Active since May 2024
We bought a 1kg pack of banana Pronutro on 9 May 2025 and opened it on 22 May 2025, only to be faced by a hardened contents with a very familar, strong chemical smell. This was not the first time, it had been raised with Pioneer Foods Head Office in the past, with no response, no excuse, no compensation. It seems they have still not traced and resolved the cause. At R95 we will not be throwing it away, it will be going back. The one star rating is unfortunately a minimum requirement they don't deserve.
For several years we rented a hospital bed from Primacare, paying close to R100,000 in rental costs. We have since bought the bed to save ongoing rental costs. The battery is no longer able to power the bed during loadshedding, a critical problem when caring for a paralyzed and bedridden patient. However, contacting Primacare has proven impossible, they don't reply to emails, nor do they respond to phone messages. One almost gets the impression they've gone out of business as no active company in the care sector would treat it's customers like this.
We are all human, we all make mistakes; how we deal with mistakes and address complaints separates us from the next person, or company. I recently bought Messaris roasted salted peanuts, that were unfortunately not up to standard. I voiced my dissatisfaction in an email to Mikhail at Messaris. He responded with an apology and a viable explanation, offering to collect the substandard peanuts and replace them. This was promptly done, with the replacement peanuts being of a standard one would expect from a branded product - fresh, crunchy, salty. I now also have the option to purchase directly from the factory, eliminating the possibility of buying peanuts which may have been sitting too long at the retailer's Distribution Centre, something over which Messaris have no control. Maybe Messaris will even consider an online store. My faith in Messaris peanuts has been restored.
I've been a loyal Pronutro fan since the 70s, so am fami**** with how it should taste. On several occasions my banana Pronutro has had a strong chemical taste and smell, rendering it unpalatable. The matter was logged with Pioneer Foods Consumer Care, however, other than an initial call-back, I heard nothing further. Some weeks later the Pronutro was again contaminated. Once again, I reported the matter to Consumer Care, received a call-back, but heard nothing further. I then took the initiative to courier deliver a yoghurt tub filled with *****ed Pronutro to Pioneer Foods Head Office; they were able to smell, taste, touch and analyse the product. For four weeks I heard nothing, despite following up several times, only when threatening to go to the media did Consumer Care contact me to log a case. Since then I have heard nothing further: no apology, no explanation, no compensation. Interestingly, the Checkers teller immediately recognized the smell as her child had previously vehemently refused to eat similar Pronutro. It seems Pioneer Foods are simply not interested in resolving complaints, their attitude seemingly being one of, "if you don't like it, buy something else!". Many companies are unaware that on average only 1 in 25 unhappy consumers actually bother to complain, the rest just go elsewhere. Companies should be thankful for every complaint, it provides feedback for improvement. Most important, employees neglect to consider that consumers ultimately pay their salary, without the consumer they might soon be joining the unemployment queue. Unfortunately this site does not allow a zero star rating, which is ultimately all Pioneer Foods deserve.
Don't think you can avoid being harassed by Hippo.co.za service providers by not clicking "I'm interested". They will phone again, and again, and again, until they eventually get hold of you, then comes the sales pitch. My suggestion, if you simply want to compare quotes, don't provide your actual phone number.
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