Appalling, disappointing and disgusting service

After being a client for 14 years since 2003, the saddest thing is having to leave a company not because you want to but because you are forced to, due to utmost disappointment. Since I have opened my first MegaU account in 2003, a rewards programme was introduced, whereby you are entitled to either a free movie ticket or an amount of data, should you meet requirements, not once have I received one of these benefits and when you take time out to go to the branch and query this, I get told that "this does happen and there is nothing we can do about it" as if it is the norm to falsely advertise benefits. Regardless of this I changed my megaU account to a transactional savings account, as my megaU card had stopped working and I had just started working, I was then charged for a new card as if I had lost my card, when all I was doing was upgrading my account to a more suitable account after 13 years of using the same account. From there on two occasions, My card had to be replaced twice (free luckily) due to there being a fault with the chip. 3 months back once I got a new better paying job I opened two SEPARATE accounts being a 32 day saving account and a gold value cheque account. At this moment I had 3 accounts with absa, the cheque account and 32 day saving accounts were linked as there was a stop order placed on my cheque account to place money in the 32 day saving account. The Transactional savings account was still active however due to multiple reasons I ensured that this account WAS NOT LINKED TO THE TWO NEW ACCOUNTS. Apart from the poor day to day service I Received from ABSA's cresta branch and randburg branch that I became content with, the reason for me filling out an FNB online application and having an account opened with them effortlessly in minutes was because of what happened in the last week of September. on the 27th of September at an ATM in cresta I tried transferring an amount of R2000 to my transactional account, however after the third attempt I gave up as the accounts are not linked and when I tried entering my account number manually it would decline. To try rectify this I drew the R2000 out and gave my girlfriend the account details of this savings account ONLY to do a cash deposit the next day on the 28th of september at Absa Campus square in auckland park. The deposit had appeared to be successful and I left it at that as she provided me with the slip and also because I do not have internet banking as my phone was lost last month. I then went to the branch in randburg to enquire on the funds and the card kept on declining when I tried to use it and a debit order had bounced. The consultant then advised that no money was deposited into the account and that the money should show in the ATM as an unclaimed amount due to a technical error that I had to go the the branch in campus square to claim for. I then went to the branch where they told me that the money was deposited successfully but into my cheque account?! I then questioned how this had happened when my girlfriend had deposited the money into a savings account and who doesn't know my account number nor details of my cheque account where the money had initially came from. I was then informed that my accounts are linked when they are not because I was not able to transfer directly from account to account at an atm and under my list of accounts on the cheque card it only shows the cheque account and 32 day savings account and vice versa when I look at my list of accounts on my transactional savings card it only shows that one account. I had then asked them when the cards were linked and to explain why I was not able to easily and safely transfer directly between accounts without having to withdraw the money and cash deposit it since the accounts were linked and why I would draw R2000 just to cash deposit it back the next day into the same account that it was drawn out of. Unable to answer and after being told 100 times that "there is nothing we can do as the money has been used already"without me being aware, I pleaded that they investigate this and see if it was a system error but they were not prepared to do so and treated me as a chance taker. I will be taking further action and laying a complaint with the ombudsman as this is ********* and poor customer service that is blatantly disobeying the treating customers fairly act! I am also pleased to say I have moved my banking to FNB which I am extremely satisfied with and shocked to see that True customer service still exists! I am also pleased in the rewards programme that is realistically structured unlike absa's cash rewards that is obscurely structured. I wish I had made the switch a long time ago instead of living in denial and thinking that ABSA was a good bank and speaking highly of them, dedicating three quarters my life to them. If I had switched earlier I can guarantee that none of this would happen. I hope this reaches many people so they can switch whilst they have the chance to, before they are victims of absa's faulty systems and they're hard earned money is played around with.