I can exclusively reveal that several new TopTV subscribers are getting ripped off by unscrupulous satellite TV installers demanding money! - often exorbitant amounts - to install new subscribers' TopTV decoders and satellite dishes - even going so far as not just asking for an installers' fee, but also wanting to charge for a satellite dish and even cabling!
TopTV has confirmed to me that they have received complaints from new TopTV subscribers who were asked to pay for the installation. The fact is that a subscriber only need to buy a TopTV set top box (STB) for R499 after which an installation is done free of charge by a TopTV accredited installer who also supply a satellite dish and cabling.
''Obviously it's now happening because some people are getting so anxious and just want to get to an installer,'' Melinda Connor TopTV spokesperson says to me. ''Definitely DO NOT PAY A CALL OUT FEE OR ANY FEE for a TopTV installation or any fees for satellite dishes or cables,'' she says. ''Accredited TopTV installers will never ask for money and TopTV subscribers, after they have purchased a TopTV decoder, shouldn't be paying a single cent to get their pay TV service up and running. When a proper TopTV installation happens, there is no money that will be passing hands between a TopTV subscriber and an accredited installer. Some unscrupulous people are now taking advantage of this situation. If TopTV connects you, there is no cost at all,'' says Melinda Connor.
''We are now asking people to please make appointments with installers who have also been, obviously, inundated. Don't call installers and expect them to come out straight away. Make sure they're a TopTV accredited installer and arrange for a date and time,'' she says.
