FB
Freddie B
Active since Jul 2017
21
Reviews
0
Industries
Reviews
21 reviews3 weeks ago
IPS HEALTH AND WELLNESS: UNSOLICITED CALLS TO AN ELDERLY PERSON ESCALATING TO AN (UNMANDATED?) MONTHLY DEBIT ORDER OF R 2 068.07
IPS HEALTH AND WELLNESS: UNSOLICITED CALLS TO AN ELDERLY PERSON ESCALATING TO AN (UNMANDATED?) MONTHLY DEBIT ORDER OF R 2 068.07 It recently came to my attention that my 79 year old grandmother was going through financial hardship. Upon going through her bank statement with her, we realized that there was a very large debit order for IPS HEALTH AND WELLNESS. (She was aware the she was paying them, but could not recall ever agreeing to such a large sum of money being deducted. It started with an unsolicited call from them a few years ago, offering her samples of their products. It soon turned into products she had to pay for, and then she started receiving deliveries without even being called to confirm whether she was able to accept the financial obligation or even still wanted the products. They even dispatched a parcel to her previous address without confirming that she still resided their. She didn't have an issue with the products initially, since SOME of the supplements were things she likely would've purchased in any way. -Others have in fact never been used though…) I immediately raised the issue with IPS, and requested proof of the debit order mandate/s where she explicitly agreed to the amount that was being deducted and/or subsequent increases. They called her shortly after my request. She informed the salesperson that she was a pensioner, and could not afford the premiums they were deducting from her account. They then changed the agreed amounts, and went ahead to coerce her into agreeing to another delivery and debit order from them. I maintained that I wanted proof that they were in fact mandated to deduct such large amounts from her account. They failed to deliver any proof of any valid agreement/s with her preceding the abovementioned call for far more than a month. And I was stuck in an endless back and forth loop with them. (It also took them very long to send me detailed invoices upon request.) When I started getting annoyed, they requested that I complete a form and send it to their information officer. (I can provide this email string upon request) Needless to say, I lost my composure. (Considering the fact that they had well over a month to refer me to their so called “information officer”, I don't think that it was unreasonable. I would've followed that steps had it been communicated in due course.) Consequently, I requested immediate cancellation of her membership, and also offered to pay the final amounts “due” by her, provided that they would undertake to stop contacting us. I also insisted on written confirmation that the membership was cancelled. They pointed out that this was not their policy, and I had to take yet another call from their salesperson to confirm the cancellation. This lady (Lané) had the audacity to inform me that they will continue debit orders on her account unless I can proof that I settled the outstanding balance. She also never CONFIRMED the cancellation in the call. And furthermore had the audacity to tell me that they will call us after a year to interest us in their products again, despite my clear instructions in my emails that they should stop contacting us after the cancellation is finalized. Following the call, my politeness was almost depleted. I have sent another email repeating my request for cancellation, demanding written confirmation, an undertaking that they will not contact us again, and a final statement with banking details to make the final payment/arrangements if that is needed. After more than 48 hours, I followed up, and to date have not received any response. I would appreciate if you could investigate this matter and maybe offer me some advice on the best way to get rid of them going forward. (We have had similar experiences with their sister companies Platinum Life, and Isabella Garcia, whom have admitted IN WRITING to have coerced her into agreeing to receive and pay for products that she didn't want or need by misrepresenting and/or using less than ethical sales tactics.) Kind Regards FC Burton on behalf of Susanna Elizabeth Wagner
0 replies
2 months ago
A STATEMENT FOR R 24 816,78, AND IPS CAN'T EVEN RESPOND TO SIMPLE REQUESTS. (IPS2003099)
A parcel was delivered to my 79 year old grandmother, presumably in June 2025. From July 2025, amounts varying from R1 863.00 to R 2 221.86, were deducted from her bank account. The first of those deductions on the (VERY VAGUE) statement was for a so-called "RUNNING LOW VOUCHER". To date, they have deducted R 19 193,93 from her bank account, while her income can hardly sustain her on a month to month basis. I became aware of this when she moved closer to us in February. They dispatched yet another parcel to her former address without even informing her. Only when they could not find someone to receive the delivery, did they bother to contact her. I have sent them an email requesting a statement, and copies of the recording/s EXPLICITLY authorising the deductions for said amount from her account. Shanice ****samy promptly responded with a statement, and informed me that she has requested the recording/s from the relevant department. I then also requested an outline of the costs on the statement, given that the statement is very vague. It doesn't show quantities or unit cost for example, and doesn't explain the obscure voucher. A different person then responded, requesting basic details that were given in the original email. Since then, I haven't received any feedback yet… They are most likely de*****ing or at least misleading elderly people into paying excessive amounts for very little in fact.
1 reply
36 months ago
MOMENTUM IS AN UTTER DISGRACE FOR THE WHOLE SHORT TERM INSURANCE INDUSTRY!
We have been struggling since about 12/04/2023 to obtain a full police document for both policies held by my grandmother. She has been paying her premiums on BOTH her policies respectively since about 2006 and 2011. However, when she was admitted to hospital in April this year with an upper respiratory tract infection and wanted to claim from her one policy for the first time since taking it out, we were faced by one problem after the other. 1. We made COUNTLESS phone calls to Momentum and Alexander Forbes to try and find out how to claim from the particular policy (that pays out a cash amount in case of hospitalisation due to illness or an accident.) After spending almost all day on the phone trying to explain the situation to several individuals, I was still left with NO answers. 2. I then wrote a complaint and posted it on hellopeter.com, where I have requested them in a reply to provide me with POLICY DOCUMENTS for BOTH policies held by my grandmother AS WELL AS a claims form for the relevant policy. 3. Following this complaint, I have received feedback from Donnita Du Plooy, who contacted me. She sent me a form that we had to fill in in order for them to evaluate the claim. We ran into some trouble with the medical report on this form, where I had to pay the treating physician a fee of R 500 to complete the form. I brought this to Donnita’s attention and yet again requested POLICY DOCUMENTS in order for me to decide whether paying the fee would be worth my while considering the (potential) value of the claim. 4. I have then received a reply from Donnita which brought me under the impression that we do not need to have the medical report completed, thus we completed the rest of the form and returned it to Donnita. Her response to this had me fuming, because she then told me that I did not complete the form correctly as the treating doctor has to fill in the medical report in “Section 8”. In my fury I responded rather harshly, now demanding the full POLICY DOCUMENTS once again. 5. Donnita and I then had a brief exchange (on 19/05) after that email, where she requested me to attach a DISCHARGE FORM to confirm the date and time of admission and discharge. Admittedly, I then ignored this email while awaiting the policy documents… 6. On 01/06, we decided to visit a Momentum advisor close to us to try and retrieve the policy documents. Within about 2 days they called us back to inform us that they were unable to find an active policy in my grandmothers’ name. We then provided them with the policy numbers for both policies. Unfortunately, we have still not received any feedback... Considering that she has 2 active debit orders, I find this very concerning! I am starting to think that Momentum is actually receiving premiums from her without her enjoying the benefit of the cover that she is paying for and has in fact been paying for, for well over a decade by now…
2 replies
38 months ago
After paying my policies for upwards of 15 years, neither Alex Forbes, nor Momentum knows about it!
My Alexander Forbes policies were moved to Momentum during their takeover. Now I want to claim and neither Alex Forbes, nor Momentum knows anything about my policy/ies. Yet, I still have mothly debit orders on my account!
2 replies
38 months ago
My Alexander Forbes policy seems to have disappeared, yet I am still paying for it!
My Alexander Forbes policies were moved to Momentum during their takeover. Now I want to claim and neither Alex Forbes, nor Momentum knows anything about my policy/ies. Yet, I still have mothly debit orders on my account!
3 replies
44 months ago
FICA notification but limited support at your branch and none on the FICA email...
My parents received notifications that they need to provide FICA documents for their joint bond accounts. On 30/09/2022, my mom went to the branch with proof of residence and proof of both their identities. Upon her arrival, the lady was surprised by the requirement to FICA since both accounts have been active for between 10- and 20 years... The lady then started calling around and disappeared to the back for about 20 minutes. When she returned, she informed my mom that since they have joint accounts both parties have to come to sign and she won't be able to accept the FICA documents. (WHY??? It is just to submit documents. Not to change something or withdraw money...) Since both my parents are working, it is difficult for them to visit the bank simultaneously. Therefore, I have sent the documents by email to your FICAhelp@absa.co.za address. I received NO feedback whatsoever and then followed up on 04/10/2022 and yet again I did not receive any feedback! Can you please sort this out and also clarify why your branches are making FICA compliance so much more difficult than it already is?!
1 reply
51 months ago
Vodamail inbox not working at all.
My father have lost access to his email. It has been more than a week since he started calling your customer care. He still can't access his email! Every single day he listens to the same excuses over and over. It is absolutely unacceptable, seeing that he works at a hospital and some of the correspondence in his email could mean the difference between life and death for someone! Sort this issue out immediately! And don't even call me or him before his email is fixed! You have until 17h00 on Thursday 07/04/2022...
2 replies
57 months ago
Digging trenches in public streets and then not closing it properly!
Your team dug a trench in Middelton Street, Reitz, near the crossing with Davel Street and did NOT close it properly. There were NO markings or warning signs present, only the cables on the sidewalk to warn motorists! This afternoon, I was driving there and had to brake very harshly to avoid damage to the car and still got quite a jarring experience even though I was driving less than 40km/h to begin with! The trench is inconspicuous if you approach it from Davel Street and therefore VERY dangerous... My dad also complained about a similar experience in Artie Street, where ambulances often drive at great speed on their way to the hospital. Will you please see that your team CLOSE the trenches and repair the tarmac surface as your competitor does?!
0 replies
65 months ago
STOP the telesales!
My mom received a call from Vodacom telesales on (I believe) Wednesday 27/01/2021. The lady was trying to sell a laptop and data deal for R399p/month to her, she referred the call to my dad. He spoke to the lady. He understood that the deal included 10GB of ANYTIME data. She also said that we do not need Vodacom coverage or signal to use the router, which is an outright LIE, when my dad informed her that we had very poor signal lately and could not even send or receive WhatsApp messages when we left our WiFi hotspot at home. I advised him to ask the lady to call him back on Monday 01/02/2021. She however insisted that the deal was only valid for that day! My dad then agreed to the deal and requested her to send the recording of the call to his email address, this was not received just yet! On Friday 29/01/2021 we visited our local Vodacom branch to try and figure out what the consultant had done. We then found out that the deal only has 5GB of daytime data. The consultant at the branch informed us that it was very common for him to receive complaints of this sort. We have also done a needs analysis in the meantime and found that we actually cannot afford buying one on contract! I want to ask firstly that you start to train your consultants to be COMPLETELY honest in their sales pitches, even if this may cost them a sale. Secondly, I want to ask you to stop putting pressure on customers to agree to anything over the phone, rather call them back after a day or two. ESPECIALLY if they request that! THIRDLY and most importantly, I want to ask you to stop calling my family members with sales schemes and especially to stop the "robocalls" to my moms cellphone. I will list our numbers in a private reply to help you put them on your "do not contact" list!
3 replies
66 months ago
Liars and Crooks!
This company is a bunch of absolute crooks! I have complained about them deducting money from my grandmother's bank account without permission (AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED). They promised to send me the recordings, where she supposedly consented to the deductions... I have however not received these recordings after 21 days! I demanded that they refund her premiums unless they can prove that she EXPRESSLY agreed to take out cover with them and EXPRESSLY agreed to the amount which was to be deducted from her bank account on a monthly basis! If I remember correctly, I have clearly instructed this company (TELEPHONICALLY) to stop contacting certain of my family members and I am pretty sure that my grandmother's is one of the numbers that I mentioned! I have stated this in my e-mail to Roxanne Elson on Saturday 12/12/2020 at 12;38 PM. Instead of investigating my allegations, she just stated your general policy. The allegations that I have made are quite serious and I assume that you know what the consequences will be if my allegations turns out to be factually correct... Send me the recordings of ALL calls to my grandmother as well as the recording that I mentioned in my email as stated above! IMMEDIATELY!
1 reply
Review Distribution
5 Star
2 (9.523809523809524%)
4 Star
2 (9.523809523809524%)
3 Star
0 (0%)
2 Star
1 (4.761904761904762%)
1 Star
16 (76.19047619047619%)