Subscribers see red over DStv debits

IF YOU’RE a DStv subscriber, go check your latest statement to see if your recent debit was correct.

Thousands of furious customers around the country claim they have been overcharged for their pay-TV subscriptions by amounts ranging from R20 to R1 000 for September.

In a week when DStv has been lambasted by its customers for canning some of its most popular channels, MultiChoice spokesperson Benedict Maaga has denied they’ve overcharged subscribers, claiming their billing structure had changed.

“The launch of additional services over the years created complexity in our billing, making it more difficult for customers to understand their billing,” he said. “There were different payment dates for different services, which led to inconsistent information on how much to pay and a need to pay multiple times a month.”

Subscriber Sharon Baran claims she was charged an additional R150 by MultiChoice for September and has yet to get a refund.

“I was overcharged on September 1. I queried via email on September 6, and I was promised a refund,” said Baran.

“After a reference number and six emails, my requests are now being ignored and I am still awaiting my refund. It is illegal, but DStv don’t seem to care, or reply to my emails.”

Belinda Tolmay says she has been overcharged by MultiChoice for the past two months.

Tolmay signed up for the price lock premium deal last year at R749 a month.

“I am mad as can be. I want answers with regards to my debit order value on my contract, that changed without my permission,” she said.

“On September 4, a debit order was taken for R950.10. Nobody at customer service could explain why this amount has gone off. It was escalated four times and up to today, nobody has advised anything.”

Thuli Motha, who has a price lock DStv subscription, said she too had been overcharged.

“I have been on price lock since last year, but in September I was debited R1 069 instead of R759.

“Even after the extra debit, they disconnected me twice. I have never missed a payment; it goes via debit order so there’s just no excuse to disconnect and overcharge.

“No one has come back to me. It’s such poor service. I have been a customer for almost seven years and this is just unacceptable.”

MultiChoice said the amounts changed this month because of updates to price lock.

“The different amount this month also caters for the updates to price lock,” said Maaga. “Previously, the hardware portion of the price lock instalment was billed in arrears, now it is billed in advance, bringing it in line with how subscription is billed each month.

“We’d like to assure our customers that this change will have no impact on the overall cost of your price lock contract, which remains at the price you signed up for.”