called dstv and requested them to upgrade my service from compact to premium on the special they were having for r599. The operator that I spoke to advised me that I do qualify foe the r599 special and he will do the upgrade. He then cut my services and could not put them back on. He made me hold on for 30 or more minutes while he tried to sort the problem out. He came back on the phone and advised me that he will call me in the next 15 minutes. Hours passed and still he did not call. I then called again and waited on the phone for another 15 mins while the next person escalated the matter. Today is the 2nd of january and still I am without dstv. My explorer functiona are not working. They cannot connect me on compact which I paid for. Every time I contact the call centre I wait on the phone for over 15 minutes and no1 can help. Dstv customer service stinks! Because they know that there are no other options for south africans...

The account reference above ([protected]) is in question.

I called the Multichoice call centre on 24th December 2016 at 9:14.

I enquired about the trade in options available as I have a SD PVR as well as the HD PVR with 4 tuners linked to this subscription.

The consultant verified that for each of these decoders I would get a trade in for an Explora 2 and have to pay in an amount of R999 each.

I decided to trade in these decoders on 28/12/2016, but knowing that things are always subject to change, I called the Multichoice call centre once more at 17:55 and the consultant once more verified that I would get to trade in each decoder with a pay-in of R999 each. He went one step further to state that I would get installation vouchers as well with each upgrade.

With only an hour before close of business left, I hurried to Multichoice Walk-In centre in Umhlanga Rocks Drive and was given ticket 2046 at approximately 18:28 and I had both decoders with me for trade in.

I was called to counter 32 and to my dismay, told that I would get a trade in for my SD PVR for R999 which wouldn't include installation, and that I wouldn't qualify for the R999 trade in on the HD 4 tuner PVR. If I wanted to trade that in, it would be R1299 sans installation.

When I explained to the consultant that I had verified the pricing etc, she said that this is the only option she could process on her system.

When I asked her to call the call centre, she looked at her watch and refused.

I left with my family and my 2 old decoders having to drive back the 40km I travelled to get to Multichoice with no joy.

I called into the Multichoice Call Centre once more at 18:58 and spoke to Itumeleng. She placed me on hold repeatedly after I explained my plight so as to verify the trade in offers and came back to me stating that there is no such R1299 trade in and that I qualify for 2x Explora 2's for my current decoders with a pay-in of R999 per decoder.

She further went on to state that a consultant in the Walk-In Centre is obliged to call into the call centre at the customer's request and could not understand why I was refused.

I begged for something in writing or at least a reference number or sms to furnish at the Walk-In centre and she said that it is unfortunately not call-centre practice to do this. However, after asking her supervisor, she advised that I should draft this communication asking for same proof of deal.

I finally received a written confirmation from Multichoice Enquiries that they would trade in my SD PVR and 4 Tuner HD PVR for R999 each. This was from a Karabo Mangadi. (Attached)

When I went in to do the trade in, I was once again told that it is R999 per decoder and only once the first transaction for the SD PVR was confirmed and the money out my account was I told I had to pay R1199 for the HD PVR trade in.

As a consumer I have rights and this treatment has severely infringed upon them. I have taken enough nonsense from Multichoice and will now escalate this to the highest point to get finality in my favour.

I furnished this proof at the umhlanga walk-in centre and they said they couldn't do anything for me. The consultant refused to call the call-centre.

My slips for payment are also attached as well as the idiotic response sent from Kwena Mphela showing the incompetence or rather scams that DSTV are up to. Accoriding to their system I took a whole different trade in package!

Will this nightmare ever end?
Zach

Dstv send me a sms to saying the following: "Dear DStv customer. We mistakenly credited you with an amount of R800.00. We'll fix the mistake but please pay R800.00 by 31st Oct to stay connected. Dial *120*68584# for payment options." Date: 21 October 2016.

They constantly disconnect my services although all my payment are up to date. They made a mistake on my account and therefor I have to suffer by calling their call center every second day! This is very bad service from them.

I now have made dubble payments just to ensure I can watch TV over this festive season. My calls to the contact center is never less than 20min.

This is inexcusable and has cost me a Lott of money and unneccassary tension and anger.

Feel like giving up on my subscription.

Unlink
Package: n/a active
Device: tds850
Sc no: [protected]
!not linked
Link
Package: dstv premium active
Device: dps500
Sc no: [protected]

Payments
01/07/2016 m-choice m-choice20032659 -799.00
01/08/2016 m-choice m-choice21707022 -1, 454.13
Debit order r655.13 more overcharged
01/09/2016 m-choice m-choice23382736 -1, 783.00
Debit order r984.00 more overcharged
01/10/2016 m-choice m-choice25098139 -1, 713.00
Debit order r914.00 more overcharged
01/11/2016 m-choice m-choice28342966 -1, 748.00
Debit order r949.00 more overcharged
01/12/2016 m-choice m-choice32722765 -1, 868.07
Debit order r1069.07more overcharged

Difference r4571.20 multichoice owe me
[protected]-i33 melusi [protected]

Pathetic! Loses signal. Need to phone in using airtime for 30 to 60 minutes weekly. Agents not able to assist keep on telling ne to do the same thing. Festive season where DSTV causes moods and house molest due to signal being lost withou bad weather. Works 100% next moment error E30 which relates to subscription being verified which is pathetic and a lie as there is never a signal problem when my debit order goes of to pay for a service. Why get message to check subscription if premium is paid? Then when speaking to an agent get told that they will resend signal. Error does not relate to suggestion from agent nor true as the only problem with subscription should be when premium is not paid. How will I be compensated for the frustration and upset caused by DSTV for not rendering a 100% service after service is being pre-paid at an expensive rate, being a luxury. All who wins is DSTV being a pre paid service, the customer is lucky if they get a proper service. As mentioned to the agent DSTV should not be offering extra services and products if they cannot have the initial product 100%.

I'd like to find out why I'm paying +R1000 a month (full bouquet) for endless re-broadcasts of old movies, old series, old National Geographic and the list continues? You have a boxoffice option that offers you so-called new movies at R35 per movie. However, the same movie is available for free a week or two afterwards on catchup and this goes for the series as well. In addition, the same movie is again for hire a month or so later. This kind of service is usually expected from a company that is financially in trouble. Are you going bankrupt or have you just lost essential skills in your company?

The only "new" broadcasting is the BBC and CNN news and even that gets regurgitated a thousand times. Please let me know which option I should choose so as to not waste my money and still receive fresh new shows on DSTV.

I am supposed to be credited for incorrect information given. i have spoken to numerous people. the last person being andile limba. See email below :
From: Andile Limba [mailto:Andile.[protected]@multichoice.co.za]
Sent: 18 November 2016 12:41 PM
To: Khabonina Phadziri
Subject: Dstv account

Good day Ms. K Phadziri,

The balance on your account will be changed, I have done some investigation from my side and yes indeed you are supposed to receive a credit for the incorrect account balance given. I will notify you as soon everything has been completed from our side.

Regards,
Andile Limba/Dstv consultant/[protected]

My name is Snenhlanhla Magubane([protected] or [protected]) On the 20th of December 2016 I went to Dstv Multichoice at Kwa Mashu Bridge city Mall to buy a Compact decoder. and I was helped by Nomfundo I was told that it will be delivered on the 22 of December For installation ever since I haven not received the Decoder...IS THIS HOW THEY TREAT THEIR CUSTOMERS? I am not interested anymore then can keep their Decoder for ever...I am Interested on getting my money back because its seems like they don't know what they doing..

I do not have time to run around I work from Monday to Sunday... I sent my brother to go and see what is going on with them and he was told that they need me to come. This is totally unacceptable I think their Service its actually stings...

We applied for the price lock beginning of october. Everything was approved, and the say it wil be delivered in like 3 working days. Since than in to me 2 months to make calls to multichoice and find out how long it wiil take, everytime its an apology and a promise just another 3 days. So the beginning og december i called again, and the lady helped me and she said they will start the process from beginning again, she's not sure why we haven't recieved our decoder yet. So we applied again in December and it was approved, but yet again after how many calls i have to make still nothing. I think it is totally the most bad service one could get. When the advertise price lock, they make it sound like such good service. But i'm struggling now for almost 3 months, its pathetic. I wanted my dstv to be right when my family arrives for the holidays so we all can enjoy whatching what everybody wants to. And now im still waiting. I dont know what to do about this, my patience is on the edge. I was really excited about this deal, but now it feela like a burden for me to make calls every week and everytime its just an excuse that they are sorry (according to the that never happened before that customers wait so long). Cindy

Dstv contact centre and twitter support is below standard. I spoke to them multiple times since the 12th of December2016. My services were disconnected due to the fact the my account was incorrectly configured on extra view and since multiple people accessed my records dstv can't explain my recent amount due, who deleted my payment details and I get the same repeatative response.

Dstv as an organisation should be held to the same standards as banks. If they store records they should be held safe and accounted for. This is not an organisation that I can trust. I have begged and pleaded with the contact centre multiple times ( at my cost because they don't return calls average call handling time 20-30minutes) and this is not how a paying my subscriber should be treated. I have not had an apology nor a single response where they explained what happened on my account.

They should be held to an audit especially into service management, not only do we watch repeatative movies and programmes but now the contact centre experience is horrible. What service are we paying for

Best
Claudia Burgers

It has been twice trying to watch the movie Bleeding heart (26 december it aired at [protected])and it never has an ending. Don't really understand why you guys haven't detected that coz when it is almost at the end it then rewind to the middle part of the movie. This is really frustrating coz your technical team by now must have detected it. We pay our subscriptions to watch programs that are up to standard.please may you rectify that problem.

I have been informed that i cannot order movies via the box office as my mtn contract entitles me to free sms and in order for me to receive box office rentals a sms charge of R1.5 per sms must be applied. I have been asked to provide them with another cell no to implement the arrangement. however up to 25 nov 2016 this year I have received box office rentals via my existing mtn contract which I have had for 20 years and have since the introduction of box office received box office notifications on my contract no which included free sms. what has changed now that this arrangement is not possible any longer? I have been in touch with multichoice for the past 2 weeks and although I have been contacted on every occassion they asked me to repeat the problem on each occassion notwithstanding that there are unresolved case numbers on the multichoice platform. I was informed on monday for the first about the sms issue and that they would revert to me today (after visiting multichoice in person). today is friday or 5 working days later and still no feedback other than the odd to ask if my query has been resolved. This is unacceptable service!

I made payment through PEP on 01 Dec 2016 and my account is not credited yet. I contact the call centre and send emails with the proof of payment. My enquire was lock and after I requested feedback, I received email back that they send my proof of payment to finance department. Yet my account is not credited and is cut off again. Please fixed problem, asap. Thanks. My customer number is [protected].

You have removed almost all the movie channels, your promise not to repeat has not come through as yet and now I have to literally unplug my decoder everytime I rent one of your old as hell movies on boxoffice! What a mission! I am very close to closing my account and moving on because recording, rewinding and re-watching 2 or 3 overrun programs is not worth the money we are paying on all our dstv accounts.

Mr Groenewald offered to do a DSTV installation at my house. I paid him up front in order for him to exchange my SD decoder and buy a LNB and other accessories. He confirmed a time to do installation on 19 Dec 2016. He never pitched and claimed that the money was not in his account. He doesn't answer his phone and doesn't get back to me regarding the work. He claims to be an employer for Multichoice for 17 years and is an inspector for Multichoice that inspects installations of agents. Can someone please confirm this and let me know what I should do to get my money back from him. I sent many messages on his phone.

Below is your reply to an earlier query I sent to Multichoice. I queried the fact (twice) that I am now paying for a decoder that I no longer used and asked what I could do to have it removed from my account. I no longer use it so why should it be included in my subscription?

I am still awaiting a reply --- going on for nearly two weeks now.

NP Kriek
Enquiry Reference Number:
[protected]-c1

Dear Customer,

Thank you for taking your time to contact us. Kindly note that the monthly subscription on the Explora will be R114.00 including the recording facilities. All in all your monthly subscription is R143.00 including the other decoder. It has been a pleasure assisting you.

Best Wishes
DStv Care Team

Rate our Service: Are you serious?
[rate our service button]

The concept of age restriction is to avoid an underage from viewing a program above their age. It is the responsibility of the subscriber to make sure of this and not dstv. I am watching a movie on M-Net action(106), knock knock to be precise and i realised that a whole lot of scenes ve being removed from the movie which is meant to be an adult movie with a age restriction of 18years and above. The question is why would you deprive a subscriber the value of his subscription?

I pay R769 a month for dstv and never see something new always just the repeats of old seasons, movies and about everything i see the same thing everyday at the same time... I'm tired of it, i'm losing hard earn money and you are making money for absolutly nothing...start updating you're channels, movies and seasons or i'm taking you people to court and sue you for everything i ever paid

Dear Dstv
This morning I visited the dstv branch at 5th avenue in springs, I went to the Enquires Line, I was met by the most unfriendly women vie met in recent times, I asked her to reconnect, I told her I have seen I have an outstanding balance and inquired as to why this is because I'm sure I cancelled the dstv the last time, Her response was that sometimes dstv does not cancel same time, which means dstv has charged me after I disconnected ? I THEN asked her to downgrade me to compact, she said that will only be possible on the 26th .She gave me a total of R724, 00 which i paid at the dstv store at 10:28am (customers number [protected], , , , receipt number [protected]) I went home and checked the dstv it was not connected, I went back to the store, I again meet the same lady I told her the situation, she told me to bring in the decoder because it has and installation issue or a technical problem . I went back home collected the decoder and proceeded back to the store, I then waited more then 1 hour in the line, when I arrived to the counter I was attended by a friendly gentlemen who said to me my dish has properly move the decoder is fine, so he has to send out a Guy to check the signal, he asked me were I stay, I told him not to from the store I gave him my details, that was around 13H00 at around 14H15 I went back I spoke to the same gentlemen as before he said that the tech guy is in selcourt springs and will call me, I explained to him that if there a problem I would t know early because I would have to buy a new dish, I come back to the store, to book a fitting, It is now 15H05 no tech guy has even called to tell me his on his way or will be coming, , the service offered to me today spoiled my day, I was not expecting it especially during the festive season and certainly not from a service provider like Multi choice if the staff does not want to be at work, you rather close the store, , , , , , so iv basically paid dstv for a day service's that has not been offered to me, I feel disgusted to even buy a new dstv and go to that store again, it was a utter waste of my day and time and time is the most precious and Dstv has totally wasted mine, , , , , The staff member's name on my receipt is Mamosebetsi Eka ...Im not to sure if that is lady's true name