MC
Murray C
Active since Dec 2013
77
Reviews
0
Industries
Reviews
77 reviews1 month ago
Bonitas getting worse and less efficient all the time. Just never stop causing stress and have a habit of not answering emails.
I am unfortunately a member of Bonitas Standard Option and for the past several years I had a Care Plan for Barrett's Oesophagus (PMB 32) and GORD (PMB 37) Every year Bonitas have sent me a copy of my care plan except for this year. When I asked for the 2026 copy of my Care Plan Bonitas advised me that I do not have a care plan . I then sent them a copy of my 2025 Care Plan and they again rep**** that I dont have a care plan an must register. Despite several emails they still maintain that that I dont have a care plan although I still get required medication under their Care Plan. This really goes to show that they really dont know what is going on. Under the Care Plan I have to have an endoscopy every year and this year my Endoscopy is much worse than my Endoscopy last year. My oesophagus is being gradually eaten away by the acid which is being overproduced by my body, My specialist surgeon has advised that I require an urgent operation to repair the Oesophagus before it is totally eaten away by the acid which will then result in leakage into the body an sepsis . There are two operations available one being the old fashioned wrapping of the Oesophagus and a more advanced more up to date operation which is more expensive but with lower risk and lower risk of cancer of the Oesophagus. Because of the advanced state of my Barrett's Oesophagus and the length that the acid has attacked the Oesophagus my specialist has done a complete detailed motivation for the more expensive operation. This was declined by Bonitas within 24 hours. . Because of the urgency of the operation I dont have time to waste for a lengthy dispute between Bonitas and my Specialist nor do I have the money to pay for the extra costs of the more advanced operation myself. . Bonitas has given me more stress during the 30 odd years I have been a member than anything else. I really dont recommend anyone joining Bonitas as they are absolutely useless. Unfortunately being a pensioner I have no choice. Bonitas are very quick to post on hellopeter that they have responded to the complaint but all they ever state is that they are investigating the matter and that like anything else with Bonitas takes weeks or months.
53 replies
3 months ago
Bonitas found away of getting around HelloPeter
A few days ago I did a review on Bonitas Medical Fund saying how useless they were and giving examples. Unfortunately Bonitas has found away around Hellopeter. They respond immediately to look good but all they say is that they will investigate and revert. Needles to say they dont revert at all so really the review has no effect on their inefficiency.
56 replies
3 months ago
Bonitas Medical just gets worse and worse.
I have tried to refrain from writing about about Bonitas for some time as I just get more stressed and hope they will get better but unfortunately they just get worse. I am retired and forced to belong to Bonitas but otherwise would have left them years ago. The following are some of my main complaints. Bonitas never reply to emails. When you email them you received and automatically generated response saying the matter will be investigated but they never respond. I have a Surgeons Account which has not been paid for 120 days and despite 4 emails to them they still never responded. It took a phone call to them for them to advise there was no referral letter from the doctor. However the surgeon advised that there was a referral letter which had been sent to Bonitas together with their invoice. Still waiting for a response from Bonitas . I have suffered from insomnia for years and have been on sleeping pills, prescribed by my Doctor for years. Suddenly Bonitas decided that they would only pay for 3 months of sleeping pills per month. What made things worse is that they never advised members of this decision, they just stopped paying. Bonitas introduced a Wellness Plan where members went for a Wellness Check every year at prescribed providers and were members were given more more allocation of funds to spend. One of the approved providers was Dis-chem. I contacted Dis-chem to arrange for an appointment and was advised that Dis Chem had temporarily stopped this service. Again no notification from Bonitas and so I dont know if Bonitas have stopped this or Dis-chem have stopped providing this service. I have emailed Bonitas with regard to this but as usual no reply. Bonitas have a Care Plan which covers Prescribed Minimum Benefits for certain chronic diseases. Every year each member receives an updated care plan but nothing this year. When one collects medication from a pharmacy Bonitas used to automatically send an advice stating that they had received the claim. Not stating that they would pay it but just stating that the claim had been received. This was suddenly stopped during last year. The above just covers some major items but every time I have a claim I know that there will be a problem, this just adds to the stress especially knowing that I cant move to another medical aid.
56 replies
12 months ago
Bonitas not paying for sleeping pills
This really carries on from previous reviews of Bonitas where they are refusing to pay for sleeping pills used by myself and my wife. Although they do reply to my reviews they come back with the stupid answers and refer me to apps. What I want is a straight reply on HelloPeter and myself. As stated previously I have had the same GP for years who has generally prescribed the same pills unless the pills I was taking have been taken off the market ie Arem. The pills in question, taken by my wife or me are Ivedal,, Normison,, Bromazepam and Tranqipam. The replies I have had from Bonitas vary from each member is only allowed 120 sleeping pills per year, to Normison and Ivedal are to similar and Bromazapam are not on their list. Besides anything else what is strange is that for years they have been on their list. I go back to my same old statement . THE DOCTOR prescribes ( ESPECIALLY WHEN HE KNOWS YOUR HISTORY) BONITAS pays for the medication as long as the member has funds, THE PHARMACY dispenses the medication . Surely their are clear lines between the roles of each but suddenly Bonitas knows better than the doctor. I am also interested in what the manufacturers of the medications think about Bonitas not paying for their medication. Please Bonitas give me a straight answer without referring me to an app
58 replies
12 months ago
Bonitas providing even less for higher benefit charges and **** so in an underhanded manner.
Bonitas have increased their contributions by over 10% but have also decreased what they are prepared to pay for. I have suffered from insomnia for many years and although I have been with Bonitas for over 20 years ( not by choice) and with the same GP for over 30 years and have always been prescribed sleeping pills which Bonitas have always paid for ( if I have funds)they have suddenly decided to only pay for 120 x sleeping pills per member in any year. This decision was taken without any notification to me and took at least 10 emails from me, most of which were not rep**** to, or rep**** to in a meaningless manner. As I understand the functions, the GP prescribes the medication, the Pharmacist dispenses the medication and the medical aid pays provided the prescription is valid and funds are available. It is not the duty of the medical aid to decided which or how much medication its members should take. All that happens now is that Bonitas charges more in monthly fees but provides less in return. Also it does this in a totally underhanded manner. After having no luck with Bonitas I have emailed Complaints at the Council of Medical Aid Schemes only to find that their email is full. What is more worrying is that by doing some research I have established that has withdrawn their support for Bonitas. Maybe Bonitas just does not have the money to fund their operations.
174 replies
17 months ago
Bonitas , worst medical aid and either gross incompetence or possible *****.
On the 15 December I went for a gastroscope having first obtained approval from Bonitas Hospital Approval. I had he gastroscope without any problems. A few days later I received a claims advise from Bonitas, Surprisingly the amount was correct but the claims advise was in my wifes name. I emailed Bonitas about their error and they came back advising that they had not made an error and that it must be the surgeons rooms. The rooms then sent a screen grab showing that there invoice was correct. Before this matter was resolved I received a claims advise from Bonitas that was from service providers that I have never heard of advising that I owed over R4,000,00 for a biopsy. I again emailed Bonitas who advised me to contact my surgeons rooms as they had not made an error. This I did and although the date was the same as my procedure and the claim advise was in my name, the practice number was not from my surgeon. I have had to contact Bonitas again. This is also complicated as each time one emails them one receives an automated response which gives a reference number but no title. Last week I had a total of 15 emails from Bonitas all with different reference numbers and they asked me to rate the person who dealt with my query. I had so many reference numbers I did not know what query Bonitas refereed to. I suffer from Barrets and GORD ,both of these are PMB.s and I was required to take one tablet per day. As my problem was getting considerably worse I contacted both my GP and specialist and both advised me to increase my dosage to 2 tablets per day. My specialist supp**** me with a prescription for 2 tablets per day which I forwarded to Bonitas who said they required a full motivation from the specialist. To me if a specialist gives one a prescription this is a motivation for what is required. As a result of this I had the gastroscope referred to above and the specialist confirmed what he said about 2 tablets per day and has done the required motivation to Bonitas. I am still waiting for their response. During the period mentioned above I was very ill and lost over 7 kg in weight.
56 replies
20 months ago
Bidvest Toyota Pietermaritzburg and Toyota Customer Care.
My son who lives in JHB has a 2008 Diahatsu Terrios 1. 5 litre off road. He requires a Transmission Oil Seal. Toyota has always owned a share of Diahatsu and in 2015 they purchased 100% of Diahatsu. In many countries Diahatsu are sold as Toyota. My son obviously phoned Toyota dealers in and around JHB and received no assistance at all. On Friday 23 August I emailed Toyota Customer Care inquiring about the above oil seal. I continued to try other dealers. The following Friday Toyota Customer Care ( a week later) emailed me to advise that any Toyota Approved dealer would be able to assist me. As I live in Hilton, just outside of Pietermaritzberg I contacted the spares division of Bidvest McCarthy Toyota and the person I spoke to was totally unhelpful although I advised them that I was doing exactly what the email from customer care advised. I eventually managed to contact Mr Jack Pillay, the Spares Division Manager, who was also totally unhelpful My son eventually established that he would have to phone Kia to get the part number. This he did and then phoned Toyota with the part number and they advised him that they did not have one in stock but would order it subject to prepayment, He did this and the part is now on order. So to obtain a spare part for what is basically a Toyota engine he had to phone Kia to get the part number and then order the part from Toyota. Basically no help from Bidvest McCarthy Pmb and a totally misleading email from Toyota Customer Care. Great Service Toyota.
53 replies
23 months ago
Bonitas always terrible but getting worse by the day
The following is an email I have sent to Bonitas regarding their disgusting and worsening service Although this email refers to two claims ie your reference M 1346664612 and 13465022187 plus another claim from Ampath which I am sure you will treat in the same manner. As your staff are obviously not trained and have no idea of how to check records I am going to detail the whole process of my wife’s since diagnosis of breast cancer. 1. My wife went for a routine mammogram test on the 2 April and the the****** was not happy with the results. She had to have a ultrasound scan by Kauffman and Partners. And as the doctor was not happy a biopsy was performed. The approval from Bonitas was obtained from Bonitas by Kauffman before the process was completed. 2. Unfortunately both our GP ( Dr cook ) and my wife’s gynaecologist were on leave following the Easter Weekend and my wife could only see our surgeon on Friday the 12 April. He considered the operation so urgent that it was planned for the 16/17 of April. 3. Although everyone else considers all cancers to be urgent , that is except Bonitas as the initial email stated pending. I phoned Bonitas to get approval for the operation on the 12/4 and gave the details to obviously a trainee. At 16:00 the phone line was cut off whilst I was still on the phone. This is because your office hours are until 16:00 hours , obviously does not matter that a customer is speaking on the phone. 4. On the 13/4 I received an email from Bonitas advising that the procedure was not attached. I could not open the attachment open the attachment as Bonitas had the incorrect ID number for my wife on file. ( Despite me sending copes of my wife’s ID to Bonitas over that weekend I continued to receive emails with the wrong ID number. In all over 50 emails were sent and received( that I could not open) because of the wrong ID number quoted by Bonitas. 5. On the 15/4 my wife went for her preadmission examination and I went to the hospital and advised them that Bonitas had still not authorized the procedure and advised that I would try to cover the costs using my credit card. The women handling this at the Life Hospital got hold of Bonitas and after several hours got the authorization. 6. On the morning of the 16/4 my wife was admitted and the procedure was performed successfully with the malignant lump being removed from her breast. The surgeon advised my wife that she must wear a special bra for 24 hours per for 3 months. This bra was fitted and supp**** in hospital. This bra ( your reference M1346502187) cost R 2553,47 and Bonitas paid R310,97. Where can you obtain any bra and have it fitted for R310,97 never mind a special Breast Support Bra. In addition one of the reasons given was that we had run out of benefits. This bra was supp**** and fitted in hospital and should come from hospital benefits. 7. I registered my wife on the Bonitas cancer plan and this was acknowledged 8. After a few weeks and a second visit to our surgeon my wife was told to visit an oncologist who specialises in breasts for further examination. He then prescribed radiation by Kauffman. The breast mapping was planned for the 16/5. Authorisation was requested and obtained from Bonitas and approved by Bonitas on the 15/5 with authorisation number 89901168. 9. On the 16/5 we received an email from Bonitas advising that zero would be paid as the procedure had not been approved. This is despite you authorizing the procedure on the 15/5 with authorization number 89901168. 10. Although we have not received any notice from Bonitas yet I feel sure that the invoice you receive from Ampath Labs for blood tests will also be rejected. 11. Your approval clearly states CT Planning study for radiotherapy. Part of this planning involved the injecting of a very strong dye into the arm so that the mapping with a CT scan can begin. As this is a very potent dye a blood test is required to ensure your kidneys can handle the dye. This totally normal blood test for CT mapping was done by Ampath labs. Although this is normal, as stated earlier I am sure you will reject the claim by Ampath labs. 12. Most people including doctors, surgeons etc regard cancer as very serious and urgent. It is obvious that Bonitas staff do not, probably due to lack of training. Also it seems that Bonitas just like to add to all the stress right from having the wrong ID number on record ( how do you explain this as we have unfortunately been with Bonitas for over 20 years and they have always got my wife’s ID number correct before. Also the only reason I am still with Bonitas is because I am retired and my ex employer pays part of my medical aid contributions. 13. I look forward to receiving the rejection of the claim from labs from Ampath Labs by Bonitas plus the most frustrating, uncaring service one could obtain. 14. What amazes me is that you advertise on TV as if you are so organised and caring yet in real life you are the most uncaring and disorganised company I have ever dealt with. 15. Look out for my review on Bonitas on HelloPeter as hopefully it might discourage some potential customers that are given false impressions by your TV adverti*****ts.
106 replies
24 months ago
Bonitas, the most uncaring, unsympathetic, and inefficient Medical Aid in South Africa.
On the 2 April my wife went for a mammogram. After the mammogram they did an ultra sound and because of something not looking correct they did a biopsy. The Doctor who did the biopsy advised that he was not happy and that he would be sending the scan and the report to Lancet Labs. (my wifes choice). She gave them the name of her gynecologist and her GP. Unfortunately both of the above were on leave. She was able to get her an appointment with our surgeon on the 12/4 in the afternoon. The surgeon advised that an operation was required and this was scheduled for the 23/4.. When we got home late on Friday afternoon I phoned Bonitas and requested hospital authorization and gave them the full details including my wifes ID number. The lady taking the ID was terribly confused with the ID Number and the Bonitas phone line was very poor. They advised that I would receive an email. Just after the phone call to Bonitas the surgeons surgery phoned to state that her operation had been rescheduled to the 16/4 ( Tuesday). I immediately phoned Bonitas to advise them of the new admittance date, However Bonitas only work until 16:00 and before I could complete the phone call the line was cut off. All phones at Bonitas are automatically cut of at 16:00 every day no matter if you are on the phone or not. I must add that my wife has a terrible fear of cancer having lost our daughter at the age of 38 , her father and two brothers and her one sister having a breast removed. The After gynecologist advised that only her sister having breast cancer was really relevant but the above is to show how stressed my wife was. On Saturday morning I received the email which I could not open the attachment because Bonitas had quoted the wrong ID number. Over the weekend I sent a total of 7 emails to every Bonitas website advising I could not open their attachment, I phoned Bonitas at 08:00 on the 15/4 to find that they start work at 09:00. Eventually I spoke to Bonitas and they advised that I required a motivation from the specialist and the scan. I explained that my wife was being admitted the next day and was basically told that those were the rules. I phoned the specialist rooms and they immediately set about the letter and scan which was sent to Bonitas. I scheduled my wifes premed for 15/4( she was to be admitted to hospital at O6.00 the next day. Whilst my wife was having the premed I explained the problem to the Pre - Admission person (Yulada), at Hilton Life advising of the problem and advising that if required I would pay for the operation using my credit card. She was absolutely fantastic an got hold of Bonitas immediately and explained the problem. They advised that they had received the letter and scan from the specialist and would get back to her within two hours. Needless to say they did not and it took several more phone calls before authorization was given. During the same day my wife was supposed to have Lymph System setting. This was not approved in time and when the authorization finally sent it was sent using my ID number and stating that I was the the patient. To avoid having to delay the whole operation the specialist had to use some other method to do the Lymph System Imaging. I cant understand how Bonitas can approve my wife for the operation then send an authorization for the imaging. Does this show an effective, organised medical aid or a totally uncaring, unsympathetic medical aid who are totally useless. Unfortunatly I am retired and my previous employer pays for most of my premiums. If not I would have left Bonitas years ago. At the hospital the operation seemed to go very well but more tests are awaited after further biopsy's.
53 replies
25 months ago
UCounts some stupid rules for tearing
My review is not really Standard Bank but the U Count System of Standard Bank. Generally I am very happy with Standard Bank U Counts and find the rewards system very good, However my tier has just been down graded and when contacting U Counts I was advised the reason for the down grade was because I had withdrawn money from my Fixed Deposit. When I advised them that I had reinvested this money into Standard Bank into their new Money Market Special account. This was done upon the advise of a Standard Bank employee as the interest rate on this account is more than the Money Market. To me this was excellent advise and I appreciate it but to find that the bank has points for Fixed Deposits and Money Market just does not make sense I actually now have over 3 x more money invested in the Money Market than I had in Fixed Deposit , Surely your tearing should be on the total amount of money you have invested in the bank and not where in the bank it is invested. The tearing should be based for example R10,000 =1 point R100,000 10 Points, R500,000 50 points etc. I complained to UCounts and the person who tried to assist me was very help full but was overdid-en by his superiors. The main reason being that I did not have the name of the person who advised me that I should move my money , which to me was excellent advice, This points for tearing just does not make sense and although I will stay with UCounts I really would like someone senior from the bank to advise me why your points are not for your total investments in the bank and not how you invest it in the bank.
53 replies
Review Distribution
5 Star
6 (7.792207792207792%)
4 Star
2 (2.5974025974025974%)
3 Star
1 (1.2987012987012987%)
2 Star
3 (3.896103896103896%)
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65 (84.41558441558442%)