HelloPeter under fire

marine1 said:
Well its like extortion
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Exactly, because if a company does wish to address a particular complaint, they have to pay Peter first. Now, that is not necessarily in the complainant's best interest.

But to be honest, I have used Hellopeter with little success. I think a year or two ago when it was used less frequently, each complaint had more impact and greater "embarrassment" potential.

There are just too many complaints now that I don't think companies are as spurred into resolving outstanding issues any more.

As long as they have paid Peter his "protection racket" money so he doesn't bad mouth them on air, they don't really give a crap what appears on the site.
 
Gatecrasher said:
Exactly, because if a company does wish to address a particular complaint, they have to pay Peter first. Now, that is not necessarily in the complainant's best interest.

But to be honest, I have used Hellopeter with little success. I think a year or two ago when it was used less frequently, each complaint had more impact and greater "embarrassment" potential.

There are just too many complaints now that I don't think companies are as spurred into resolving outstanding issues any more.

As long as they have paid Peter his "protection racket" money so he doesn't bad mouth them on air, they don't really give a crap what appears on the site.
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IF we had proper consumer protection in this country then I would agree with you... but we don't. The only really bad thing about hellopeter is that it is the only place you can really go.

Perhaps it says something about the companies that so not respond, that have no customer service and are not willing to play a small amount of money to have some one else to do it for them.
 
Whats extortion is having nothing to protect me from companies like MTN stealing my money each month by double billing or incorrect billing, and then I have to spend weeks fighting to get it back...
 
I hope HelloPeter pays R60 000 a year to deal with complaints about itself.
 
xrapidx said:
I like to see other people's issue with a company, for example, in insurance, it helps me know to stay far away from them...
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yeah, if they can't pay R12,000 how on earth are they going to replace my car?
 
I see there are only 868 companies 'that respond' (pay the extortion fee). This means the vast majority of businesses simply give hellopeter the finger.
Sit and swivel, Peter.
 
plazma said:
I see there are only 868 companies 'that respond' (pay the extortion fee). This means the vast majority of businesses simply give hellopeter the finger.
Sit and swivel, Peter.
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Good gawd... at R12,000 minimum a pot = R10,416,000 per year.

Not bad for not actually doing anything but hosting a site and not allowing a response unless you pay... oh, and print fugly stickers from time to time between promoting yourself and your books!
 
Where exactly does the R12,000 come from, did you guys thumb suck it?

According to this:

There is an annual registration, set-up and admin. fee payable by EVERY Company Who Responds to reports. The annual fee is US $37-00. Companies are also charged an Annual Response Fee according to the number of reports made about them.

Companies with less than 4 reports pay NO Annual Response Fee.

All Companies Who Respond have access to the Customer Details (real name, email address and cell phone no.) of Customers both past and present who write Reports about them.
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$37 <> R12,000

Going on your R12,000
Considering an MTN have had 5,500 complaints this year, that means its R2.12 a complaint.

So, the less complaints you have, the more it costs per complaint to get to R12,000?

If you think an annual R300 is extortion - you seriously need to re-look your earning potential, thats less than it would cost to host your own complaints department on the net.
 
xrapidx said:
Where exactly does the R12,000 come from, did you guys thumb suck it?

According to this:
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Um... here actually...

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Telecoms/1350.html

According to the Anti-HelloPeter website the minimum cost to become ‘A company that responds’ is R13 500. “This is the lowest category of subscription, and if you are a regular responder you need to take an upgraded package, which can be as much as R60 000 per year,” the website states.

But, if it is then only 37USD, then why does Mr. Cheales just not announce this... why do companies keep this a "secret"... hmmmm.
 
South Africa companies have allowed themselves to get into this situation due to deteriorating customer service. I'm not a fan of hellopeter.com but companies have brought this on themselves and had an adequate system been in place for addressing complaints we would not have this situation.

By blaming Peter Cheales (regardless of the system he uses or abuses) you are effectively removing any blame from these companies who do no put customer priories ahead of their own selfish needs.

It is well known we have a terrible history of customer service and ultimately customer dissatisfaction. South African consumers have been to scared to offend in the past and unwilling to complain and companies have abused this prior attitude.

Suddenly consumers are complaining, and Cheales has given them a platform to do so, and now the companies are shouting "extortion". These same companies ignored customer complaints and criticism in the past and are reaping their rewards.
 
kilobitsperyear said:
Um... here actually...

http://mybroadband.co.za/news/Telecoms/1350.html

According to the Anti-HelloPeter website the minimum cost to become ‘A company that responds’ is R13 500. “This is the lowest category of subscription, and if you are a regular responder you need to take an upgraded package, which can be as much as R60 000 per year,” the website states.

But, if it is then only 37USD, then why does Mr. Cheales just not announce this... why do companies keep this a "secret"... hmmmm.
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Um - its right there on their site? Why do they need to announce it?

You honestly telling me that they're going to charge , again MTN, with 5,500 complaints R10.90 per complaint? And you believe the Anti-hellopeter site?
 
Does, or has anyone ever gotten an actual quote from them, that isn't hearsay.
 
xrapidx said:
Does, or has anyone ever gotten an actual quote from them, that isn't hearsay.
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Hi xrapidx...

I have heard the venerable Mr. Cheales duck this question a number of times on air. He alludes to the affordability and the staggered pricing tier of the costs to respond for companies.

I have not heard him once come out and state it as plainly as you have just put it.

I remember too a company being questioned by a caller on the show about the costs, and it too responded with vagueness and ducked the cost aspect again.

This in itself kinda gives the impression that there is something to hide and leads all and sundry to draw whatever inferences they may.

Speculation and hearsay... cloaked in vagueness and sprinkled with inaccuracy.
 
Perhaps Mr. Cheales himself can be made aware of this thread and then he too can comment directly and dispel any inaccuracies about this matter once and for all.

RPM... call Mr. Cheales, get a break down of costs for a company that responds in all the variations of the structures that he may provide for.
 
Haha

Xrapidx... you expectin' a reply? :) Well a reply with substance other than that used to line walls & floors in rural kraals.
 
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