OTIS SOUTH AFRICA: REPUTATION DAMAGE!
Poor Service, Poor Communication and No Technical Solution from OTIS South Africa. We are the owners of a commercial office park in Johannesburg, South Africa, with three OTIS lifts installed across our properties. As a customer with multiple OTIS lifts under our ownership, we expected a high standard of technical expertise, professionalism and customer service from a company with OTIS's international reputation. Unfortunately, our experience over the past 10 months has been extremely disappointing. The lift in question had been fully operational for many years. After the previous tenant breached the lease agreement, the Sheriff took possession of the premises and disconnected the building's electricity supply, leaving the lift out of service. When our new tenant occupied the building approximately 10 months ago, we immediately contacted OTIS South Africa to recommission the lift. From the outset, Basil Eksten and his manager, Johan Kleynhans, were responsible for handling this matter. Throughout the process, communication has been extremely poor. Both Basil Eksten and Johan Kleynhans have been extremely difficult to contact, and obtaining updates has required constant follow-up from our side. We have often been left without any meaningful feedback for extended periods. Initially, we were advised that the piston seal was leaking. We approved repairs of approximately R20,000 after being assured that the lift would be fully operational once the repair had been completed. After the repair, the lift was still not operational. We were then advised that the motor needed to be rewound. A short time later, we were informed that the motor did not require rewinding after all. Basil Eksten also removed components from the lift, but after months of delays, changing diagnoses and very little feedback, we were ultimately told that the only solution was to replace the entire lift. At one stage, the lift operated for one day before shutting down again while making a loud mechanical noise. Instead of identifying the source of the noise and determining which component had failed, OTIS continued recommending that we replace the entire lift. Even more concerning, Basil Eksten suggested that we consider installing another manufacturer's lift instead of an OTIS lift. We found this recommendation surprising coming from an OTIS representative. After almost 10 months, we still have not received a detailed technical report identifying the exact faulty component or explaining why the lift cannot be repaired. We cannot accept a recommendation to replace an entire lift without first establishing the actual cause of the fault. We were also disappointed that Basil Eksten discussed the condition of the lift directly with our tenant instead of communicating with us as the property owner. We believe all technical findings and recommendations should have been communicated to us first. This experience has fallen well below the standard we expected from a global company such as OTIS. We have experienced poor communication, inconsistent technical advice, repeated delays and no satisfactory technical solution. If this matter is not addressed by senior management, we will have no alternative but to escalate our concerns to OTIS International. We have given OTIS South Africa almost 10 months to resolve this matter professionally. Unfortunately, our confidence in their customer service, communication and technical support has been significantly diminished. We sincerely hope this review prompts OTIS management to investigate this matter properly, identify the root cause of the lift failure through a competent technical assessment, and provide the level of service that customers should expect from a company of OTIS's international reputation.