1 reviews | Active since Sept 2012
ABSA does not know how to treat customers correctly and charges them interest when they make a mistake
I have been a customer with ABSA for probably over 25 years and on the 29th of January I noticed an amount that had been transferred into my Homeloan account on the 15th of January. The reference just said “Teller Transfer Credit” so I had no idea where this money came from and I suspected that it was a mistake. After noticing this, I went the first thing the next morning, using my own precious personal time, to go into the bank and stand in the customer enquiries queue to get more information as to where the money came from and who it was for so that the matter could be rectified. As the information desk could not provide any additional information, I left it as is, as I correctly assumed that someone would eventually notice the missing funds and get the issue resolved. As I knew the money would only temporary be in my account, and I did not want it to affect my current homeloan status and/or change the monthly repayment amounts due, I temporarily moved the money into a savings account. On the 24th of February I received an impolite call from an ABSA staff member telling me that I must not get a fright when I see money being transferred out of my Homeloan account as it was a mistake that should have gone into someone else’s Investment account with very little other information. One thing I found strange was, as far as I am aware the bank is actually supposed to get my permission to rectify the mistake, but this was not the case, I was just blatantly told, in an abrupt manner that money is going to leave my account with little other detail. The getting my permission in the first case would not have even been an issue in the first place, as I understood that a mistake had occurred. The money was then transferred out of my account, but what I found really Despicable, was that I was charged an interest on the amount of R96.00, which I in no ways benefited from by having the amount in my accounts for that short period. I surmise the interest was interest that was probably due to the customer’s account who the money should have gone into, and in order to rectify this shortfall, they simply charged it to my account. I am not sure why I should have to pay for the banks mistake and I am just glad the money wasn’t longer in my account otherwise who knows how much extra I would have been charged. I think ABSA bank handled this situation very poorly and I want a refund for the interest I was charged but did not even earn on the money. If anything ABSA should actually be reimbursing me for the time I spent going into the bank when I noticed the mistake. I doubt other banks such as Capitec or FNB would have handled this issue this poorly.
