DStv’s WhatsApp is your round-the-clock insider

Free internet messaging app WhatsApp allows us to start family and work chat groups, make calls, send pictures, videos and voice recordings. And you can do so much more as a DStv customer.  

Using DStv’s WhatsApp number 060 060 3788 (the official account for DStv South Africa), you can get step-by-step basic help from DStv for everything from clearing errors, to resetting or updating your preferences, getting updates on the Rewards Programme, and changing your package.  

You can even ask DStv to help you find something exciting to watch. Type in your query and after a few seconds to up to a minute, DStv will come back to you with an answer. 

The sweet & short of it 

We are polite people, but there’s no need for please, thank you, hello, goodbye or type long explanations when using DStv’s WhatsApp to get the help you need. Using keywords that you type in a short sentence, DStv’s WhatsApp Bot can play matchmaker with its help library to give you exactly what you are looking for. 

For example, you can type in something like “find something to watch”, and behind the scenes DStv’s Bot will connect that to its “recommend programmes” menu and come back with some hot new series or movies for you to try.  

Using simple language, you can tell DStv’s WhatsApp things like “Pay my account”, “clear error for me” and “Can you reset my preferences?”, “add movies”, “What is DStv Rewards?”, “find me something to watch”, or even type “menu” to go to the main menu” and “Upgrade to Compact Plus” and  and it’ll understand you.  

And if you run into trouble, DStv’s WhatsApp Bot is awake and ready 24/7. Just tell it what’s going on in simple terms like “reconnect me”,  “I need help reconnecting”, “Get my account balance”,or insure decoder or “my balance is wrong”, “But I paid last week”, and the WhatsApp Bot will do its best to help.  

Menu, please 

If you don’t feel like playing guessing games with your sentences, there is a shortcut. Type in the words “Main Menu”, the Bot will give you a numbered list and some keywords to what it can do. You can just type in the number or retype the phrase given. Like so:  

1: See how much you owe (so you’d just type in 1, or How much do I owe?) 

2: Pay your account  

3: Manage holiday viewing 

4: Reconnect your package 

5: Fix TV errors 

6: Upgrade/downgrade your subscription 

7: Add movies 

8: Rent a movie 

9: Manage decoder insurance 

10: What’s on 

11: Latest news & notifications 

12: Value added services 

Just try it! 

Typing the number 10, because I want to find a new series to watch tonight, got DStv’s Bot to send me the next step. I could either figure out what to tell it, or try the new menu it sent: 

1: New releases 

2: What’s on now 

3: Search by channel 

4: Movies 

5: Series 

6: Sports and live events 

7: see more 

8: Go back to main menu 

I wanted a new series, so I typed 1 and immediately the Bot sent me a list of brand-new releases that will be airing in the next 10 days. The information included the broadcast time, title of the show, channel and DStv channel number, and the date on which the show would premiere.  

And if there was nothing I wanted, I had the option to go back a step and try again or to ask to see more results, which resulted in a brand-new list of upcoming series, movies and episode premieres.  

I could also refine my search by simply typing in a specific term like “comedy series”. The word comedy so that the Bot knows which genre, and series, because I’m not in the mood for movies right now.  

Love it? 

When you type the word “Share” into DStv’s WhatsApp, you’ll be stepped through how to share all the DStv WhatsApp features with your family and friends. So if someone is flapping around like a seagull looking for somewhere to land, you can send them to WhatsApp to explore all the new shows, sports and events coming to DStv to see what tickles their fancy. Or you could call on a tech-savvy family member to step up and take over your query if you and the Bot come to a dead end.