Active since Oct 2016
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25 reviews3 months ago
VUMATEL: OUTSTANDING SERVICE EVERY TIME
On 16 Jan 2026 I reported a fibre line service outage to my service provider, Vox Telecom, who escalated it to Vumatel. A couple of hours later the technical team was on site and the problem was resolved. This is not the first time I have had same-day service from Vumatel. I can only congratulate this company on its excellent service. I see they subcontracted it to New Planet. Well done; the partnership works. This testimonial is unsolicited.
56 replies
14 months ago
VUMATEL: GREAT SERVICE ETHIC
For the second time in 12 months, I enthusiastically trumpet about Vumatel’s outstanding service. This time a rather pecu**** event arose that needed Vumatel’s attention. A truck carrying a load of sand failed to climb a steep hill in Kensington, Johannesburg. It slid back down the hill and came to a halt against the kerb, damaging a wall and half felling a gum pole in the process. The gum pole was one Vumatel had erected in the suburb to hold fibre cables. Unbelievably, within a couple of hours of receiving my e-mail, Vumatel had dispatched a repair team to the site. This is great It’s what one expects in Europe or the US, or perhaps Cape Town, but in Johannesburg? Wow! Top class, Vumatel, you guys rock!
53 replies
16 months ago
TOP CLASS AFTER SALES SERVICE FROM DIS-CHEM EASTGATE
Our part-time helper reports an iron she bought stopped working. The obvious question, "where's the cash slip?" draws a blank look. Without a cash slip the vendor is entitled to repudiate a claim. Let's see if we can reason with them. Post an inquiry on Dis-Chem's site. A day or two later I receive a mail from Carla, manager of Dis-Chem Eastgate (Bedfordview, greater JHB area). Come see me, says Carla, In I go, with the helper, and with the iron, but no cash slip. Carla does some detective work, verifies the sale, and within 5 minutes of entering the store, we exit with a new replacement iron. This is service. This is confidence. Thank you Carla of Dis-Chem Eastgate and thank you Dis-Chem. Ladies & gents of the public, when you're looking for a product, with this kind of after sales service, trust Dis-Chem as your vendor of choice.
0 replies
21 months ago
GAU APPLIANCE REPAIRS? NEVER AGAIN!
GAU APPLIANCE REPAIRS? NEVER AGAIN! My Speed Queen stops working. It’s been squealing for a long time. Now it stops altogether. It needs repairs. I know NOT to contact Gau Appliance Repairs. They were the ones I called last time. It was an expensive disaster. Twice afterward, I called Kaletso to complain, and twice, was given a false promise followed by zero action. This time I call a freelance repairman. He opens the machine, takes one look and asks who last worked on it. Gau Appliance Repairs, I reply. He goes to his car, fetches a Speed Queen belt (unfortunately, not for my model), and invites me to compare the belts. The Speed Queen belt is untoothed. The one Gau Appliance Repairs fitted is toothed. It is an automotive Vee belt. What other explanation is there but that they charged me for a Speed Queen part, then fitted a cheap automotive belt? No WONDER the thing squeals! Not happy, I call Gau Appliance Repairs and speak to manager Jan. I learn customer empathy is... um... not exactly Jan’s strong suite. I send Jan a photo of the toothed belt. Jan replies with a lengthy essay to the effect Gau Appliance Repairs cannot possibly be in the wrong. He takes umbrage that I called someone else. Some time later, I have a working machine. Thanks to repairman Tony Govender and his assistant for the competent repair job, and decent attitude. As for Gau Appliance Repairs, the less said, the better.
0 replies
40 months ago
RAIN (INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER) IS MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE TO CANCEL MY MONTH-TO-MONTH CONTRACT
Switching to Rain has proved a mistake. Yet despite Rain’s sweet talk, they are making it impossible to terminate this month to month contract. They claim the MY RAIN portal offers a cancellation option. It does not. Rain ignores r-mails, and their call centre is a nightmare. Request after request, by e-mail and to their terrible call centre, has been ignored. Rain is making it impossible to cancel. They simply ignore e-mails and telephonic requests to cancel. They then cover themselves by falsely claiming to have tried to call. ICASA needs to take action against Rain. In the meantime, let’s see if Rain ignores Hello Peter the same way they ignore customers.
264 replies
40 months ago
HALF GLASS RESTAURANT: INCOMPETENT, AND ***-RUDE
Wife and I drop into Bedfordview’s Half Glass Restaurant. WHAT an experience! Ladies and gents, two Prego rolls and two beverages is NOT A COMPLICATED ORDER. Five minutes pass. No food arrives. Ten minutes pass. No food arrives. Fifteen minutes pass. No food arrives. Twenty minutes pass. No food arrives. Twenty five minutes pass. No food arrives. During these 25 minutes, not once did anyone bother to check up on our table. everything is alright. After nearly half an hour we call the waiter. “Is there a problem?” we ask. “I’ll call my manager,” replies the waiter. And that’s when the unpleasantness begins. Mr Manager is seated at one of the tables, with a group of visibly-drunk men. Mr Manager resentfully strides to our table. “We placed an order for two Pregos over 25 minutes ago,” we report. This "manager" proves ***-rude. He turns his back on us. He provides no answer, does not report back, offers no apology, and makes zero effort whatsoever to smooth matters over. Some time later we again summon the waiter to find out WHAT is going on. “Didn’t the manager talk to you?” asks the waiter. We have now been here for over half an hour, during which time we have been alternatively ignored or treated as if we were asking a favour. Enough is enough. “Bill me for the drinks,” I instruct the waiter. Waiter looks lost. Mr ***-Rude Manager glowers resentfully at the computer screen. Minute after minute passes; no action. I get to my feet. “What do you charge for a Coca Cola and a glass of wine?” I demand. “He’s bringing the bill,” Mr ***-Rude Manager bellows. I am handed a bill for two drinks. We receive not a word of apology. Not from the waiter, and not from Mr ***-Rude Manager. We depart in disgust, leaving behind us a glass of untouched red wine. If you are in Bedfordview, there are many, many other restaurants. There is no reason to subject yourself to the ***-rude abuse of Half Glass.
0 replies
51 months ago
FNB LANDS DISABILITY PENSIONER IN LEGAL TROUBLE
As a young adult, P became a disability pensioner for life. Now 50, P depends on FNB Trust Services to handle her affairs. The “Trust” in Trust Services, however, seems to have gone missing in action. P has had her utilities bill handed over. FNB Trust Services, responsible for keeping this account up to date, has allowed the account to fall TWO AND A HALF YEARS INTO ARREARS. Mail the appropriate FNB address (evidence available on request): The mail bounces back, “because the address couldn't be found or is unable to receive email.” Try calling FNB. Oh, my goodness... have you ever tried actually CALLING the mighty FNB? They cannot be contacted by E-mail, they cannot be contacted by phone, they cannot manage their client’s, affairs, they certainly can collect their fees. Hello Peter, could you perhaps achieve what the average little Joe can’t, namely, get a response from First National Bank’s Trust Services division?
53 replies
53 months ago
BEDFORD GARDENS CASUALTY – WHAT A VILE, NASTY DOCTOR!
Alfredo, in his seventies, awakens at three in the am. His wife rushes his to Bedford Gardens Casualty. He is sent home, with instructions to take oxygen. At seven am, we receive an SOS from his panicking wife. Alfredo can’t breathe. We race to their house, collect the elderly couple, and drive them to Bedford Gardens Casualty. All goes as expected, until the casualty doctor arrives. The moment she does, the experience degenerates into that of meat arriving at a wholesale butchery. Gushing vinegar and throwing her hands up like an albatross taking flight, the doctor demands a deposit of R100 000. At 3 am this morning, patient Alfredo’s wife couldn’t raise R100 000. Could you, at that hour? By now, 7 to 8 am, the airwaves have been abuzz between Africa and Portugal, and plans have been made to procure the R100 000. However, the R100 000 has now ballooned to R458 000 (four hundred and fifty eight thousand rand). The news is delivered with the empathy of a prison warder warning an escaping prisoner to halt. “I spent three hours on the phone trying to get you into a government hospital!” lies Bedford Gardens Casualty, with an unpleasantness that needs to be seen to be believed. Alfredo, in his 70s and struggling for each breath (having received zero – none, nada, absolutely zero – help from Bedford Gardens Casualty), is carried back to the car and driven to Roseacres Clinic, 10 minutes’ drive from Bedford Gardens. Within thirty minutes he is in a ward in Roseacres, having been received with a compassion utterly alien to Bedford Gardens Casualty. We are asked for a deposit of R28 000 (twenty eight thousand rand; proof available). From the moment of the patient’s arrival, Bedford Gardens Casualty treated him like an enemy. And if turning patients into enemies is what she wanted, that’s what she’s got. Get well soon Alfredo… at Roseacres.
53 replies
53 months ago
SEE HOW CELL C TREATS A CUSTOMER IN HER SEVENTIES
Cell C Eastgate renews our contract and steers us toward an Oppo phone. The phone takes abnormally long to charge. Not thirty or sixty minutes longer than our previous Samsung; it takes THE WHOLE NIGHT to finally take a charge. We return the phone to Cell C, Eastgate Mall, Bedfordview. However, my wife, now in her 70s, has committed the crime of taking longer than the 7 days Cell C allows for out-of-box failures. We are informed the service centre will take up to 21 days to return the phone. (During these up-to-21 days we will be charged as if we had full service.) We return a few days later. Long story short: Zero progress whatsoever. “We have a process,” insists Mpho of Cell C Eastgate. But we ALSO have a process. It’s called HelloPeter. Cell C can hide behind layer after layer of fine print, but not from public exposure of its customer treatment. If Cell C responds, I caution them in advance against the tactic of reporting the matter as “satisfactorily resolved” when it isn’t. In conclusion, a little light reading about Cell C’s practices: https://mybroadband.co.za/news/cellular/424484-we-tested-for-disappearing-data-in-south-africa-and-one-operator-is-guilty.html
53 replies
71 months ago
BEDFORD GARDENS LIFE CLINIC: NOT REFUNDING A 100% OVERCHARGE!
April 2020. 25-year-old Tania is sick. Recently-employed Tania is in the final days of a 90-day waiting period with Discovery. (That means, Discovery collects premiums, but provides no cover.) As Tania’s condition deteriorates, her alarmed Gran drives her to the nearest hospital, Bedford Gardens Life Clinic. Bedford Gardens Life liaises with Discovery. The outcome: Either cough up from your own pocket or make your way to the nearest government slaughterhouse. How much? Twenty one thousand rand. Cash, up front. And until we get our hands on the money, Tania can die in your car for all we care. Pistol to her head, 70-year-old Grandmother maxes out her credit card. Then, and only then, does the actual patient begin to warrant any attention whatsoever. A month passes. Tania gets an automated message. We covered ourselves by charging your 70-year-old grandmother MORE THAN DOUBLE the necessary amount. But Gran is due for a refund for the R11 679 we overcharged her. Which comes as no small relief for 70-year old Gran. That is, until Gran eventually has the temerity to trouble the mighty Bedford Gardens Life for this refund of the overcharge. In Week 1, Bedford Gardens Life is “offline”. No refunds. Two weeks pass. Bedford Gardens Life is “offline”. No refunds. Three weeks turn into a month. Bedford Gardens Life is “offline”. No refunds. Six weeks. Bedford Gardens Life is “offline”. No refunds. Two months. Bedford Gardens Life is “offline”. No refunds. Tania went in before Easter. By late June Bedford Gardens Life, despite admitting the extent of their overcharge, continue to hang on to Gran’s money. Gran remains R11 679 (plus credit card interest) out of pocket. And every single time they are asked, they are conveniently “offline”. (They weren't too “offline” to collect, mind.) If you are considering Bedford Gardens Life, know what kind of institution you are dealing with. This is a monolith that has zero qualms about double-charging a 70-year-old grandmother, then regurgitating the same excuse time and again when asked to refund the overcharge. Why wouldn't they wouldn't do the same to you?
105 replies
Review Distribution
5 Star
6 (24%)
4 Star
0 (0%)
3 Star
0 (0%)
2 Star
0 (0%)
1 Star
19 (76%)