MultiChoice Africa / DSTV
Reviews and Complaints

On the 26th of February, I moved house and had an installer reconnect my Dstv Explora , extra view and extra view plus. I am currently on the DStv premium package and at the time of installation, I was on the Super Star level on the MyDstv app which meant that I needed 1 more star to move to Legend status. The app indicated that if I update my contact details and take insurance on any of my products I will earn more stars, 5 stars to be specific and that will move me to Legend status on the MyDstv app. This would mean that I am eligible for an R500 installation voucher. The whole process was discussed with the installer and he agreed to wait for the voucher once I have claimed it. The installer's total amount for the installation was R650. On Monday, February 28th I checked the app to see if my status was updated to Legend, this did not happen, as I understand it according to the app an update can take up to 72 hours to happen. On Wednesday the 2nd I sent an email requesting a change of ownership on the extra view plus decoder and also called the Dstv call center to confirm the status update of MyDstv rewards which still indicated that I was on Super Star status. I was told that this will be done within 24hours this also did not happen. I called the call center again on Thursday 3rd to confirm if the status update was done to my surprise I was told again by a different agent to wait for 24hours and that I must email the screenshots that indicate my current status and also the R500 installation reward that I can claim on Legend status. I emailed all the required screenshots to sipho.[protected]@multichoice.co.za at 08h52.

At 15h47 I email him again asking for feedback and his reply was that he is keeping track of the escalation.

On Friday 4th the status on MyDstv rewards was updated to Legend status which was supposed to be good news but this is where the problem started.

The R500 Installation voucher had disappeared from MyDstv rewards program and did not appear anywhere on the app as I checked under expired and claimed rewards it was just gone. I also sent Sipho an email regarding this and no response was received.

On Sunday 6th Thabane Molapi contacted me to advise that the change of ownership was done. I enquired with her again with regards to the MyDstv rewards R500 installation voucher she said that a follow-up will be done nothing happened. Monday 07th at 11H55 I sent her a follow-up email requesting feedback no response was received.

On Wednesday 9th I contacted to call center again and spoke to Nicolas who is a very rude person and I told him that I would like to speak to his manager. Nicolas told me that someone will call me back, I did not want to waste any more time with him. Later on the same day Ntando gave me a call I explained myself over again and the implications I currently have with the installer who has not been paid as yet because he is waiting for the voucher number. She provided me with a different reference number INC1000318 I also emailed 'ntando.[protected]@multichoice.co.za' all correspondence thus far including all previous reference numbers received and included the screenshots sent to Sipho. She told me that I will receive feedback by 16h30 this did not happen.

I sent another follow-up email to Ntando that evening at 19h24 to do a follow-up again no email response was received.

On Thursday 10th I contacted the call center again and spoke to a Ramesh who spoke very unclear hence I am not sure of the spelling of his name. After explaining myself again I could hear that Ramesh was not helpful at all as he kept on deflecting my question and I became angry and rude. I asked him who his manager was and he could not really answer. I asked him who his managers, manager was he also could not answer continuing to deflect any other questions I asked. After wasting 25 minutes plus of my time on a call he said his manager will call me back.

About 15minutes later Marcel Pitamber gave me a call and I explained my situation to him again. I asked him to send me a blank email in order for me to reply with all the previous correspondence, ref numbers, and screenshots. I sent all the info including the sequence of events to Marcel.[protected]@multichoice.co.za to date also been no feedback or any kind of response from him.

Attach screenshots sent to the above individuals

My current Rewards status has 5 rewards available non of which is the R500 Installation Voucher

I have applied for DSTV internet in February it was not delivered to me and multi choice deducted on debit order month end of march. I have been querying this but no one came back to me after 5 attempts I made. I have now reversed the debit order today.

I have paid today my normal subscription of R409 right after revising the debit Order.

Firstly you DSTV what's up service leaves much to be desired, some of us are tech savvy but its like trying to speak to a robot and it doesn't cater for everyone what about a gogo in Qunu. We do understand your trying to trim down on costs.

Rather further enhance you app so that its more user friendly. In most cases we opt to go to the DSTV agent in King Williams Town and they are long ques. In one incident an old lady collapsed while on the que, by tint of luck Grey Hospital was not fa from DSTV agent in King.

You will find old people and the likes bringing old decoders for servicing etc. We are pleading with Multichoice as to how they can soften the blow for us as residents of King and sorrounds area.

Or as suggestion increase the number DSTV agents in the area. It seems as if South Africa is only Gauteng, Durban and Western Cape. In the Eastern Cape we feel as if we are second class citizens in our own motherland.

Thanks

Concerned King Williams Town Residents

Contact person: Michael Nkabinde( [protected])

Hi, I'm a new and very confused and unhappy client,I have a debit order arrangement for the 7th of evey month for my dstv account, it didn't go through this month and coincidentally one of your consultants called me on the 7th to offer me discount if I remain on debit order for 24 months,of which I agreed to. On the call I told him that my debit order hasn't gone through and I'm afraid if they don't debit on the agreed date there might not be funds in my account and I don't want to find myself in arrears, so can he please make sure they debit, he assured me it has gone through and just not reflected on my side as yet... today I get an sis saying I must R174.32 because my debit didn't go through twice and they have canceled it . I don't understand this as I have money in my account as we speak and don't recall any debit bouncing or going off. What am I in arrears for? And why sm I the one who had to now make payment when I had a debit order arrangement for a reason.

Good day,

I have a problem with your announcement of removing the four additional Etv channels. Could you please keep those channels as I thoroughly enjoy the movies and content on these channels.

Why are you removing it?

Please stop adding useless channels with the same shows as other channels.

Please consider keeping the Etv channels and please bring back the SABC Encore channel as it was so nice watching the older kiddies programmes I grew up with and also the older 7de Laan and Isidingo episodes.

We pay so much money for this and you keep removing channels when people actually don't want certain channels removed.

Hi.

I've been on a pricelock contract with datv since last year.

My account is now double billed.

Been calling dstv daily since 25.02.2022 with no assistance.

Being placed on hold until they eventually decide to abort the call.

Agents: Thandeka Ngubeni, Anele Dhlamini, Siphesihle, Andisiwe, Khayelihle Mthethwa& Erin Swart, have all not been able to assist me and refuse to transfer me to a supervisor or the billing department.

The only reference number I've received is [protected] on 04.03.2022 & Calvin Naidoo, Ref: I359 on 07.03.2022.

Agents in question are extremely ill-mannered and condescending.

Thandeka has proven to be the worst out of them all.

My customer number is [protected]

I put in a request for a refund because the account was paid twice on error, I was asked to provide my identification documents as long as the account holder documents, proof of payment and my bank statement. I did so. A different person replied asking for a letter of consent from account holder, I provided it. After that a different person from your Billing escalations department again asked for my bank statement and proof of payment. I have dealt with more than 6 people from this department all asking for the same documents, this morning they ask again. I have been through so much for the whole of last week, 5 days trying and begging with you people.

It is now clear to me that Multichoice has no intention of refunding my money,the best thing is to cancel the whole subscription and continue with Netflix.

I contacted the customer service needing assistance on the balance i owe for my account,i pay for dstv access and now it ssys i must pay more then i pay everymonth the lady from the call centre said call was logged that i added indian channels that i know nothing abt she said she will transfer me to cancellation department i stayed on the line for more then 5min not getting any assistance am so dissapointed i hanged up without my issue being resolved

I received an email stating that my contract is ending I phoned dstv on 24 January 2022. I phoned on 25 January 2022 on [protected] and spoke to Rudolph. I updated subscription to R835.16 Including access fee for 24 x months.

I am still waiting for this contract that I agreed to, to be emailed to me as promised.

I received an sms on 4 March 2022 stating my contact has come to an end. I phoned at 8:33 on 5 March 2022, [protected] and spoke to Sisanda Dyantyi, to confirm if my contact is still active. She said yes at R839.00 per month. This is not what was agreed to on 25 January 2022. I want this to be fixed and she said she cant fix it. She will have to check the recordings of that phone call on 25 Jan and phone me back. But she can only check this during her Tea Time according to her supervisor. I am still waiting for her to phone me and I am still waiting for my contract to be emailed to me.

Linda Posthumus-Meyjes #5325854

I've been calling since in the morning with no help, apparently I paid a wrong old account,they transfer me I don't no how many times and I was not helped.i just need switch account payment and cancel an old one.

So very angry with your service and this is not the 1st time.

I need to assisted today.

My number is [protected]

I have a problem with this removal of channels. Because everytime you change channels. The reason I joined this family package was because of the channels that you are now removing and putting useless channels, especially for kids and our Movies channel. I feel is not fair because every year you increase the fees. But we are not happy with this changing things is not fair for some of us.

Good day

I habe had countless problems with multichoice and hopefully this will help me het justice... I am a single mother to 2 kids aged 12 and 5... However I entered into a contract with multichoice in 2021... The conyract details according to a telephonic agreement that I will be paying r539 and r20 separate for the decoder insurance only for 24 months as it is on a price lock. However I added a netfix account which added anither r169. So now I have been trying to contact multichoice for the past year to date to resolve this as I was now billed r950+ which I cannot afford like I said I have othet financial commitments and habe kids too. So this is taking energy and draining me a lot... I am goin through divorce and now this put a toll on me financially, emotionally and mentally. I have ran out of options because should I stop paying my kids will left with no entertaiment. I habe wasted money as well from the calls I make to them and all consultants are very unprofessional and clueless in regards to helping... They will say different versions of the accout I am very confused and realyy eould appreciate some assistance in the matter.

I called multi choice in January to down grade my package. I was then told I'm calling to late if I want to be reconnected in have to pay the amount I had been paying and was told that my new package will then kick in from the 1 March 2022 I called the contact center this morning only to be disappointed and told the same thing. I was reassured that everything was done.

I'm very disappointed with multi-choice for the service they offer paying clients

i requested to speak to a manager and I'm put on hold for hours.

On the 26 February 2022 about 08h30 in the morning I discovered that my dstv package was suspended, my account was paid the previous day 25/02/2022 @ 16h40pm

When calling call centre to find out why, no one could assist after spoken to three consultants in different times all of them said I must send proof of payment and call back again, which I did for three times but still nothing happened

They will keep me on the line for a very long time all three of them without resolving my problem, this happened until I ran out of my airtime amount to R54,00 with the data amounts to 220mb

The issue is still not resolved, sent proof of payments about 7 times, this is pathetic and very agitating, I still do not know why is my package blocked/cut/suspended

I've been a loyal DSTV customer since you've launched your service. On 10 February 2022 my decoder became faulty and I drove all the way to your offices in Randburg. I was told by one of your call centre agents that the hard drive of my decoder became corrupt and that I needed to replace it with a new one. The agent then told me about the new DSTV Explora Ultra decoder and I duly signed up (a two-year contract) for one to be installed in my house.

The agent told me that I had to wait seven (7) days for an installer to contact me. It is the 25th of February today and I still haven't received a phone call, let alone a decoder! I have since phoned your call centre on a daily basis and every time I have to explain my story over and over and over again.

I have just spoken to one of your agents again and still no joy. She told me that it is out of DSTV's hands as the orders, installations and delivery of the very decoders you advertise is outsourced. When I asked if I could speak directly to one of them she said it's not possible. I then asked for an ETA of when I can expect the delivery and she couldn't tell me. This is totally unacceptable! It has been two weeks since I've signed a new two-year contract with you guys and I STILL DO NOT HAVE A DECODER!

I cannot understand that we managed to put a man on the moon 53 years ago, but we cannot get this right. Out of sheer desperation I asked the agent if I could not 'cancel' the order and start afresh and she said 'no'. So, where does that leave me? I am beyond frustrated, disillusioned and very upset. Please help.

My contact details: Ella Janson, [protected], #301 New Riviera Mansions, cnr 5 Main Avenue and North Road, Riviera.

The last ref. # I received: [protected]

I disconnected my subscription to dstv in December 2021, I first called the call center to discontinue they services on the first Thursday of December 2021 and the agent that I spoke to could not assist me, I spent all my air time calling dstv on that day and still no assistance.

I then called dstv again a week before my debit order was due for them disconnect their services this was done but the agent was horribly rude when I demanded that a debit order must not go through my account as first called dstv on the first week of the month, that's almost 3 weeks before my debit order date and I was not assisted instead my airtime was just wasted.

Eventually dstv was disconnected and I was refunded for the funds that were debited.

To my surprise I don't have dstv but a debit order went through my account on 22 February 2022 a month later. I don't have money in the account so nothing was taken but this has negatively effected my account.

I am experiencing a serious challenge, and the length of time it takes to resolved is the matter is unreasonable.

I am frustrated as my DSTV Internet router has not been working since December 2021 and your IT Department failed me in resolution of the issue which related to address then.

January 2022, the whole month they could not assist me even after 24 calls I made in an attempt to resolve the issue.

Yesterday I called again in an attempt to have the issue resolved, 4 Consultants I talked, who kept me on wait for a period average 1hour could get the issue resolved and they all 4 promised to call back but none.

The worse part of this is that I am paying for services I am not receiving and I am continously spending on airtime while the status quo remains.

Only today I was told that the is a amount over due which I am disputing. Below is the facts on account... and having to wait again for 24 hours will not resolve my issue as your IT Department refers to as cause of none service. The respond I received is that they could only attend to the matter when the issue of the overdue amount is resolve.

I am frustrated as I took out the DSTV Internet to serve a need for my school child who is due to travel tomorrow back to school in Tsomo.

Should the issue of none connectivity of the router not be resolved immediately, I would be in a big predicament as the router will not be in my presence for further troubleshooting and thus will render the DSTV Internet service not necessary anymore and will be left with no choice but to terminate all my services, report the matter to the relevant ambudsman.

Here is what prospered in term of the paymnet:-

1. My services were disconnected 18th December 2021, for non payment.

2. On 15th January 2022 I made an instant EFT payment of R968.00 this was after I realized the debit order was effected. (Bank statement herein attached for easy reference)

3. 21 January 2022 my services were disconnected owing to none payment as the debit order returned unpaid on 18th January. NB: the payment was already made as in point no. 2.

4. The amount appears as debit the credit on the same date thus causing this whole mess.

I humbly request that you treat my matter as a priority and urgently. The bad service and inconvenience I have already experience is unbearable.

DStv deducts randomly more than the transaction statement amount from my debit order.

The complaint was numerously made, by calling customer services and sending emails but it was either ignored or I received responses that do not address my complaint. No reason or solution or refund was given to me.

My complaint:

From: Elizabeth Erlank

Sent: Monday, 14 February 2022, 18:45

To: [protected]@multichoice.co.za; [protected]@dstv.com; [protected]@multichoice.co.za; [protected]@multichoice.co.za; 'FreshDesk Notification email'

Cc: 'Elizabeth Erlank'

Subject: Case reference: [protected] - I189 and I 192 for EC Erlank [protected] SC [protected] 535

Good day,

It is unfortunate that I must convey my frustrations with the services of DSTV / Multichoice.

After many attempts to get the matter resolved, I was told today by the customer agent taking another call of mine that all staff queries must be in writing

The attached email and reference numbers listed above have references.

In short, the query is as follows:

Since December 2021 in random months, additional amounts are going through on my debit order (see detail in the email attached hereto) – in all this time the reason for these amounts could not be explained to me, I am a pensioner and therefore not allowed to have child accounts, so that cannot be the reason, I am not paying anybody’s DSTV on their behalf and I have only one decoder in use (even though two is listed on my account statement), according to my statement my DSTV Fees is R 632.00 but over and above these amounts a total of R 5 326.47 was randomly deducted from my account from December 2021 till December 2022.

I had the battle to cancel the additional decoder & insurance from my account – on MyDStv I cancelled the insurance today but was not successful to get Decoder P [protected] deactivated.

My expectation is that I will get acknowledgement of this email from whoever will deal with this matter with a timeline on when I will have the money, unlawfully taken from me, in my account and secondly have the unused decoder deactivated and removed from my statement.

Your assistance in this matter is appreciated.

Regards

Elizabeth Erlank

The latest response from Specialistactivation:

ENQUIRY REFERENCE NUMBER : [protected]

Dear Customer

Thank you for contacting Billing and Collection

We regret to learn of the frustration and inconvenience you have experienced with our service. Please accept our sincerest apologies in this regard.

Please see attached transaction statement, we have debited 632.61 since November 2021 and consistently done so. Kindly be advised that decoder P4006 56464 is disconnected and had no extra billing. You may manage your account by downloading the Dstv now app by clicking on the following link :https://now.dstv.com/

Regards

Siphosihle Mhlongo

Billing Escalations

I received an email from dstv stating that I can reconnect to dstv compact plus at only r350 om for 3 months plus they will write off all arrears and reconnection fees. Upon receiving this email I pid the r350 only for them to tell me that I need to pay an additional r189. I then refused o pay the additional amount because it is not stated anywhere on the email or on the ts and cs that I will have to pay an additional amount

After spending an hour on the phone the matter was then escalated to the accounts department who was meant to contact me in 24 hours. And of course they didnt bother getting back to me so I had to call again after waiting for them to give me a call for two days.

When I called I was told they need to escalate the matter againand after 24 hours I was told that my services were reconnected. Everymorning sinc they reconnected my services I get an sms saying my account is in arrears and I need to pay so that I can get reconnected again.

I am tired of having to explain the same thing over and over again to the consultants. It doesnt even seem like they are aware of the cmpaign that is being run by their own company. They refuse to help me thy just say I should pay the amountb

We pay subscription fees monthly to enjoy TV programmes.

Is going up again!

Yet, we have to contend with the reglar repeat of programmes.

Is this value for money? I think it is highway robbery.

Please can you improve the situation to not repeat programmes regularly.