ER
Elsa R
Active since Nov 2009
4
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4 reviews54 months ago
Poor Customer Service by Nicole Sarlie from Discovery Bank
On 14 June 2019 I closed my Discovery Card account. I fulfilled their prescribed procedures which included: Filling in their ‘Account Closure Form’ Paying the outstanding ammount reflecting at the time on online banking I emailed above form and proof of payment through to them, also on 14 June 2019. On 21 June 2019 I phoned a customer service representative, Vivian to confirm closure of my account. He confirmed closure and provided call reference number 6500146270 But soon there after it seemed a third party re-opened my account without my permission and commenced deducting fees from my account. I contacted Discovery Card several times to investigate why they will allow a third party to re-open my account without my permission, as this constitute as fraud. The call reference numbers include: 23 August ’19 ref no: 6614308154 I spoke to a Mapume 15 Oktober ’19 ref no: 6708638100 I spoke to Chase and ref no 6771527951 I spoke to Prudent It seemed an impossible task to get any helpful information on the subject as to why I were adviced my account is closed on the 21 June 2019 call, just that another third party can re-open it without my permission afterwards. This constitute as fraud. As I already did all steps to close this account, I certainly were not willing to pay any more fees. Discovery Card seemed incapable to communicate any helpful information to me no matter how many times I contacted them by phone. I will never have an account with a company where I can not readily have a walk in service in my area. For it seemed near impossible to close the account, and Discovery Card continued billing me monthly account fees. This, together with the the third party, now constitute as just over thousand rand, which they handed over to laywers to black list me! Of all things. And they are the ones who did not perform their duties. I then opened a case with OBBSA. They reverted the case to Discovery representative Nicole Sarlie, who could not provide solutions. This was then reverted back to OBBSA who also procrastinate providing a rulling. Nicole Sarlie said they will write off the Discovery Card fees, and only expect payment for the third party which they allowed illigally to deduct fees. Now, it is no favour to deduct fees for a service I closed, did not use nor requested. Furthermore I waisted a lot of time to deal with the incompetence of Discovery Card’s customer service providers. Time is of more value than money, and Discovery Card is evidentually disrespectful of this fact. Furthermore Nicole Sarlie still handed over the full so called outstanding ammount which included their bankfees (which they seemingly are willing to deduct) for blacklisting during the period of investigation, prior OBBSA’s ruling. This is unreasonbale as we do not know what is outstanding until OBSSA provides a ruling, so how can they black-list anything? Nicole Sarlie said she will retrieve the call where my account were confirmed closed (reference number 6500146270, 21 June ’19 with Vivian). She said they will let me know of a date when I can come in and listen to this call. I welcomed this. But next moment all they could do is send a transcription of the call, not the actual call. When I insisted I want to rather listen to the actual call, they then mentioned they lost the ‘security’ call. Now, how can one send a transcription of a call you have not located? It seems they cannot locate any of above calls! Nicole Sarlie then suddenly needed all kinds of irrelevant information to evade responsibility. This information included details such as the number I phoned from 2 years ago. I provided, the date, customer support representative names, ánd reference numbers of various calls. This is more than sufficient information as the reference number is the key to locating a call on the system. The whole thing is now a bit of a big business bullying situation. We all hate it when it happens to us, but how often do we do it in the capacity of our own work? Still truth remains, treating someone in a way you do not want to be treated, is not a good idea. It tends to take a full circle and becomes a culture of ‘no care customer care’. And when we get replaced by AI robots we protest: ‘how unfair’. Ultimately we are suppose to treat others as we want to be treated. With good service delivery the economy do better and consequently the banks do better. So quickly we forget it is all about relationships instead of regulations. In a sense I understand, yet not agree, why we think a robot can take the role of a human. Ultimately every human that forgot their true purpose in respecting and caring about creation and their Creator, is not truly adding value to life and consequently rather depleting the system. To truly care is good values, and a person that care should be valued. Hardly is someone of value merely due to some status whether it is intellegence, position, power, money or education. That is why it remains truly sad, as I do not want to speak to a robot, it is like speaking to a brick wall, but what is worse is a human that acts like a robot, simply not listening nor caring and merely ticking the box of regulation and procedure and dishing this to clients. This, when clients ironically are the people that contribute to our salaries. Biting the hand that feeds us is not conductive. And though clients can be unreasonable too, too often do we have to deal with one sided business which is evident in security calls that are only there to protect the interest of organsiations, but not the interest of clients. Rather than taking an interest in clients, we add more interest to whatever account they might have. Okay, all jokes aside, this is serious business. Except for the missing ‘security calls’, Nicole mentioned the account had bank fees outstanding on the time of closure. Hence the account’s balance was not at R0 at the time of closure and could therefore, according to Discovery’s procedures, not be closed. Now first of all, why did Vivian confirm my account is closed when I enquired with call: 6500146270 on 21 June 2019. Secondly, could none of the other customer representatives advice me this when I enquired several times thereafter for the reason why my account was ‘re-opened’, or at leat I were placed under the impression by Discovery via representative Vivian, my account were closed and opened by a third party. Furthermore, these bank fees did not reflect on the internet banking site on the day that I paid the outstanding ammount. Possibly a glitch in the system that causes a delay from the time of billing to the time of refelecting it live on the online account? But most importantly, banks is one of the only groups that black mail customers into continued business simply due to an outstanding account. In almost all other business the outstanding account is seperate from the running account / business contract. If you close your gym, phone or what ever account, you close the contract and there is no more running monthly fees. However the outstanding amount at the time remains outstanding until paid. This is then the amount that can be handed over for black-listing if due payment is not received in a given period. The banks should find ways to seperate these different accounts as they are two different issues all together. It actually goes agains customer protection rights that allows the cancellation of service with imidiate effect when this is requested by clients, and a client may not be forced into continued business. That I filled in forms and paid the outstanding amount, continually called and requested the cancelation of my account, should be sufficient to close the account. What ever was outstanding at that time, which according to you were one month’s bank fees, should then be send as a seperate outstanding account. I will pay this, no problem. If the banks do not change this unreasonable procedure where they force people into business until they pay, simply adding more bills to the outstanding account, they increase poverty even further as if poor people cannot afford to close an account it simply keeps on amounting. On 28/06/21 I listed a case with OBSSA which have on the most part been ignored by the designated member, Alison. She has provided no correspondence, reactions of any sort, not to speak of providing a ruling. It has been many months and she ignores emails send to her. They give one no choice but to believe they play a passive role in protecting the public against exploitation by banks. Does this organisation have a purpose?
53 replies
65 months ago
Poor quality product, after service and incorrect specifications
The brickforce specifications were incorrect. We ordered 150mm, however received 100mm. The quality were outracious, as the brickforce were heavily rusted. And the service were eqaually as poor, as after I contacted Leroy, twice by email and once by a phone call, they still did nothing to resolve the matter, regardless whether I provide a reference number. It seems Leroy has general corporate culture of not caring about their customers.
61 replies
97 months ago
Charles Mandaza from Leopard Movers (Pty) Ltd delivers bad service
Charles Mandaza from Leopard Movers (Pty) Ltd has damaged most of my furniture that I entrusted to his company for storage. Not only are most of my furniture, guitar and painting broken, but he also lost the mattress of a rare bed specially made for my needs - an extra length queen size bed. Furthermore he has lost some of my other belongings. If confronted with this he simply denies everything, replying with lies such as that they took really well care of my things and stacked it neatly to keep it in good condition. Well I have attached some of the photos of my remaining belongings, so you judge for yourself if this is what you would call a good condition and whether you would be happy if you pay someone to protect your household goods, just so the ‘service’ they offer seems to be the very thing that damages it. After having given Charles sufficient time to positively respond to this crisis he caused, he still avoid dealing with his responsibility for vandalising my goods. Therefore I am forced to believe that Charles care as little about his reputation as he cares about client’s goods. Furthermore it seems he causes problems where ever he goes. He first stored our goods in a warehouse he rented in Epping who gave him such short notice to leave that he could seemingly only give 1,5 days notice to his clients that they can no longer store with him. He then moved all the people’s goods who could not make a plan in such short notice to Storage Town and squished everyone’s things in a few containers. I suspect this is where my things got broken. He has been very rude to both me and Storage Town and seemingly wrote a report of Storage Town falsely accusing them of all sorts of things. Really Charles, it seems you are just projecting your errors on others while being in total denial. If there is so many places and people that have issues with you as supplier or client, one generally looks into the mirror. You are probably disappointed with this report, but what did you expect? I will not be able to live with my conscience if I did not warn future clients what to expect if they deal with you. Vandalising is a criminal offence. I wish I took photos before I stored it with you so I could have before and after photos. But maybe those that read this report can learn from my mistakes.
0 replies
97 months ago
Derrick Baard from Purespace Design delivers bad service
Derrick Baard from Purespace Design was referred to me end July 2017 by Dial a Contractor. It was a disastrous experience with much consequences. Not only did he miss his deadline six times over, when he finally did hand in the plans he could not present proof of delivery when the municipality lost the plans. Furthermore his plans were rejected by the municipality after several months. When the municipality contacted the architect appointed by Derrick it ended up to be a no number. Though the project were pointed out as urgent, there is still no approved plans 9 months down the line. Below discuss the matter in more detail. The first thing I mentioned when contacting Derrick Baard was that the house is urgent due to a medical condition that I suffer from called EHS. This is a disability, and if one does not get help for it on time, one’s health can collapse. The house was part of the help I would have received, because EHS sufferers need to block microwave radiation emitted from cellphones and wifi. Thus one then builds the house in a way that incorporates this. Not only my health, but also a project that I am involved in that helps threatened species, depended on the timely delivery of the draughtsman services. Thus this was one of the biggest requirements I had, and when I enquired at first, I mentioned this under no uncertain conditions. Seeing I already had a pencil sketch of what I wanted, as well as the building being tiny - just over a 100sqm, the project was not specifically challenging. He did not have to present a proposal or anything similar. I simply needed my tiny drawing translated to something technically sound. Therefore I thought it reasonable to request a 2 week delivery period. Derrick Baard mentioned he can and will deliver in three weeks and suggested 21 August 2017 as deadline. His words were that he likes the deadline for it lends accountability to the project, and that he takes accountability serious. These words strike me as an honest heart and were the main deciding factor for me. There were others that were cheaper and also said they can deliver sooner. They were also in the area, whereas Derrick was in Cape Town (the project is between Kuilsrivier and Stellenbosch). However, I wanted someone with ethical and good principles. His company name also influenced me since I value and strive for pure and ethical dealings. The 21st came and went. After he missed the 5th suggested deadline I requested my deposit back since it seemed he is not going to deliver after all. By this time he had already set me back tremendously. However when requesting for a refund of my deposit due to failure to deliver, he mentioned this would not be in my best interest. (How?) And requested for yet another chance. I agreed to give him another chance on the premise that he signs a 50% penalty fee agreement. He did, but still did not deliver on the new deadline - this was now 6 times over - so much for strike three. I felt sorry for him after he mentioned he has financial problems (which I now regret for one would obviously struggle financially if this is the quality service one delivers It did not seem he had too little business, for he was always busy. Furthermore, it is unprofessional to share this with a client - especially seeing we have a penalty arrangement due to his own doings. In hindsight I realise this was actually manipulating me emotionally, since I always try to be kind and considerate to others) I had to keep him accountable, otherwise my word also means nothing, a terrible example to give to someone who obviously already struggles to keep their word. Furthermore he costed me dearly. Not only costs such as having to pay an extra few months of storage (and in the middle of this the storage company went bankrupt so there is a second cost of moving my furniture to a new storage company), but it delayed a conservation project for threatened species, for I can only commence this project once the house project is completed for it is in a remote area It affected the relationship I had with some of the sponsors, and also the survival chances of the threatened species we work with. Furthermore my health took a massive knock because I have not received the emergency housing. My bone marrow is now suppressed, this is terrible - an unmeasurable cost (If you are unfamiliar with this condition, more can be learned on this condition at: https://youtu.be/fqMCjEs9oxE, https://mdsafetech.org/problems/electro-sensitivity/ and www.ehtrust.org) Still I had mercy and forgiveness for Derrick, and said I will lower the penalty fee to the outstanding deposit of 40%. Thus I write the penalty of 50% off, if he is willing to write off the 40% deposit - this way we share in the suffering of damages. Derrick was made full aware of the damages I encountered due to his negligence. Still, this did not change his attitude. He continually tried to get the 40% that he seemingly wrote of due to a lack of service back. First he asked if I can after all pay 50% of it, and later if I’ll pay an additional R1000 for printing costs… Not considering how his lack of service costed me. He played the victim, when actually I was suffering under him. Obviously I resisted his requests, and by now my patience was tested. That he expects I have to write off everything, but he who caused the situation can’t even do so?? A project that would have taken 3 weeks ended up taking 4,5 months. Please remember, this is a tiny home of just over 100sqms that simply needed to be translated technically from a pencil sketch that was provided. We missed one HOA meeting which added one month. Did he deliver on time this would not be a problem. Still, HOA and all, 3.5 months is not 3 weeks. This is the amount of time one takes to build a small home, not draw it. This also pushes us to December, that caused an additional month delay from the municipality, since they were only willing to generate an invoice in January. Furthermore the plans got lost at the municipality, and Derrick had no proof that he delivered it there to ease tracking. Finally we did track it. By now I suspected something must be terribly wrong on Derrick’s side. Surely someone cannot have this lack of care without something truly being wrong or challenged in his own life. Most of my work is about caring about others. Because I struggle with disability and also work with those in need, I compassionately asked if he has any personal problems that are keeping him from service delivery. He said his personal life is great! It is just that he really struggled financially. This boggled me, for why does he struggle financially if he is seemingly so busy that he cannot draw and submit a simplistic plan in a 4 month period. Furthermore if in financial trouble and there is nothing else that keeps one back, should one not deliver timely an excellent service to ensure you get the payments of current business soonest? This angered me, for here I struggled tremendous challenges personally, as well as financially, and bothered to still care. But Derrick Baard did not have a care in the world, yet could not care about me as a client. He seemed to suffer only due to his own lack of service delivery. He missed an email that I sent enquiring when he are planning to hand in the plans for the HOA to approve. When I followed up a couple days later he denied that he received the email. After I’ve sent the proof of the email to his inbox, he projected this error and still blamed me for not seeing this email. It was my fault that he did not see it?? Only after addressing him very directly about this he apologised for the misunderstanding. This is when I had enough. I forwarded the municipality document of Stellenbosch to him, something he should have send to me, and requested that submission would happen no later than Friday else I am forced to share with future clients on Hellopeter what they might experience if dealing with his company. This was on a Monday morning, thus I gave him 5 business days for submission. Regardless that I had sent the links to Stellenbosch municipality forms to him, he still sent incorrect forms to me (Cape Town’s municipality). He then complained that it is 12 pages that needs to be filled in. He mentioned that he has never handed in to Stellenbosch municipality before, and their process is different than Cape Town. This is all good an well, but when I asked him prior appointing him if he is comfortable with Stellenbosch Municipality, he mentioned he has several projects in the area, it won’t be a problem… when he finally had to submit my project, seemingly these projects he previously referred to were only in the pipeline. It really becomes hard to trust Derricks words. Finally he sent the forms on Thursday afternoon for my signature. I sent it back within more or less two hours. He waited till the last moment to arrange stamping by the HOA and to go to the municipality. The plans ended up being submitted 2 and a half weeks after that Monday where I gave him 5 days to submit. The HOA only added two business days to the factor. This leads me to believe he does not mind if I write a report on Hellopeter. It is difficult to address any of these matters as he becomes personal if one questions his ethical standards after all these events, by words such as : ‘do you question my integrity?’ Thus one cannot confront these matters, and he denies that these lack of service delivery are problems. Delivering a quality service is far more than product delivery. It is to deliver it in good timing, quality, honesty, and so forth. To stick to your word as much as possible. Service delivery is not a one dimensional experience. But worsts even, after this tortures bad service, the plans were rejected by the municipality. Derrick Baardman is a draughtsman, and seemingly had to appoint a architect at the municipality to oversea the plans and help with any changes if needed. However, the architect that he appointed’s number seems to be a no number - it only beeeeeep. Thus after all the effort, I am not much further than 9 months ago. Derrick Baard from PureScape Designs all and all had a terribly negative impact on the project and shows little to no remorse for it. He did mention he is sorry, but this did not change his attitude and he repetitively continued with the same attitude. Then sorry is also just words but not a shift in heart.. There is a difference between remorse and repentance about how one’s actions affected others, opposing to feeling depressed on how one’s own negligence might affect one’s own life negatively. The first leads to change, the other to procrastination, self-pity and narcism. In conclusion: I would much prefer to have paid the full amount to Derrick and to receive the service we agreed upon initially. This would have costed me far less. Even though this penalty was fair considering all factors, he still tried several ways to get this money back, showing little to no remorse on how his lack of service affected me and the greater good. To me dealing with matters within integrity and truth creates a pure-space. Sorry Derrick, but your company name PureSpace Designs, seems to not add up to the service delivered. In fact so far your services have not helped to streamline the project for it seems to lack certain technical aspects. Hopefully this can be cleared up in the future? Else SACAP will.
0 replies
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