1 reviews | Active since May 2025
ABSA BANK ATMS ARE FAULTY
I logged an ATM dispute (reference C-***7) after Absa ATM 12803 at Tubatse Crossing retained R200 from a cardless cash deposit on 30 May 2026. To be fair, the dispute was eventually resolved and a refund authorised. That is the only positive part of this experience. Everything after that was an unnecessary ordeal. I was told I would be paid out in cash, so I made the effort to travel to the branch specifically for that. Instead of being assisted, I was sent to a second branch — more time, more transport, more of my day gone — only to be told the exact same thing there: that the money would simply be deposited into my account, not paid in cash. So I was bounced between two branches, at my own cost and inconvenience, chasing a cash payout that, by Absa's own internal process, was never going to be handed over in the first place. What makes this worse is that none of it required my physical presence. The outcome — a refund into my nominated account — could have been confirmed in a single phone call or SMS. Instead I lost hours, spent money getting there, and was passed around between staff who each repeated information that should have been communicated before I ever left home. And this is clearly not an isolated machine fault. While I was standing at the branch dealing with my own swallowed deposit, I watched another customer have his deposit swallowed by the very same ATM. So in the space of one visit I saw the same failure happen twice — mine and his. That tells me these machines have a recurring problem that Absa is aware of and is pushing onto customers to chase down afterwards, at our own expense and inconvenience, rather than fixing at the source. My case was handled by Daphney Sekhwela (employee ***), who advised she would process the journal via inter-branch and keep me updated. The refund came through, but at no point was I told clearly and upfront how I would actually receive my money. That failure to communicate one basic fact is what turned a R200 refund into a frustrating, time-wasting, costly run-around across multiple branches — over a faulty machine that swallowed a second customer's money right in front of me. Absa, please fix these ATMs and train your agents to tell customers plainly that dispute refunds are credited to the account, not paid in cash — before sending them on wasted journeys. The inconvenience caused here was entirely avoidable. —Nkateko Matjokane
I'll be direct. A templated apology and a second reference number (C-***3) are not a resolution they're an acknowledgement that this has now been escalated, nothing more. So let me set out plainly what I expect, because your reply commits to nothing specific and defers everything to an email that hasn't arrived.
First, keep the two matters separate. The ATM dispute (C-***7) concerns R200 retained by ATM 12803 at Tubatse Crossing on 30 May 2026. The refund was eventually authorised I've credited that. This complaint is about the handling, which is a distinct failure and the reason I'm here.
I was told I would collect the funds in cash. On that basis a consultant instructed me to attend the branch in person today. I was then sent to a second branch, only to be told there that the money would be deposited, not paid in cash an outcome that required no physical attendance and could have been confirmed by a single message. I was made to incur cost, travel and time chasing a payout your own process was never going to release that way. While I stood there, I watched another customer's deposit get swallowed by the same machine.
So here is what I require from your promised email, with a concrete date attached not "in due course":
Written confirmation of the refund: exact account credited, amount, and the date it reflects.
A direct response on the service failure the false cash-collection instruction, the branch-to-branch runaround, and the avoidable in-person trip. Address it; do not absorb it into a generic apology.
What Absa intends to do about a failure mode it plainly knows is routine your own WhatsApp support menu carries standing categories for "Cash withheld" and "Unsuccessful deposit" yet which carries no warning to customers at the point of use, and dumps the entire burden of recovery on them.
Understand the context I'm raising this in. I know the escalation path. If your email does not arrive with these specifics within five business days, or arrives as more deferral, I will refer this to the National Financial Ombud, whose determinations are binding and can be made an order of court and I will put on record the disproportionate harm this recovery process inflicts on customers who, unlike me, cannot navigate it: those with language barriers, without documents, or who are simply afraid to walk into a bank and are left to lose their money quietly.
This review stays public until the matter is genuinely resolved. Resolve the substance, not the optics.
Nkateko Matjokane
I'll be direct. A templated apology and a second reference number (C-***3) are not a resolution they're an acknowledgement that this has now been escalated, nothing more. So let me set out plainly what I expect, because your reply commits to nothing specific and defers everything to an email that hasn't arrived.
First, keep the two matters separate. The ATM dispute (C-***7) concerns R200 retained by ATM 12803 at Tubatse Crossing on 30 May 2026. The refund was eventually authorised I've credited that. This complaint is about the handling, which is a distinct failure and the reason I'm here.
I was told I would collect the funds in cash. On that basis a consultant instructed me to attend the branch in person today. I was then sent to a second branch, only to be told there that the money would be deposited, not paid in cash an outcome that required no physical attendance and could have been confirmed by a single message. I was made to incur cost, travel and time chasing a payout your own process was never going to release that way. While I stood there, I watched another customer's deposit get swallowed by the same machine.
So here is what I require from your promised email, with a concrete date attached not "in due course":
Written confirmation of the refund: exact account credited, amount, and the date it reflects.
A direct response on the service failure the false cash-collection instruction, the branch-to-branch runaround, and the avoidable in-person trip. Address it; do not absorb it into a generic apology.
What Absa intends to do about a failure mode it plainly knows is routine your own WhatsApp support menu carries standing categories for "Cash withheld" and "Unsuccessful deposit" yet which carries no warning to customers at the point of use, and dumps the entire burden of recovery on them.
Understand the context I'm raising this in. I know the escalation path. If your email does not arrive with these specifics within five business days, or arrives as more deferral, I will refer this to the National Financial Ombud, whose determinations are binding and can be made an order of court and I will put on record the disproportionate harm this recovery process inflicts on customers who, unlike me, cannot navigate it: those with language barriers, without documents, or who are simply afraid to walk into a bank and are left to lose their money quietly.
This review stays public until the matter is genuinely resolved. Resolve the substance, not the optics.
Nkateko Matjokane