Absa credit card activation

I am a new customer to Absa. I did a convenient online application for a Absa credit card and received within a week. That part of the service was great.

When I tried to activate my card through the call center, they did not recognize my phone number. A gave my phone number with the application, when they called afterwards and with the courier company. I phoned Absa and spoke to an agent that said I need to activate my card at a branch.

This ruins the convenience of the online application and home delivery because I don't have a branch in my town. Now I have to drive more than 100km to go and activate my card. If they told me that from the beginning I wouldn't have app****.