Robert Connell, Somerset West
The housing complex in which we live has a Multi-Choice/DStv commercial contract at a cost of
R519 a month.
We were previously on a “Premium” contract of R874 a month. Changing from one to the other has saved us R355. But there are some limitations: There are 12 or more channels we cannot access.
But we checked these out beforehand, and it was no great loss.
We have no access to “Catch-Up”. Again, this is of minor consequence.We cannot hire movies on “Box-Office”.
Now this I had a problem with. Maybe twice a month we’d download movies at a cost of R35 each, a sum I was prepared to pay.
However, I am told by Multi-Choice that I cannot spend R35 a movie with them unless I migrate our account back to Premium, and pay them an extra R355 a month.
Having experienced two long and frustrating conversations with their call centre, I decided to take a trip to Vee’s Video, on Main Road, Somerset West, to see if I could find the movie I had been trying to hire from DStv.
They had the movie, and for the grand sum of R22 I rented it. So, forgetting about the R355 premium to enjoy the dubious delights of the Premium contract, the stark contrast is that DStv charges R35 a movie; and Vee’s Video charges R22 for the same movie. That’s a 60% premium for a ”Box Office” movie.
Profiteering? Definitely!
