MultiChoice Africa / DSTV
Reviews and Complaints

To whom it may concern.

I'm january 2017 I enquired about the cost of dstv extra. When decided to watch mnet tonight it indicated my package had been lowered from premium. Non the less when I made payment it was strange the amount was r457 yet I did not question it because I did not change my package. When I called in the cape town call centre advised me I need to pay r300 before my package gets changed. When I spoke to a team leader he advised no compensation however he asked how I would like to be compensated which makes no sense. Non the less I refuse to pay extra as it was not my error and I hope that dstv changes the call centre staff

To whom it may concern.

I am very disappointed that the movie channels 110, 111 and 112 repeat the same old movies over and over. As a dstv compact package payer could you guys atleast improve in the movies or add a extra channel like 101 or 103 cause the fees will increase by first of April, I expect better service from you guys...
Thanks
Your response is much appreciated .

I recently bought an explora 2 in order to catch up on my favorite sport, was installed about a month ago. Funny thing is my explora was swapped 3 times in 2 weeks as they could not explain why the it did not respond to the remote control especially in the dark. I eventually gave up and did my own research and discovered that it is due to infrared interference with the TV due to poor quality remote.
My major problem though is that I discovered that if you watch catch up especially sport where there is fast movement or running, the picture becomes blurry and very bad however this does not happen on live tv or playlist. My installer came and could not find anything wrong, advised me to go to Multichoice. On the 25th February 2017 I went to Multichoice at N1 city, I pointed out the issue and they did not believe me until I showed them on their own tvs on the floor. Suddenly they could not believe it, shocked and first time they notice this . They told me that there is nothing that can be done as they suspect that it is due to the compressed hard drive/ software on a smaller explora. I just insisted that I would like them to log a complaint, only the be that there is not much they can do if it affects all. I expected Multichoice to take my issue, investigate it and hopefully learn something that can help them improve their product. Clearly not. I am frustrated about this explora 2 . I had to demand a manager for them to agree to log my issue. I would swap it for the first model if I could.

Guys please sort out box office it is flipping ridiculous that you offer a product that never works. I have to always call and it takes more than an hour to get the movie every time and this last time after an hour and numerous attempts and all the trouble shooting with help desk and then she just said she will have to escalate it and there is nothing she can do this is really unacceptable. Don't off the service if it does not work.

On the 31st Jan 2017, I had activated my dstv explora, 2 hour long call and still to my disappointment was not assisted correctly, i was given the wrong package and had to call again and go through the entire process again, that same day I was requested to pay R402.00 and thereafter for the following months i would be debited on the second of each month which i had set up with my second call to the dstv call center.

On 13 Feb 2017, I receive a text stating if i do not pay R507.73, my service will be suspended, i then called the called center again and apparently this was some sort of mistake, and i had to go through all my details again and set up my debit order for the second time, i was relieved as everything was sorted out.

Then, on the 15 Feb 2017, I receive a text stating that if i do not pay R629.09, my services will be suspended! so again i call the dstv customer care line and my service really had been suspended, yet again to find out that it was no fault of mine, but a miscommunication on their side and was apologized to, however i had to go through all my details again AND set up my debit order for the third time!

Today, i have hit my limit, when i receive a text stating that my services have been suspended and will be reconnected when I pay R277.09, i had then called the dstv customer care line and obviously they have no idea whats going on, cannot find the issue on the system and have promised to call me back, however i am still awaiting a response! AND MY DEBIT ORDER INSTRUCTION WAS CHANGED TO THE 29TH WITHOUT MY AUTHORISATION!

WHAT IS GOING ON IN THESE CALL CENTRES! I AM BEYOND LIVID WITH THIS SERVICE! IT SEEMS AT EVERY SMALL STEP, THERE IS MONEY THAT I HAVE TO PAY AND WE HARDLY EVEN WATCH TV!

THIS IS RIDICULOUS! I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO ANNOYED AND DISAPPOINTED WITH A SERVICE IN MY LIFE!

THERE IS NO CARE IN THE WORLD FROM THE CALL CENTRE AGENTS, AND IT CAN NEVER STAY RESOLVED BECAUSE AFTER EVERY FEW DAYS I RECEIVE A TEXT FOR PAYMENT!

HOPING THAT SOMETHING CAN BE DONE ABOUT THIS INCONSISTENT UNHELPFUL SERVICE!

THUMBS DOWN!

good day
i am a very very unhappy client i have been a dstv subscriber for a very long time and always expected the things dstv advertises has been checked and are reputable.when disney book club was running their bookclub promotion i entered for my daughter in september last year, i then became a member on 24/10/2016.they have debited my account every month since then and did not deliver any thing to me including the welcome pack.i phoned them on numerous occations with no avail, until 1day i managed to get tracking numbers and found out they have been sending my packages to the wrong address, and someone else was fradulently signing my name n taking the things i paid for.when i queried this they did not even send a letter of apology, in january the courier service recovered some of the books i paid for which was damaged with writing on most pages.this is unacceptable.to date i still have not received re-delivery of the things i paid for, and when i queried again this morning i was told to wait another 14days which is what i was told in the beggining of january...this is very stressful and unethical for them to do.dstv should not allow people like this to advertise they business because it brings down the reputation of dstv.and i would never have subscribed to this but because i saw it on dstv i thought it was reputable.

Every sunday multichoice disconnects me it alk started now in 2017 after i made two payments which had to cover for Jan and Feb and next payment will be on March but since then they always disconnects my DSTV which is not pleasant at all .Im tired with this service Im really fed up spending my airtime to call them after paying R350 for jan and R450 . [protected] and being told the is someone who claimed my R450 why not fix things.

I was contacted by Onair to upgrade my DSTV and intall an extraview. I was advised that there would be a R2500 installation fee that will be covered by Onair. Their installation fitment centre was City to City. First they did not keep their appointment and failed to let us know timeously. Then when they did arrive they wanted to charge a cash upfront R500 extra to hook up the extra view. This was not part of the afreement with onair and when i refused to pay the hidden cost that i was not told about City to City left without installing our extraview. I phoned Onair multiple times and each time i am told that they will get back to me. It has been 2 weeks and i still get the runaround. Now my DSTV premium has the extra view charges on it and yet i still have nothing comnected. This is the worst service i have received and feel that the cash upront fee was iether fraudulent or Onair lied to get a contract.

My DSTV account number is [protected] and my complaint is as follows:
In the month end of Jan/ beginning of February I received a message that I was owing R710.43 I had connected 2 DSTV's and I wasn't aware that the second DSTV had not been paid for for the month of Dec as the other decoder is used by my tenants. I never received any messages that I was owing in Dec 2016 for Jan 2017 as its paid in advance. So I asked DSTV to block the other decoder as I was paying for mine (compact). Bear in mind that i've been a customer for DSTV for more than 10 years now, afterwards I received a message that I had to pay R477.04 after they blocked another one. I paid it because my DSTV was blocked. Today the 17.02.17 I received a call to pay R24.00 and I was threatened that if I don't pay the R24.00 my subscription will be blocked. I'm very upset with this kind of treatment so if I'm no longer valued as a customer for DSTV, then its well you can go ahead and block it for R24.00

I applied for the dstv explorer price lock three weeks ago. An agent called me back and asked the usual credit questions, I received and sms to advise that my application was successful and I needed to email my id, proof of address, proof of income and bank statement, which I did. I received an email from an agent at multichoice in responded to my mail and advised that my bank denied the debit order application. I went into my branch and sorted out my bank account and emailed the letter from my bank to the agent. I was advised via mail that I would receive an sms within 48 hours. I have subsequently heard nothing from multichoice, this has been 8 days. I have now called the call center 8 times and been advised that my application has been escalated, every time to no avail.
Multichoice is lucky that they have no competition, cause they would lose a lot of clients if this is the level of service.

I object to being charged a box office rental. I view box office as a monopolistic act in making subscribers pay for a service that subscribers have been given the expectancy that they will get as part of their subscription.

I have not activated or applied box office or agreed to its terms and conditions.

I have never and will never rent anything on box office.

I appeal to all south Africans to support Ban box office.com

Andre Brink.

I've been a customer of Multichoice for more than 10 years! In August last year i made the stupid decision to hand in my SD PVR for the Xplora. I've been having endless issues with the decoder. i then asked, at the N1 City brand, is there any payments i need to make, is everything up to date, to which i was said "no ma'am, just continue to pay as you have been" - I then took out a second package, which i was granted with no hassles. TODAY, 6 months later, my service is suspended for being "behind" on payment. As per the person i spoke to, this "behind" payment has been coming on since April last year (10 months ago).
so WHY was i given another package if i was "behind" on payment? and WHY was the "behind" payment not communicated to me by the non-existent statement of theirs?
i want my service put back on.

Last year on the 18th of March 2016 I made an annual payment for my dstv subscription and was advised that they will only be required to pay again in March 2017.

On 26th of January a debit order ran on my account for an amount of R658.71 - when i called them on the 27th the lady told me that their system had an issue and all the annual customers payment frequency changed to monthly automatically. She told me that she will change my account back to Annual and refund me the amount, but it will take 7-10 working days for the journal/cancellation etc etc.
On the 9th of February I called again after the 10 days - the lady told me that although the cancellation was done, the request for refund was not requested - she will do it and it will take 3-4 working days then i will have the money back in my account.

So now today is the 4th day - i just spoke to the DSTV Call centre again and they said that i am still showing as a monthly payer, i am due to pay in february and there is no request for refund - what the hell? Why are we forced to be nasty to get service in south africa?

Now my payment was changed back to annually and the fees was reversed and a refund request has been loaded (apparently as i have no proof of this and now again this will take 7-10 working days for the refund to be processed and the lady says she guarantees me that a debit order will not go off on my account in February, but how will i know?

I can understand that there was a system issue in January - but why were the customers not informed via a letter or SMS or email? When i picked it up i was reasonable but now i had to phone twice again and still no refund and no guarantee that it won't happen again - I am fed up this is against the consumer protection act and not treating customers fairly

I bought my DSTV Explora decoder 2 years ago and I took out insurance when I received my decoder with Multichoice.

I then received an sms and email from you on the 11th January 2017 advising that my insurance was cancelled and I immediately called your company to find out why. They mentioned that I missed a payment in October 2016 but I was never notified of the missed payment. I then asked to be reinsured immediately.

My decoder blew 3 weeks and when I went to the multi choice shop in the Lemon Tree in Alberton they said I cannot get a new decoder because I haven’t had my insurance for longer than 3 months.

I then called your company and they advised that I need to wait 3 months before I can get a new Explora which I find extremely unfair as I wasn’t informed that I missed a payment and I definitely wasn’t advised that there is a 3 month waiting period plus I had paid for 18 months already.

I was then told to email [protected]@multichoice.co.za my complaint and was advised via email that they would get back to me in 24 hours.

I called 24 hours later only to be told by the call centre lady that it takes longer than 24 hours and up to 7 days and that the promped email response form Multichoise is incorrect.

Its been 2 weeks now and I still haven't heard form anyone.

Please urgently advise.

My partner and I came into DSTV – Multichoice building to bring in a faulty decoder – We got to the reception / helpdesk @ +/- 13:15 found 2 black ladies there one with uniform (blue Multichoice DSTV golf shirt with shorthair) and the other with civilian clothes (white blouse and had a long weave/wig). We were allocated number 60. My partner went to counter 60 and I told him I need the bathroom therefore split with him and went to the restrooms just behind the reception ladies. I had my cellphone Huawei P9 Lite (Gold) on my hand went into the toilet then put it on top the toilet roll holder. After doing my business went to the basin to wash my hands then left the restrooms and leaving my phone there. I went to counter 60 took a seat by the cone couches as I await my partner not even 2minutes went past and remembered I left my phone ran back to the bathrooms looked inside the loo I was in but it was nowhere to be found. I asked the reception ladies if anybody brought my phone there and they both said no and they carried on with whatever they were doing. I then asked security who I could speak to as I want to see footage to see who went in the bathroom after I did, they told me to ask the reception lady to show me the line manager. The lady at reception with the Multichoice uniform then assisted me but because she was alone there she 1st had to get someone to look after the counter as she was alone at the time. She managed to get a lady to come standby as she went to look for the line manager – the lady with the blouse then came back “I am not saying she took my phone but she looked dodgy and had no interest in me whatsoever” The lady with the uniform called me and introduced me to another lady (cannot remember names as I was losing my mind but I can pinpoint them) whom I saw the footage with and she also tried calling my cellphone it went to voicemail. She said she suspected the lady with the blouse but said she needs to get facts 1st because she disappeared from the counter, however the camera does reach or view the bathroom door. She took my partners number [protected] but I have not heard from her ever since. Please can someone have a look at the footage will be much appreciated.

Hi My name is Penny [removed] (removed) I have changed my decoder three times now because decoders are not filly functioning i.e. my box office not working, catch up not working, since i bought my first decoder HD pvr 3 to 4 years . I called your call centre they couldn't help they then told me to go take decoder in to be checked got new one then they same thing happened again took it in got new one. The new one also not functioning fully. Tried 3 technicians referred by your call centre agents that didn't help they all say you should be able to assist me. Everything is connected properly. Im exhausted now I've never enjoyed tissue HD pvr with my family at all. Im asking for your help in this regard.

I previously changed my package to the easy view package due to the poor value for money and repeats that makes DSTV not worth the price you pay for it. I called in Oct to find out if I can use catch up option on another package or lower package and I was informed that this can be done for a fee of R85. I accepted and had the option since then. However the service does not work and I was misinformed. I even called this week to enquire about my charges and was informed that it does work with lower packages, I checked again and it still does not work. I called again today and spoke to the most rude consultant that has absolutely no customer service experience or qualities as he is trying to shout over my voice without given me the client an opportunity to speak and explain. I then asked to speak to his manager and that was also so difficult for him to arrange . Mojali I am waiting for you to call me back!
I require my calls to be checked and listened to since Oct and refunded for the incorrect charge for service that you unable to provide

This saga has been going on for 2 years already. I have complaint on numerous occasions and yet Dstv fails to resolve and to deliver on their promise to collect the explora which was sent to us after lying during their marketing campaign and false advertising and sales pitches. I am now considering obtaining an interdict on Monday against Dstv. Dstv has failed to make arrangements to collect the explora yet have now handed us over to a credit recovery company. Unacceptable.

I'm posting on behalf of family. A payment of R2000 was made into the DSTV via EFT, the same account they use every time. Payment was made on 03 January 2017 to cover 5 to 6 months of viewing. They have not had service since. The lady has called the call centre more than 10 times. They activate and deactivate after 3 days. The lady is at her wits ends, she does not know what to do now.

The account ref is [protected]. Please assist, proof of payment is available.

My account number [protected] has a query going back to November 2016 and I'm being inconvenienced because every 5 days I have to call as my services are disconnected yet I made a payment but according to dstv the payment was reversed and sadly the money never went back to my account as I pay via eft. Today I received a message that says I have been handed over to itc. Can somebody please help me as I would be listed for something I do not owe. I have all proof of emails I had sent to more than 20 agents including superiors but none seem to care. My telephone bill is always high because of dstv. Or maybe I should take the matter up?