MultiChoice Africa / DSTV
reviews and complaints

Since January 2017 we have been struggling with our account. new price lock was loaded but old one not cancelled - incorrect debit order R2122.81 - we returned this and logged several queries.

We made several calls and I visisted your offices 3 times.

Khulekani Nkosi advised us to pay R1152 and then said Lindiwe will call us to resolve the query which did not happen.

We call again. Londiwe e-mailed us to advise us credits was done to correct the account and was the due amount R1275.93 which I paid and debit order was re-instated.

Then I got a msg to say outstanding was R1425.53? I e-mailed Londiwe who said I should ignore this, system error.

We then got a call from ITC to say the our account was handed over to them for collections for R80. I e-mailed Londiwe and Khulekani Nkosi(10/05/17) and up to date no response. I call the customer line and they confirmed no arrears.

Today I am again being debited R1199

I do not know what this amount is made up of as the price lock is R949 and my insurances cannot be R250?

And on the insurance we asked your office 3 times if this is correct. Their should be 4 devices (3 on insurance and the newest apparently on guarantee) but this is not what my statement is showing.

I need to know what am I paying for as my statement is not making any sense at all and I need confirmation that my insurance is corrected.

I am still waiting if my account was retracted from ITC.

Why is it so difficult just to sort out an account query

Called DSTV in Feb, March & May for the cancellation of my services nevertheless the kept their monthly debt on my account. R2400. I call yesterday told the same story that my account had been suspended I am still going to wait and see as other months if the debt order doesn't go through. Mysteriously they cant get any records of my call including the call I made in January when they hit my account with a double debt know they want me to tell them the number I used to call to validate my concern. I gave the two alternate numbers and they can not find them now they demanding I provide an itemized bill of call from my provider. This is bad service really bad and I haven't seen such arrogance and robbery, such a big company R2400 really? due to incompetence in your systems get the money anywhere BUT make sure I am not debited again cos your system and processes are unjust.

Why close MNet Edge & open a new channel (901) a few months later?! In case you haven't noticed, you are broadcasting some of the best shows more or less simultaneously - late at night - so they can't all be recorded & in some cases there are no repeats - e.g. Fargo. As a result, I missed the final episode of Homeland, several episodes of Fargo 3, plus several other decent shows.

Secondly, will you rescreen the most recent season of Homeland, Fargo 3 & other recent series?

Thirdly, what has happened to Inspector Gently, The Fall & Top of the Lake?

Come on Dstv - we are paying premium prices for a reduced service!

My services on acc [protected] has been discontinued ONE DAY before my billing/pay date meanwhilst I was advised last month (April) of the amount I had to pay and also that I should request after the payment that I made, to be put on a Holiday Viewing for one of the two decoders I have. Needles to say, I complied, only to be cut off ONE DAY BEFORE I am supposed to pay my account. I was under the impression and informed as such that the money I had to pay (which they provided me) would cover up to the 25th of May 2017! Now I must sit without a viewing, due to some-ones incompetence! Pathetic!

On the 3rd of March I went over to pricelock I was still in credit because i pay in advance so the first instalmnet for pricelock was suppose to be end of March, on the 27th I spoke to nkatko
ad advised that payment was still not taken off he advised he will sort out, last week my decorder was disconnected due to not paying and they wanted payment of R3003 i advised them i have been with miltichoice for 5year and i never had a problem they had my banking detaild and they did not deduct the money so according to me i will not
be liable for the the arrears due to there mistake
they advise me that someone from price lock will phone me this is 5iddays later and still no feedback or telephone cal received

Paid my dstv for the year when I was moving got it disconnected but was not told that if you leave it disconnected for longer than a month you lose your free month the add is pay for the year and only pay for 11 months but no one tells you that you have to use it in 13 months otherwise you lose the free month I think this is a total and utter rip off.

First of all, I wonder (as do many other subscribers) how much attention will be given to this complaint.
Over the past 6 weeks I have had plenty time to watch dstv - repeat after repeat. Daytime viewing is a waste of time if one watches evening programs as well. This is a major gripe but my main complaint is the recording scheduling.
By using the 'TV guide' button to list all programs, I can select all the programs that I want to record for the week ahead. Any conflicts can be resolved by changing a recording to a rerun of the same program. Now, this is where there is a major problem.
So many times I try record sporting events and end up watching something completely different. Although the menu bar shows the time, program and date correctly, the recorded content is not that. The list of such instances is considerable and is extremely frustrating as luck has it that the required event is NOT shown again. I recently tried to record a sporting event and instead got 'Infinity nascar racing'. After stopping this recording, I then saw that this Nascar event was being screened live on 2 supersport channels at the same time - why?. My program had been moved to a later time but the recording time was not automatically changed! On 20th May, I set to record the RSA 7's rugby games ( 3 matches being rerun). What did I get -
Indy 500 race cars - couldn't think of anything more boring! Another annoying problem is that a program is advertised for a certain time slot but then starts 15 minutes late, thus finishing 15 minutes late. Does the recording time accommodate this - no! The program, King Fishers, is a competition with the winner being announced at the end of the program. I have yet to see who wins any of these challenges because the recording stops at the allocated time while the show continues.
You might say that your T&C's cover the occasional change but this is a joke. Everyday there is a problem with timing of shows.
Like other viewers, I pay a fortune to have DSTV premium but I often wonder why I bother. It is only LIVE sports that are on time - for obvious reasons.
Whoever does the scheduling needs to wake up and get things correct. Your software should be able to adjust all settings if there are changes made to the schedule. We pay for this service but certainly do not get our moneys worth.

Good Evening,
I logged a complaint at 2:37pm this afternoon on Facebook after I could not get throughn on live chat. 7 hours later and no solution provided; the feedback returned is only through my posts on social media requesting follow ups on my service issue. I am sad to say that had I not requested an update, that I would still be waiting in vain. I am tired now of the service challenges every few days. Look at the website and search for my name... you'll see the number of times I've complained. I no longer trust not have faith in DSTV. I now wish to be compensated for the lack of service and would appreciate refunding me for the hours where your on line catch up service has not delivered as promised. I appeal to the respectful nature of the company and look forward to hearing from your Customer Services Manager soonest.
Regards, Nicola Conlan

I recently changed my Dstv to a pvr ... the first week the pvr was working perfectly fine and all of a sudden there was an error E16 I phoned about 6 six times and each call lasted about 30-45 minutes to try and sort out the problem, eventually I had to take the decoder to one of the branches ... it work fine for a few weeks ... now again there is a error E201 ... on the self service there are not even a error like that ... so I had to phone again and once again the call agents couldn't help me ... the guy eventually said after about 20 minutes on the phone he had to go he wail phone me back .. And he never did ... the service from the agents are pathetic ... so I have to pay for a service that I didn't receive .

On the 6th April 2017 I had to pay my DSTV subscription via EFT because the website for card payments was offline. I emailed the proof of payment to [protected]@multichoice.co.za and to [protected]@dstv.com. The payment was not allocated to my dstv account so they disconnected my viewing. I called in to the call centre and the lady i spoke to said i must wait 2 days and the funds should be allocated by then but she can't re-connect my services in the meantime. I waited the 2 days and my service was still suspended. I called in again and the gentleman who assisted me was very helpful and asked me to send him the proof of payment so that he can attach it on my account and log an escalation so their accounts department can allocate the funds. Its almost 2 months now and they still haven't allocated the funds and my dstv gets disconnected almost daily whereby i need to call into the call centre and request that they re-connect my services and re-escalate the issue. I have had about enough of this non sense because it's costing me to call in everyday and the duration of the call is on average 20 minutes. Today was the final straw when the call centre manager advise me that the only way to resolve this issue is to go to the bank and ask them to reverse the payment and i must repay it again.

Can someone pease assist me with this? The escalation case number is 8745903.

I have been most frustrated on trying to move my viewing package form my residential address to my vacation retreat.
I have a premium package at home and an EasyView package at my holiday home. In the past I was able to disconnect my home package and transfer it onto the decoder at my holiday home and then reconnect both services when I returned home, so that some service, at least, would be left available to whoever wished to use our holiday home.
This option was made very difficult by DSTV when it decided that EasyView contracts could only be connected/deconnected on the contract payment date. The "holiday home" package was financially not an option as I was informed that this meant that I need to keep 2 full packages going : 1 at my residential address and 1 at my holiday home during the time I was on vacation.
This prompted me to bring my PVR with me this time, as you suggested in your adverts, and to plug it in to my dish at my holiday home. This was unsuccessful, even with assistance, and I then tried to have my home package disconnected and transferred to my holiday home. After some 33 minutes spent on my cellphone with DSTV Cape Town I was informed that they were having "technical difficulties" and that they would keep on trying . This morning I still have an error message and phoned again.
After going through the whole identification process again with a person identified as Lunathi, whom I experienced as being rather irritated by me, ( I am hard of hearing and do not follow conversations easily, as explained to her) and 23 minutes on my cellphone later, I was disconnected and had to start the whole process over again. This time I spoke to a lady called Olwethu and, again after some 14 minutes, managed to get to the stage where she informed me that my problem had been escalated to her supervisor who she said, would contact me on progress. I also was informed that my EasyView package, which is paid on the same debit order as my premium package has, mysteriously, been deactivated. This been a very frustrating and, indeed, deeply disturbing experience, not to mention that it has also consumed all my airtime! One cannot believe why this process which is advertised as being such a simple one, can be so difficult . I am presently waiting for the promised assistance and am having to make do with watching channel 100.
I also do not appreciate being made to feel like a naughty child when speaking to an advisor : even if my questions do not seem to make sense to her I would have expected more empathy, particularly after having explained about my hearing problem. Terminating my call was also not very nice at all, as I had to go through the whole process again.
Please improve this service.
Cust No [protected]

I have been on the chat line 4 times without success. When I try to log in it says my password is wrong. I have tried both E. Mailo ande phone options but both tell me a new tempory password is being sent but it does not arrive. I tried phoning in but the person concerned only referred me back to the chat line. The person on the chat line says they will refer it to another department and come back to me. Each time however I am given the same instruction which does not work. I have requested that someome phone me but so far I have not had a call.
I am desperate ande need someone to call me.

Neville Young

Good day, I would like to advise of the utterly bad service received after paying R3200.00 to get our decoders. Yesterday someone from Blingstallation came and installed our primary decoder and wanted to charge us R2400.00 for the secondary decoder installation (this is damn ridiculous). We canceled the installation of the second one and did it ourselves. Now our problem started soon after the technician left with the following errors on some of the channels (note every second or third channel) E48-32 & E16-4. After spending the whole day on the phone with Multichoice trying every route we could the problem was still not fixed they then advised me that the problem is then with the installation of the decoder (this is after 5 phone calls and exhausting every cell phone’s airtime. Now this morning I call the installers and advice them what I have been told by Multichoice they then continued to tell me that should the problem not be on their side they will bill me R450.00 for every hour (I will not pay this as I have been told by Multichoice that the problem is then with the installation). Secondary decoder I cannot see what is showing as I just keep on getting no information available, I cannot record, pause or rewind while watching a show? (As per my understanding and the “getting started booklet” you are supposed to be able to do this, not so?
How am I going to get this sorted as I have already paid for a service I am not getting? I now seriously doubt going on with DSTV as my father used to have the same problems and he just ended up canceling everything. I am very annoyed with this; it’s wasting my time and my money.
Please give me feedback my customer number is [protected] their accreditation number is [protected].

Mnet channel 101 broadcasted Master Chef Junior reality competition show every weeknight for the past 3-4 weeks only to stop airing it literally just before the finals (2-3 episodes at the most left to finish the show). Instead we are given filler episodes of Britain's got talent specials and the channel is now proudly advertising the new Britain's got talent show to start airing next week. What about the end of the Master Chef Junior? No "sorry" message on the TV during airing time, nothing said about it to us the viewers. Do you really think people like to pay to watch half shows? My money is better spent on an ADSL line and streaming off the internet if this is the service quality we are getting for monthly subscription fees that keep increasing. Honestly, with the ever redundant repetition of old shows on DStv, the only thing we viewers really look forward to watching are the premiers on Mnet and the sports. Now it seems its better not to invest time on these shows because we might not get to see how they end!

Refer to Ref: 8661703.

Dispute literally thousands of phone calls and promises to rectify the account and consolidate all the credits Multichoice owes us, our account is still being suspended.

We had 2 accounts (for Bedfordview and Durban) and Multichoice created a third for all the credits it owed us.

We then asked for accounts to be consolidated so that the credits would reflect correctly. They are still not showing and despite the fact Multichoice owes us money, our dstv keeps getting suspended.

Will someone please contact us to resolve this issue once and for all.

Since last week, there have been no running exchange rate updates along the screen of News24 in South Africa; likewise, no stock exchange or gold price updates either.

For over 30 hours - since 12:31 on 15 May 2017 - the "news" content on News24 has not changed. A lot has happened in South Africa and the world, but where is the reporting on it?

There has been no attempt to explain, to apologise or to alert viewers to the fact that, clearly, there is a problem.

Hi

Could you please explain why this year you have stopped all HBO, showtime and sky sports boxing matches, and you are not showing any NBA games.You increase your prices, but then cut all the PPV offerings from your shows...the only reason i have kept dstv is because of the sport, i can watch everything else on netflix, amazon, HBO...last question, will you be showing the canello ggg fight in September, if not i will cancel my service as soon as the contract runs out, utterly pathetic DSTV.ill watch sports on sky and HBO.

My complaint after my old explorer has broke down

I was at the Pretoria MultiChoice Centurion Center 4 weeks ago and again visit the offices 2 weeks ago with out any success.

The said that on there system it shown that they have called me on the 21st of April but did not received any phone call.

It is ridiculous to think that you must phone a customer one time and think the problem has been solved.

How long must I wait before actions takes place.

Must I wait another month or two before I will be able to watch TV

Regards
Unhappy Client
David Viljoen
[protected]

Why minimize the day-to-day search on one channel? Bring the option back to scan from ex: 8 am to 8am the next day! It's just easier that way. And one more thing, please stick to one decoder from now on! I had to swap out all of my good working decoders for new ones because I strongly believe that U did send out a disruptive code to destroy our old decoders just so we'd buy new ones.