Authorizations withholding a payment 2 weeks later without any reason!

I now understand why close to 80% of the reviews give ABSA bank a ONE-Star rating. The service at ABSA is beyond pathetic to an extent that if there was something below the One-Star rating I would most definitely give it. ABSA has been playing games with me regarding an authorization of a payment to a Shell Garage for close to 2 full weeks now. On 31 August 2026, I stopped by a Shell garage to fill my vehicle. I paid with an ABSA card, but the POS machine printed out a "Decline" slip while an SMS came through to my phone indicating that a payment of R1582.98 had just been made. Upon calling ABSA from that filling stating I was told that the amount is "Reserved" and should clear within 48 hrs. Indeed, the difference between; my "Available Balance" and "Current Balance" was and still is the amount in question. When 48hrs passed without any clearing of the amount, I went back to the garage to call ABSA again in front of them and I was told to go to an ABSA branch, which will then link me with "Authorizations". I did exactly that, and I was given a Ref-Number on 02 September 2026. Today, Thursday 10 September 2026, I am still waiting for that 31 August 2026 payment to be cleared. Now the Shell garage is starting to think that I was trying to rob them, all thanks to ABSA, who is still withholding the amount for reasons only known to themselves. I don't know what is so difficult to either clear the payment to the merchant or to reverse the amount back to my account! I don't even want to mention the pathetic service I got from a lady called Betty at the Gezina Branch when I went back to follow up on the Reference on Monday 7 September 2026. She falls within that pathetic category that other clients have complained about here on HelloPeter.