Damelin Correspondence College [DCC]
Reviews and Complaints

My student number is 421977, i completed a course in Diploma:Management in December 2016 however till to date i have not yet received any letter confirming the completion of my course. I've been calling the college to make inquiries regarding my diploma but till to date, i have not been assisted. I have spoken to a number of the college's consultants whom say say a different story whenever I make a call to inquire. This is now becoming a frustration and it's jeopardizing my chances of being employed. I would appreciate if this matter could be escalated to the relevant people and at the end i receive my qualification which i paid so much for.

Dear Sir / Madam,

RE: Delays in issuing certificates and non-existent student support by Damelin College - City Centre, Cape Town

My son, enrolled at Damelin College City Centre for the Certificate in Marketing in 2017 and to date the certificates have not been issued. I sent an email on 16 March 2018 to Ms Shevon Baartman to make an enquiry on the status of his certificate.

• She advised on the 17th of March that the students were requested to submit PoE's which underwent assessment process and was unable to give me timeliness for feedback.

• On 27th May 2018, I again sent another email following up on the update and she responded on 1st June 2018 advising that these were still on the assessment process and could not advise me how long this process will take.

• On the 21st of August I sent another follow up and she advised on the 22nd that she should would have feedback for me the week following the 22nd of August 2018.

• On the 25th of September my son informed me that he had received an email from Shevon advising that there were certain sections / activities on the PoE that needed to be corrected because the lecturer advised the students it was group work although it was supposed to be individual work which the students had to redo and submitted again as per request due to misinformation from the lecture. She admitted to me on email dated the 25th September that there had been a delay in the assessment process including communicating corrections to be made by the students and thus apologised for the inconveniences.

• On the 8th of November 2018 I sent another follow up and received feedback on 20 November from Ms Baartman advising that she was still awaiting feedback. And she further advised that the moderator had overturn competency and my son was given a final chance to complete remedial work which is false. After submission in September / October, no feedback have been received by students on the corrections submitted.

• My son and other students met with the moderator in September / October who advised the students that they had to email him the pictures of the activities they were to redo. He also requested that one student should send these pictures of corrections to him on behalf of all students which was done. To date no feedback has been provided.

• My Son advised me that the moderator advised the students that they were supposed to be allocated with the assessor whose responsibility was to guide students and help them with completing the activities throughout the entire PoE process which did not happen. The students never received guidance from the assessor, neither knew his / her name or even met them. They were also not given any support with internship unlike the current students and were expected to work on their own with no support or guidance.

• The students also advises that when following up with the moderator on the progress he advised them that his mailbox is full and he may have to delete Some emails as he may have missed them. This was also brought to Ms Baartman's attention who has advised the students to rather send emails to her with the promise of filtering these through the moderator.

As per above I have been sending emails to Damelin as per trail of emails below following up since the beginning of the year, however they have been very sluggish nor have they provided support to the students considering the fees we had to pay as parents. Students are left at their mercy for the fear of being victimized should they complain, as a parent who has paid fees this is disservice and very disheartening.

I would really appreciate your support and intervention in this regard.

Good day

My name is Tamryn van Harte I have been liaising with Damelin since 2017 with regard to an R500 that is reflected on a statement for registration that they claim has not been paid. I have sent mails to various accounts staff after receiving calls to get this resolved but as soon as my mails have been sent then no-one responds until a few months later. This as continued to 2018 and is now almost a year after this initial nonsense. I eventually requested information for a senior individual because the accounts section at Damelin were now threatened to blacklist the student (who did not pay for this course because I sponsored her) and I was given the details for Dale Faulmann. I then mailed Dale and a Regional manager named Debora Mobilyn. I received on reply from Deborah on 05 September 2018 claiming that she will discuss this matter with Dale and get back to me - I have not heard from her since, despite numerous mails to Dale. I received on reply from Dale on 07 September claiming that he was discussing this with head office and he will come back to me as soon as possible. Again I have not heard from Dale since. I have copied the mails I have sent to Dale since 05 September. Aside from the below mails sent to Dale, I sent him a further 10 or so mails on 05 September as evidence of me trying to fix this situation with the accounts department and how I had enquired about this R500 prior to the student even starting the course and because it was reflected on my original invoice even though I had paid this registration fee of R500 on the website "ahead" of getting an invoice from Damelin. I went on the Damelin website a little while ago and the system is exactly the same and automatically requests a R500 payment which is then deducted from my credit card. I did not receive a proof of payment other than the fee reflected on my bank statement which I have also sent to Dale and numerous people at Damelin - YET somehow - no-one can see how this is an error on there side. In my mail to the Damelin consultant upon processing full payment for the course, the consultant informs me that I should ignore the R500 on the invoice because I have already paid the R500 registration. months later I find out that Damelin cannot find the R500 and since then in 2017 I have been trying to get someone to fix this and no-one does a thing and then in turn they have the audacity to threaten to start blacklisting procedures. What surprised me the most was that both Dale and Deborah were "discussing this between 05 and 07 September as per correspondence" yet when the accounts person from Damelin called the student once more on 11 October for this fee, this person told the student that there is nothing on the system indicating that there is an investigation in place. This person then requested that the student send her all the mails that I had sent to Dale and who knows what happened with that.
I hope someone is able to assist me to get this resolved so that I can forget this horrible experience with Damelin.

Below you will find all details and student numbers etc
Email on [protected]@switchincentivesandevents.com
Name Tamryn Van Harte

Email sent to Dale Faulmann on 05 September 2018
Good day Dale

I am contacting with regard to an incorrect balance that is featured on my account statement of R500.00 since 2017.

Somehow, it is not possible for your accounts department to resolve the issue. The account number is [protected] (Student: Megan Appel)

I registered Megan for the Events short course in 2017. I was prompted on the Damelin website to register online and then provide card details for the immediate R500.00 deduction. This was then processed and no proof of payment was received. What I have received, is what I have already sent through to numerous people at Damelin and everyone I speak to say that they can see it and understand but a few months later I have to deal with the same issue with a new person.

I have explained the above to the consultant and according to me it was handled. This was until I received a call from Odile in your accounts department in December 2017. I then explained it all and she didnt even bother to reply once she had received all the information via email. I then received a further call via the student and again I had to correspond with Odile in February 2016, to which she still has not bothered to reply.

I would like to understand why I would be insisting on providing Damelin with information about the R500.00 deduction and then process the full balance of the payment when the course was confirmed and invoiced, but I have not according to Damelin paid a R500.00 and thought countless people are involved - NOT ONE person can resolve this.

I have now been informed that a full year later the student is still being called and was advised that she will now be blacklisted.

Who do I need to speak to at Damelin to get this resolved?

I will forward you a series of mails so that you are able to see the email exchange with the various people in Damelin FOR A R500.00!

I have reattached the proof of payments. You will see the one is a screenshot of my bank statement and on the 19 August 2017 was a deduction "SagePay Parklands - R500.00" and the other is the EFT processed after being invoiced for the balance.

Email sent to Dale Faulmann on 18 September 2018
Hi Dale

Further to the below correspondence, as predicted Megan Appel has now received a call from a Damelin representative by the name of Shireen Sass requesting the payment of the R500.00. Again Megan has explained that I am liaising with the Finance manager and general Manager but the representative is only interested in querying the R500.00. Which again goes to the root of my problem, no-one has tried to understand a basic system deduction though repeatedly explained but all calls refer to only collection of the R500.00.

Please can you tell me what the further steps are that I can take to get this resolved to avoid anyone being penalized incorrectly.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Email sent to Dale Faulmann on 22 October 2018
Good morning Dale

I have last sent you a mail on the 18 September (copying in Debora and everyone relevant to my issue) and have received no reply one month later, only an out of office message stating that you are out of the office until 12 October.

Today is the 22 October and I will be due to receive another statement soon so I would like to know if this amount has been removed so that this ridiculous saga can reach an end.

I have to date furnished you with every piece of information and correspondence that you could possibly need to rectify this situation but sadly it seems that since your last email on 07 September, you have been unable to do so.

Please update me on this status ASAP!

If you are unable to solve this problem please can you direct me to the person that will be in a position to correct this.

Thanks

1 have been dealing with Alison August regarding my course. i submitted assignments in april 2017 for the subjects i wrote in the June 2017 session after almost a year of begging for correct results i get told i should re-submit the assignment and my final mark would be adjusted accordingly. now after completing my course and requesting my completion letter in September 2018 i get told a month later from the original request that i need to re-write a subject which was originally written in June 2017. this is unacceptable people have schedules which they adhere to something DCC knows nothing about because they dont adhere to their own. i am not going take on a 6 month delay just because DCC doesnt know what they doing. i even emailed and spoke to Shane Shaw who really didnt seem to care at all about my query, hes been copied in on all the mails since my queries began last year. i need this sorted out today but like every other complaint this will fall on deaf ears as well. I do not want to see a response that this has been escalated to the relevant department as I have done that myself. I want my completion letter today. I can see I am not the only student who has received pathetic service from this college. STUDENT NUMBER 432052

Good day
I Student number 426539 and I urgently need my statement of results.

My matter has been escalated to the exams department and I am still waiting now for almost a month.
I did not receive all my marks. I wrote 3 subjects and I did submit all compulsory assignments.

It is really urgent that I get these results.

Please can I get assistance.

Good day

Student number 423282

I have requested numerous times for a complete statement of results .
I contacted the call centre which escalated to exams department(THAT NEVER GETS BACK TO YOU), emailed the dccsupport for assistants.

No one seems to get back to me.

Please can someone assist me with a complete statement of results for all the subjects I have done.

2016 i cancelled my studies with damelin due to the fact that they signed me up for the wrong subjects, sent me the wrong text books and had to tutor to help explain they so eager to get my money but unable to help, i cancelled my studies, submitted all my doc and was told its cancelled
Now im told ive been called to say im listed as a none payer as they infact didnt cancel my studies, what type of college is this

Ive been calling for the past year to cape town and joburg they all said they will get back to me its a year later and not a single soul called me back yet

Studying with this college has been the worst experience ever.
Why do we study?

1. To get the job we wanted
2. The money we want to earn.
3.The recognition as a professional.

What happens when an institute such Damelin snatches all that away from you, leaves you stranded and not knowing or understanding how an institute that portrays such high standards and ethics to students let them down in such a big way. I am starting a suite against them, and i urge anyone who has been wronged to contact me so we can take this further. I am only offering my assistance, but will still continue on my own.
Caramel

After numerous complaints and queries, I am still no further to getting a resolution to the issue at hand.

Firstly I do just want to thank the following people at the Braamfontein branch for their professionalism, time and assistance in trying to get the situation sorted: Estelle Webb and Dawson Matidza. They have gone out of their way and have been wonderfully helpful, as far as they have been able to.

On 29 May I sent my first query through, so this is a problem that is now going on for 4 months. It appears that someone at the marking and assessment center has misplaced my final draft of my assignment. I received an email explaining the processes, I do understand that there are processes in place, these processes however are of no help to me seeing as my documentation was still lost. There was a remark done on my rough draft, which is all great and well, what seems to be going misunderstood is that I put a lot of work into my assignments, rough and final draft included, the final draft obviously would have had my absolute best efforts behind it and I am now expected to forfeit marks that I worked for because of someone's incompetence and unwillingness to either find the documentation or take ownership of a fault made on their side.

The way the situation has been handled as a whole, and the dismissive attitude about the error made from the marking centers side I find shocking. I was forced to take my situation to Facebook, and in return got mocked for standing up for my rights. I am now in a position where I am being forced to again go to social media across the board to get someone to take notice and take accountability for the mess up made by Damelin.

Estelle has had no further luck than I have had and I am sure she is just as frustrated and irate as I am of repeating the situation and explaining the story over and over again, only to be brushed off and receive a lack of interest in resolving the matter as we have both had from the very beginning. A remark of a rough draft does not constitute resolving the matter, nor does trying to put the fault on my side as all documentation was sent in as with all other assignments and documentation. Saying I am the only student with a problem shows there was an error made, and understandably we are all human and can and do make errors. All I am asking is that this error is fairly and reasonably resolved in a way that I have not wasted my time or money on an assignment that no one has bothered to mark the final draft of because no one has bothered to locate it.

I am not willing to leave the issue here as it sets a precedence and is not how things are done properly, I do however look forward to receiving a response from someone willing to assist in a reasonable manner.

Good day

Its very disturbing that i am registered with the school only to be informed with important things later i have to ask for them.

I believe its the duty of the institution to inform their students with important dates of exams as well as due dates of assessments .

Only today day 3 of September 2018 i am informed that my internal exams have started, which i am not even prepared for, i don't even have the dates of the exams or whats so ever .

This is a very huge disappointment i tell, my first semester was the worst. in a state of mind when i register with a school as a distance learner, my student advisor should state every thing that is required of me before signing anything to make an informed decision.At this point of time i feel that the money that i have paid and still paying back to my employer has just gone to waste.

I WILL NOT WRITE ANY INTERNAL EXAMS AS THE MATTER OF NOT BEING INFORMED IN TIME TO PREPARE MYSELF

Please come with a solution to this matter

you can reach me on [protected] which i asked several of your student advisors to update till today its not updated.

Regards

Damelin correspondence (DCC) has been harassing me since 2016 for an unpaid debt.

They claim I have not paid exam registration fees of R450 and R120 for X2 past exam papers. I have paid this at the Cape Town branch via credit card, at their offices.
When I registered they also advised me I won't be able to register or write exams without paying the registration fee or order past exams papers without ordering or paying. (this was verbally discussed at their offices so I don't have written proof)

I have had to take time off work and go to my bank and pay per month for every month to look for the payments which I do have. (see attached and circled Proof of payment)
This has caused me huge grievance and inconvenience and stress.
This has also affected my personal credit file as it is a debt since 2016!

I have also paid them in full via debit order for studies since 2016, I have tried canceling because I have been appalled by their bad service. They then threatened me to charge me in full if I canceled so I was scared and let me charge my account even though I was not studying.

They also recorded my details incorrectly so I was not receiving any communication from them about exams etc.

I am a husband and a father and work multiple jobs to support my family so do not have the time to go into their offices, which is why i prefer call or email to which i was advised, they'll look into it and contact me back(no agent has ever called me back.

The people I have spoken to at Damelin :
Jacky Malibo
jacomina.[protected]@dcc.edu.za
makoena mashalane
makoena.[protected]@dcc.edu.za
monique august
monique.[protected]@dcc.edu.za
Ncumisa Mlungwana
ncumisa.[protected]@dcc.edu.za
Proof of payment was sent to her on Friday, June 24, 2016 2:25 PM
Yogesperie Govender
Yogesperie.[protected]@icg.edu.za
Ntombana Msimeki
Ntombana.[protected]@dcc.edu.za
Nelly Msiza
nelly.[protected]@dcc.edu.za
Ricardo Khumalo
ricardo.[protected]@dcc.edu.za
Isaac Jansen
isaac.[protected]@damelin.edu.za

Resolution :

I seek compensation and a full refund for all the studies I have paid them. I believe I have given DCC enough time to resolve this.

Please contact me if further information is required.

Regards,
Mu'ammar Khan
[protected]
ID - [protected]
Address : 101 5th Avenue kensington cape town 7405
[protected]@gmail.com
[protected]@gmail.com
Student number - 428907

Hi

I have enrolled with Damelin and paid my fees in full R10000.00. I have decided to immigrate to New Zealand and cancelled in April, I have sent all the relevant documentation. It received a approval letter in June and sent in the except letter and all other documentation.I queried about the date the refund would occur and the refund dept said they have not received my documents and i have to start the process of the 90 day's again. I need that money ASAP i am Immigrating in Sept.

Student fees paid only to recieve a usb, no study guides, etc.
When you query you dont get responses.
The admin is bad.
The staff is rude, and unfriendly.
The office phones rings continuous withoutanyone answering.
Exam registration forms sent through, no feedback.
Misleading advertising as to what you are really getting.
Can someone please give me proper feedback.
Or tell me the steps i can take

I have register with Damel to do Financial management, I have submitted my Assignments as required and I was not granted a letter to write my Exam . I did follow up but I was not assisted I later spoke to one of your consultant who told me that I was suppose to do a registration for my Exam my self with the College I want to write at and that was not communicated with me at the beginning. He promise to send a request for me to get Extension and that was the last time I held from him.

I want to cancel my studies as soon as possible because I'm behind with my studies and I'm paying every month for sweet nothing

Cebisile Myeni
student number :435789
[protected]
cebisile, [protected]@standardbank.co.za
cebii.[protected]@gmail.com

I am a student with Damelin, enrolled in 2015 for IT Systems Support, first thhe study material was delayed by up to six months, then the PoE file was not included with the study material, I contacted Damelin for another four months before the PoE file was delivered, and finally, when I thought my worries are over because I had completed the course, the results are for some reason not forwarded to me, it is now eight months that I have been trying to get a response from Damelin, emails are ignored and when I call empty promises are given. I actually stumbled upon this Complaints Board and going through it, I see a lot of similar cases and I begin to wonder how Damelin is being able to keep its doors open with so much complaints about poor service delivery, the college is clearly struggling to meet up to its promises.

Please find enclosed my student number above, I was granted an extension to write in the 2nd semester of 2017, I followed up for the exam table and have never received it. Same thing happened in the 1st Semester of 2018, No bothers to respond and when I phoned they promise to call me back and never do. I've taken the issue up again in this semester because I really want to write and complete my diploma, and it doesn't look like I'll get assistance. Monique August is aware of my ordeal and she is no longer responding to my emails. I have sent numerous email and some times even two or three a day. All I want is to right the remaining modules in November.

My son Christiaan Genade (student no. 426-458) was doing Grade 12 through Damlin in 2016. You will note from system that my details are the contact details etc. I sent mails requesting balance - no mails received. I called a number of times but no calls returned. I was told that he was not writing LO and that LO should be deducted from the amount due. To date neither myself or my son have received any correspondence whatsoever advising of the amount due.

Today I received a call from attorneys advised that my son was handed over for outstanding account. I requested an email from lady who called me but to date no email received. I called Damelin twice today (31 July 2018) asking about the balance and each time they said computer won't open up. I spoke to Khesani the 2nd time who advised that she would mail me the balance. No mail received.

If we were advised of the balance (not two years later) we could have already made arrangements to settle the indebtedness to Damelin.

I would appreciate a response herein.

Regards
Lana Norman
[protected]
[protected]@stbb.co.za
[protected]

Good day,

Please read the below:

I would like to file a formal complaint as a first year student at damelin. I have filed numerous complaints as I am not happy at all. I have paid for the first year but i will definitely leave next year.

I recently had a medical situation and Damelin seems totally unsympathetic- they are just looking to generate funds. I have even submitted my medical documents- They just don't care.

From: kerry staples [mailto:kerry.[protected]@damelin.co.za]
Sent: Friday, 20 July 2018 4:51 PM
To: Billie Jean Peters [ MTN South Africa ]
Cc: Noreen Matsikidze
Subject: RE: Re: Motivation to Sub

Good Day

I hope you well.

Please note I have sent your request to our national assessment department and your request has been declined.

Should this situation ever happen again and you not ready to write due to medical circumstances they have suggested you need to inform the campus immediately and fill in a deferment and write the deferment exam to avoid this situation.

Thanks

Kind Regards,
Kerry Staples| General Manager - Damelin Randburg
Tel: +[protected] |
E-mail: kerry.[protected]@damelin.co.za

From: Billie Jean Peters [ MTN South Africa ]
Sent: Wednesday, 18 July 2018 16:31
To: kerry staples
Subject: RE: Re: Motivation to Sub

Hi Kerry,

Please find the attached

Warm regards,
Billie Jean Peters
Complaints Analyst
C: +[protected]
BillieJean.[protected]@mtn.com | mtn.co.za

This email is confidential. If you have received it in error, you are on notice of its status. Please notify us immediately by reply email and then delete this message from your system. Please do not copy it or use it for any purpose, or disclose its contents to any other person as to do so could be a breach of confidentiality. Thank you for your cooperation

From: Billie Jean Peters [ MTN South Africa ]
Sent: Tuesday, 17 July 2018 5:27 PM
To: 'kerry staples'
Subject: Re: Motivation to Sub

Hi Kerry,

Please can you assist in motivating for me to Sub the Financial Accounting.

I was hospitalized on June Friday 15-06-2018 due to a miscarriage. We wrote the following Monday. I was unable to prepare adequately as I was under severe emotional stress as well as physical pain.

As a new student, I did not want to appear disinterested or substandard so I forced myself to go and write the exam. I would be extremely grateful and appreciative if you can let me re write this exam.

Lastly note that I have requested that my surgeon send me the supporting documentation and I will forward it to you tomorrow.

I humbly request your consideration in this matter.

Warm regards,
Billie Jean Peters
Complaints Analyst
C: +[protected]
BillieJean.[protected]@mtn.com | mtn.co.za

This email is confidential. If you have received it in error, you are on notice of its status. Please notify us immediately by reply email and then delete this message from your system. Please do not copy it or use it for any purpose, or disclose its contents to any other person as to do so could be a breach of confidentiality. Thank you for your cooperation

I requested an exemption for modules that I have already passed with a different institution. I sent all the relevant documentation that I was told to send in. I was only told that only 50% of my modules will be exempt. That is the only condition I was ever told and I ever read in ALL documents that I've read regarding exemptions. There is nowhere in any of their communication, on their website, not even any of the employees have even mentioned that an already exempt module cannot be exempt.

When I registered with DCC, I made the lady that assisted me aware that I will require exemptions. I was guaranteed that I will receive those exemptions, otherwise I would not have gone ahead and registered. This would definitely be misrepresentation, because I only registered based on misleading information I was given.

The whole purpose of requesting an exemption is so that I do no have to redo the module. The one of the modules that were granted was an exemption, why can the rest of the exemptions not be granted. Nicky Lawson did not even have the decency to respond to my e-mail after I questioned why they were only willing to exempt only 1 of my previously exempt modules but not the other 4? This person just ignored my email and continued doing what I did not ask for.
If this is this case, I would rather then just cancel studying with DCC. I'm sure there is a better university that will be willing to reward me my exemptions!

To whom this may concern
My name is evelyn monyeki-student no 426566

I registered with Damelin in 2015 for aparalegal course.
I wrote all my assignments and exams and i struggled to get my assigments results, well after months of endless emails I FINALLY GOT MY RESULTS...which im not even sure if its correct considering the time taken to receive them.

Now i am waiting for my final exam results for 3 modules which is
WILLS AND ESTATE MANAGEMENT
PROPERTY LAW
DEBT COLLECTION PROCESS.

kINDLY assist as I have now lost faith in Damelin and want my refund if I cannot get my results as i do not owe the a single cent.I am waiting for my diploma