MultiChoice Africa / DSTV
Reviews and Complaints

When I phoned the franchise in Amanzimtoti, at the Toti mall, and asked for a copy of the document that they keep, when receiving money on callouts and such, I was told that they couldn't find the document. what type of business runs on this irregular methods? if I was the Multichoice parent, I would be very worried about this, especially as money could be siphoned without them being aware. in addition, this type of feedback by the lady answering the phone, might end up having SARS also looking in. Multichoice - are you ok with this sort of behaviour?

This is the third month that Multichoice is abusing my Debitorder. As a single parent working 2 jobs Multichoice just flagged me as risky client at my bank. I have to pay an excess fee everyday because of the abuse of my debitorder at Multichoice. I want my money back. Lerato has contact me multiple times and still money is been stolen from my account. I want this to be sorted out. 3 Months ago I signed up for the DSTV explorer which according to the sales girl R849 for 24 months, no increase in that time. R1928, 00 was deducted - which after many weeks the difference was paid back into my account. The in the second month R1628.00 was deducted. This time I was promised that the 3rd month they will only deduct R70. They deducted R820. Multichoice is abusing the access to their clients debitorder status. They are legally stealing from us.

For the last 4 months I had to call Dstv on average 10 times because they have disconnected my service for no reason. After calling and speaking to numerous agents all with different skills. I eventually am able to watch. The problem then is that I cannot access other products such as Dstv catch up, etc and then I need to call again. My phone bill is so high I am going to have to cancel my Dstv just to pay my phone bill. In addition I requested an investigation and feedback which never materialised. I did on one occasion get confirmation that because Dstv upgraded their system it has affect services. I am happy when people have smarter ways of doing things but not when I am inconvenienced.

My DSTV account number [protected] - In July 2015 I applied to upgrade to the DSTV Explorer package that DSTV was offering, my initial application was declined, but in August I was called again and submitted my information and that application was approved, being approved has turned into an absolute circus. I was asked to give a debit order date which I did 25th August 2015, I then received two sms from DSTV advising that my decoder would be delivered in two to three days and advising that my Explorer Smart Card had been successfully activated. I called DSTV to advise that my debit order did not go off as per the date I supplied only to be told that the sms I received was not for me but was someone elses order but not to worry they would escalate this matter and someone from DPP would call me in 48hours ( early September), I ended up calling back and told that an adhoc debit was allocated for 14th September 2015, when this did not go off I called back only to be told this would be escalated to the payments department because they can only see the initial declined application but I would be called back. It is now the 30th September and I have heard nothing. I am extremely disappointed and frustrated that a company the size of Multichoice can be so inefficient in sorting out clients problems, and what annoys me the most is we will call you back and they never do. I want this matter resolved either give me the Explorer or stop wasting my time with empty promises.

Account number 6823742
I upgraded my contract +/- 3months ago, and MultiChoice allocated an installer by the name of ATV Services to do all connections which were to connect 2 explores as dual view. We have 3 tvs' in the house and we want to be able to view either explora from any tv in the house just as we did previously with the Dualview. ATV has been to my house 4 times and the problem has still not been resolved. Firstly they put both decoders next to one another and we were able to watch both decoders from any tv on different channels, then something happened and the decoders froze and no one could watch tv, a gentleman from DSTV instructed my husband to split the decoders because they could not be next to one another, ATV changed the connections, split the decoders, and now we cannot view dual channels from all the tvs in the house. Atv no longer has solutions or the desire to come and resolve the problem and this is causing conflict in my house. I would like some one that knows how to resolve this problem to come and fix/resolve this issue so that peace can be restored in my house.

My service have been disconnected twice in one month for errors made by multichoice staff. Today I asked for a supervisor's assistance since the lady who answered me was not helpful but the glorified supervisor was apparently busy with more important things than me, their client! Pathetic! The consultant started by making weird assumptions about me, then gave wrong information as if that was not enough then lied... thought they will offer me something to make up for all the paid service I did not receive, no! They think it is enough just to reconnect my service that was not supposed to be disconnected in the first place! If it was the other way round I would have paid a re-connection fee but now it is their fault and they cant do anything about it... the cost of calling them to fix their own errors can actually amount to a monthly subscription...

Hi,
- case number: 6841842
Please help... I have been struggling to get a payment allocated to my account since around 24 july 2015.
My dstv keeps getting cut off and it is now 23 september 2015 and its been cut again.
I have been sending the proof of payment through to the call centre since july, supervisors keep asking me for it and forwarding it to the billings team and I have sent it directly to the billing team (please see email below with my case number) but no one has assisted to fix the problem.

I have spent over r1100.00 on cell phone bill just on calling the call centre begging them to fix this, I do not feel this is fair and needs to be seen to by multichoice.

My debit order has now also been stopped and I didn't want it to be stopped, I am beyond frustrated and in disbelief that multichoice/dstv has dropped to such terrible levels of customer service.

Please can I get some feedback and some help, I also feel someone senior needs to please contact me to discuss this and the solution. I do not want to deal with the call centre again (+[protected]), please.

Please see below...

Dear dstv customer,

Case number: 6841842

Thank you for contacting the dstv billing and collections team.
Please do not reply to this automatic response.
Your query will be attended to by one of our representative and you will be notified once complete. kindly note that our turn - around time for all queries is 3 days.

Best wishes

The dstv billing and collections team

With shock I phoned the Call centre spoke to a Musa he said their will be a penalty of R108.00 because I want to move my debit order on with 3 day's, he could not explain why there are any penalty or why the amount is so high, I asked to speak to a manager, a so called line manager by Tshepang Melk tried to entertain me with his so called position, the moment I asked him to look and see how long have I been a client with DSTV and if I every had a non payment he immediately said he cannot help me, BUT he call himself a line manager, he was like a clown trying to entertain me, not once he asked what was my query or how he can help me, he just wanted to argue with me and not helping me, he does not deserve to be on a position a as line manager, my argument is, this is not an HP account that I need to pay interest rate, this is an entertainment for us, so why do I need to pay an penalty to change an debit order date, I'm taking this to Hello Peter and the Consumer Council, I cannot see that DSTV is allowed to do this.I asked Tshepang to asked his manager to contact me, so now I will see if DSTV is going to make an effort of getting back to me, and please not the clown Tshepang again, I DO NOT want to speak to a clown who think he can entertain a client who pays his salary, and who cannot answer a question asked by a client.
Mrs S van Niekerk
[protected]
21/09/2015

I paid as I have for more than a year the dstv subscription of r440 per month before the increase it was 399 rand a month and I have a date of 15th of the month though I usually pay on the 14th when buying groceries at pick n pay white River and there has been no problem until I was suddenly cut with an error code E16-4, on Sunday so I tried self service to no avail I couldn't register my smart stupid.? Card so I used sms function to check balances it showed an amount of 53.03 owing so I went and paid then after awhile I noticed it wasn't working so I queried the sms balance again and I owed o.03 cents so back to pick and pay and added 23 rand for good measure . I got home and did another sms balance check and got an all up to date til next month I tried to activate and got an sms all my services were active . Well great how Cani see them I can't phone the Call centers because I am deaf and was alone. So later that evening I had someone call the Pretoria center and it transpires that my pick and pay payment of 440 was not reflecting and i needed to send proof of payment to well the operator said Google the net for unallocated payments at multi choice for a number well jeez thanks very much but I threw away the slip as in the past all went through and this months payment had the correct details so back to pick and pay and I show them the payment date and time 15 th sept 18 38 and they tell me to come back this morning but the invoice does not say who they allocated the money to but there is the 440 rand all code but my groceries are recorded so the manger says she ll call their bank for proof of payment and sms me then since I can't find a number in multi choice accounts I ll have to drive 29 km to the nearest agency so they can record it on their computer. So the 53 .03 rand was a mystery as it brought me into overpayments and multi choice claim pick n pay did not send the money r440 on the 15th so to add insult to the injury they want me to pay a r381.26 rand reconnection fee because I paid on my day not Before i.e I paid on or before the 15th of the month and I must prove it .well if there's a lesson keep your slips from pick n pay as proof of payment and file them for 100 years just in case they come looking for an extra five cents in ten years. This is shocking unbelievably incompetent accounting
It was mentioned that multi choice should send you an sms on receipt of payment with pick n pay its instant but if multi choice got up and sent thank you for your payment of xxxxx then there would be no problems as if you didn't get the sms you know they didn't
So instead of spending millions on advertising they should invest in customer accounting and customer I T portal experience to make self service a pleasure not a nightmare

I have been trying since the beginning of August, 2015 to sort out a downgrade of a package and have now spent most likely 30-40 hours on the phone to your staff!

They are absolutely unqualified to be in a call centre and do not add value to your company. They let you hold on and and you can hear them talk in the background. It is as if they want to keep you on the phone for as long as possible and then not even help you in the end?

You seriously need to get training done and get your staff up to a call centre standard

I expect someone competent to call me and help me sort out the mess that your staff created and rectify my account

My services have been disconnected, reconnected and then disconnected again and reconnection fees added twice even after I've sent Multichoice proof of payment three times on email and on Twitter (@DSTVCare).

They sent me the email below on Monday only to be told again today that I owe them and I need to pay R312 because someone is claiming that they paid for my services. When you can clearly see that money went out of MY account to pay for my services, why am I not contacted when "someone" is requesting a reversal of payment from MY account and that "someone" is not me? BS service at best! I can't wait for Netflix to launch in SA. I cannot stomach this BS anymore. I've been dealing with the same query since Friday. Your customer service is non-existent, treating the customer fairly is unknown to this company.

To whomever it may concern,

On or around 20th August I called DSTV to downgrade my package from the Premium to the Compact package.

On 8th September, I had trouble renting the movie Pitch Perfect 2 on Box Office. I had sms'd the code through numerous times and did not receive the movie. I eventually called the call centre and the consultant I spoke to also requested a code twice which he entered but I still did not receive the movie. After spending a long time on the phone trying to figure out what the problem was, his eventual advice to me was to "just give it some time". The movie was made available to me approximately an hour later.

On 9th September I received 4 bank notification sms's informing that I was charged 4 times for renting the movie the previous night. I again called the call centre to query the charges. The consultant told me he had reversed the charges and I will only be charged once for renting the movie. During the course of our conversation, he also established that I was still on the Premium package. He picked up that I had been downgraded when I called last month, however, due to a system error, I had been once again upgraded, without my knowledge or consent. The debit order that was supposed to have gone off my account on 25th September would have been for the Premium package, not the Compact package. I did not budget for this and if the increased premium had gone off it would have been unpaid and caused a negative impact on my credit record. This is totally unacceptable and I am sure goes against the consumer protection act in a number of ways.

On 12th September I called the call centre once again as I decided to upgrade to the Premium package as there was a movie showing that evening that I wanted to watch. The consultant I spoke to requested the upgrade but told me that it was pending and he did not know why. It should upgrade shortly. A few hours later it had still not upgraded so I called the call centre again! The consultant could not tell me why my upgrade was still pending. All he told me was that it is a system problem. I then asked to speak to his supervisor. The lady I spoke to sounded very exasperated and annoyed to even be speaking to me. When I asked her what the problem was she sighed and told me she doesn't know what to tell me as they are experiencing problems with the new upgraded system and many other customers are also experiencing the same problem. I then told her that if the upgraded system is so troublesome it should not have been upgraded at all as the purpose of an upgrade is for improvement. She then told me to write a letter to the head office! What a nerve! I told her she was not being very helpful at all and I put the phone down on her. If supervisors at your call centre are so nonchalant no wonder the service provided is of such an inferior service!

I later realized that my PVR functionality was not working either. I had to once AGAIN call the call centre to query this. The consultant did not know why my PVR functions had been switched off. No surprise there! According to her it was a system error! She apparently escalated my query and told me I will have to wait till the technical department attends to my query. She also discovered that my package had not yet been upgraded as I had not made a pro rata payment of R165.67. How does one become a supervisor but is unable to inform a customer that a payment must be made before one can be upgraded? This was the first I had heard of a pro rata payment being needed to be made. However it was apparently part of the new system "upgrade". Makes sense now! I asked the consultant to email the banking details to me but she said she did not have access to email and could not do so, but I could find the banking details on the self service website. Already very frustrated, I went onto the website to find the banking details, but I could not find it. It only makes mention that payment can be made via EFT using the bank approved beneficiary option. I tried doing this but the payment would not go through due to an invalid narration? Yes, you guessed it, I had to once again call the call centre! I called and had to get the banking details telephonically. I made the payment and was told I should be upgraded within an hour.

On 13th September my PVR functions still had not been activated and neither was my package upgraded to the Premium package. For what seemed like the 100th time that weekend I had to CALL THE CALL CENTRE AGAIN! I spent almost one hour with a consultant who had to apparently recalculate the pro rata amount. She established that the previous amount I was given and subsequently paid was incorrect. There was a further R26 that needed to be paid before I could be upgraded. According to her the previous consultant had incorrectly calculated the pro rata payment due and she had now calculated it "the right way". You can imagine how frustrated I already was after spending so long with her on the phone as well as my previous calls made. I requested her to email the banking details to me which she said she could not do as she had no access to email. I then told her to tell her supervisor to email the banking details and amount outstanding to me as surely her supervisor had access to email. She said her supervisor was on the phone but she will speak to her and see if she can do it. I ended the call by telling her if her supervisor cannot send me the email she must call me on my cellphone and tell me why she can't send me the email. I am still waiting for her call.

On 14th September, I was unable to watch any channels on my PVR decoder besides SABC 1, 2 and 3 as well as E TV. My PVR functions were still not working. However, my Extra View decoder was on the full package and the PVR functions were working?

On 15th September, I am able to watch Compact channels on my PVR and the PVR functions are still not working. My Extra View decoder is still on the full package and the PVR functions are working...

In total I have spent numerous hours and over R500 worth of airtime on your call centre trying to solve a problem that your apparent "upgraded system" caused. Besides the problem with your system, it seems that your staff are all given different training manuals. Not one of them know what is really going on and the supervisors seem to be the most ignorant of them all!

I have resorted to rather sending this email since your call centre is as useful as the Zimbabwean dollar!

I would appreciate a response to my query as soon as your "upgraded system" allows!

Multichoice is a dubious company full of incompetent workers since June they have been deactivating my service and I have to call to reactivate and use my airtime to fix their error after numerous phone calls they sent me a letter stating all was resolved not even a week later they disconnect my service again I have never missed a payment still they insist I never paid in May not only that they keep debiting from an account I don't know because I never gave them the right to do that I'm strictly a cash payer which on it's own is fraud I am so angry with this company for wasting my time and money for a service I paid for and rightfully deserve they need to get their act together

Sunday 13th September and we are with friends ready and looking forward to watching The Theory of Everything on DSTV Box Office. Advertised available on the website and box office until 14th Sept but alas, now not appearing on Box Office. How can you be proud of this shoddy service ?

Also unable to send complaint via website link or to [protected]@dstv.com - my message gets rejected...

Rgds Roger Kohne
[protected]

I called in on the 25 August 2015 to have my services activated. I was told that there was a balance of R218 and now the systems have been deactivated when calling to confirm I'm told I must pay r380 to have this reinstated. I'm fed up with calling this call centre and I was about to make the payment of R218 and now I am not sure which amount I should pay and I want my services activated today.

Customer Name :Nora de Waal
Customer account number :[protected]

I called-in on 11.09.15 at 11:31am spoke to jesicca. My request was that I be upgraded to package that allows me to watch all sports channels for the weekend. She said she couldnt do it although I advised her that I had done it before for the the weekend of 1-3 may 2015. Now I would like to do it again for this weekend of 11-13 of september 2015. Please advise why I can not be on pro rata payment schedual this time around.
Moitheri vincent sofe-[protected]

I am struggling since beginning of August to get Multichoice to refund me an amount of R687. Every week I phone and every week they say it will go into my account without any luck. I've been phoning them since beginning of august every week and everytime I am on the phone with them more more than 40 minutes to explain to the new customer care consultant what my story is and every time he/she will help me and tell me ok if is at Finance and they will pay. It is already the 10th of Sept and still nothing. They have deducted the R60 for box offices this month of that amount and according to them they now owe me R624 something and that after someone also told me that they will deduct the R687 off my monthly premium end of August and that did not happen either. I want my money back before the weekend. Multichoice disconnect services if someone does not pay but now I must wait for more that a month to get my money back - This is not on! I will go to Hello Peter with this and to the Beeld newspaper as well as to the record and send emails to carte blanche of multichoice stealing people's money? Regards Mariaan Van Deventer ID: [protected]

The DSTV web site when logged in, says that the smart card is linked to another profile. The call center says that there should be an unlink option. There is no unlink option. The call center say that that is impossible. It is possible because that is what has happened. Because the smart card cannot be linked to the log in account, it is not possible to pay by credit card.
The call center simply said that I must go an pay cash at a shop. I have sent several requests for technical assistance since Saturday. As yet, no one has contacted me to resolve this issue.

On the

27th october I paid r470. 00
30th august... I was disconnected
30th I was told to pay r89. For connection
30th I paid again r90. 00
31st the r470. 00 that I have paid on the 27th was allocated

1st september I called customer care why my account was disconnected and I was told I did not pay on time
But I have paid on the 27th

01st september the r90. 00 that I have paid was not showing on my account..

In july the money that I have paid reflected immediatley there was no issues.. So why was this one not done on time...
[protected]

Following the installation of the On the Air package during July as offered to me by Multichoice everything that could possibly go wrong on my account did go wrong. I had to make multiple calls, speak to multiple supervisors after which not a single supervisor called me back to discuss what is still an outstanding issue.
Access to supervisors for problem solving and accurate information is limited and that is damaging to Multichoice's reputation. Wondering how long it will be before my multiple queries are resolved...Customer nr [protected].