by Thinus Ferreira
MultiChoice and The Walt Disney Company in South Africa are silent and don't want to answer basic questions about their disastrous and frankly disgusting fool-you-once-fool-you-twice negative billing practice that is skimming money off of unsuspecting DStv customers.
It's a nasty business: MultiChoice claims it is now cancelling Disney+ for DStv subscribers who haven't signed up for it and who haven't actually agreed to get Disney+ as an add-on service - as well as fully reversing these ridiculous charges.
The practical reality however appears to be that MultiChoice is lying about "automatically" cancelling wrong Disney+ sign-ups and where illegal Disney+ subscriptions are being reversed, amounts are not reversed "fully" but rather pro-rata so that DStv subscribers are still saddled with Disney+ amounts owing.
Shockingly, Disney South Africa is also choosing to remain absolutely silent - not willing to say or explain anything, or even to say sorry or offering an apology to customers who have wrongly been fleeced by Disney and DStv through MultiChoice.
The problem started when DStv subscribers noticed at the beginning of 2024 that they were once again being charged R139 for Disney+ when they haven't signed up for it and never gave consent for a Disney+ add-on to be added to their MultiChoice bills.
This is not the first time but the second time MultiChoice and Disney did this add-on tactic which is known as "negative billing": Saddling an unsuspecting consumer with a charge for something they don't know about and didn't request and haven't asked for or used.
Last week, MultiChoice in response to specific questions in a media query, chose not to answer the specific questions and in reply said "Some customers were erroneously billed post the free period, and we've promptly initiated reversals, crediting their DStv accounts with the amount. We apologise for the inconvenience caused and would like to assure our customers that we are committed to resolving this matter with urgency."
Disney South Africa told TVwithThinus it had no comment whatsoever on the matter.
Multiple DStv subscribers are however commenting, and continue to speak out about the disastrous and disgusting way that not only DStv and Disney+ billed them, but how MultiChoice and Disney aren't showing any real willingness to help fix the mess and also apparent confusion around charge reversals.
Many DStv subscribers say that when MultiChoice eventually cancels their unwanted and unasked-for Disney+ subscriptions, they also separately have to ask for charges reversals. It's not clear why charge reversals are not happening automatically.
When charges are reversed, many DStv subscribers are vocal about how the full amounts are not reversed but only on a pro-rata basis, meaning they're still saddled with amounts on their DStv bills. This is absolutely not supposed to happen.
On Friday last week, TVwithThinus again asked MultiChoice a second set of very specific questions about the DStv/Disney+ negative billing issue. At publication of this report, days later, MultiChoice hasn't bothered to answer any of these questions.
Here are the questions that were put to MultiChoice:
1. I've
heard from several people struggling to get Disney+ cancelled, and after
getting it cancelled, to get a full refund (ie. to get charges reversed). Is
MultiChoice saying that customers who have had Disney+ added without their
consent, will get charges 100% reversed?
No answer from MultiChoice.
2. How
many people are affected by this mistake?
No answer from MultiChoice.
3. Why did this happen again after the first time Disney+ was added and not
properly removed? Will MultiChoice do this again in future? Also, what is
MultiChoice's policy about negative billing (i.e. adding charges and services
to accounts without customers' consent)?
No answer from MultiChoice.
4. I
personally struggled for over an hour and a half to get anyone at MultiChoice's call centre (using the website's chat box function) to help to get Disney+ off
my DStv account. After that I had to ask for charges to be reversed (which I'm
not sure at this point even happened). Is this normal? Is it normal for a
customer to be required to be available for an hour and a half to wait for an
agent to help?
No answer from MultiChoice.
5. Why
are MultiChoice and MultiChoice call centre agents only giving partial refunds
to several customers and not full refunds after removing Disney+ if they are
billed for something they never consented to?
No answer from MultiChoice.
The Walt Disney Company Africa in South Africa was also asked, again, for comment on Friday - also with a second set of questions. Disney South Africa flat-out ignored the media query, with no response to the email at the time of publication of this report.
Here are the questions which were put to Disney in South Africa:
1. How
does Disney feel about how MultiChoice is handling the whole issue of negative billing
DStv subscribers for Disney+, saying they will be refunded, but then not doing
it?
No response from Disney.
2. After
having done it twice (adding Disney+ as part of DStv Rewards as a negative
billing, then saying it won’t be a problem and then having an issue with it),
will Disney work with MultiChoice and do this again (for a third time)?
No response from Disney.
3. Is Disney scared or worried that MultiChoice as a partner is inflicting damage on
Disney's brand and reputation and on Disney+, also on people who haven't
sampled or used Disney+ yet, who might now be put off from trying it, or using
it, as customers? Is Disney doing anything at all to rectify or fix the mess?
No response from Disney.
