LexisNexis South Africa: When “Premium Legal Services” Comes with Premium Surprises

In South Africa, we are unfortunately no strangers to businesses that rely on glossy marketing and selective transparency to entice unsuspecting customers. What is more disturbing, however, is when this conduct appears to come from companies that position themselves as pillars of credibility and custodians of trusted information. Enter LexisNexis South Africa — a brand that presents itself as a leader in legal and property information services. One would reasonably expect clarity, integrity, and full disclosure from such an organisation. Instead, what customers encounter is a masterclass in how to say just enough… but not quite everything. The advertised offering sounds straightforward and reassuring: Full deeds searches Access to Deeds Office records The ability to obtain Surveyor General (SG) plans All very impressive. All very convincing. You register. You are prompted to purchase credits to use the services. Fair enough — services cost money. You purchase the credits. Only then — at the point where you are about to conduct your first search — does the small but very significant detail appear: you will be charged for the search even if it returns no results. Yes, you read that correctly. Whether you find what you’re looking for or not, the meter runs. This critical piece of information is conveniently absent during the marketing phase and notably absent when you are encouraged to purchase credits. It materialises only after your money is safely secured. At that stage, what is a customer to do? The credits have been bought. There is no turning back. So you proceed — as most reasonable people would — trusting that a “Deeds Office search” will, at the very least, locate a legitimate property. Except… it doesn’t. You try again, perhaps thinking it was a minor input error. Another charge. Another null result. More credits deducted. Still no property found — on what is supposedly a Deeds Office search platform. The following day, you raise the issue. You explain that it is unreasonable to be charged repeatedly for null results. The response? A polite but firm refusal to refund. The explanation: “The Deeds Office charges for every search.” That may very well be the case. But here’s a novel concept: disclose that clearly and upfront. Place it boldly in the marketing material. State it before customers are required to purchase credits. Transparency is not a radical business model — especially for a company trading on the strength of its credibility. Instead, customers are left feeling as though the business model depends less on successful searches and more on the inevitability of repeated, billable attempts. For a company operating in the legal information space, where trust and ethics should be non-negotiable, this approach is deeply disappointing. When profit eclipses transparency, credibility becomes collateral damage. LexisNexis South Africa, perhaps it’s time to reflect: integrity is not a premium add-on. It should not require credits.