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briantw
Well-Known Member
Full disclosure: I already complained about this via two phone calls to Multichoice and a complaint on hellopeter.com. Followed up with a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority.
I was a DStv subscriber for about 10 years, but it started to get annoying and the Internet started serving more and more of my info and entertainment needs. But I decided to get something to keep my new kid's mom entertained
and
I bought a DSD1131 decoder in December.
So why am I here? I seem to be the only one bitchin' about this, is all. Anybody else seen the wallet-sized fold-out brochure that comes with the DStv decoders? Very expensively printed full-colour jobbie detailing all the bouquets with their associated channels. So I saw that DStv Select (1 or 2) comes with Sony Entertainment Television. Put together with Series and Universal, that is enough for the lady, and I enjoy a bit of David Letterman now and then, so I sign up.
But guess what? E-16 on Sony. WTF? So I call them. First consultant tells me she's sending out a reset code to fix it, should be sorted in 5 minutes. 30 pass. So I call back. Second consultant tells me "you don't get Sony on DStv Select." "But it says you do right here in this brochure thingy," I explain. "Sir, I'm on DStv.com and it says nothing about Sony on DStv Select." "Well, I don't know, I'm not looking at DStv.com, I'm looking at this lovely brochure you printed and included in the box, and it is included." And this goes round and round - apparently it doesn't matter what material I have in my hands, they haven't seen it, aren't aware of it, and that's the end of the story. But it's not, you see, because you don't see something advertised, sign up for it and then go away when it's half delivered. You want the full product. Or at least an explanation. An acknowledgement? An apology for the acknowledged error? A box of chocolates? Okay, I'm going too far. But I wasn't just going to be shooed away. So I asked for the person responsible for printing the brochure, was put on hold, then promptly given their main switchboard number. Which is only open during office hours. Talk about going straight to the top...
Okay, so no interest in engaging on the topic within Multichoice, so I posted a complaint on hellopeter.com. [Holy Cow, just tried to find the link by simply browsing through complaints to get to 26 Dec. After 6 pages of complaints I had to try another approach!] HERE it is.
But no need to follow the link. In summary, I was told that "Sony Entertainment Television is not offered, and has never been offered as part of the DStv Select 1 bouquet." What am I, a liar or an illiterate? Then I'm instructed to send them a copy to investigate. What am I, your personal detective service or research intern? YOU printed the *&! Damn thing! I don't think so. You can't keep track of your own marketing campaigns, then YOU make the effort. I even gave the name of the person who "signed" the campaign off - Graham Pfuhl, head of Marketing or some such nonsense, but they couldn't just ask him about it, no, I must scan or fax this document for their convenience. I think not.
So I topped off my cream pie with a disgruntled moan cherry to the Advertising Standards Authority. It didn't have to go that far - just get the book on customer service. Now a quiet rant here.
So, to the point then: Has anyone else in this hard-core chic geek boutique seen the stupid brochure I'm talking about?
I was a DStv subscriber for about 10 years, but it started to get annoying and the Internet started serving more and more of my info and entertainment needs. But I decided to get something to keep my new kid's mom entertained
and I bought a DSD1131 decoder in December.
So why am I here? I seem to be the only one bitchin' about this, is all. Anybody else seen the wallet-sized fold-out brochure that comes with the DStv decoders? Very expensively printed full-colour jobbie detailing all the bouquets with their associated channels. So I saw that DStv Select (1 or 2) comes with Sony Entertainment Television. Put together with Series and Universal, that is enough for the lady, and I enjoy a bit of David Letterman now and then, so I sign up.
But guess what? E-16 on Sony. WTF? So I call them. First consultant tells me she's sending out a reset code to fix it, should be sorted in 5 minutes. 30 pass. So I call back. Second consultant tells me "you don't get Sony on DStv Select." "But it says you do right here in this brochure thingy," I explain. "Sir, I'm on DStv.com and it says nothing about Sony on DStv Select." "Well, I don't know, I'm not looking at DStv.com, I'm looking at this lovely brochure you printed and included in the box, and it is included." And this goes round and round - apparently it doesn't matter what material I have in my hands, they haven't seen it, aren't aware of it, and that's the end of the story. But it's not, you see, because you don't see something advertised, sign up for it and then go away when it's half delivered. You want the full product. Or at least an explanation. An acknowledgement? An apology for the acknowledged error? A box of chocolates? Okay, I'm going too far. But I wasn't just going to be shooed away. So I asked for the person responsible for printing the brochure, was put on hold, then promptly given their main switchboard number. Which is only open during office hours. Talk about going straight to the top...
Okay, so no interest in engaging on the topic within Multichoice, so I posted a complaint on hellopeter.com. [Holy Cow, just tried to find the link by simply browsing through complaints to get to 26 Dec. After 6 pages of complaints I had to try another approach!] HERE it is.
But no need to follow the link. In summary, I was told that "Sony Entertainment Television is not offered, and has never been offered as part of the DStv Select 1 bouquet." What am I, a liar or an illiterate? Then I'm instructed to send them a copy to investigate. What am I, your personal detective service or research intern? YOU printed the *&! Damn thing! I don't think so. You can't keep track of your own marketing campaigns, then YOU make the effort. I even gave the name of the person who "signed" the campaign off - Graham Pfuhl, head of Marketing or some such nonsense, but they couldn't just ask him about it, no, I must scan or fax this document for their convenience. I think not.
So I topped off my cream pie with a disgruntled moan cherry to the Advertising Standards Authority. It didn't have to go that far - just get the book on customer service. Now a quiet rant here.
So, to the point then: Has anyone else in this hard-core chic geek boutique seen the stupid brochure I'm talking about?
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